Written for SasuHina month 2016. Once again, nothing is spell-checked. Please forgive the grammar errors!

Prompt: Princess and Knight

She had refused to believe it. The aching in her heart and the pounding of her head denied all possibilities that the rumors were true. Even as the ground shook and the castle walls crumbled around her, her trust in him had been unshakable.

He was her bodyguard, her constant companion; the most loyal of her knights. She considered him a trusted friend-no, he was more than that. So much more than that.

Kiss me, Sasuke.

I cannot, my lady.

The little boy that had grabbed her hands and dusted the dirt off her knees would never betray her. Even if the whole world was convinced of his betrayal, she would fight to the death to defend his honor. He would never betray her.

Even when he strolled into the great hall, his body covered in the blood of his victims and his eyes emotionless, she had believed to the last moment that he had come to rescue her.

Take my hand in yours, look into my eyes and assure me that the world is wrong, her eyes beseeched him even as his fist tightened around the bloodied sword in his hand. Tell me everything is going to be okay. I'm waiting, Sasuke.

But reality has a brutal way of twisting with her heart and peeling back the curtain of a perfectly loyal knight sculptured by an adoring girl.

And as Hinata watched the blood dripped from his armor and pooled at his feet, she felt her whole world crumbled, shaken by the very foundation that had built her dreams.

Was her father among the dead? Did the blood that tainted his sliver armor belonged to her cousin? Was her sister alive?

How long has it been since her kingdom fell to Orochimaru's armies? How long has it been since Sasuke tossed her into this room and locked the door behind him? How long has it been since she felt the sunlight on her skin and smelt the fresh roses in her father's garden? How long had she longed for the sunlight that peeked through the bars of her window? How long has it been since she last seen his face?

Hinata did not know. She had lost track of time and reality after the hundredth times she had yelled and cried her voice out to these soulless empty walls. This was all a dream, insisted the voice of her heart even as her lungs gave out on her. No, a nightmare. Wake up. Wake up.

But Hyuuga Hinata was neither stupid nor willingly blind.

When her kingdom has fallen and she has been taken hostage by the man she entrusted her whole world to, there was no other conclusion to be drawn.

He had betrayed her.

Anger, along with shock and the pain of betrayal had long been replaced by a sense of staggering numbness. She sank her teeth into her bottom lip, hoping that the pain would wake her from this nightmare. "Why?" she sobbed to the silence of the room when the taste of metallic filled her mouth and still she felt no pain.

He ignored her as he slowly removed his clothes. First pulling off his white gloves and sitting them on the wooden dresser then undoing his shoelaces and tugging them off. "You are not hungry," he said, his eyes glancing over the plate of untouched food.

When all was lost and everything have been taken from her, what else was there to be done? With her kingdom laid to waste and her people enslaved due to her own doing, how could she feel the slightest sting of hunger?

For the briefest of seconds, Hinata felt the tiniest residue of what could possibly resemble anger flickered to life within her and in a moment of insanity her hand itch to grab the nearest object and throw it at his head. But the thought die a hasty death when she remembered that her hands were bond.

"Why did you do it?" she asked softly when he sat down next to her. "Why?" she murmured, feeling hollow and empty. "At least tell me this much."

Her question did nothing to his composure. He merely started untying the bonds around her wrists. As soon as one of her hand was released Hinata slapped him, the blow weak and pathetic, barely registering.

"My father trusted you," she murmured, the unwelcomed sadness in her voice unnerved and devastated her even further. It seem she was not as dead inside as she had first thought. Pain wrapped itself around her heart, chewing its way at the pathetic artery until Hinata found it difficult to breathe. "I trusted you…" she paused, her lips quivering. "I lo-"

No. She did not love him. She shouldn't love him. It was because of her love for him that they have reached this point. It was because of her blind trust in him that her kingdom had fallen. She was the reason. She was responsible.

"You have not eaten," he commented, his voice calm, perfectly in control. "You must eat."

The moment she felt the chain around her left wrist give way, Hinata slapped him again, wincing as pain shot through her palm. This time the blow was stronger, the sound from the impact resonated loudly in the room.

"Come," Sasuke said calmly as he stood to his feet and hold out his hand to her. "I'll feed you."

How much did he despised her? Hiding the truth behind a mask of polite indifference? How long has he blamed her family for the death of his family? How long had he been deluding her? How false was every touch? Every smile? Every spoken promises?

Hinata slapped his hand away, anguish slowly tying both her brain and heart in knots, twisting her pain into anger; resilient and tenacious. "Answer me!" she screamed, her voice trembling with fury. "What happened to your honor?" she shouted. "To your pride?"

He stared down at her, his cold unwavering eyes taking in the tears that threatened to spill forth. Releasing a deep sigh, Sasuke settled back down on the bed.

Tenderly, almost lovingly if she was foolish enough to believe it, his fingers gently floated across her cheeks, the warmth of his hands belying their hidden animosity. "What happened to them?" he muttered, his fingers stroking her smooth, warm and satiny skin. "I threw them away. What has become useless was no longer needed." He pulled her against him so that their bodies could meet even closer as he produced a silky black blindfold from his pocket.

Her skin heated where he touched her and not from disgust. This heat between them had always existed, simmering just beneath the surface, carefully hidden behind crafted words of honor and loyalties. Even now, he still leave her breathless.

She let a small whimper as his lips pressed against the beating pulse at the base of her neck, ghost alongside the column of her throat before placing a kiss on each side of her mouth. He kissed her eyelids, her nose and her chin. His thumbs stroked the sides of her face and despite herself, Hinata felt her body trembled against his touch. He groaned, his hands gently wrapping the blindfold around her head.

He pressed his hips against her, trapping her body within the hard muscles of his body and Hinata shivered, appalled at her reaction. How could she respond to the man who has taken everything from her? A man who has proven that he would sacrifice everyone and everything as long as he obtain what he wanted. "What did Orochimaru promised you that was worth throwing away your dignity?"

"You," he whispered against her lips before he covered her mouth once more, kissing her with shattering thoroughness and blanketing her new world in darkness.

Author's note:

About "Almost Lovers," most of the questions you guys have (Why is Sasuke being such a bastard, etc) are already answered in the chapter if you look carefully.

Thanks for all the reviews, I love you guys!