"Do smile politely." Cyra stepped in for her mother. "Do say thank you for whatever is offered. Do control your mouth, and by that I mean, eat less. Do keep your eyes off the king, no matter how dashing he looks. And if you do stare for longer than what the queen thinks is appropriate, pray she doesn't decide to test her teeth on you."
Sienna gulped.
Meanwhile, on the deck of the flying ship, Elias was waiting. His clawed fingers tapped against the rails, a single tail flicking with irritation.
"Non beast women," he muttered. "Always late. Always fussing. The King will make a joke about me having married a snail."
Timothy coughed politely, hiding a laugh. "My lord, perhaps she is nervous."
"Nervousness is for prey," Elias replied. "She is my wife, what does she have to be nervous about? She must learn to stride into the palace as though we own it."
Timothy wisely said nothing. In his mind, however, he thought, And this is why the beast king does not like you.
Finally, Sienna emerged. The bottom half of her hair falling like a chandelier and the upper part divided to mimic fox ears. Her gown shimmered like the surface of the sea in the night. Cyra fluttered around her, adjusting the hem and muttering last minute advise.
Lady Cadelaria followed from the back, yelling for Sienna to bring back the pan she was swinging in her hands.
Elias raised an eyebrow. "At last. I thought I would need to have you rolled out."
Sienna glared. "Do you have any idea how hard it is for prepare for tea with a lion queen?"
"Yes," he said coolly. "That was part of our marriage agreement. To endure the impossible."
This was the second statement of the day that Sienna wasn't sure counted as a compliment or an insult. But, she climbed aboard the ship and it set off.
Elias was conveniently kept in the pilot's cabin all through the flight, leaving her to watch a movie and talk to Kroton and Shalin that had offered to escort and keep an eye on her. Sienna was very fine with the arrangement.
Her nerves quietened down until the view of the palace came closer. It was a towering structure carved from ivory stone, painted with images of the different beast men species. Flying beast guards circled the sky above and others lined the entrance--wolves, tigers, panthers, foxes.
All of them bowed respectfully when they saw Elias. Sienna almost bowed back, but Elias caught her neck from the back, stopping her in time.
Sienna recalled Cyra warning her that Elias would kill her. The cause would probably be embarrassment. "I wanted to lift my dress, the hem was about to trip me." She lied.
Elias let go.
They were led to the doors of the royal hall. Just as they were about to head inside, the doors were opened and the Queen walked out. An army of ten servants was on her tail, flanked by ten beast guards.
Sienna got a close look at the beast woman. She was slender, her face looked delicate and her teeth which were exposed through the open smile were normal. Her eyes were soft, not sharp and deadly. like Sienna had expected.
"Ah, my guest is here." She nodded at Sienna. "Come with me, bride of the fox lord. Let us have a talk in person."
Sienna looked at Elias. A private talk had not been on the menu.
He nodded. But glanced at Shalin and Kroton. His command for them to stick to his wife was silent but sharp.
Sienna was about to step forward when his hand seized her wrist. "I request for a moment your highness," he said.
The queen nodded.
Elias pulled Sienna away, ten feet away from the queen and her people. He pushed her against the marble wall. His lips hovered dangerously close to her ear, his breath warm, his tone icy.
"Hand them over," he whispered.
Sienna blinked. "Hand what over?"
"The weapons you've hidden. I can smell steel. My mother may have taken your pan but you are not unarmed. The guards around the queen will not tolerate an armed guest around her and they will kill first and explain later. If she is attacked by anything or anyone, they will assume you have a hand in it just because you are armed."
Sienna sputtered. "They're just...precautionary! Your sister kept going on and on about the queen's deadly teeth. I had to bring something to protect myself. It's just one butter knife, a sewing pin, and---fine---a teeth file. You never know when a lion's teeth might need contouring." She had to move around, wiggling slowly as she retrieved them from her blossom.
Elias did not trust her words. He knew she was carrying more than she had admitted to. But he did not want others to see or know what they were up to so he used his tail as a shield.
To the onlookers, however, the scene looked scandalously intimate. The fox lord's body pressed close, his tail curled around Sienna's waist as he frisked her with ruthless efficiency, her wiggling as if he was tickling her!
The courtiers who were coming out from a meeting with the king gasped. A wolf guard covered his eyes. The king's uncle covered his six year old daughter's eyes. Even Queen Serenya arched a brow and chuckled. "Oh my!"
The beast king happened to step out t the moment. "Right in my hallway, just a few feet away my throne! You two are very bold."
Sienna's cheeks burned crimson. "It's not what it looks like."
Elias ignored her protests, plucking a fork from her sleeve with surgical precision. "You'll thank me later," he murmured, sliding it into one of his pockets. "Now you can follow her, completely unarmed or you'll insult her. If you are in danger give me a call and I will come to you."
"Elias, you are ridiculous." The beast king rolled his eyes, while taking pictures of the couple. "I thought it was odd when you married a non beast woman but I never thought I would ever see you pawing at her like a lovesick cub."
They all burst into laughter. Sienna wanted to sink into the floor. Elias' ears twitched, but his expression remained glacial. "Show me a beast man that paws his wife more than you." He turned to the king. "With all due respect, your highness. I am just learning from the best."
The king snorted.
Queen Serenya's eyes gleamed with amusement, "Come Sienna, let's have some tea to cool you off."