Selene ceased her breath.
She practically felt life slipping away from her body as she stayed glued to the dark wall, unmoving.
She couldn't breathe…she couldn't even move an inch.
Then she closed her eyes in horror and waited for her fate.
If she was caught, would Lord Dain bother to submit her to King Khael or would he unleash his cruelty on her?
Selene figured that no one else in the kingdom, including the noble had the power to execute or take possession of any human without the king's order or permission, but she couldn't be so sure anymore.
She was in an unfamiliar and forbidden territory where she shouldn't have been.
Even if Lord Dain submitted her to King Khael, would he still keep her trapped in his chamber as his possession or infuse a permanent decision on her?
Selene's eyes were still closed, but she could feel the presence of the warrior drawing closer.
Searching.
Selene had never had her breath ceased for this long and she feared that she might collapse; not out of breath shortage, but of shock and dread.
Why did she move her foot?
Zana inched closer.
She could feel him. She could smell him.
She was in the dark, but what if Zana's nose was just as sensitive as Selene's?
Selene waited dreadfully, and Zana seemed to linger close to her, as though he was contemplating if he sensed her there or actually look closely into the dark.
Then abruptly, he turned and walked back to Lord Dain.
"There is no one here," he reported firmly.
"Did you shut the door when you came in?" Lord Dian asked.
He didn't seem to believe Zana and he sounded slightly worried, but he didn't make any move to do a thorough search himself. Selene was sure that if it was Lord Dain, he would find her in a bit.
"Yes, I did," Zana answered confidently.
He was lying.
Selene came in way too easily. In fact, she hadn't known that a door was there.
Lord Dain stayed quiet for a few minutes, and Selene wondered what was running through his mind. However, she wasn't stupid enough to continue standing there and wondering.
This was her chance to leave and escape this peril.
Selene only hoped that she would not encounter any noisy object.
Just as she had come, she tiptoed quietly, retracing her steps. Selene was fast and calculative enough to know just how to walk back out without missing her step.
"Go and check the door, Zana, and ensure that it is tightly locked; I don't want any mistakes," Lord Dain ordered Zana.
His voice was loud enough for Selene to hear even though she had already walked away from them.
"Yes, Lord Dain," Zana answered dutifully.
Selene was close to the door now, but compared to how Zana would match towards the door, she doubted that she would be able to make it out of his domain without being caught. There was darkness by the door, so Selene knew that there was somewhere to hide.
Just in case.
However, the dreadful feeling of being locked in Lord Dain's domain captured her, almost making her to lose her breath again.
Zana would get to the door and see that he was mistaken about shutting it, and he would go ahead to do just that, which would automatically lead to Selene being trapped in the domain.
To Selene, that was even a worse fate.
When she sneaked out of King Khael's chamber, it was to escape and not to find herself snooping around and eavesdropping. If she didn't allow her curiosity to get the better of her, she wouldn't be in this situation.
She drew close to the door as Zana drew closer to both her and the door.
Selene was very close.
When she got to the door first, Selene crossed her mind and took one long leap out of the domain and into the dark passage. It was either now or never. It was either the risk of leaping or getting locked in.
In a split second after Selene got her landing after she leaped, she heard Zana shutting the door tightly.
"That was close," Selene released the breath she was holding.
She was a little shaky, and she knew that she couldn't continue to a path unknown, so she turned and began to walk tiptoe back to Khael's chamber.
However, Selene could not stop her mind from thinking about the brief conversation that she had overheard.
Zana was one of King Khael's closest warriors. He was always stationed around his chamber and inner-court while Lord Dain was a respectable and feared noble.
Yet, those two were plotting against Khael.
They would obviously continue with the conversation and probably make plans on how to go about it, which Selene would love to find out about, but she had already missed that chance, and it was for her own good.
The thought continued to nag at her.
"Should I tell Khael?" Selene asked herself.
She was torn between what she now knew and how to handle it. If she didn't know about it, she wouldn't be bothered.
War was coming, which was another thing that she discovered from her little risky venture out of his chamber. At least now, Selene understood that war meant that the clouds were gathering.
King Khael had a burden on his shoulders already, and somewhere deep inside of Selene, she felt sympathetic for him; while he was trying to make do with the information from the high priestess, his own noble lord was having a secret meeting with his warrior.
Selene was still contemplating whether or not to tell King Khael.
It shouldn't be any of her concern, being that the humans and the Xyioms had been enemies for decades upon decades, but still, she felt that he ought to know.
Selene was so engrossed in her thought that she didn't bother to look carefully if there were two guards by Khael's inner chamber. She only had to carefully sneak back into Khael's chamber like she never left.
"Where did you go?"
That was Khael's
inquisitive and firm voice and Selene jumped in shock.