The Crown's Entrapment

"I see. Then I'm sure Clara will fight our Princess for the right to become Queen," Jayra bluntly stated.

"That's to be expected. It's not like it's only Clara who had been eyeing the Queenship, Jayra," Bartos directly replied.

"Before our King met Princess Xenia, the Elders were already pushing him hard to get a Queen. He had already passed the ten-year grace period to find a mate, and we still need a Luna for our Kingdom to prosper. It was once said that our kingdom will face great misfortunes should our ruler still not have his Luna after ten years, and that's only fueling the race even further."

Jayra simply nodded, seeing as she was already well aware of Cordon's customs and traditions. Every Kingdom had its differences in regard to customs and beliefs, and each one of them should respect the other.

"I'm honestly surprised how confident Princess Xenia was to take on that challenge. She's just a human, and she'll have to fight against powerful werewolves also eyeing the throne," Bartos scoffed.

"It'll be a bloody fight if she ever reaches the fifth trial, assuming she could even pass the first four. No human in the history of Cordon ever survived this, Jayra. That's why no human has ever been crowned as Queen of Cordon. The first four trials are more than enough for her body to even withstand. She needs to pass the trials of the four elements; the air, fire, water, and earth before even getting to the bloodbath at the final trial."

"Hmm... Don't underestimate our Princess just yet. She's quite powerful, even if she herself doesn't know it yet," Jayra defended with a pout.

She was aware of the special bloodline running through their Princess's veins, so she too was confident that Xenia would pass every challenge put in her way. Her father, King Stephan, also believed that she'd be fine. After all, unknown to most people, Xenia had angel blood flowing through her. It was a secret known only by those trusted by the royal family like her, wizard Lurio, and Seer Beirut.

On top of that, not all knew the true identity of the Queen and the history of the cursed. When King Stephan married Queen Dana, the sky cried blood, a sign that their union would bear a cursed child.

After some time, everyone thought that the cursed child was Mineah, seeing as her eyes held two different shades of color. In reality, however, none truly knew exactly what the curse was even about.

Bartos chuckled, and she immediately recognized that it was because of her expression, based on him constantly staring at her. It was a refreshing sight, and she was surprised at how gorgeous the man in front of her could be once he was smiling and laughing.

Craving for a bit more of his smiles, she consciously tried doing a few funny faces, causing him to laugh even more as he stared at her. His crisp giggles were like music to her ears, and she couldn't help but continue coaxing a few more laughs out of him.

Funny... she wanted Bartos to smile and laugh like that even more. Somehow, the sight brought joy to her heart.

"You really should smile and laugh like that more often," Jayra couldn't help but comment with a smile. "It's a great improvement from your usual scowling."

Bartos's face reddened at her words. And this time, it was Jayra who chuckled as she teased even further, "You're even blushing, And that's a gorgeous look on you. How adorable..."

"Stop that," Bartos suddenly retorted, going back into his serious voice and expressions. However, the redness on his cheeks remained. Jayra could already tell he was trying his best to act nonchalant.

Jayra pursed her lips even further as she rebutted, "But I'm just being appreciative. Would you prefer for me to not express myself, Bartos? Do you want me to just keep it all in whenever I'm around you?"

"No. You being like this is better," Bartos timidly replied with a slight bow. "And thank you, Milady."

Jayra's lips curled up into a devious smile.

'I like him,' she inwardly thought to herself. She felt at ease around Bartos, especially now that she was having more interactions with him. And seeing how he reacted to her now, her playful self was already looking forward to teasing Bartos even more in the future.

"Hmm... You're welcome. But do you have plans tomorrow?" Jayra suddenly asked, her sweetest smile coming to the forefront of her arsenal.

Bartos could only look at her with his blinking eyes as Jayra chuckled. He didn't know what to say.

"Well, on my part, I'll be busy checking on a few things about The Five Trials. I need all the knowledge I can get if I want to help Princess Xenia to be prepared," Jayra giggled.

"On top of that, we only have a few more days before the wedding. And while I understand that The Five Trials will commence five days after the wedding as per tradition, I still wonder if you can somehow help me and give me all the details about it."

Before Bartos could formulate a reply, they both halted in their tracks as they reached her chambers. With a look, he said, "We're here at your doorway."

"Ah of course. Thank you for walking me, Milord," Jayra thanked with a grin. "So tomorrow... Do you think you can accompany me?"

"I'm sure the King will train Princess Xenia himself, and he's quite strict, I might add," Bartos answered in a roundabout manner. "Either way, whatever you need from me is incomparable to whatever His Majesty will feed Princess Xenia." Knowing their King, Darius would definitely start their training as early as tomorrow morning.

"Hmm... I see," Jayra hummed with a knowing smile. "I suppose I'll take that as you saying that I don't have to worry, right?"

"What I actually mean is that you don't need to waste your time on it," Bartos timidly sighed. "At this point, it's better that you spend your time..."

Bartos's words trailed off, unable to continue further as his own courage suddenly left him.

"Spend time? With what?" Jayra curiously asked, her eyes blinking at Bartos as she waited for him to finish his words. Although, she already somewhat knew just what exactly he wanted to say to her.

The tongue-tied commander scratched his head as he awkwardly stared at her. Jayra opened her mouth to tease, him but it was suddenly sealed close by Bartos's lips. It was both sloppy and surprising as he whispered, "Spend time with me instead. Why not just have the two of us get to know each other more?"

He broke off the kiss just a moment after. As if sensing the insanity of his own actions, Bartos immediately turned around and ran off, leaving Jayra standing dumbfounded in front of her chambers.

"Now he runs?" Jayra mumbled out with a twitch in her mouth as she watched Bartos's retreating back. Like a thief in the night, he stole that sloppy kiss from her with his message.

Jayra giggled as she touched her lips, entering her chambers with a hum in her step. "Not bad, I suppose..."

*****

A/N: What do you think of this pairing, Jayra, and Bartos?