The Emperor's Concubine

Chapter Thirty-Six

Fixing my dress, I nervously follow Cabel towards the entrance of the royal palace.
I swallow my breath as the doors open.

At the base of the grand staircase, dozen knights stand lined up. The captain stands ahead of them with a stranger by his side.

"Your highness, I've returned with the most trained assassin we've found in Xiao." The captain bows.
I look at the man, surprised.
A young man almost around my age, with messy curly light brown hair. His eyes a piercing pale blue colour. His body's slender, yet visibly tone through his clothes.

He bows.

"Greetings, Emperor Cabel." The stranger speaks.
"Captain Arron, what did you find?" Cabel questions.
"We've questioned his identity, but he refused to share any details. Our only information is that he's a skilled assassin, who trained many months to become one of Xiao's warriors." Captain Arron speaks.

I stare back at the man who calmly stands, without an ounce of fear or a humbled attitude—most people would have in front of Cabel.

Chills suddenly rush through my body, feeling as though someone's watching us. I turn my head, glancing at the palace's roof, and to the trees surrounding the palace.
Realizing that Cabel is remaining calm and none of the knights around are suspicious, I step close to Cabel, gently holding onto his sleeve.

"I've told your men, I'll gladly share my identity as long as I'm told who thought of your plan to search Xiao's slums. It's clear you want to strengthen your army, but to go as far as making Xiao an enemy, tsk tsk. How bold." The man laughs, entertained.
"You stand in front of the emperor, and refuse to introduce yourself?" Cabel raises his brow, amused as he speaks with the man.
"Patience your highness, that'll come in due time. First, I need figure out if this is worth it." The man steps closer.
The royal knights all grip their swords, prepared.
"Oh? Have I made a mistake? Maybe I should return to Xiao, and leave your men weak and untrained." The man snickers, looking up at Cabel with an arrogant gaze.

Cabel raises his hand, gesturing the guards to be at ease.
Moving to stand behind Cabel—to not bring unwanted attention—the sense of feeling subtle eyes watching over us, still remains strong.
The man chuckles, walking towards us as he languidly steps up the stairs.
"Shouldn't you have left your concubine in your play house? Bringing her here is very intriguing."

In a swift instant, I'm pulled away from Cabel.
I'm held from behind by the man—his hand holding my jaw, his other hand wielding a thin long blade in front of my throat.

"Lady Luna!" Lance shouts, startled at the scene.
I look back at Cabel who remains calm as the guards unsheathe their swords, rushing up the steps.

"Ah-ah-ah. If your men come closer, I'll kill her in a second and disappear. Are you willing to bet the life of your favourite concubine?" The man cheekily speaks.
Cabel watches quietly, raising his hand as he makes the guards sheathe their swords.
The man looks down at me, contemplating.

"Luna was it? Pleasure meeting you, Luna." The man grins slightly.
I stare back up at him, giving a gentle smile.
"It's a pleasure meeting you as well. Forgive me, but being so close to a lady with your name unrevealed, is very rude."

The man looks back into my eyes, his eyes unwavering as he analyzes me.
Chuckling lightly, he takes the blade away from my neck. Pulling me close, he whispers quietly into my ear.
"You're interesting."
He snickers, pushing me gently towards Cabel.
Cabel wraps his arm around my waist, moving to stand in front of me.

"The name's Cethin. I'll have to keep my boring life story a secret, but before I decide to work for you, I need to know what's in it for me." Cethin asks.
Cabel scoffs, a small grin on his lips.
"A paying job, the support from the emperor, any of your family taken care of."
"And what does this job entail, exactly?" Cethin's voice filled with a playfulness.
"You'll be tested on your skills. If you're talented like Captain Arron says, you'll be made a captain to teach recruits, who you believe have skills to master becoming an assassin."
Cethin pauses, thinking to himself.
"Hm, no. Not good enough." He passively smiles.
"And why is that?" Cabel raises his brow, pulling me close to him.
"I doubt I could teach hundreds of recruits alone. I want to bring in some people who I believe are worthy to for you, but they need to be given the same respect that your little froo-froo knights are getting."
"If you bring these so-called people of yours, I promise on my throne, they will be honoured the same way all my knights are treated."
Cethin whistles.

