The ruthless assassin and his gentle prince

Chapter 2

Varian opened his eyes to find an adult leopard on the bed next to him. It was sitting on the bed watching him with unblinking eyes. It was wagging its tail slowly. The prince looked at him with curiosity. The cat's eyes were filled with curiosity too. It had to be a werecat. Not a real leopard. Varian could only guess. He reached to caress its head and the leopard watched his hand approach without moving. Varian was unsure if it was safe to touch it or not. He halted midway, afraid of startling the feline. The cat then ignored his hand and reached to lick its paw. Varian took a deep breath and touched its head slowly with his fingers. The cat stopped to lick its paw and rubbed its head against Varian's hand. The prince grinned. And he confidently stroked the cat.

"Behind the ears too.", Varian heard a voice said in his head. He raised his head, astonished. Who just spoke to him? "Rub behind the ears too, hooman.", the voice ordered Varian again. The prince looked at the big cat sitting in front of him. "You just spoke to me right now?", he said to the feline. The latter moved its head to place Varian's hand near his ears and Varian started to rub behind its ears for real. The cat purred, very content. Varian too was feeling relaxed. They were in their own special world until someone came inside and the leopard raised its head lazily at the intruder. "You are lazing off here?", said the man who opened the door. He was very muscled and was looking very serious. He frowned at the cat and said: "From whom are you guarding him then? From us? Don't lie to me. You were lazing off here without anyone's knowledge." The cat got up and jumped out of the bed. Varian was watching it standing on its four legs and as he blinked his eyes, a naked human was now standing at the place of the cat. 

Varian was right then. It was a werecat. The latter turned to look at Varian and said: "Hello, I am Kitty. But you can call me Panthera aka bombman for business purposes." That voice. He was one of the men who came to rescue him. Varian shook his hand and said: "I am -" "Ohhh we know who you are. We know everything about you. I mean come on, you are so famous." Varian blushed at this and lowered his head. He instantly blushed even more. Kit laughed. "I am sorry, I have always the habit to walk naked after a shift. K, please." K rolled his eyes and waved his hand. Kitty was instantly clothed and he said: "Thanks man, so why can't you let me have a nap peacefully?" "Because your darling is looking for you.", said K with sarcasm, smirking. "Wait, Ming is back already?", groaned Kitty. "There goes my peace.", he said sadly. 

"KITKAT!!", someone shouted as he opened the door. And Kitty sighed. Whoosh! Varian saw someone running to hug the werecat. The latter was backing away, shouting: "Don't touch me or I swear I will explode your face! You stink you dog" The person wisely stopped approaching Kitty and said while pouting: "But I missed you so much!! And I don't stink!!" K was looking very amused at their bickering and then he moved towards Varian: "Hello I am K. Please follow me, Adrestia wants to talk to you." Varian nodded and got up to follow K. Adrestia wanted to meet him? He was at same time very happy to find his rescuer but also apprehended the moment of meeting him again. K opened a door and said: "After you." He let Varian enter the big chamber first. The prince looked around. Woah. 

There was a big, oval table in the middle. Adrestia was sitting at the head of the table, the power seat. And he was looking straight at Varian. Ohh, he might be wearing that big mask but Varian could feel his hot stare, just like the first night they had met. Varian slightly shook his head to focus and turned to watch the others sitting around the table. To Adrestia's immediate right was a man sitting. The same man who came along to rescue him, Varian thought. The mask was the same. To Adrestia's immediate left was an empty chair which was soon occupied by K. And there was four more persons seated to the left. The same thing for the right side too as Kitty and Ming joined them. Kitty smiled at him and Adrestia said in an indifferent voice: "Please have a seat."

The only place to sit was opposite to Adrestia at the end of the table. He went there and sat down. Adrestia got up and started to pace the floor. "We have phoned the king who has asked for your rescue from those kidnappers. When we phoned him to let him know that our mission was successful, he asked for a video call." It was then that Varian noticed that behind the table, behing Adrestia's chair, there were another four persons sitting. They had been waiting for Adrestia's signal to place the video call. And within seconds, the King's face appeared on the hologram. He looked concerned. There was a light focusing only on Varian. The members and Adrestia were in the dark. Varian could see them but he doubted the king could see them. Adrestia spoke: "As promised, here is the prince." Varian smiled, relieved to see his father. The king asked him if he was okay and he nodded. He then said: "I am perfectly fine." It was then that the king sighed, relieved. The word "perfectly" was Varian's code to the king that he was truly fine and that he was not being threatened to say so. Since his kidnapping when he was little, Varian had been taught several code names and words that would enable him to communicate to his father.