The Crown's Entrapment

Their journey to the Ebodia Encampment was going smoothly. But despite that, Jayra still felt the brewing tension between Commander Atlas and King Darius just a while ago.

"Jayra," Commander Atlas called to her as soon as they slowed their pace. They've just reached a rocky plain below a hill, and he rode on his horse with just enough speed to keep pace beside her.

"Yes, Commander?" Jayra answered him with a smile.

"Just what in the world is going on? And why is the Werewolf King with the Princess?" the poor Commander asked.

Jayra sighed deeply. As she expected, Prince Ezekiel didn't have the heart to brief their poor Great Constable on the exact details of the situation. She understood the reason why that was the case, however. Knowing the prince, it fell to her to brief the poor Constable about the recent developments.

Letting out a sigh, Jayra answered, "Princess Xenia is betrothed to the Werewolf King of Cordon. The agreement between our kingdoms had been finalized, and their marriage will happen in thirty days' time."

"This is confusing…" Atlas whispered out with a disheartened tone.

"No, it isn't confusing at all," Gideon interrupted the conversation with pride dripping from his tone. "Our King and Princess Xenia are fated to be together, and it's only destiny that our King had found and saved her numerous times. Princess Xenia is our King's mate!"

Hearing the sudden, and quite frankly, an unnecessary declaration from the man, Commander Atlas couldn't help but look at Jayra for answers. Of course, she simply nodded in confirmation.

An awkward silence settled between them after that.

All the while, Jayra found herself turning her gaze to Bartos again, once more catching him in the act of staring at her like she was a piece of meat.

It felt weird, of course. After all, what else was she supposed to feel about someone that was constantly sneaking glances at her? She tried rectifying the situation by approaching him, but he would constantly avoid her, retreating somewhere only for him to repeat his actions.

"What's wrong with him?" Jayra couldn't help but ask Gideon, who was currently riding beside her. She didn't care whether or not Bartos heard her. She just wanted answers.

"Who?" Gideon asked. She pointed her nose towards Bartos, and he smirked as he asked once more, "Why? Is he bothering you?"

"No really? But I keep catching him staring at me," Jayra pouted. "Is he a creep or something?"

"Why don't you ask him yourself, milady" Gideon suggested. "In fact, let's switch positions."

Gideon moved before she could stop him. Before she knew it, Jayra found herself riding her horse near Bartos. Not having a choice in the matter, she shrugged as she went through with her question. She had nothing to lose anyway.

"Milord, you keep staring at me. Did I somehow offend you?" Jayra politely, yet bluntly asked. "Or perhaps, do you want to tell me something?"

Bartos turned to her, but he didn't say a word. She frowned at the lack of a response, and it was only then that Bartos opened his mouth and asked her, "Are you alright?"

Jayra chuckled, "Of course, I am, milord. I did nothing but hide from a distance with the rest of the servants while every one of you was busy fighting our enemies."

"I see…" Bartos plainly answered. "That's good then."

Jayra squinted her eyes at his plain answer. She could feel that something was off, but she couldn't exactly point it out. She was bothered by it now. At this point, she was sure that she wouldn't feel at peace until she found out what exactly his problem with her was.

"Once more, do you still have a problem with me, milord?" she straightforwardly asked. "Like I said, I often see you looking at me. And when I say often… I mean too many to count."

"That just means you also often look at me, right?" Bartos countered. "So do you have a problem with me then, milady?"

Jayra raised her eyebrows at his answer. The werewolf had a point, at least. Just why was she looking at him anyway?

"Well, I'm looking at you since I constantly feel your gaze at me," Jayra cooly defended. "As such, I'm just checking if you're looking at me again."

"Then the same could be said for my case…"

***

By the sidelines, Gideon wanted to hit his friend Bartos up in the head as he quietly listened in on their conversation.

[Is it so hard for you to say that you're looking at her because she looks so lovely?] Gideon chided. [How would you win your mate over if you're acting so silly like that? She's even starting to sound suspicious of you.]

[Stop eavesdropping and mind your own business!] Bartos hissed.

***

"Hmm… Anyway, now that it's clear that we both have no problems with each other, can we please stop with the staring, milord?" Jayra asked.

"It would be nice not to sneak glances at each other. On top of it being worrisome, it's also wholly uncomfortable. Although, I'm curious…" Jayra trailed off. She was hesitating if she should even ask her unspoken question or not.

"What is it?" Bartos asked.

"How come you have that scar on your face," she hesitantly asked. "I mean… don't you guys have healers capable enough to give you ointment for scars? If you want, I can help you remove it."

The offer was something that she was thinking about giving him for a while now. As much as he made her uncomfortable, Bartos had a nice and handsome face, and his scar was ruining it.

Looking at it, the scar seemed to have come from a sharp blade that hit his face. It was a slant line running from his left forehead all the way down to his cheek.

Silence settled between them, and Jayra suddenly got worried as she looked at Bartos's expressionless face. Did she offend him somehow? She just wanted to offer him help since she was capable though.

"Will you accept me if I allowed you to remove this scar from my face?"

Gideon suddenly coughed from where he was listening but he kept his composure as if he had heard nothing.

Meanwhile, Jayra froze on her seat, simply staring in awe at Bartos even as he avoided her gaze in favor of looking at the road ahead.

"Are you saying that you like me?" Jayra straightforwardly asked, not caring if others near them would hear them or not.

"You're my…"

Jayra frowned as Bartos stopped himself mid-sentence. She stared at him keenly, a part of her already knowing just what exactly he meant to say.

"I'm your mate then?" Jayra finished his sentence with a questioning look.

"Yes…" Bartos hesitantly answered.

With her thoughts being confirmed, her face paled, her grip on her reins tightening as she quickly ran through her thoughts. She had no prejudices against any other being whether they were human or not, of course.

However, what Bartos just said to her had baffled her so much that she was speechless. She was caught off guard, and she didn't know how to respond to such advances.

"I'm the mate of a werewolf?" she absentmindedly murmured. She then turned at Bartos and hesitantly said, "Alright… Let's fix that scar then. We can talk about what you just said later."

Bartos stared at her in disbelief, absently sizing and measuring up her expressions just to see if she was being serious or not.

"What if you can't fix my scar?" Bartos asked.

"Hmm… I'll still consider you after getting to know more about you," Jayra responded with a smile. "It's not like you're an ugly man with that scar. You're handsome even with the scar… Although, maybe you can do with a bit less frowning."