The Crown's Entrapment

In reality, Xenia was honestly nervous as she walked into the room, but she kept it all to herself as she comfortably accepted Darius's hand. Feeling him kiss her hand in a gentlemanly fashion, the blush on her face only made it harder for her to keep her stoicism intact.

"Your hand is cold," Darius whispered into her ear, giving her that same tingling sensation that was more than enough to override the chills in her body and turn it into heat.

Xenia could only stand still as Darius firmly held her hand not minding the eyes around them as he kept his closeness. Despite this, Xenia tried her best not to show her nervousness as she gave a confident countenance as the Princess of Ebodia.

She let him lead her to her seat and she was quite surprised that she would sit behind him without so much as an inch of space separating them. She looked at him, and somehow, something deep within her tinged at seeing how he seemed overwhelmed.

"Everyone, please meet my mate; Princess Xenia of Ebodia, your future Queen," Darius stated.

Once again, Xenia was speechless, but she was still in her right mind to react and give a slight bow to everyone present. Darius then introduced her to everyone in a more intimate manner, and she settled into a rhythm of exchanging the usual courtesy. She had her usual smile ready for everyone, a talent any noble had in their arsenal.

Darius also introduced her to his ranking officials, which included Clara as one of the King's Commander. The woman gave her a warm smile, and Xenia couldn't help but wonder if it was genuine or not. Nevertheless, she had no plans of putting her guard down anyway.

Still, Xenia supposed that Clara was a beauty, but not to the point that she would feel any lesser compared to her in terms of physical appearance. Inwardly, she thanked her parents for giving her such good genetics and facial features like her siblings.

***

The dinner went well. Before long, one of the Elders, whom Xenia identified as Nassar, stood up from his chair and proposed a toast.

"To our future lady consort," Nassar declared with a raised cup to everyone present. "We humbly welcome you, Princess Xenia, to our Kingdom!"

"She's not a lady consort, Elder Nassar," Darius suddenly interrupted. "How many times do I have to repeat that she will be my Queen?"

Noting the sudden interruption, Xenia turned to Darius and gulped upon seeing how dark the king's expression was. This was formally her first day of meeting everyone in Cordon, and Xenia really didn't want to have any trouble happening at this dinner because of her.

"But Your Majesty, like we've always said before, we need to follow our traditions and customs," Nassar insisted. "Breaking such things would give misfortune to our Kingdom. We can't possibly say that she will be our future Queen unless she is willing to accept and undergo The Five Trials to become Queen."

Xenia frowned at what she was hearing. It seemed to her that this Elder was purposefully provoking Darius by opening this issue during dinner. She was well aware of how different a given political system could be for any given Kingdom. Some kingdoms aren't completely united, and Cordon fell into this category with how massive Cordon's territory was, along with its numerous packs that each held their own sphere of influence within the kingdom.

Xenia subconsciously found herself holding Darius's hand on the table upon seeing how his knuckles were turning white. Turning to him with a reassuring smile, she gave him a small nod. It was a gesture that wasn't missed by everyone, especially the Queen Mother.

She then turned to Elder Nassar and spoke. "Elder Nassar, should it pacify your concerns, please know that I, the Princess of Ebodia, will not skip The Five Trials..." she firmly declared. "So please look forward to it, because I will be your future Queen, King Darius's mate, and his only woman. The Queen of Cordon."

At her strong showing, Darius turned to Xen, his eyes blinking several times, wondering if he had heard her correctly. He then looked back at his subjects and saw the surprised look on their faces. Nassar, in particular, became speechless as Xenia's words rang across the room. Inwardly, a part of Darius was already rejoicing at how his mate verbally slapped Elder Nassar with her words.

[Lucky you! Xen sounds like she's decided to be your Queen,] Zeus snapped him out of his senses with its words. [She's even willing to undergo The Five Trials.]

[But it's dangerous. Xen is only human,] Darius pointed out.

He was honestly overwhelmed upon hearing those words from Xen. He was practically on cloud nine just from hearing her announcement; a sounding declaration to everyone that she wanted to be the only woman in his life.

[Hahaha! Contain your smile. It's reaching your ears already!] Zeus teased, but Darius still couldn't help himself, stretching his smile so wide as he lovingly stared at Xen.

"Interesting. We'll be looking forward to it then, Princess Xenia," Elder Nassar promptly responded, finally finding his voice. He had a poker smile as he raised his cup, and everyone did the same as soon as Xenia also raised her cup.

"Now, let's not keep the food waiting and start eating, shall we?" Darius quickly supplied in an effort to prevent Elder Nassar from further ruining the mood. "There's more than enough time for conversations later."

[Are you really that happy?] Darius heard his mother telepathically talking to him.

[Yes, Mother. I don't intend to hide it,] he cheekily answered, still grinning.

[You are aware of how dangerous those trials are for a mere human, right?] Savannah reminded, making Darius's smile fade quickly.

Darius didn't respond. Instead, he turned to Xen as she started eating. She didn't seem to bother by the prior sequence of events, and Darius couldn't help but wonder just what exactly could be going on inside Xen's mind. He then recalled how she was even willing to die to save people she didn't even know on the day he first met her.

'She's willing to die to be my Queen? Why?' Darius inwardly pondered.

The Elders didn't take long as they soon left the dining hall after dinner, together with the Queen Mother. Meanwhile, the younger high-ranking officials stayed for some time since some of them were still enjoying their drinks.

"Since our conservative Elders are all gone by now, how about I propose a toast to our Princess Xenia?" Gideon remarked as he stood up from his seat.

"Our King, may we now join your humble table for a few drinks?" Gilas interrupted with a grin.

At his men's request, Darius gave them his signal to occupy the seats that were once occupied by the Elders as soon as the servants have cleared them.

Darius then leaned closer to Xen and thoughtfully whispered, "Would you like to also go back to your chamber and rest early, my love?"

Xenia wanted to cringe at his words, wondering what was up with the king calling her 'love' since she entered the dining hall.

"I'm good," Xenia curtly answered. She wanted to stay more and observe a few more interactions amongst Darius's officials. Well, she was particularly curious about the woman named Clara. She wanted to see how Darius and Clara interacted with each other, and see just what exactly was their relationship.

******

A/N: Can't still decide how our MCs will call each other. Lmao. Btw, do you prefer Darius to bend the rules for Xen or see Xen in action for The Five Trials to be Queen? Tell me your thoughts... *wink* PS: Don't forget to vote for Golden Tickets to support our book for WSA contest 2022. We'll have a Mass Release for every 100 Golden Tickets. Thanks a ton.