I got barely any sleep that night, and since Tyberius was stuck guarding my door all night, I knew he got none. Still, at eight sharp, he opened my door just a crack and said, “Time for breakfast, Katarina.”

I moaned in response as I huddled my comforter closer to my body, which caused Tyberius to slam the door open all the way. The room shook in response, and I instantly cursed my body for deciding not to sleep much.

A deep scowl was etched into Tyberius’s features as he regarded my current state. “You’re not even up yet,” he observed as he crossed the room in easy strides. “The royal family is waiting.”

Instantly, I shot out of bed and tossed the covers off my body in a careless fashion. “Shit!” I swore as I dashed to my bureau and started rummaging around for a suitable dress. In the wake of my midnight stunt last night, I had completely forgotten about my breakfast date with the royal family.

Tyberius looked amused, and I fought the urge to smack his face. “One would think you’ve never had to impress royalty before,” he said, not maliciously, but I still stiffened at his words.

“I’m allowed to have flukes from time to time,” I snapped before settling on a long, green dress that barely swept the floor. Then, I turned to Tyberius, and with as much attitude as I could muster, said, “Do you mind?”

Still smiling, Tyberius began making his way towards my door before disappearing and closing it behind him.

I huffed before chucking off yesterdays outfit and shrugging on the green dress. Because of my late start that morning, I didn’t have time to properly shower, so instead, I rushed into the bathroom and quickly wetted my hair down with a brush before styling it in what I hoped would tell the royal family I didn’t just get out of bed. Then, I ran back into my room and slipped on a pair of matching, green loafers before flinging myself into the hallway.

Immediately, Tyberius gave me a once-over. “It’ll do,” he said begrudgingly, yet also lightly, as he began to lead me down the hall towards where I was supposed to have breakfast.

An uncomfortable silence soon enveloped the two of us, and Tyberius’s posture went rigid, as if he suddenly remembered who I was and who he was. Though our two planets may have been allies in name, we haven’t gotten along with each other for a while now, not since King Gabrian tried to force his son upon the Caetanian princess. Yet, Tyberius’s stiff demeanor irritated me, and so, I increased my speed until I was right next to him.

“What are you doing?” Tyberius questioned with a hint of annoyance, though he didn’t slow his pace.

“I’m letting you escort me,” I said innocently, and Tyberius immediately came to a halt.

“No, you’re not,” Tyberius huffed as he eyed me, evidently suspicious.

I bat my eye lashes at him innocently. “Where I come from, you actually talk to your company.”

Tyberius pursed his lips together, and that was when I realized I struck a nerve. “Last night was a fluke, and this morning was a mistake,” he snarled. “Remember where you are, Katarina.”

I flinched at how he said my fake name, but I didn’t respond once he started moving again.

“And for the record, this is how a proper guardsman escorts his company,” Tyberius said from over his shoulder, and I begrudgingly followed behind him. “So if there were danger, I would be the first one to meet it.”

“Noted, o’ great and mighty guardsman,” I sneered sarcastically.

In an instant, Tyberius whipped around so fast I nearly missed him, instantly pinning me against the wall with my wrists suspended above me. Instinct nearly took over, and I almost took him out with me until a more rational part of my brain reminded me of my role. Katarina Ferring wasn’t an assassin. She wouldn’t have had the extensive training I had.

And so, I tamped down my burning urge to incapacitate Tyberius and instead let him trap me with his body, his breath fanning across my face.

“I haven’t figured out if you’re very brave or very stupid,” Tyberius snarled, “but you’re getting on my last nerves.”

“I’ve heard that a lot,” I said before I had a chance to properly think about my situation, and I instantly bit my tongue to keep me from saying anything else.

Tyberius’s eyes narrowed, and I thought for sure he was going to smack me, until he let go of my wrists and took a step back, allowing my arms to fall back to my side.

“You are about to meet our royal family,” Tyberius grumbled. “Watch your tongue, or I can guarantee King Lucian would throw you in the dungeons faster than you can even imagine.”

This time, it was my turn to narrow my eyes. “I thought your king was supposed to be the merciful one.”

“Not to entitled Xaenovians,” Tyberius said before turning his back on me and continuing down the hallway.

And much to my discomfort, the rest of the walk was silent.

***

The Caetanian castle was huge, perhaps even bigger than the Xaenovian castle. As soon as Tyberius resumed leading me along, I started to take note of every twist and turn we made and ran it over in my mind as a mental map. I was blessed with a photographic memory, which was one of the main reasons Rynold regarded me so highly and what marked me as his best assassin. No matter how many twists and turns we made, I was confident I could find my way back to my room without Tyberius’s help.

