99.

-HER-

I eyed the snow leopard sitting outside the kitchen while Celeste made tea for us. Her back was facing me, giving me a better opportunity to stare at her. She was really tall and slender. Her blond hair was currently in a bun high on her head.

Her back of the neck was exposed to me and it was for the first time when I noticed the tattoo or whatever it was on the back of her neck. A 'W' was drawn from where her hairline ended on the back of her neck. It was filled from the inside with silver. The silver stood out very regally against her dark skin. There was something about it which screamed power and grace all at once.

“What’s that on the back of your neck?” I couldn’t help but ask. At this, she looked over her shoulder before bringing the teacups and the kettle to the small kitchen table.

“That’s just a tattoo,” She shrugged as she poured us some tea.

“Sugar?” She asked and I nodded. She prepared my cup before handing it to me. She set her cup down before walking to the kitchen cupboard and taking out a tin can from there. I heard a purring noise outside the kitchen as Celeste opened the can.

I looked at the snow leopard who was pacing excitedly as Celeste set down the tin can in front of him. He instantly buried his face in the can and started devouring whatever was in it. Celeste smiled at the creature before walking back to the table and taking a seat.

An awkward silence occupied the kitchen as we drank our tea. I wanted to talk to her a lot but I didn’t know where to start from.

“So, what happened after we were exiled?” I started by asking her awkwardly.

“Nothing much really. Just the security has been a lot tighter than before but yes, Ares was missed by everyone,” She answered before she asked, “And what happened in the exile?”

“Well, it was rough. I am glad it ended early but I don’t like the consequences,” I told her and she nodded. We talked some more before she showed me around the place. I returned to Ares’ wing in the evening. It was completely empty, again reminding me of his absence.

I spent the rest of the evening in his room before falling asleep. Next day, I was being awakened by Celeste. She had come into Ares’ wing to wake me up very early in the morning. The sun hadn’t even risen yet.

I dragged myself out of the bed before getting ready for the training. She took me to this place behind the palace. It seemed like an abandoned village.

She first asked me how much I knew about fighting and stuff. I told and showed her all the things I had learnt when in Alexandria. She listened to me patiently with her hands crossed over her chest.

“Today I will test how good you are at spotting trouble and your skills in hand combat,” She told me as she led me deeper into the abandoned village. All the houses there were either falling apart or being crushed by the heavy snow.

At some places, the snow was thick and soft enough to swallow a person.

“What are you good with?” She asked me. I shrugged and told her, “I can use all the weapons,” She shook her head before pressing, “What are you really comfortable with?”

I was clueless so she ended up handing me a bunch of daggers and started to walk back.

“You are not alone here,” She told me before disappearing behind a fallen house. I stared at the place where she disappeared before I started to head there. The feeling of being watched instantly started to crawl on my skin.

I started walking faster and when I rounded the fallen house, Celeste wasn’t there and neither was her footprints on the snow. It bewildered me for a moment but I kept walking around the place. Even though it was deserted, I could feel how I was being watched.

I took out a dagger from the bunch and held it tight as I started to walk deeper into the village. I dropped my guard and let my old self come back to me. I wanted to be Psaltisi at that moment, not Arsinoe.

I soon heard footsteps behind me but I kept walking like I didn’t hear them at all. I closed my eyes and kept walking. I listened very closely and tried to locate the footsteps according to the direction of the wind. I took a deep breath and threw the dagger in the direction opposite to which the wind was blowing.

I heard my dagger hit something and I opened my eyes to look at it. It was a man dressed completely in black. He was standing between two houses with my dagger sticking on his chest. He simply took it out and raised his hands in the air and walked out of his cover.

I continued with this process until ten more wolves were out of their cover. I now had to find Celeste. I tried listening very calmly and tried all the methods but still, I got no clue about her. Even though I felt her eyes burning into my skin, I couldn’t really see her anywhere.

I walked deeper into the village where the houses were in a much worse condition. All of a sudden, something jumped on me from the side and I was being pinned to the ground. I struggled and tried to fight her back but her strength was unmatchable.

I punched her a couple of times on the face but it didn’t have any effect on her. Instead, she continued choking me while I struggled against the snow. When it got really hard for me to breathe, she let me go and stood up before helping me up as well.

I gasped for breath as she rubbed my back and commented, “You are good at spotting trouble. I think you can get even better if I teach you some more tricks but you suck at hand combat,”

I found a moment and tried to attack her while she was talking but she took me down without even putting much effort.

“You need to learn a lot about hand combat,” She commented while I clatched my breath. I felt tired all of a sudden even though we hadn’t done anything that extensive.

“You’re really good,” I couldn’t help but comment as we walked out of the abandoned village. The wolves whom I had spotted earlier were now gone, “It’s a shame that the lycans didn’t let you participate in their camp,”

“Let’s not talk about that,” She muttered. I thought it was a very good moment to bring this matter up because I really wanted to know.

“Why not?” I pressed. “Ezekyle is a bitch, he-“

“No,” She simply shook her head. Dismissing the subject of our discussion but I didn’t feel like giving up this easily.

“Why? You can talk to me about it like you did last time,” I told her very gently, “I swear I will not tell anyone,”

At this, her eyes softened for a fraction of second before she looked away and said nothing. I didn’t know what that meant. I tried to talk to her more but she kept quiet. Next, she led me to a training room indoor to teach me some combat skills.

“Damn, you choking me like I am Ezekyle,” I commented when she left me go after demonstrating a chokehold. She kept a straight face throughout the training and continued teaching me things despite my comments.

“That’s all for today,” She told me as we wrapped up, “Go to the wing and get ready for today’s court session. After that, the queen will see you,” She told me grimly.

“Who do you see me as, Celeste?” I asked her as I followed her out of that training room. She glanced at me once before answering, “Ares’ mate and our future queen,”

“Before that can’t I be your friend?” I asked her. I had to jog to keep up with her huge steps. The day had barely started but I was already tired. I wanted to go back to the wing and sleep but I knew that I couldn’t risk doing that.

“Why do you want to be my friend?” She asked.

“I like you,” I told her, “I liked you ever since my time in the prison. You are fascinating and I definitely look up to you,” She stopped and looked down at me, “Literally,” I shrugged, tilting my head back slightly to look up at her.

“Okay,” She muttered before heading to her wing but I followed her, “So are we friends?” I chirped.

“Okay,” She nodded over her shoulder before disappearing behind the doors to her wing. I headed back to Ares’ wing feeling tired and sick.