For a couple of seconds, I looked at the person in front of me, take a sip out of his cup and then stare outside the window beside him before taking another sip.
Finally, growing a little impatient, I asked, "What is it that you wish to discuss with me, your majesty?"
The man only looked at me from the corner of his eyes, a hint of mischief twinkling in them before he took a sip of his tea again.
Please do not play with me like this. I do not like it.
Waiting for him to speak, I looked at the blossoming colourful tree just outside the window, the sounds of people walking back and forth, talking amongst themselves.
Then, I looked at the bare interior, eyes falling on the wolf sitting in the corner once again. It just continued to look at me, never taking its eye off me.
"It appears that Altair has taken an interest in you." The man in front of me finally spoke, startling me slightly. Seeming to notice my reaction, he laughed. "Sorry, were you enjoying the silence?"
"I am not too fond of the silence," I said, meaning to be snarky though I still attempted to be just a little bit polite. Just a little bit.
"I see. It is a little lonely I suppose." He said, still smiling as his golden eyes pierced into me, pheromones flowing out of him.
"Your majesty, please stop this," I said, waving my hands in the air in an attempt to wave the pheromones away from me.
"Alright. Alright. I will stop it." He said, the pheromones disappeared almost immediately. "You are just too fun to tease."
I am hungry too, so let's get this over with, alright? I have a ton of things to do today.
"I do not believe we have been introduced properly yet." He said, sitting up straight. "So let me begin. Hello, nice to meet you. I am Thule Pyxis, the current ruler of Octant."
"I am Orion," I said, giving him a small bow. "I am also the dancer for your coronation last night. It is a pleasure to meet you, your majesty."
"I am more honoured to meet you." He said, grinning at me. "Last night was nothing short of incredible and that was all thanks to you."
"I only carried out my duty. It worked well because your majesty was deserving of this." I said, hoping this would stop here.
"You are too modest." The king said, looking at me closely. "And shy too, I think. So far, the Priests I have met have all been kind but they are very aware of what they want and are not shy to say it, even to me. But you …"
I looked at him in the eyes, already feeling exposed the moment we made eye contact.
"You certainly are interesting. Orion, was it?"
"Yes, your majesty." I kept my gaze on the table. Anywhere is better than looking at him in the eyes.
"The name matches you well." He said, reaching his hand under my chin and making me look at him. "I have been here many times before. Why have I never seen you? I am sure I would have remembered … a face like this."
I just stared at him, utterly confused. Is he trying to flirt with me or is this how he is? Most of the Alphas I met are all like this, so I would not be surprised if this is how he truly is.
"You flatter me too much, your highness," I said, taking his hand from my face. "But I don't think you called me here to talk about my face."
"Who knows? Perhaps that is exactly why I called you here." He said, grinning at me while I frowned at him. "Alright. Alright. I will not keep you for too long. You must be hungry too."
If you knew, why did you keep me this long?? I thought, sighing to myself.
"As the dancer, you know that you are required to come to my chambers every night that I am here, right?"
I paused for a second, realizing that this fact completely slipped my mind. How could I forget something like this??? It is to transfer the blessings still in me from the goddess to him.
"Yes," I said, trying to sound as sure as I possibly could. "I remember."
"Wonderful." He said, looking like a kid at a store. Well, he's pretty so, whatever I guess. "Then I will be expecting you tonight."
Before I could say anything else, a voice came from my left, startling me, again.
"For what?"
I looked to my side and stared at the boy I met the night before, still looking as haughty as ever, wearing a robe while he is decorated with jewels around his arms, neck and legs.
"Yo-?" I almost asked, stopping myself just in time and changing the word that came out of my mouth. "Boy?"
He just looked at me coldly and then rolled his eyes before turning to the king. "What is he coming here tonight for?"
"You must excuse him. He is not used to being social with other people." The King said, smiling sweetly at me. "Altair. This is Orion and he is going to be joining us tonight."
"Joining?" He asked, looking me right in the eyes as I tried to look as inconspicuous as possible. He then broke into a sadistic grin. "So he is a whore."
My eyes turned to daggers as I glared at him, trying not to say anything that might insult him, even though he greatly, greatly insulted me.
"It is nothing like that." The king said, smiling pleasantly still. "He is merely here to … help."
"Help?" He asked, getting to his feet with the white robe flimsily wrapping around his toned body, the silver ornaments on him seeming to brighten against his olive skin.
I dare say that he is even prettier than the king. Though I would never admit it out loud, especially in front of the two.
He made his way to me, hand on my chin as he inspected my face. I am just glad he did not try to remove the cloth I used to cover my mouth or even reach under it.
Though, something completely caught me off guard. He looks taller than when I saw him last night. Like, taller by a lot. I was sure he was shorter than me before but … was I just imagining things?
"Hmm." He said, unmistakable prism coloured eyes staring right into me as his blond to a very light violet ombre hair fell slightly over his face.
Yup, it is him. For sure it is him. Why is he with the king? Why is he here? And why does he look so grown up all of a sudden??
"Whatever. They are all whores anyway." He said, getting to his feet again and going back to his spot in the corner of the room. "It is not like he is going to be any different."
Sighing, I got to my feet and bowed to the King, "Then, I will be taking my leave, your highness."
"I will see you tonight." He said back, waving at me as I walked out of the room, not sparing a glance at the other person in the room.
I don't care if I am rude to him. He was rude to me first. I have every right to be mad.
____________________________
The moment I stepped out of the room, before I could even close the door behind me, I was jumped by Nova and Comet, falling to the ground almost instantly.
They checked to make sure I was not harmed and we walked out of the place as quickly as we could. I did not want to be there a minute longer.
As we were walking to the lunch hall, again, we bumped into another person. He was talking to some of the Priests, laughing at them. His voice sounding like clear waters.
"Oh, it's the Luna," Nova said as he and I made eye contact immediately.
I felt dread fill me the moment we made eye contact and the dread got even worse when said something to the Priests before coming to me, alone.
"Hello. If I remember correctly, you are the dancer from last night, are you not?" He asked in a soft voice and gentle smile.
I had to squint to be able to look through the light he was radiating off and see his face.
"I am Orion, your majesty," I said as we three bowed to him. "Is there something I can help you with?"
"I would like to take a walk with you, if you don't mind." He asked, smiling at both Comet and Nova.
"Go ahead," I said to the two. "I will join you shortly."
The two looked at me pitifully before nodding and then walking away to the building.
"Shall we?" He asked, indicating to the pathway to the garden. "I have yet to see this place."
"Of course," I said, swallowing this feeling of dread in the pit of my stomach.
It's nothing. I hope.
"You just came from meeting with his majesty, right?" He asked as I almost tripped over nothing.
Ok … this might be something.