When Varya woke up, the room was light again and she had to blink a few times in order to get used to it. She was facing where Prince Basileus slept the night before, but he was no longer in the bed. Wondering where he went, she sat up and looked around, noticing the bathroom door in the corner was open.
Soon, the prince emerged. Today he was wearing armor over his navy blue suit. It was some kind of white metal with gold and red details. The style was still reminiscent of Ancient Greece like the others, but his was colored differently and had the same royal insignia as the one she saw before. The epaulets on the shoulders were ornate with gold threads throughout. Overall, his armor was more decorated than others she had seen so far. He even had a dark red cape attached to the armor. The armor made him seem more tough, but he also looked more handsome and prince-like to Varya.
Prince Basileus pulled white leather gloves with gold stitching onto his hands and he began speaking. "We're almost to Emperor Kruos's home planet, Planet Ptoma. My permanent residence is in the palace," he explained. He glanced at her then added, "From my understanding, you will still be staying with me."
He mentioned the last part when Varya gave him a questioning look. For a moment, he thought she looked insecure, but she quickly covered it up again. He didn't understand his need to assuage her fears, but perhaps it would be more pleasant to coexist with her if she was comfortable.
What he didn't realize, however, was that her insecure look was from the dread that settled in her chest. It turned out they were nowhere near Earth. Humans had barely made it into space while the aliens around her were traveling through it effortlessly. She wanted to get her hands on the alien technology so she could go back to Earth, but there was no way for her to do that with everyone around her controlling her actions.
Varya got up and stretched. Her hair had dried while she slept and she could only imagine what it looked like. She walked to the foot of the bed and sat down, pulling on her boots.
Not knowing when they were going to get there, she decided she should quickly fix her appearance as best as she could. As she stood up and went into the bathroom Basileus had just exited, she noticed it was foggy from what she assumed was his shower.
Cleaning off the mirror with her towel from last night, she looked at her appearance. Her face seemed thinner. She was definitely hungry. Her hair wasn't quite as awful as she expected, but she still wasn't completely happy with it. She washed her face with water from the sink then used water to smooth her hair and fix her bangs so they sat correctly on her forehead. In an effort to look more presentable, she began braiding the top half of her hair, not brushing it through so it would create a knot at the bottom, enough to tuck under and secure the hair in place.
Varya turned on the sink once more and drank water. She also sloshed it around in her mouth and spit it out. It would have to do for now without a proper toothbrush.
Finally satisfied with her appearance, she exited the bathroom to find Prince Basileus standing in front of an open wall panel. It seemed to be a closet with other pieces of armor in it.
He picked up a small chest plate that was white and gold. The part worn on the back was white leather and the front was the same white metal as the one he was wearing. It wasn't quite as detailed as his, but there were similarities. It had the royal crest on the left side of the chest and underneath the bust was some kind of red gemstone set into the metal and surrounded in gold.
Basileus turned to Varya and held up the armor to her. "Put this on."
She wasn't going to question him. It would at least cover up her cleavage.
He continued speaking, "The emperor's home planet is one of the most dangerous places in the universe with very few laws. I would suggest wearing this until we get to my residence."
What he didn't say was that Emperor Kruos sent him a communication while Varya was sleeping saying that he would be severely punished and stripped of rank if something were to happen to her.
She grabbed the armor from him, expecting it to be heavy, but it was lightweight despite the metal nature of the material it was made from. It seemed simple enough to put on. Once over her shoulders, it went to the curve of her waist. Surprisingly, it fit her chest and seemed to form correctly to her body. She tied the loose leather string on her right side so it stayed in place.
"It's what Basilian women from my planet wore," he stated, simply - not giving her any clues that it was his mother's armor before she met her fate.
"It's so light," Varya commented and lifted her arms, testing out the flexibility.
Basileus' eyebrows raised as he watched her. Wordlessly, he went to the closet and grabbed two more pieces of metal armor.
"For your wrists," he said and handed them to her as well.
She could pull them over her wrists, but they were loose and falling off.
Without asking, he grabbed one of her wrists and turned it over, holding onto a white leather strap underneath and pulling it so the armor tightened. He did the same to the other one.
"You have small wrists," he commented.
Just as he let go of her, the door to their room slid open and Varya stepped behind Basileus as he turned to see who was there.
"We're now on Planet Ptoma," Kruos stated simply. "Don't you worry. You'll still be sharing quarters."
Varya noticed Kruos was acting more professional today. His eyes didn't even scan over her body like they had before.
Kruos had decorated armor of his own, but his colors were white with black and purple details. He had a black cape that nearly went to the floor and white fur hung around his neck. His own crest was geometric. It reminded Varya of ice.
