The Crown's Entrapment

Xenia’s lips parted. She simply couldn’t believe what she just heard from the king.

“And I’m being serious, Xen,” he repeated with narrowed eyes.

“Looks like the rumors were wrong, indeed.”

A man’s voice interrupted that magical moment between them. Moving almost instinctively, Xenia trying pushing herself off to compose herself, but Darius refused by keeping his tight hold onto her waist.

With her body still in his arms, Darius simply faced the man with a questioning look.

“I hope I didn’t interrupt something,” Elder Nasser continued on with a smile.

Seeing the Elder, Xenia then looked at Darius only to notice that his expression had quickly dimmed. It seemed like Darius and this Elder weren’t on good terms often.

“I believe you two are on your way for dinner?” Elder Nasser casually asked. “It would be an honor to walk with you two together, if that is permissible? Also, I would like to ask a few more questions about Ebodia. It has been a while since my last visit after all, and I’m sure you’re aware that my wife is from Ebodia as well.”

Xenia nodded and politely replied, “Yes, please. Feel free to walk with us, Elder Nasser.”

Silence reigned as the three of them headed towards the dining hall.

Xenia felt the tension brewing, but she was luckily able to have a proper and casual conversation with the Elder, mostly about Ebodia.

“How is Lady Shila?” Xenia casually asked.

“She’s doing good,” Elder Nasser replied. “She was delighted to know that His Majesty’s mate was from Ebodia.”

“I see,” Xenia nodded before she suggested. “If you wouldn’t mind, I would like to have some tea with her if she’s available. It would be nice to meet her.”

“That would be nice. You can perhaps visit the Silver Crescent Pack some time,” the elder hummed in agreement. “I’m sure my wife will be delighted to meet you as well.”

“Or you can simply bring Lady Shila here in the castle,” Darius interrupted with a suggestion of his own. “It’s been a while since we’ve last seen her.”

“Hmm, I would love that,” Elder Nasser nodded. “I’ll check on her to see if she’ll be able to travel then. She’s been out of the weather recently.”

“Oh, that’s okay. I mean, I can visit her instead as soon as I’m available,” Xenia reassured him with a smile. Deep inside, she was glad that Darius no longer chimed in on the conversation. She really felt that he didn’t like Elder Nasser too much, and the whole exchange felt stilted as a result.

A bit of walking later, they soon arrived at the dining hall where the Queen Mother and Freya were already seated. They greeted each other with the usual courtesy, and they soon settled in their seats.

“It’s so nice to have dinner with you like this, Elder Nasser,” the Queen Mother began.

“As much as I would not like to interrupt, I believe our Elder has an important thing to discuss to us,” Darius interrupted with a pointed stare. “That’s why he’s here, after all.” For some reason, he seemed to be impatient to know the reason for the Elder to be eating dinner with them.

“Your Majesty, let’s have all dinner first,” the Queen Mother interrupted back with a smile. “We’ll hear what Elder Nasser has to say later.” With that, she gracefully signalled for everyone to start eating as soon as their meal was served to them.

They all ate their meal in peace. At around halfway during the dinner, Elder Nasser looked at Freya and commented, “Look at our dear Freya. Time flies so fast, indeed. She grew up to be a fine young lady, and I’m sure a lot of our male Cordonians was to fight for her hand.”

Freya’s face blushed at that.

“Did you somehow already find or meet your mate?” inquired the Elder.

“Haha… You sound so interested in the love life of my sister. From the looks of it,you have a man in mind, Elder Nasser,” Darius pointed out with a blank expression on his face.

He then stopped the Elder from explaining as he added, “Oh, please… Just cut to the chase and get straight to the point already. I’m here and listening.”

Elder Nasser ignored the king’s disrespecting tone as he then smiled at Queen Mother Savannah. Taking his sweet tune, he politely offered, “Your Highness, I would like to propose a marriage between my son, Gilas, and Princess Freya.”

A terse silence settled for a brief second before a fit of loud laughter burst out inside the dining hall.

Xenia bit her inner cheeks as she looked at Darius, bewildered in his reaction. She was utterly confused by what he was doing, but the rest inside the room seemed as if they were already used to seeing him like this.

“Oh, I’m sorry, Elder Nasser,” Darius scoffed. “It’s just that I couldn’t help but react like this to your proposal. No offense, but isn’t it a bit too much for you to ask of that? Is Gilas even aware of your plan?”

Xenia worriedly shifted her gaze to Freya and the Queen Mother, who like her, had an awkward expression on their faces.

“My son will be delighted to oblige in this, Your Majesty. We all know that he was the only one close to Princess Freya amongst any men at Cordon,” Elder Nasser confidently stated. His gaze then dragged towards Freya as he added, “Am I mistaken, Princess Freya?”

“No, Elder Nasser,” Princess Freya hesitantly replied. “Commander Gilas is the only one close to my heart. I mean, he’s so good to me, and I adore him. I-”

“Freya!” Darius’ voice roared, making Xenia flinch by the sidelines. Looking at Freya, her fellow princess had also paled at the sudden shout.

“I will not have this conversation tonight,” Darius authoritatively commanded. “Freya is still a kid to us, and she will not be allowed to marry until she finds her true mate. Gilas isn’t the one for her, and that’s final.”

“Hmm… I understand, but you do know that you just offended the entirety of the Silver Crescent Pack just now by bluntly denying us our good intentions,” Elder Nasser pointed out as he stood up. “My son is no less for your sister, and you know that…”

He then looked at Queen Mother Savannah, Freya, and her and curtly said, “Have a good evening, ladies. And thank you for the wonderful meal.”

As for Darius, he simply gave him a slight bow as he said, “See you in the court meeting tomorrow, Your Majesty.”

Xenia could only watch the elder’s retreating back as he left the dining hall.

“That bastard!” Darius grunted.

“Did you really have to do that?!” Freya barked out as she stood up on her chair. “You can’t just decide my future for me! I’ll choose whoever I want!”

Having said her piece, Freya also rushed out of the dining hall.

“Son, you should’ve kept your composure,” the Queen Mother chided Darius. “Keep yourself together.” She then looked at Xenia and bowed, “I apologize that you have to witness this.”

Xenia simply bowed, giving the Queen Mother a slight reassuring smile of understanding. Deep inside, however, she was dying of curiosity about what was going on.