The Crown's Entrapment

The crowd went wild as the revelation of the princess's wings came to fruition. All around, talk about how she wasn't fully human had completely dominated discussions. Any and all misgivings about her humanity had been snuffed out, instead replaced by questions of why she hid such a power in the first place.

"Wait, she's an angel all this time?!"

"Why bother hiding this much power?! She could've gone through all of the trials without even breaking a sweat!"

Nobody currently watching the events play out even knew of the princess's power. Except for the select few that knew of her heritage, all of them assumed that she was simply biding her time and intentionally weakening herself for some purpose or another.

Of course, Darius knew better than that. Though the fact that his wife was showing her wings was a different matter entirely.

***

[I thought you were trying to hide your wings, my love?] Darius couldn't help but ask as he gawked at the splendor of his wife's power made manifest.

[Oh? Well, I decided that I might as well make my message clear,] Xen smugly replied, clearly pleased at the reaction he was giving her. [Also, don't think I didn't hear you warning me earlier. Your voice is rather distinct despite the loud crowd also giving me a warning.]

Darius inwardly cringed at the revelation his wife gave him. Was he really that loud?

[Why are you even asking that? Of course, you'll be loud if it's your beloved's life on the line,] Zeus scoffed.

[I was rather worried at the time,] Darius awkwardly chuckled through the Bond. [I figured that since you forbade me from using the Bond to communicate, I can just shout at you from afar.]

[And since the battle is practically over, you gave yourself permission to interfere,] Xen chuckled. [Don't worry, I found it rather touching.]

Darius shook his head in mirth before his gaze finally went towards the woman that just dared to stab his wife in the back. Pinra was frozen stiff, absolute fear etched clearly into her face as she stared dumbfounded at Xen's pristine white wings. She hadn't moved or even uttered a word since her attack failed. Instead, she sat on the ground defeated, looking like the world had collapsed right on top of her.

[What are you going to do with Pinra?] Darius asked, watching from above as Xen slowly walked towards the defeated woman.

[Hmm… I could kill her, but I don't think it'll go over well right now,] Xen hummed through the link. [I'll think of something as I go. For now, I'll just see what exactly happened to her.]

[Alright. I trust you, my love,] Darius nodded.

Breaking the mental link, Darius sighed in relief as looked over the crowds. Clearly, Xen had them all by the heart, which meant that her position as his Queen was all but guaranteed.

'Truly, the fates worked in all the right ways…' he inwardly chuckled.

With a triumphant heart, Darius took a deep breath and returned to his seat. Everything was going exactly to plan. All he had to do was wait for the pieces to fall.

***

Xenia strode confidently as she felt her wings beat with each step. She wasn't trying to fly, of course, but it was a way of projecting power against those that might want to try something on her again. Sure, they could always try, but it would just be annoying to have to try and bat away any more attempts at her life at the moment.

She sighed as she stared at Pinra's crumpled form. Clearly, the woman was shocked to see that she was still alive. Her mouth was wide open, and tears were starting to form in the edges of her eyes as she blankly stared at the princess she just tried to kill.

Well, she was currently an angel, but who was asking?

Still, she had to address this blatant attempt on her life. If she was going to be Queen, she couldn't just let these kinds of things lying down waiting to ambush her. She was going to nip this issue in the bud right here and now.

"Listen, all of you!" she bellowed out, her voice effectively lulling the entire arena to silence as they all turned their attention to her. "This woman just told me that she yielded, but she had the gall to attack me while my guard was down!"

Her words quickly struck a chord with many among the crowd. Disgruntled echoes descended upon her from above, all of them agreeing with her statement.

"And while I've survived, how many more had she killed in the same way?!" Xenia continued, adding a bit of theatrics by flapping her wings. "How many had she killed in such underhanded tactics?! Did she truly think that such actions won't have consequences?!"

The crowd's grumbles intensified, a fever pitch starting to build as they booed and jeered at Pinra's unresponsive form.

"Well, I say that she has finally reached the end conclusion of using such methods!" she scoffed allowed, pointing her sword right at Pinra's neck. "It is well within my rights to kill her right here and now for what she did!"

Looking down, Xenia felt all powerful as she felt the power of the entire crowd backing her actions. It felt like she was descending from high above the heavens, called down to render judgment upon Pinra's evil deeds. And yet… seeing this woman look so dejected. So defeated…

Wouldn't death be a mercy to her now?

"You might all wish for me to slit her throat right now…" she began, carefully mulling over each and every word she uttered. "However, I see something you all might not have noticed! This woman has lost the will to fight! The will to even live!"

The crowd's reaction was that of confusion. Understandable, seeing as she hadn't finished her thought yet.

"For a woman like her, death would be far too merciful a reward!" Xenia declared, staying her blade as she looked down at Pinra's agape face. "So instead, why not let her live with whatever failures she might've achieved here?!"

The crowd mumbled a few grunts of approval. Some were still apprehensive, but most were starting to see the logic in her words.

To add to her point, Xenia stared deeply into Pinra's eyes, drinking in the horror in her soul as she growled. "Be grateful that I let you live so that you can stew in your sorrow. Whatever your goal was, know that it will never be fulfilled no matter how hard you try."

A beat passed as her words echoed against the entire arena… After a few moments, a despaired cry pierced through the triumphant cheers of the crowd.

"There will be no mercy to those that don't deserve it!" she called out. "Even the mercy of death!"

Xenia hummed in satisfaction as the crowd roared to her will. She had spared Pinra's life, while also hammering it home that her life was nothing short of a massive failure that doesn't need killing. After all, there was nothing worse than death other than the knowledge that you have achieved absolutely nothing noteworthy in your life.