"Not yet, Your Majesty." I answered.
"It seems you resemble someone, a girl named Arkcray, the dancer yesterday," King Daemon remarked, and I gulped heavily from nervousness.
"Ah! Many people say so, Your Majesty. Hehe!" I nervously chuckled, and suddenly, his soldiers aimed their weapons at me. "Wait! Why are you going to kill me?" I shouted with both hands raised.
"Why are you speaking to our lord as if he's just a friend of yours, commoner? You don't know how to show respect to a powerful king!" one of the soldiers said.
"Just a moment! How was I supposed to know that it's forbidden to talk to your king like that! Here, we freely talk to King Gideon and Agustus!" I panicked and grasped the hilt of their weapon, slowly lowering it. "Hehe, I didn't mean to. Maybe we can all be friends."
"Leave him alone." King Daemon said, and his soldiers looked at him, confused by his actions.
"Not all Apollans are familiar with our Helian way of life and customs. We're not in Helios to enforce our laws in their land. Do you understand?" King Daemon stated.
"Very well, Your Highness." the soldier said, and they stood up straight.
I grinned and felt amused. Then I playfully nudged and teased the soldier!
Fortunately, he couldn't retaliate because he was next to King Daemon.
"Don't mock my soldiers, Apollan." King Daemon remarked, causing me to lower my head in embarrassment.
"I apologize, King Daemon." I replied, feeling ashamed.
In a moment, King Daemon held my chin and gently tilted my face to get a better look at it!
I thought I was safe! Apparently not! Huhu!
"K-King Daemon? Why?" I nervously asked while gazing up at the imposing king.
Then he caressed my lips, just like he did yesterday!
I noticed that the soldiers behind King Daemon seemed perplexed and couldn't believe what he was doing!
What is happening? I'm so anxious and embarrassed!
"You bear a striking resemblance to the female dancer. Your lips have the same shape and softness. Perhaps..." King Daemon stated, making my knees tremble!
Maybe he will say that we are the same person and punish me! Huhu!
"Perhaps what?" I nervously asked.
"Perhaps you are siblings?" King Daemon replied.
"Y-Yes! We are siblings!" I shouted in panic and couldn't think of any excuse to avoid this trouble!
"If that's the case, I would like to invite your sister, Arkcray, to join me for a dinner tonight." King Daemon suggested.
"It's not allowed!" I exclaimed, and the Helian soldiers raised their weapons again! Huhu!
"You dare to defy our King?" a soldier asked.
"It's not allowed... because... King Daemon might get infected if he will have dinner with Arkcray today! Yes! I'm just concerned about the King's health!" I replied in a fluster, with my hands raised once again! "Yes! She got tired from practicing to give a splendid performance for you! She has fever right now!" I blurted out, unable to come up with a better excuse to avoid having dinner together. Huhu!
"In that case, before I depart, I would like to invite your sister again for a dinner tomorrow night when she has recovered. Can I count on that?" the King asked.
"Umm, I will ask her okay?" I said with uncertainty because I couldn't say no straight to the point!
"Before I leave the Kingdom of Apollo, I would like to personally visit your residence to see her." King Daemon said.
"When... when will you leave the kingdom of Apollo?" I asked.
"Tomorrow night as well. I want to have dinner with Arkcray first. Hopefully, she will recover quickly since this is the land of healers." King Daemon said.
"She needs to think about it first!" I answered, and the soldier suddenly pointed his sword on me!
Please, no! Huhu!
"Let her think about it because she needs to decide what to wear! I haven't finished speaking! You're too quick to judge, you soldiers! Anyone would be nervous in front of King Daemon!" I retorted.
"You're nervous in my presence, Apollan?" King Daemon asked while still holding my chin.
"Y-Yes, King Daemon. Please don't hurt me!" I replied.
"I won't harm you, Apollan, but I merely want you to tell your sister, Arkcray, that I wish for her to accompany me to a dinner tomorrow night. That's all." King Daemon said, which widened my eyes.
"That's it? Just dinner and nothing else, right?" I asked, and then he released me.
"Yes, I want her to join me for dinner. I also want her to dance before me once again. I was greatly enchanted by Arkcray, your sister," King Daemon said.
"What if she can't dance anymore because umm she sprained her ankle!" I added giving more excuses.
"You are not the one to decide here, Apollan! You and your sister must obey the King's orders!" the soldier angrily retorted and they all pointed their sword and spear on me!
"Lower your weapons and don't hurt him." King Daemon commanded, and his soldiers immediately obeyed.
"Thank you very much, King Daemon!" I said with a grateful smile.
