The Crown's Entrapment

At the Ebodian Encampment.

"How's the Princess?" Bartos asked Jayra when the latter stood up from her side of the bed after checking on the Princess. Princess Xenia had lost consciousness during the burial rites, and by virtue of being the closest at the scene, he was the one who carried her and put her on the bed.

Jayra looked at him and Gideon. She let out a sigh before she said, "She's just in shock. Among the siblings, she and Prince Ezekiel were the closest to Seer Beirut. Prince Ezekiel and Princess Mineah were the obedient students, while Princess Xenia was the stubborn one," she explained. "As such, Seer Beirut would often monitor the princess more than her siblings."

Gideon nodded, "I see. Let's just have her rest in the meantime. I'm sure Princess Xenia will come around. She just needs a moment to be alone."

Jayra nodded in agreement.

Leaving the tent, the three of them all looked at one another as if waiting for the other to issue out orders. Seeing the awkward silence, Gideon turned to Bartos and said, "I'll check on Princess Ezme and Valcrez's reinforcements. You can stay here near Princess Xenia's tent to monitor the situation."

Bartos nodded, Gideon leaving immediately as they were left on their lonesome. Looking at Jayra, the young mage remained rooted from where she was standing… near their King's tent where Princess Xenia currently was resting.

'Is she just going to stand there?'

He creased his forehead as he looked around. He had a hunch that Jayra would just stay where she was absentmindedly, so he took the initiative of grabbing a nearby bench and placing it beside her.

"Here. Sit here for a while," he voiced out. "I know you want to stay with the Princess, but you can still get some air to breathe every once in a while."

Absently nodded, Jayra sat on the chair, to which she then signaled for him to sit beside her. Taking the offer, both of them sat in silence as they stared at the tent where Princess Xenia was currently unconscious.

"Knowing her for long enough… I could tell that she's really blaming herself for Beirut's death," Jayra absently commented.

"Why do you say so?" Bartos curiously asked.

"The last words I heard from her before she passed out was she saying that it was all her fault'," Jayra replied with a loud sigh. "From there, it's already obvious what she's feeling."

Bartos raised an eyebrow as he asked, "But how can it be her fault? Death is inevitable in war."

"Hmm… She's probably blaming it all on her running away," Jayra postulated. "Her destiny was to marry the Vampire King, but she ran away instead of facing what was ordained for her to do as a Princess."

She sighed, "I can understand her, of course… She has a lot of regrets, and one of them was probably about her not being an obedient student of Seer Beirut. More often than not, she would always counter Seer Beirut's words about the future…"

Uninterrupted, Jayra recounted with a wistful tone, "The two of them would always have these contrasting ideas, but that didn't stop Seer Beirut from looking after her more. The two of them formed a good rapport because of that, and Princess Xenia looked up to him more as her grandfather than as her Master."

Bartos hummed in seeming understanding. It was all unneeded knowledge, but the context was appreciated. "War will still happen even if she didn't run away…" he commented.

"You're right, but there could've been a chance that Beirut would've stayed in the castle to witness her wedding instead of going out into the border if she was there," Jayra countered. "Princess Xenia knew that as well. Beirut had promised her that he would be the wedding officiant at her wedding, and that would've probably prevented his death from ever happening."

"Hmm… Then I hope that Princess Xenia wouldn't blame herself too hard," Bartos shared his advice. "You should remind her that your late Seer wouldn't want her to constantly be blaming herself like this."

Hearing his words, Jayra gave him a beautiful smile when she turned her head to look at him. And of course, she had caught him staring again because he was looking at her side profile.

How could he not, after all? His mate was very stunning under the moonlight. Who cares if she was a human? He was attracted to her. She wasn't even someone that was too complicated like he initially thought. In fact, he was even lucky because Jayra was a very open-minded person.

"Thank you," Jayra whispered.

"For what?" Bartos asked, not breathing in properly due to her dazzling smile.

"For this…" Jayra reiterated. "Talking to me like this somehow comforted me… Thank you."

Bartos simply nodded, even almost cracking a faint smile as he turned away. He was glad that he somehow helped. He was honestly in a dilemma on how he could comfort his mate at times like this. He simply did not know how, nor did he have the disposition for delicate things like this.

For a while, they stayed like that, simply sitting beside one another as they stared at both thoughts about their own problems. After a while, however, he froze when Jayra suddenly rested her head on his broad shoulder. She was looking up at the night sky, a dark sight that would soon be replaced as the sun rose just a few hours from now.

"You need to rest," he suggested, knowing how frail human bodies were compared to his kind. He was okay with going a few days without rest and sleep, but a human's body would surely fall if they lacked enough sleep, especially so for Jayra who sometimes used her own inner energy to heal the sick and wounded.

"I'm fine. I'm not that sleepy yet," Jayra smiled. "Let's just stay here like this. Besides, I want to be awake when Princess Xenia wakes up. She'll need me to be there as a sounding board to throw words at if she'll keep being stubborn and continue blaming herself."

"I see. Then try resting or sleeping on my shoulder like this," Boris offered. "I'll wake you up once the Princess is up."

Boris almost groaned as he relished his closeness with his mate. Ah… how could he just shamelessly suggest that when he was already uncomfortable from all of the heat he was feeling coming from Jayra's closeness like this?

He inwardly growled as he blamed the inner wolf inside of him. Why did werewolves' inner wolves often unleash their strong carnal desires for their mates at the worst possible times? It was torture, especially if their mate was a human who wouldn't even understand their torment.

In that brief moment in time, Bartos could somehow relate to their king's plight. He wondered how their king could even control himself like that with his mate constantly around him.

'What a feat…'

It went doubly so, seeing as Princess Xenia was still unmarked and unclaimed. They would know since they'd smell their king's scent on her once she was claimed, and that was on top of the mark that'll be on her once she was, well, marked. And yet, apparently… the Princess was neither claimed nor marked by their king even now.

"That's so thoughtful of you, Bartos," Jayra thankfully whispered. "Again, thank you…"

A bout of silence settled between them before Jayra spoke once more, "Tell me, Bartos… Why did you pass out when I kissed you?"

Bartos stopped breathing. It was a question he was far from ready to answer. For the first time in his life, he wanted to bore a hole in the ground and just hide there.

Jayra chuckled when he didn't respond. "Feel free to tell me once you're ready then," she murmured before she closed her eyes, drifting off into a deep sleep in Bartos's warm presence.

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A/N: Keep voting on Golden Tickets and Power stones guys. I will release 5 chapters instead of 2 every time we reach 100s on Golden Tickets and 1000s on Powerstones. Another Extra Bonus Chapter/s too for every Super Gift the book will have. Thank you so much for the support and love. PS. Share your thoughts about the book through comments and reviews.