The Crown's Entrapment

Walking through the halls, Darius first made his way to see his mother before going to the great hall. Asking around, one of her servants had informed him that his mother was in the castle's inner courtyard, so he walked straight towards there. Upon seeing his mother, he smiled as he saw her tending to her personal garden in the castle courtyard.

"Hmm... If you keep this up, I'm afraid that our dull stronghold of a castle will eventually turn as colorful as the other castles from other kingdoms such as Ebodia," Darius cheekily commented. Their castle was way larger compared to Ebodia's, but in terms of what you would call beauty and aesthetics, then Cordon Castle definitely fell behind in that regard.

"I see you've come to like your first visit to Ebodia Castle," Queen Mother Savannah commented with a smile as she quickly turned around to accept the warm hug her son offered to her. "I'm glad you're finally back. However, this is quite a sudden visit, my dear. Aren't you supposed to stay out in the front lines? The war has yet to begin, right?"

"Something unexpected happened, so I had to return and stay here with my mate for the foreseeable future," Darius promptly explained. "She'll stay under our protection till our wedding. This is what his brother and I wanted. I will keep her safe here, and let her get more familiar with our kingdom and its customs. She's to become my Queen soon, and I want everyone to know her well."

There was silence for but a moment, and he could already tell what was amiss just from looking at his mother's expression.

"Xen is an exceptional woman, and I'm sure you'll like her," Darius directly stated. "I love her, and she's the only one for me."

"You are aware that it won't be as easy as you think it is, right? She's human, Darius, and she will need to prove herself worthy of this union..." his mother reminded him.

"Or else, the court will refuse to honor your wedding. And that's on top of the opposition that will most likely take advantage of this opportunity to hold it against you. Even though she's your mate, you still have to consider the royal tradition in choosing a Queen for our kingdom to prosper. You need a Luna, and she won't be considered as one since she's a human... Well, unless she passed The Five Trials, at least."

Darius's face dimmed at his mother's words. Of course, he was aware of it, but as of now, he wasn't sure if Xenia was even willing to take part in those trials. He was hoping that his power as king alone would be enough to make Xen his Queen without her undergoing such trials, but there will always be a snag in such a plan, wasn't there...

"All I need is to get the court's blessing and approval. Right, Mother?" Darius asked. "If so, then I plan on doing it."

"That won't be easy, Darius. You have a lot of opposition amongst the court," his mother pointed out.

"I know, Mother, but I have to try. I don't want any harm to befall on Xen while she's here," Darius determinedly stated. Taking a short breath, he didn't take long before he said, "I have to go and attend the court meeting now, Mother. We'll meet later. I'll throw a special dinner to formally introduce Xen to you and to the court."

"Oh? I'll see to that personally then, dear. It's been a while since we had a small gathering," the Queen Mother excitedly smiled. "Hmm... How about you postpone it till tomorrow night? You'll be very busy right now since you just came back. Tomorrow night, I'll arrange a ball for you and your mate."

"Hmm... That would be great, Mother, but a ball is far from what I have in mind," Darius thoughtfully hummed. "My mate probably won't enjoy thinking about how her family is currently facing war. That is why I only instructed for a simple dinner with you and the court tonight."

In truth, he would've loved to throw a party for Xen's arrival if he knew that it would be something that his mate would enjoy. But knowing her enough, he knew that Xen would probably detest such a thing being thrown in her honor.

"Alright, Son. I understand." his mother replied. "See you later."

Giving his mother one last nod, Darius soon left to walk towards the great hall. As he arrived at the door, his Chancellor, Talon, Bartos's father, was already in the hallway waiting for him.

"Chancellor," Darius politely greeted. "Why are you still outside? I told you not to wait for me like this in every court meeting."

Chancellor Talon was like a father to Darius. He was the former Great Constable, the one that Gilas replaced once he came to power. Seeing his credentials, however, Darius appointed the man as his Chancellor.

His Chancellor chuckled at his words. Darius loved to see the old man's free-spirited nature. He was someone who loved to smile and laugh, a complete opposite of his son Bartos in terms of characteristics. It was only unfortunate, that one of his most trusted men didn't inherit the man's jovial nature.

"Ah, I'm not even sure why I keep doing this, but I do feel like I have to every time you enter the Great Hall," the old man chuckled. "I always have to remind you to take a deep breath and calm yourself before entering."

Darius chuckled at the man's words. Chancellor Talon, as always, acted as one of his calming pills, especially whenever he wasn't in a good mood because of the opposition or any stressful event he needed to address inside the great hall.

"Thank you, Chancellor Talon," Darius nodded with a grateful smile. "You can go inside now. I'll be following you shortly."

Seeing the old man enter ahead of him, Darius kept himself at bay before he gathered his composure. With a small breath, he then entered the great hall.

As usual, everyone was already inside waiting for him. He entered with a calm expression as he walked the aisle towards his seat and throne. Everyone had their heads bowed low as they waited for him to sit on his appointed throne.

Once he was firmly seated, he gave out his signal for everyone to raise their heads.

"Welcome back, Your Majesty," Elder Nassar greeted him with his usual poker face. "This is quite sudden though. You didn't even say as much as a single word so that we can properly give you a warm welcome."

Darius simply nodded as he replied, "It was an emergency, so understandably, I had no time to send out a lengthy message. As you all know, I am with my mate, and she'll be staying here for the foreseeable future while we wait for our marriage to take place in twenty more days if my calculations are correct."

He then firmly added, "She will be my Queen, so I want you to treat her as such."

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