Page 35 of Dark Elf's Good Girl

I eye up that particular door, knowing it leads to the outside world. Aiken nudges me, taking me out of my illusion of escape as I snap back to reality.

“You can relax out here, ease up a little,” he says.

“It’s not as easy as that, you know,” I quip, my tone coming through as stand off ish. Realizing it, I take a deep breath. “Sorry… I’m just on edge.”

“I can see that,” he replies calmly. “May I ask why you were trying to escape?”

I find his question rhetorical, wondering if he’s being legit.

“Isn’t it obvious?” I chuckle. “Think about it for a moment, Aiken. If you were in my shoes, would you not try to leave too?” I ask.

I’m surprised at my own honesty. I would never have confessed to anyone else that I was trying to get out of here. I did not even think twice before blurting it out but it’s because I trust Aiken.

He would have ratted me out by now if he wanted to.

“I suppose I would,” he answers. “Forgive me for asking such a silly question. You know, sometimes even I contemplate leaving this place,” he says reflectively, peering up into the night sky.

“Why?” I retort in confusion. “But you have it all; money, food, a roof over your head, and on top of all that, a sense of security.”

“Yes, all of that is indeed true. It’s my family that I can no longer afford to continue living with. Lorien is the only person I trust but other than her, I can’t stand any of them. Some days, I find myself questioning my own sanity.”

Aiken stops in place for a moment, stooping down to pluck a flower from its bed. He holds it up, its light blue petals reflecting lightly in the moonlight.

I admire the analytical look on his face as he studies the flower. He then turns to look at the manor in the distance.

“The house may look great from outside but it's everything inside it that I wish to leave behind. I just want to get away from it all,” he says longingly.

He plucks a petal from the flower and lets it go, watching as the breeze whisks it away up into the air and out of sight. Aiken casts a downward gaze then looks at me.

“Forgive me again, I am going off on a tangent about my own problems while we should be talking about yours.”

“No, it’s okay,” I tell him reassuringly. “You can tell me a little more if you’d like. I’m all ears.”

He smiles warmly, a grateful look coming within the flicker of his eyes.

“I feel like I have always been the forgotten son,” he says as we continue walking. “I do the vast majority of work for the family company.”

At that moment, I recall the conversation I heard between his parents, anger brewing at the recollection of them praising Calix.

“My father tends to glance over the fact that it’s me who secures a lot of the contracts. It’s also me that oversees the work itself, always completing the scope before its deadline and earning us a hefty bonus,” he says, throwing his hands up. “At the end of the day though, it’s my brother who gets to reap all of the rewards while I am left with nothing to show.”

He turns to me, a look of slight alarm in his eyes.

“I don’t mean girls by the way.”

“I didn’t think you did,” I chuckle.

“Just wanted to make that clear,” he quips. “Anyway, my mother and father sing praises about him endlessly. All the while, I am told to work harder.”

“Maybe your reward won’t come in the form of riches and material things,” I say. “Perhaps you’ll get something more meaningful, something worthwhile.”

“You could be right,” nods Aiken. “What about you Isla? It was in these very gardens that you told me of your love for dancing. How did that come to be in the first place?”

“Hmm, I think I’d have to take you back to the very start,” I answer reflectively. For a moment, I stroke my chin in deep thought, delving deep into the recesses of my mind to recall my journey.

“I grew up in a very poor family of four. Well, I say that number loosely because my father ended up running off with some other woman. Him walking out the door is the only vivid memory I have of him.”

“I’m sorry to hear.”

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