Basileus and Varya followed Kruos in silence after they left the room. The tyrant stopped and opened a side door revealing his right hand man, Ebari, who was also adorned more today. He walked out of the room and gave a small bow to the emperor.
Kruos turned around and smirked at Basileus before he disappeared behind the door as it closed.
"Servants will take your things back to your quarters, prince," Ebari said with no emotion.
The trio went down the empty corridors of the ship until they exited into a long, glass tunnel giving a view of the planet they were on. The temperature inside the tunnel was comfortable, but outside of the glass it looked unlike anything she had ever seen. Snow fell wildly from all directions. There was low visibility, but from what she could see, they were on a giant, bright blue glacier. Just looking at it made Varya shiver. She wondered what the temperature was outside.
In the distance, there were other pods on the ice containing buildings like the one they were headed towards. The technology was unbelievable. It made her heart feel heavy that she couldn't take a picture for her dad. He would have loved this.
Her sadness distracted her for a moment, but when realization struck her, she turned to see if Ebari or Basileus were also looking out the windows. Unfortunately, she saw them at the far end of the tunnel, making their way towards sliding doors.
Varya had to break out into a full run in order to catch up with them. Basileus shot her a disapproving look, but never said a word in the company of Ebari.
For being beaten and bloody only hours before, Varya thought Basileus was following Ebari quite fearlessly. Even looking at his straight posture and arrogant expression as he walked, no one would ever guess anything was wrong. It surprised Varya that his black eye was hardly noticeable anymore. He healed very quickly.
Again, Varya was distracted by the architecture around her. They made it through the extremely large sliding doors and the building they walked towards seemed out of place. In front of them was an ancient castle bigger than any she had ever seen. It looked sturdy, having stood the test of time for what she thought was probably hundreds if not thousands of years. The walkways around it were stone and there were gardens beyond that. It was a stark difference from the winter that was raging outside and the large glacier they were currently over.
Having a feeling she was going to be here for a long time, she had to contain her curiosity and decided to stay close to Basileus. More and more warrior-looking aliens were appearing around them the closer they got to the castle.
As they walked, aliens would stop what they were doing and bow in respect. It caused Varya's eyes to widen. She tried to remain calm and walk with straight posture so onlookers would feel she belonged to the group.
They made it into the large wooden door of the castle, but it slid open like doors on the spaceship, completely breaking the illusion the castle was from an ancient time. The first room they made it through was a large, modern receiving room. The ceiling glowed, lighting up the room and there were many metal-looking fixtures. The walls weren't brick as expected, but sleek and stark white. The furniture matched. She felt like she was walking into a space age film.
Ebari led them to a large hall on the left lined with windows where she could peek out and see aliens walking by on the old pathways. She could even see foliage. To their right, another door slid open when Basileus put his hand on a panel next to it.
The prince turned his head and narrowed his eyes at Ebari. "You can leave now."
Ebari simply bowed his head and said, "Yes, prince." However, before he could walk away, his eyes met Varya's and he gave her a grim look. It occurred to him he may never see her again if the cruelties of this place got to her. All he could do was turn away and walk down the hall in a different direction.
Prince Basileus looked over Varya, his displeasure covering up his curiosity. Why was Ebari acting so familiar with her?
He turned away from her and motioned for her to follow him into the small room, but upon entry, Varya recognized it to be an elevator.
"You live here?" She asked as she watched him select where they were going to go.
"Unfortunately, I do," he said. His tone was bored and he didn't give any other clues to their current location.
Varya felt the elevator move up, but she couldn't tell how fast they were going. As the door slid open once more her heart nearly stopped when she realized they were probably ten floors up and a large window greeted them. She ran forward and gazed outside. Her blue eyes widened and she couldn't help staring in amazement at the vastness beyond the glass of the dome.
"Kruos is from this place?" She turned back to Basileus and asked.
"You should get into the habit of calling him emperor or lord," Prince Basileus said, his voice becoming stern. "Yes. That bastard is from this icy hell of a planet. His race, the Ptomans, do well in cold environments. He quickly realized his prisoners wouldn't survive in the climate and captured a planet of beings who could build the glass enclosures for him." Basileus didn't hide the disgust from his voice for even a moment.
"What about this castle?" Varya asked, dying to know more.
However, the question caused an indescribable expression to appear on the prince's face. It was quickly covered by a frown.
"Enough questions," he raised his gloved hand at her, not willing to elaborate any further and began walking to the left down the hallway, leaving her to follow him if she decided to, but also giving her no choice because of how dangerous he said the planet was.