The Crown's Entrapment

"Hmm... Interesting," Gilas smirked. He smelled his mate from the distance, so he followed her scent all the way to the stadium. There, he saw Clara, watching Darius and Xenia not far from where the soldiers were firing their arrows at Xenia.

"Look's like our King will be quite busy with his mate for some time," he casually commented. "Aren't you going to train as well?"

"I don't need to train that hard for it," Clara arrogantly stated, eyes still focused on Xenia.

"You do know that I can smell your burning jealousy even from where I'm standing..." Gilas commented. Clara was his mate, but he was bluntly rejected by her with her actions alone, showing just how much she was deeply in love with Darius since she became a full-grown woman by sense.

The Mate Pull between them was strong, but not as strong as Clara's deep feelings of love for Darius, it seemed. Over time, he also learned how to control his own emotions. Managing the Mate Pull wasn't easy, but over time, he managed to get a hold of himself.

Small mercies, he supposed.

"I don't care about whatever it is you want to say to me, Gilas," Clara stated with clenched fists. "I'll win the Trial by Combat, and I will become Queen by any means."

"Just tell me if you need help then," Gilas shrugged. "Prina will also be joining, and I'm telling you that she won't be an easy opponent. My father is backing her, and she's very dangerous."

There was a pause before he added, "Ah, Bella is also back. She'll definitely show herself some time around soon. I heard she's also planning on joining."

Bella was Bartos's sister who also had her eyes set on Darius and the throne. But unlike Clara, Bella was both blunt and vocal. She was transparent with who she was and constantly showed her true colors. As a result, she and Clara always clashed heads, and it was always entertaining to watch. Bella was a crazy fellow that never failed to make an insane impression.

Gilas let out a long deep sigh as he stared at Clara, her eyes still focused on Darius and Princess Xenia's direction.

'What did Darius have that I don't?'

It was a question he wanted to ask Clara ever since he felt the Mate Pull. But that question... It would remain unasked for the foreseeable future.

"I hate this! These soldiers are going too easy on her!"

Complaining, Clara suddenly rushed to one of the soldiers firing off the arrows. Grabbing the bow and arrows off him, she fired off one arrow before she turned around. She had a dim look on her face, her eyes cold with a hint of guilt she quickly stomped away.

Gilas shook his head, seeing how the arrow she shot almost hit Princess Xenia on the back. If not for King Darius's interference, Clara could've possibly killed her.

Watching his mate leave, Gilas remained in his position for quite some time. He fell into deep thought, wondering if the Princess of Ebodia would even survive at least one of the four trials. There was no way she was ready if this was her current showing.

Looking back down, he flinched when he noticed something strange about the Princess of Ebodia's movements.

"No way..." he breathed out, seeing how Xenia's movements had quickly improved in such a short amount of time. In that instant, he made his way towards the king's direction. This was new. He needed to watch her from a closer distance. His place was way too far, too far for him to see the minute details.

'That's not quite normal for a human...' he inwardly thought, his gaze never leaving Xenia.

*******

"She's learning quite fast," Darius heard Gilas's voice coming from behind.

Darius smiled in agreement. He himself didn't expect this kind of development. Xenia had a different kind of training from her kingdom. It was good, but she needed a different kind of training for her to pass The Five Trials. Cordon had a different style of fighting since they were werewolves, and her way of fighting just wasn't enough.

"Indeed. My Queen will show everyone that no one truly deserves to stand by my side except for her," Darius proudly stated with a satisfied smile on his face.

However, that smile quickly faded upon realizing how Xen's legs were glistening with her every move. His soldiers firing the arrows were quite far away, so he didn't mind them seeing, but this Gilas standing beside him now was close enough to have a peek at this magnificent view of his mate... No way. He won't let it last for long.

Willfully, he immediately moved to block Gilas's line of sight on his mate and said, "Why are you outside? Don't you have important work to finish inside the castle?"

Gilas frowned as he scoffed, "It's my free time, Your Majesty. Besides, it's almost lunchtime, don't you know?" He shrugged, "So I thought I might as well roam around before joining you and the rest for our luncheon meeting."

Darius inwardly clicked his tongue. He had almost forgotten about it.

"I see... You may go ahead now. Xen and I will follow shortly." Darius instructed.

Gilas didn't bother commenting as he turned around with a frown. Watching the man leave, Darius made sure that Gilas was gone before he turned around to watch Xen.

"I must train her where no one can watch except for me..." Darius mumbled to himself.

[You're being petty...] Zeus teased.

[That's not all... No one should see her improvements,] Darius reasoned out.

He just couldn't risk it. He was aware that some of the Elders would definitely have their own bets in the selection of the Five Final Werewolves that would fight against Xen in the fifth trial; the Trial by Combat.

Already, he had tasked Leon to look into it and closely observe the selection of the final five. Surely, Clara would be on that list.

Thinking to himself, Darius almost flinched when he suddenly felt a hand squeezing his arm.

"So she's your mate then," a familiar voice commented beside him.

"Bella?!" he startlingly murmured, staring at the woman with the naughtiest smile plastered on her face. She had the strangest purple color on her hair as she spoke to him.

"How have you been, Your Majesty?" Bella asked with a wink, almost hugging his arm in her bosoms in a calculated manner.

"I've heard you found your mate, so I immediately cut my vacation in my aunt's house short just to check if the rumors are true," Bella stated with a grin.

"And I guess that's her over there..." With a slight lilt on her tune, she turned to Xen and waved to her with a yell, "Hello! Do you mind if I borrow His Majesty for a while!? I just missed him so much... So please keep yourself busy with the arrows!"

"What?! I-Ahhhh!"

Xen suddenly cried out and Darius immediately waved at his soldiers to stop firing arrows as he immediately ran towards her.