The Stars and the Flames (FREE PREVIEW)

CHAPTER THREE

They were not there to kill me, I quickly realized. As much as I did not like the king, he apparently was a man of his word. Instead, they were there to escort me to the ship that would inevitably take me to Caetania. At first, so many guards seemed excessive until the king assured me that so many guards would make my story more believable.

When I returned to the landing dock, I was somewhat saddened to see that Rynold's ship was no longer there. Someone must have told him, then, that I would not be returning with him. I heaved a heavy sigh as my eyes flickered to the ship that I was being led towards, one of the standard Xaenovian patrol ships.

As soon as I entered the ship, the guards seated me in one of the compartments in the back. "A tailor will be with you shortly," one of them said, and then they all left the room. A look of confusion swept across my features. A tailor?

The ship soon rumbled to life, and I could feel the vibrations through every crevice of my body. There were a couple of windows in the compartment that I was situated in, and I looked out one of them just in time to see the ship lurch off the ground and soar towards the atmosphere. Then, I returned my attention to the closed door in front of me, awaiting my time until the supposed tailor arrived.

The tailor soon made herself known through opening the door, stepping through, and then closing it behind her. I nearly let out a gasp at the sight of her but refrained, for the woman was most certainly not Xaenovian. Anger soon coursed through my veins, and I began to wonder what the king had to do to make her work for him. Perhaps she was like Lynda and never knew her home planet, but even then, it was rare to find someone who was not Xaenovian working for the king himself.

Beady, blue scales covered every inch of the woman's exposed skin, and each hand yielded fingers that ended in a short, fragile fins. On her neck were the presence of gills, which the people from her planet used as much as they used their lungs. Eythea was probably the only planet I never actually visited, aside from Sietania, since the assassins rarely got any contracts that caused them to travel there. However, there was no mistaking where her ancestry hailed from. She was Eythean.

For a moment, I just stared at her, and she stared at me. Then, as if to break the silence, the woman said sarcastically, "I am sorry if the presence of me is not to your liking."

A shameful blush soon crept across my cheeks. "It's not that!" I blurted out. "It's just...the king..."

"He may be a lot of things." The woman sighed. "But he is not a monster."

I didn't know how much I agreed with that statement, but I said nothing more as the woman approached me.

"I was brought on this ship to make you look more like a royal ambassador and less like an assassin," the woman continued. "My name is Sienna Cantas, and you will only address me as Sienna."

I nodded. I didn't know how else to respond.

Sienna approached me. "When King Gabrian assigned me this position, he was very specific as to how Katarina Ferring should come across. He made it very clear that she was not to look like a princess or a general but a cross between the two. She should be fearless and determined, yet also ladylike and professional," she remarked as she finger-combed small strands of my hair.

"Are you insinuating that royal guards or even someone in my profession are not professional?" I remarked coldly, eyeing her with evident mistrust. For someone like her to defend the king so easily, someone who has always indirectly insinuated that no one was above the Xaenovians, she made me wonder what the king did to manipulate her so easily. I could not trust someone who was manipulated in such a fashion.

"Of course not! At least not the royal guards!" To her credit, Sienna looked genuinely appalled. "However, their essence of professionalism is different from how you need to come across. You cannot come across as a threat or else that will make your job that much more difficult. However, you also do not want to assume a completely subservient role or else that will also raise suspicions."