"Your Highness." The unfamiliar vampire greeted, bowing to Axel. His expression was grave and his reddish-brown eyes strayed for a second toward her before he focused his attention on Axel.
"They are from the castle. The king sent them to capture her for questioning. Someone is spying on you, Ax. And the person gave them her full profile." Asher reported. The friendly smile on his face was nowhere to be found at that point. Just a serious expression that made him look terrifying, with all the blood on his body.
"The relaxed look on Axel's face was gone too. Though he didn't look as ruffled as the other two, Alita could see his jaws pressing hard against each other. It was one way she knew that he was trying to hold back his anger, not letting it come to the surface. She didn't understand what was going on or what they were talking about, and as much as she wanted to ask, the tense atmosphere forced her to keep her mouth shut.
"Status?" Axel's voice echoed in the room and Asher answered again while running his bloody hands through his hair.
"Five guards. Two elites, and three regulars. All dead. I still don't know who the spy is yet." After saying this, he brought his hand down from his hair and looked at it as his face twisted in disgust. "I need a bath." He commented lazily and walked away towards another room different from the one Axel had earlier entered.
Axel shut his eyes for two seconds and drew in a deep breath before he opened them again. When he did, he looked at Alita, then shifted his gaze to the brown-haired vampire.
"This is Sienna. He is officially your personal guard from today." He saw her eyes stretch wide at his announcement, but he didn't wait for her to process it fully before he spoke again. "Wait for me here. I will be back." Immediately after saying this, he disappeared from the sofa.
Alita wasn't shocked because he disappeared as she had seen him do that whenever he wants to. In fact, she was slowly getting used to it. What she was shocked about was what he said before he left. What did he mean by that? She didn't want a personal guard or any guard at all, more so one that is a vampire.
She moved her head to look at the vampire who threw her a small smile.
"It's an honor to finally meet you in person, My Lady." He bowed slightly after his greeting and her eyes widened subtly. Why was he bowing at her like she was some important person? What kind of awkward and confusing situation had she found herself in?
"Umm... It's nice to meet you too, Mr. Sienna." She managed to say after contemplating on what to address him as. It sounded strange and off in her mind when she thought of addressing him as vampire Sienna or guard Sienna, so she settled with the less awkward title.
Sienna was taken aback by the way she addressed him. "Please, My Lady, just Sienna is fine. And you don't need to be agitated. I can still stay hidden while guarding you, so you don't need to see my face." He assured her as if he had read her mind and knew her worries. Wait! Did he? No. She hoped not because right now, she couldn't deal with another strange discovery or ability.
"I'm sorry, Sienna. I am just not used to all these. I didn't mean to make you feel offended or think that I didn't want to see your face or..." She trailed off as she realized she didn't even know what she was saying anymore. She didn't want to make him feel bad and she didn't know how to stop him from feeling she didn't appreciate his service even though it was still weird to her.
"I'm not offended. I know this may be new to you, so I will give you time to think about it. In the meantime, I'll keep doing my job in the background. Just know that I am at your service anytime." His voice rang out and Alita nodded.
"Thank you." She muttered, moving her eyes around his blood-stained clothes and hands. When he noticed it, he also ran a quick scan on himself.
"I'll go change once Asher returns." He said, noticing that she may not be comfortable with the sight of blood all over him.
Another nod was given as a response by Alita after which she turned away from him. She leaned back into the soft and comfortable sofa and closed her eyes as she reassessed her situation.
She was in the house or was it the hotel of a vampire prince, who seemed intent on helping her even though he knew she didn't fully trust him yet. Now she had been bestowed with a guard, who seemingly saved her tonight. She had the option of moving, but she doubted she would ever be allowed to live the peaceful and quiet life she wanted even if she moved ten times. And she needed to find Alexa, or at least know if she was still alive or dead. Oh lord... Why does her life have to be so complicated?
While she was reminiscing about her troublesome life, Asher returned to the living room, all clean and fresh. Sienna immediately bowed and left the room.
"Hope you aren't feeling too bored?" Asher's voice pulled her away from her thoughts as she raised her head and opened her eyes to look at him. There was a bright smile on his face, a sharp contrast to how he looked a few minutes back when he entered the room.
Alita shook her head as if she had suddenly become dumb.
"It's okay. I'm fine." She finally used her voice and flashed him a small smile.
Meanwhile, Axel appeared in his room in the castle. The calm and composed look he had on while speaking with Alita had been completely shedded. Right now, he looked like a ferocious beast ready to pounce on his worst enemy.
He pushed his door open and marched with deliberate steps towards the King's chambers.