Which also meant I’d be able to easily find my way back to where we were now.

The royal family had lodgings on the other side of the castle away from my room, and it was there where I was permitted to have breakfast. Normally, I wouldn’t be allowed anywhere near the royal family’s private chambers, but Tyberius made sure I knew this was a special occasion and to not get used to it.

When we finally arrived, Tyberius knocked softly on the door, and a big, hefty voice beckoned him to enter. Tyberius slowly opened the door and then fell to his knees, saying, “Your Majesty.”

Awkwardly, I stood in the doorway, my eyes soon landing on King Lucian Westminster. He was a short, beefy man with an evident bald patch on the center of his head. His short, brownish hair skirted around the patch in a perfect ring, and there were very prominent bags under his piercing, brown eyes.

“Rise,” Caetania’s king commanded, and soon, his eyes fell on me. “Is this her?”

Tyberius immediately scrambled to his feet. “My apologies,” he said as he struggled to compose himself. “Your Majesty, this is Katarina Ferring, the royal ambassador from Xaenov.” Then, he turned to me, and his expression showed something I wasn’t used to seeing on him: a lack of confidence. “And this, Katarina, is the king of Caetania, Lucian Westminster.”

Of course, I already knew his full name. For a while, the Westminsters were all anyone ever talked about on Xaenov when King Lucian blatantly refused King Gabrian’s proposal of an even more united front. The Crown Princess of Caetania, Valorie, soon became the villain in countless amounts of children’s stories, the ugly toad who tried and failed to charm the handsome prince and soon became as wretched inside as she was outside.

Yet as soon as Princess Valorie entered the room, I was surprised to find she wasn’t wretched. In fact, she was quite the opposite with her glowing, white complexion and bouncing, brown curls that barely swept her shoulders. Her warm, brown eyes soon landed on mine, and her pink, rosy lips parted as she regarded me.

Her appearance caught me completely off guard that I almost forgot the king was waiting for my response. Quickly composing myself, I fell into a deep curtsey and said, “It’s a pleasure, Your Majesty.”

“I wish I could say the same,” Lucian said, and I was surprised by how much his words hurt. After all, I came here specifically to kill him and his family, but I shockingly found I still wanted his approval.

Shame coated my features as I straightened myself, and I immediately glanced at Tyberius. Yet, he refused to meet my gaze, choosing instead to hone in on the hard, grey tile.

Valorie took a hesitant step forward, gazing at me with weird curiosity. “Are you really from Xaenov?”

I nodded and gave her a weak smile. “I am.”

Valorie’s eyes grew as big as saucers. “Is it true you have,” she paused as if searching for the right words, “giant insects?”

“The biggest,” I replied, and watching her pale even more gave me a sick sense of satisfaction. Xaenov was the most oxygen-rich planet in the Kentaurus Galaxy, and as such, our insects were ten times the size they should be.

“I wish I could see them, but Father won’t let me,” Valorie said. “He says you guys are dangerous.”

“Now, now, Valorie,” Lucian scolded. “We’ve already had this discussion before.”

Valorie flinched, and my smile instantly vanished. Yet before I could say anything, heavy footsteps were heard in the next room over, and soon, Caetania’s queen arrived, her brown hair neatly piled on top her head, and her black dress gracefully sweeping the floor. Queen Isabella Westminster.

The moment she entered the room, the queen’s gaze instantly fell on me, and for the first time ever, I felt painfully small. There was something about her that oozed authority, which was in direct contrast to Xaenovian’s queen, Vasilisa Terranova.

“Katarina Ferring,” the queen began, “I hope you found everything to your liking.”

My mouth suddenly went dry, and all I managed to do was croak out a belated “Yes.”

Isabella gave a curt nod in my direction before wheeling on her husband. “So, this is the Xaenovian ambassador we’ve been patiently expecting.”

“Apparently,” Lucian grumbled, and anger instantly rose to the surface of my skin. Even though I was here to kill them, I found myself strangely wanting their approval.

I opened my mouth to speak, but as if anticipating what I was about to do, Tyberius shot me a warning look over my shoulder. Don’t do it, he warned with his eyes. Don’t even think about it. I immediately shut my mouth.

“Well, then, since everybody’s here, shall we eat?” Isabella said before acknowledging Tyberius for the first time. “You’re welcome to join us, Captain.”

“I would like that very much,” Tyberius said stoically. “Thank you.”

