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I pushed my chair back and grabbed my plate. "Thank you for fixing my plate, I think I will eat in my prison cell."
I rose and bathed in the sight of his diminishing, self-satisfied grin, which had proclaimed a victory just seconds ago. In my mind I padded myself on the shoulder, as he slowly seemed to deflate, pushed himself back to standing on the other side of the table and regarding me with a mix of amusement and surprise.
I nearly dropped my plate when the door opened and a siren slithered in. As it was, I took a step backward and held on to my plate as if it was a weapon I could use against her.
Her voluptuous breasts were barely contained by the largest seashells I had ever seen, bound around her like a bra. A lifting bra.
I didn't know much about sirens, the first real ones I had seen where when we passed the ruins of Attourna and in the harbor. The one entering was even more imposing then those. Taller, more beautiful with an aura of power around her that made me shrink back another step.
"I heard you were back, vissssigroth. Funny I ssought you would have ssent for me the moment you returned." The sound of her voice grated on me, made my ears hurt.
"Ah, Sarissa, my I introduce Niara of Horn to you. Niara, this is her royal highness, Queen Sarissa of the sirens."
Shit. Was I supposed to bow to that creature, whose hateful slitted pupils turned to me with a sneer.
"A human? Ah, Myless, you dissssappoint me."
Had I not been so frightened of her, I might have found her lisp amusing. As it was, it felt like cold claws raking down my spine.
She slithered to the table. "I didn't mean to interrupt your dinner."
Horrified I watched the tip of her tail move up Myles's leg.
"I… I was just about to leave," I stammered, glad to be able to excuse myself.
"A most conssiderate human," Sarissa lisped, the fingers of her right hand made shooing motions, "go then, Niara of the humanss. Make yourself sscarce."
Thankfully I hadn’t fully closed the door behind me when I entered Myles’s living chamber and was able to push it all the way open as I took one step at a time back to seek the shelter of my prison cell, kicking the door closed behind me and nearly dropping my plate. It took a few deep breaths to dispel the growing fear inside me.
I didn't know for sure what it was, but the siren's presence had been beyond awful, the very air around her had been a threat to me and I didn't even know why, but her hate for me—my kind—was palpable.
It wasn't even the death her eyes promised, I could have handled being threatened, no, there was more to it, like looking down a well and discovering the fires of hell, watching hands emerge to pull you down.
Patiently I waited the next morning for Niara to appear from her room, going mentally over last night. For a moment, I had her. She had been aroused by my presence, her pupils had dilated and I saw my own reflection in them. Something had happened though, even before Sarissa's arrival. For the life of me I couldn't figure out how Niara and I had gone from almost kissing to her retreating to her suite.
I went over that moment for hours last night and the next morning, analyzed and dissected it, but there was nothing, nothing, that gave me even a hint of why she had rejected me.
Servants arrived with the breakfast trays and my patience wore thin. If Niara wasn't about to come out, I would have to go get her. The day was slipping by and we had a lot of things to accomplish.
To my surprise the door to the seffies chambers was locked. Amused I suppressed a grin at her obstinacy and raised my hand to knock, just when it pulled open.
"Why did you lock your door?" I asked when she stared surprised at my raised fist.
She caught herself quickly though, "For the same reason you tried to enter," she countered, reminiscent of our earlier conversation yesterday. A chuckle escaped me.
"Are you afraid you would succumb to my charms?" I teased.
"Afraid?" She pretended to seriously consider my words, before she shook her head, "No. Worried I might not be able to fight you off."
That killed the chuckle in my chest, replacing slight amusement with outrage, "I have never and will never force myself upon an unwilling seffy."
She pushed by me, "I don't know you other than that you took me away from my home against my will, so you'll have to excuse me, if I'm not fully trusting you."
The little synn—cat—had claws and knew how to use them. I rubbed my chest to keep the churning anger at bay, it wouldn't help my position any if it erupted.
"Breakfast," I swiped my arm toward the loaded table, glad to be able to change the subject.
She had already been on her way and didn't pause at my words. Instead she claimed one of the pastries my chefs reserved for the first meal of the day.