Then he gently caressed my right cheek, which surprised me, and I could feel the warmth and roughness of his palm.
"K-King Daemon?" I asked in astonishment, not realizing that I was holding his hand while he was caressing my cheek!
"Your hands are so soft for a man. It seems the Apollans do not know how to handle weapons." King Daemon said, adding, "Moreover, your hand is small, almost as delicate as a woman's."
I don't know what came over me, but I placed my hand on his hand! It was as if I was measuring my hand against his!
"Compared to your hand, mine is indeed smaller, King Daemon." I replied with a smile because, somehow, this was the first time I encountered a Helian in my life, and it happened to be their King.
He doesn't seem bad or cruel like Cassius said! He seems kind, right?
Afterward, I quickly removed my hand because I noticed that the soldiers didn't appreciate what I was doing to their king.
"Oh, King Daemon! Your soldiers keep bullying me! See? They are looking at me with disdain right now!" I exclaimed while pointing my index finger to the soldiers.
"Don't speak to the king in that manner!" an angry soldier retorted.
"Don't harass this Apollan any further, especially since he is Arkcray's brother," King Daemon said to his soldier. "What is your name, Apollan?" he asked me.
"My name? Um... um... Cassius! Yes, Cassius is my name!" I replied nervously.
"Hmm. I know someone named Cassius, a very powerful warrior. However, he is no longer here in this world because he was punished by the gods. Nevertheless, I am pleased to meet an Apollan like you, Cassius." King Daemon remarked.
"I am also glad to meet you, King Daemon," I replied.
"I have to go now as I have other matters to attend to. Don't forget, I want to have dinner with Arkcray tomorrow before my troops depart." King Daemon said.
"Yes." I answered with my voice trembling, as I wondered how what will happen to me after the dinner!
He, then, left with his soldiers, and I was left feeling flustered!
So, I sought out Cassius to ask for his help!
...
...
...
"Cassius! Help me! Huhu!" I cried out when I saw my cat lying under the tree, stretching and scratching its exposed belly.
"Don't disturb me while I'm sleeping, Arkcray. I just ate, so I want to rest." Cassius replied.
As I approached him, I hugged him tightly.
"I can't breathe! Let go of me, you worthless creature!" Cassius exclaimed.
"Cassius! What should I do? Earlier, I spoke to King Daemon again!" I sobbed.
"As yourself or as the female dancer?" Cassius asked.
"As myself!" I shouted.
"Did he recognize you?" Cassius asked again.
"Sort of, but I managed to deceive him! He completely thinks that I am the sister of the female dancer! And now, he wants the female dancer to join him for dinner!" I said, panicking.
"That's great! Go with him! I'm sure the food prepared for your dinner will be delicious and expensive." Cassius said.
"Always thinking about food, huh? What about me? Do you think I'll be able to eat properly?" I replied.
"This is your chance, Arkcray! Take advantage of the king for food and money. Find out what his intentions are with Apollo. Go with him." Cassius said.
"No way! Besides, I can't dress as a woman anymore because the dancers only helped me that night!" I shouted.
"Then let's ask for their help again to fix you up." Cassius said.
"Cassius, please! I don't want to dine with King Daemon! I'm scared! But to be honest, he's kind to me." I said.
"King Daemon? Kind to you? That's surprising." Cassius replied.
"Yes, his soldiers are more cruel than him. He's not as bad as you described. He just looks intimidating, but I can say he's a good person." I said.
"Don't judge King Daemon based on a brief engagement. There's a lot I want to tell you, but it can wait until another day. What I want you to do is take advantage of the kindness shown to you by King Daemon." Cassius said, "By the way, what name did you mention since he knows the female dancer is named as Arkcray?"
"Umm... Hehe! I mentioned your name!" I laughed in response.
"What? Why did you give my name without my consent?" Cassius exclaimed.
"Well, I couldn't think of anything else! And he said he knows someone named Cassius. He said it's the name of a powerful warrior punished by the gods. Do you know anything about that?" I asked.
"How would I know? I'm just a cat who likes to eat and eat." Cassius replied to me.
"Maybe it's you, huh? Because you're the only talking cat I know. Maybe there are others in different kingdoms, but they're rare like you." I chuckled.
"There are other cats like me who can speak the language of humans like you. Don't think too much about it, Arkcray. What we should do now is visit the female dancers and ask for help to prepare you for dinner tomorrow." Cassius suggested.
"Ugh! Why did it have to be the king of Helios who's attracted to me!" I said annoyed.
Comments (0)
See all