I shot Tyberius a questioning stare, but he was no longer looking at me. His gaze was on the king and queen, and his body language told me he was awed by them, almost to the point where he worshipped them.

“Then, it’s settled!” Lucian said gleefully before he turned away from us and began to lead us to an adjacent room.

Immediately, I fell into step beside Tyberius, out of hearing range of the royal family. “What was that about?” I hissed.

Tyberius pursed his lips together, the only sign I knew he heard me. I frowned.

“Tyberius!” I said, a little louder this time, but before he or I could say anything more, the two of us suddenly stopped, gazing out at a lavish, rectangular, white dining table that was adjourned with five sets of plates and silverware and an assortment of meats and pastries I didn’t recognize.

Realization soon dawned on me as I counted the places once again, coming to the conclusion there were indeed five spots. Somehow, the royal family knew Tyberius wouldn’t refuse the queen’s offering, though whether it was because they knew him that well or because what seemed like a choice really wasn’t one, I still didn’t know.

The king and queen easily slid across from each other at the two heads of the table. I took the seat next to Tyberius, and Valorie took one directly across from us. Then, we began to fill our plates.

Hesitantly, I began loading my plate with a few slices of what looked like bacon as well as a few flaky pastries filled with something that looked like cream cheese. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Tyberius reach for a huge slab of dark red meat.

“So, Katarina,” Lucian began as he cut into his own slab of meat, “how long have you been working for Gabrian?”

I shuddered at the casual way Lucian said my king’s name, but I wasn’t surprised, considering how much strife seemed to be between the two kings. “Very recently,” I said, which wasn’t a complete lie. “Only a few days.”

Lucian raised an eyebrow. “That’s an awfully short amount of time for someone who was given the task of negotiating peace,” he said.

Instantly, I froze. My cover couldn’t be blown so soon; I barely even started. “It’s a test,” I said effortlessly. “He wants to see how good I am at the position I applied for before he hires me full-time.”

“Interesting. I never knew Gabrian could be so…impulsive,” Lucian mused. “I assume he’s testing you for something more than just an ambassador role.”

My heart skipped a beat. “What do you mean?”

“His son, Wilhelm, is to be marrying soon, am I correct?” Lucian continued, and Valorie stiffened. “You’re a proper, obedient, beautiful, and more importantly, Xaenovian young girl. Perhaps the perfect companion to that dog Gabrian calls a son.”

Valorie gasped. “Daddy!”

Tyberius went rigid, and so did I. Though that would never happen, the thought Lucian implanted into my mind was so vivid and fresh, I nearly vomited.

“Now, now. I’m just telling it like it is.” Lucian held up his hands in mock surrender. “After all, he couldn’t have Valorie, so he had to settle for someone lesser.”

“That’s enough!” someone suddenly said, and I was surprised to find it was Tyberius, whose hands were coiled around his silverware so tightly his knuckles turned white.

Lucian glanced at Tyberius with widened eyes. “Do you not agree?”

Tyberius said nothing, though his limbs still shook with unchecked rage. I shot him a concerned look, which seemed to do the trick, for he started lessening the death grip he had on his silverware.

“No,” Tyberius said vaguely, though he didn’t elaborate. “Your Majesty.”

Lucian didn’t seem pleased by Tyberius’s response, but he let it slide. “Enough mindless talk,” he began as he leaned forward in his seat. “Gabrian wants peace, so let’s discuss what he has in mind.”

It took me a moment to realize it was my turn to speak. “We’re supposed to be allies, and King Gabrian knows this,” I said, emphasizing my king’s title. “And yet, we don’t act like allies.”

“No, we don’t,” Lucian said, and I was surprised to find we both agreed on something. “Though that’s entirely his fault.”

I stiffened. Somehow, I think Lucian truly believes that, which would have made negotiating peace that much harder if that was truly what I came to do. “He sent me and only me as a sign of good faith,” I countered.

“And why, naïve Xaenovian, would Gabrian be interested in peace now when he hasn’t even bothered to reach out to us for years?” Lucian demanded.

I said nothing. I didn’t have a response to that.

“It seems to me King Gabrian,” Lucian began, sneering the title, “is only interested in peace as long as we abide by his terms. However, I’ll humor him, Xaenovian. I’ll let you stay here and eat our food and sleep in our beds as a sign of good faith. However, there will be no more talk of peace until he personally reaches out to me. And if you so much as breathe wrong, I’ll have you thrown into the dungeon so fast you’d wish you never set foot on my planet.”

I couldn’t help myself. I let out a low chuckle.

Tyberius instantly shot me a warning look, and I stopped, but not before garnering the attention of the three foreign royals who sat before me.