Within a blink of an eye, five others with hooded cloaks on, stand before Cabel and I.
One man whistles as he looks up at the palace, removing his hood to show his face. His dark red hair shining under the sunlight, his rounded grey eyes, along with a large scar down his cheek.

"I think that's the longest I've stayed unnoticed. Well, almost." Meeting my eyes, he flashes a smile before giving a playful wink.

I watch surprised as they all remove their hoods.
Four men stand, with one woman.
They all appear to be young, ranging from the early to mid twenties, and the girl seeming to be the same age or younger than me. The girl seems quiet and innocent as she cocks her head staring at me. Her large clear blue eyes with her brown hair tied into pigtails—appearing to look like an innocent child.

"Who are they?" Cabel questions.
Cethin grins and shrugs.
"I said I would choose who I wanted. You also said I could bring my family. I'm only surprised your knights never noticed they were being followed."
"Amazing." I quietly mutter.
"Well, thank you kindly, Chicky." Cethin smiles.
"This is your family?" Cabel questions, watching all of them.
"Somewhat. We're a team. We worked solo, but along the way we became a small family. We'll do jobs together occasionally too. During one of our jobs, your knights spotted me at the time, but they never thought about if I was accompanied by others. So I told them to follow along incase this was a trap."
"A trap?" Cabel raises his eyebrow.
"Let's just say, we're not too favoured. Technically our heads are wanted and blah blah blah. So, I had to have proof this was a real deal though. Seemed like a trap, but based on how your 'secret knights' wore newly hemmed clothing, which was dirtied on purpose to the slums like a bunch of sore thumbs, they obviously came from a wealthy kingdom. Hoo-wee to think they're from the great Cypheler Empire, what a quaint surprise." Cethin looks at the palace, amazed.
"How interesting." Cabel smiles ear to ear like a little child receiving a new toy, "I'll hire all of you. I'll provide the protection you need, as long as you all swear your eternal loyalty to me."

"Your highness! This is too sudden! We should find out more about them before hiring-" Captain Arron exclaims.
Cabel cuts him off as he watches the strangers, amused.
"They followed knights from my army without even being detected. I want them."
"Now, now. Your little captain's right. We could just be here to plunder or steal-"
"And? My trust in all of you was high, the moment you finally showed yourselves."
"Aw man, you knew then?" The man with red hair questions.
"Would you really believe, I wouldn't know?" Cabel scoffs.
"Well now, just because they showed themselves, it could still be a trap to steal from you, your highness."
"I doubt that. You followed my knights, even though I could have been someone who wanted you dead. You had a motive for wanting this deal to be true, it's why you all came here together. I have a motive of ultimate loyalty in strengthening my army. We'll continue this talk inside. Your little friends can come, unless they prefer to run off and play in whatever dump they crawled out of."
"Fine, let's get the formality out of the way." Cethin snickers, shrugging.
"Lance, prepare some refreshments, we'll take this in my office." Cabel begins to walk inside, his hand resting behind my back as he escorts me in.
I glance back to see the assassins following us, Cethin smiles playfully as he makes eye contact with me.
Turning back around, I follow Cabel.

In his office, Cethin's friends sit—sipping their tea. Cabel sits close beside me, carefully watching their movements.
The situation a bit awkward, I sip my tea trying to calm my nerves.

"Gross. What's with kingdoms and tea? Tea, tea, tea, it's all just boiled grass. Have you never heard of wine or even coffee?" Cethin sniffs the tea, gagging.
"Tea is a popular beverage here... There's many kinds with different benefits and flavours, but if you'd prefer coffee I can bring some right away." Lance calmly speaks.
"Don't bother, I've lost interest. Although, I am interested in the little birdie here. She's definitely just a concubine, yet you bring her everywhere." Cethin points at me with his blade.
"She's here as an advisor. Let's talk about our deal, shall we?" Cabel continues.