Selene hadn't made it halfway through when she felt a presence behind her. He had the familiar scent so she had thought that it was the king, but when she paused to turn, she realized that it wasn't. It was a Xyiom who belonged in the king's cabinet.
"And where do you think you are going to?" The voice boomed.
Selene swallowed before she responded, "I'm only taking orders for the king." She lied, hoping her fear had not made its way into her voice.
The Xyiom ran his dark eyes over her. He recognized her immediately from the previous day. She was a traitor that the king had decided to spare, they had not been happy with the change when the king walked. They had desperately wanted to whip the hell out of her knowing fully that she was a woman.
And now, an opportunity posed itself before him. The king had no idea what he was doing, letting an ordinary woman like herself run around the palace like this.
He immediately grabbed her by the arm and yanked her towards him. She shrieked halfway but he placed the edge of his dagger to her throat and she went silent.
"Don't say even a word. I'll be doing the king a big favor by taking you out." The man Seethed.
Selene's blood ran cold. The man stood at almost the king's height—he was the height of every other xyiom, with large hands and fingers long to leave a wound in her neck that could end her.
She couldn't put up a fight. She didn't want to move for fear that she might cause him to kill her quickly than he had wanted to. She had to think of what to do—how to escape without getting killed.
"I beg of you. I was only following the king's orders, please let go of me." Selene begged, her tone was that of desperation. She would do anything to be out of the man's clutches.
Her sister was almost dying and she needed to get help for her. "And you think that can fool me." The man said and chuckled darkly.
"I saw you come out from the king's chambers earlier today....to think you wete able to fool us all, especially the king. You should be dead by now." The xyiom said and pressed the edge of the dagger deeper into the Selene's neck.
He did it so the pressure was not enough to kill her. The area on her neck had begun to bleed, but he didn't take the knife away.
Selene didn't say about word. She was too scared to. She could already see the end in front of her, but she didn't want to die knowing her sister wouldn't be catered for.
"If you're going to kill me, you might as well grant me one last wish." Her voice quivered.
The xyiom couldn't contain his amusement as he broke into a loud laugh, "oh you naive little human...." He remarked.
Without warning, he pressed his foot to Selene's side and pushed her to the ground. Her blood had dripped down from her neck to his finger. The smell of the blood was tempting and he got an idea.
Instead of killing her and dumping her body to rot, he would eat her alive. He licked the blood off of his fingers and smirked.
"You don't taste bad, human. I think I'm going to have a swell time eating you alive." He spat out.
Selene froze. Her heart had began to palpitate in her chest. She had to get away from this beast and she had to do it soon.
To stop the bleeding, she placed her palm to her neck, hoping to slow down the blood, but it did little to help. She rose slowly to her feet, staggering slightly to the side while the xyiom watched with anticipation.
"You won't get very far, you know that." He said.
"Please, let me live." Selene begged again, "let me leave and I'll forever be indebted to you."
The xyiom laughed loudly again, and stuffed the dagger back into the rack that was attached to his waist.
"Maybe you should have said so before I tasted your blood, don't you think?" He said, and smiled maniacally at her.
"Now stand up to your feet, we'll be making out way back to my quarters. I can't possibly eat you out here." The xyiom said to her but Selene didn't move from where she was.
She held her neck still, her eyeballs almost popping out of their sockets. She didn't want to believe that this was happening to her. This wasn't how she had supposed she was going to die.
Tears began to drop from her eyes and onto the floor. "Lyra..." She murmured under her breath.
"What did you say?" He asked but Selene didn't respond to him. "Get up from the floor human, before someone sees you like this. " And by someone, he meant the kng.
Instead of getting up, Selene lay on the floor, tears and blood dripping onto the floor.
"Can you not hear me anu longer?!" He barked at her but she hesitated.
The Xyiom's face turned red. He would not tolerate being disrespected by a human, especially one who had deceived the whole kingdom.
He bent and grabbed Selene by the arm before yanking her up to her feet without effort. Her shoulders made a loud crack causing Selene to whimper in pain.
Her shoulder had been dislocated by the Xyiom's aggressive pull. "You follow me to my quarters and you will do as I say!" He said and snickered at her.
"On whose orders?" A voice rang out from the other end of the corridor, startling the Xyiom. His eyes bulged the moment he saw who it was.
"And is this where you have been, young prince?" The king asked.
The Xyiom stood frozen
on the spot. Due to fear, he unknowingly dropped Selene to the floor.