“Is something funny?” the king asked warily, and that was when I realized he was looking for any sort of excuse to imprison and possibly execute me.

“Just seems like I’m your prisoner, not a guest,” I answered boldly, and the tension in the room became nearly tangible.

And then, the king belt out a hardy, malicious laugh that nearly shook me to the core. Isabella kept glancing between me and her husband as if a fight were to break out between us at any moment, and Valorie just looked on in horror.

And then, Tyberius, whether to diffuse the tension or otherwise, suddenly reached across the table and procured a huge chunk of meat for himself. “Klekarak,” he said suddenly as he examined the meat before settling his eyes on the king. “Fresh kill?”

“More or less,” the king replied.

I glanced at each of them in confusion. There that word was again, this time out of the mouth of Tyberius and not on a news story. However, none of the Caetanians seemed to notice, and so I said, “Klekarak?”

That seemed to get everyone’s attention, for soon, all eyes turned towards me. A wide grin split across Lucian’s lips, as if he were basking in my ignorance.

Finally, it was Tyberius who spoke. “You have giant cats on Xaenov, right?” he began. “What you call jaguars or lions or tigers?”

I nodded but said nothing.

“A klekarak is an all-black version of that, only stronger, faster, and more aggressive,” Tyberius continued before shoving a bite of the meat into his mouth.

“They tend to hunt in packs,” Valorie added, “and have been known to wipe out entire villages.”

“In fact, I believe there was a klekarak attack quite recently,” Lucian mused. “Vicious, bloodthirsty creatures that are nearly impossible to kill, but if you do manage to kill one, you will be rewarded with the most tender meat you have ever tasted.”

I stilled. “It was on the news last night,” I said. “The attack you mentioned.” Immediately, the gruesome images from last night’s news story came to my mind, and I shuddered.

Lucian seemed to ponder this for a moment. “And what did you think, Xaenovian?” he inquired. “Did you relish in seeing the dead Caetanians those beasts left behind?”

A lone fork suddenly hit the plate underneath it with a loud thud. It took me a moment to realize the noise was caused by Tyberius, and when I glanced over at him, he was visibly shaking.

Lucian raised an eyebrow. “Is something the matter, captain?”

“You’d have to be a true monster,” Tyberius said through gritted teeth, “to relish in that many deaths.”

Seeing those deaths and what these Caetanian cats were capable of wasn’t what unnerved me. After all, I’ve seen a lot of death and stolen plenty of lives myself in my lifetime. It was the fact those deaths were shown so casually on public Caetanian news that shocked me, but I didn’t dare let Tyberius know about my insensitivity to death, even though I technically didn’t relish in them like the king suggested.

The room soon fell into an uncomfortable silence as the meal went on. I took several bites of pastry, at first shocked when the bites practically melted in my mouth.

The rest of breakfast passed by uneventfully as the room descended into a multitude of conversation. The king and queen spoke quietly to one another about current Caetanian affairs, and Valorie resorted to prodding Tyberius about his latest missions. From listening to him speak, Tyberius seemed to have a pretty boring profession despite being the captain of the Caetanian royal guard. In fact, it seemed the royal guard was mainly confined to the castle, unlike Caetania’s military force, which seemed to be stationed at different locations on the planet. Yet, the way Tyberius described his endeavors made it seem like the most exciting job in the world.

Suddenly. I itched to know what Valorie would think if I told her my true occupation.

“Ms. Ferring?” As if on cue, Valorie’s eyes swiveled to me, her curiosity genuine. “What about your occupation? As a royal ambassador?”

Tyberius’s gaze also settled on me as if he were trying to burn a hole through my lies. Unfazed, I merely shrugged and said, “I hang around the castle all day, eat as much as I want, and hold meetings the king himself is too lazy to attend.”

Tyberius snorted and nearly choked on a piece of klekarak. In response, I smirked, and he immediately turned away.

Valorie’s gaze traveled to her hands. “Sometimes I wish I could see the entire galaxy, but Dad says it’s not safe. I especially would like to see Xaenov. Though preferably as a single woman and not attached to your prince’s hip.”

This time, Tyberius did choke on a piece of klekarak in a fit of laughter. I leaned towards Valorie and said, “We should stop lest we have a dead royal guardsman on our heads.”

Valorie instantly burst out laughing, and Tyberius shot me a glare. “Are you two gaining up on me?”

With a huge grin, I sat back in my chair and said, “Just trying to play the entitled Xaenovian card.” And also, perhaps, trying to get back at him for how he treated me earlier today.