The Crown's Entrapment

Outside of the carriage, Jayra ended up riding on horseback, being sandwiched in between Gideon and Bartos as they trailed behind their respective liege.

Having had enough of the silence, Gideon suddenly coughed and said, "Milady, we haven't introduced ourselves properly, so let me take the initiative to introduce myself. I am Gideon, one of the Commanders of Cordon's Moonlight Knights."

Jayra gave Gideon a smile and a slight bow as she replied, "I am Jayra, Milord." She bit her lower lip, feeling guilty somehow at the two men that she once knocked out. Turning to the other rider with them, she gulped as she met Boris's eyes.

Flashing an awkward smile, she gave him a slight bow.

"Oh, that's Bartos," Gideon helpfully supplied. "He's also one of the-"

"Spare the introductions, Gideon," Boris snorted. "I'm sure she already knows who we are." He then gave Jayra a piercing stare as he continued, "You're that mage who cast a spell on us to fall asleep."

"She was?" Gideon burst out.

Jayra's face paled at the accusation. She had no way to refute it. She was tongue-tied.

"Stop scaring her, Bartos," Gideon reasoned on her behalf. "She was only following instructions."

"I'm sorry…" Jayra finally said, her guilt only growing as she heard Gideon defending her.

"It's alright, Milady," Gideon nodded. "What matters is that everything turned out alright in the end. Our King has his mate now, and that's all that matters. Plus, the fact that Xen's an actual woman really helps smooth things out."

"Our Princess loves to disguise herself, especially whenever she would sneak out of the castle walls," Jayra commented, feeling comfortable around Gideon as she made small talk.

"Hmm, we can see that," Gideon sagely nodded. "She's quite good at that. I'm sure our King had quite a dilemma during those times. I mean, meeting his mate who turned out to be a lad…" he grinned.

Jayra simply nodded, making a conscious effort to avoid grabbing Bartos's attention. As much as she possibly could, she would only turn to her left where Gideon was currently riding beside her.

"Oh, right…" Jarya trailed off in recollection. "Milord, His Majesty informed me that you needed to discuss some important things with me?"

"Oh, that…" Gideon replied with an awkward smile.

[Help me out here, Bartos!] Gideon thought as he quickly sent out a telepathic message to his companion. [It's not like I'm the only one our King asked about this task.]

[This is your forte, Gideon. Not mine,] Bartos coldly replied. [So why don't you do the honor of handling this task alone? I'll make sure to relay to our King that you didn't drop a sweat while fishing for more details about Ebodia's Great Constable Atlas.]

Gideon's shoulders dropped. It wasn't like he didn't see this coming anyway…

"Yeah, we'll need some information regarding the high-ranking officers and Prince Ezekiel himself," Gideon started, trying his best not to sound suspicious as he continued.

"You see, we already know a good deal about Prince Ezekiel, but not so much about his officers that we will have to work with in this battle. How about you orient us on the person in charge of Ebodia's Army? The Great Constable, I hear his title was?"

"Ah, right. Our Great Constable, Lord Atlas!" Jayra perked up, her eyes lighting up as she explained. "Hmm… He's extraordinary, I must say. He's someone you can easily get along with, and he personally trained our Princess Xenia alongside Prince Ezekiel in all things regarding combat."

She hummed in respect as she continued, "He's an honorable officer and warrior whose cooperation with Prince Ezekiel has led to the current peace and order within our Kingdom."

"Ah… I see," Gideon nodded in understanding. "Hmm… Such compliments... I'm sure a lot of women in your kingdom would want to marry such a fine young man."

"Definitely," Jayra answered with pride in her tone. "Well, aside from our Prince Ezekiel, of course. He tops the list."

"Hmm… Pardon me, Milady," Gideon murmured, his hesitation bubbling forth as he asked. "I don't want to sound rude, but I can't help but feel a bit concerned."

"Oh?" Jayra raised an eyebrow with curiosity. "Please speak freely, Milord."

"Well, somehow, not intentionally but accidentally, I heard some servants gossiping about the Princess while I was walking in the hallway," Gideon said. "I can't help but feel wary. I'm not sure if I should report this to our King, so I decided to find out more about it before deciding if I need to report it or not."

[See how good you are? You're a natural liar,] Bartos mentally scoffed with a straight face. [No wonder our King specifically looked in your direction while giving out our instructions.]

[If you're not going to help here, then would you please just keep your mind shut, my friend?] Gideon snapped back. [You're ruining my concentration here. And you do know what will happen if we don't get anything out of this task, right?]

Back in the actual conversation, Jayra had a frown as she asked, "Gossip about what, Milord?"

"About the Great Constable and Princess Xenia," Gideon replied with a straight face. "Is there something going on between them before our King claimed her as her bride?"

"Oh, that!" Jayra gasped in recognition. "N-No! There's nothing going on between them romantically if that's what you mean."

"I see," Gideon sagely hummed, seeming to understand. "Our King is determined to win Princess Xenia over. If the rumors are true, then I guess His Majesty will have to work hard to-"

"Princess Xenia doesn't have time to look at the opposite sex," Jayra firmly defended, making sure not to let more information than necessary slip through her lips. "Even if there are countless men out there vying for her adoration, they could only do so from afar. Truly, Princess Xenia is not someone they can easily woo."

"Hmm… That's the only thing that matters… Princess Xenia's heart," Gideon deftly hummed. "So you mean to say that she has no one special in her heart right now, correct?"

Jayra smiled widely as she replied, "None, Milord, so you can freely relay this information back to His Majesty, King Darius."

She then added, "Also, King Stephan already announced how she is to marry the Werewolf King in thirty days, so I'm sure no one in their right mind would try to steal our Princess from His Majesty…"

"Right…" Gideon trailed off. "Hopefully, she won't run away like she did to the Vampire King?"

Jayra had an awkward smile as she refuted, "Surely, our Princess has learned her lesson already. She's the type who won't commit the same mistake again, Milord, so please rest at ease."

"I see," Gideon gratefully nodded. "Then I guess there's nothing to worry about. I won't report what I heard then to our King. Thank you so much for enlightening me, Milady."

"You're welcome, Milord," Jayra nodded as the conversation died down. Deep inside, however, she wondered how interesting things would get once they reached the Ebodia Encampment…

Princess Xenia was hard to read, and she was definitely someone who did what she wanted if she could easily get away with it.