The Crown's Entrapment

At Hindman Manor, Lock Heart Pack

"Wow, you did great! That's really a masterpiece!" Jayra burst out, staring unblinkingly at Bella's painting. It wasn't finished yet since the painter still planned on adding more vibrant colors to what she could remember in her head about the Fairy Queen, but it was still already shaping up to be a good piece.

"It's nothing, really," Bella deflated the praise with her own admiration about her subject. "I just really love her ethereal beauty, is all."

Yesterday, she and her sister-in-law had rushed to the nearest shrine to watch the latest vision of Princess Xenia that finally appeared after five days of waiting for new developments. From there, they watched their friend complete her trial, but not before also having a look at the newest guardian to enter the picture.

At a glance, the Fairy Queen had long curly waist-length pink-purplish hair. Also, she practically exuded color with her yellow-brown with light-blue faded wings. Her beautiful blue eyes matched perfectly with her teal dress, the garmet embroidered with golden designs that seemed to compliment her entire look. And not to mention just how perfectly curvy her body was.

"Hmm... I can admit that she's a beauty, but I'm really not into pointy ears," Jayra remarked. "In my eyes, you're still prettier than her. You're more alluring and seductive, in a sense."

"Now you're just buttering me up for something," Bella chuckled. "You and you being biased in front of your sister-in-law now."

"Seriously, I'm telling you the truth. I love your dark hair and eyes. They're so seductive and dangerous to look at..." Jayra defended.

"Well, I am dangerous..." Bella scoffed, before quickly being followed by a burst of crisp laughter both from her and her sister-in-law.

The two then shared a few moments of casual banter, which was promptly interrupted when her mother called for her sister-in-law.

Bella shrugged at the interruption. Today was supposed to be her rest day before the resumption of the tournament tomorrow, so she thought she would try and relax by painting. But somehow, she grew bored just staying in her private work chamber.

"How about we go outside, Poona?" she mumbled as she started preparing her things.

[And where would that be?] Poona excitedly asked. [Maybe you can go outside our borders? You can paint the Dead Sea if you do that.]

Bella shook her head at her wolf's suggestion. She knew exactly why that was the suggestion she got, and that was because Osman and her brother were supposedly out there completing their mission.

Well, it was a good idea since her sister-in-law was with her mother busy with their usual duties in managing the Hindman Manor anyway. Plus, her sister-in-law was also quite busy with being the Luna of their pack. Not to mention the mage's trial and error experiments to try and lengthen the effects of the spell she would use on Lady Shila to make sure that Nasser wouldn't be able to inflict any harm on her for their plans. Knowing all of that, she really didn't want to waste Jayra's time too much.

"Isn't my sister-in-law great?" she chuckled to herself. "I'm so lucky..."

[Indeed,] Poona seconded. [She's even trying to make time for you despite how busy she is.]

As soon as she was ready, Bella informed her mother of her current plans and where she was about to go. As soon as she was done, she quickly left, utilizing one of their guards in his wolf form as her mode of transportation since she wanted to save some time.

She arrived at her destination without issue, and she immediately looked around for a good spot on an adequate hill with a better view of the seaside shore.

Down below, she saw a few men busy working to construct a better port surrounding the Dead Sea's shores. They decided to start in the Lock Heart Pack's territory since the King was still in the negotiating process with the other packs for his project, but she was hopeful that more would get on with the idea of having a more secure and accessible port.

Looking out at the construction sight, she smiled when she recalled Osman saying that his ships and designs were currently docked there. The man was indeed a natural-born talent... A genius...

"I haven't tried sailing again," she murmured. "Maybe I should one of these days..."

As much as she liked the sea, she was reluctant to go out into the waters. It was because she got into an incident while sailing eighteen years ago. Since then, she never came near the shore again.

Recalling the incident, Bella stared out at the vast body of water before her... It was there in the middle of the Dead Sea that it happened...

She was seven at the time, and it affected her greatly enough that she refused to board even a small boat ever since. She refused to go out for a swim in huge bodies of water, and even seeing it like this still made her feel like she would drown and die.

Throughout the years, she honestly tried to overcome and conquer her fears. Unfortunately, she had failed every single time even after she had already grown up.

[We should try again...] Poona encouraged, but Bella only sighed. Poona hadn't been awake inside of her yet back when the incident happened. Honestly, it was only after the incident that she and Poona started interacting. It was probably that very incident that triggered the wolf inside her to come out.

[But someone saved you that time, so why not just think about it for now?] Poona suggested. [Maybe thinking about your savior will help you overcome this fear.]

"I don't think that'll work," Bella regrettably sighed as she recalled his savior. "Honestly, I feel bad that I didn't even get the chance to thank him properly back then."

She couldn't properly remember the man's face since he was covered by his thick scraggly beard, but she remembered seeing a distinct mark on his body aside from his usual scars... Back when she clung onto his back while he took her to safety, she recalled seeing a glowing serpent seemingly tattooed on his nape.

He had saved a lot of them from that sinking ship, but she had lost consciousness before she could even get to know more about him. The next thing she knew after waking up was that she was already back in their home with her parents and brother, all of them nursing her back to health.

Snapping back to reality, Bella started drawing, but somehow she couldn't concentrate at all with all of the thoughts running in her mind. Her momentum had been lost as she just wondered if she would be able to see Osman and Bartos from her current position.

The hill wasn't that steep and anyone on the shore would definitely be able to spot her. Still, she had already given a word to some of their pack members at work to inform her at once should her brother already arrive onto the shore.

After a few moments...

Bella let out a sigh as she tore off and crumpled yet another set of canvas she had been working on. She wasn't satisfied with what she was doing at all, and she was starting to get frustrated.

Right in front of her was the sea. It was such an easy subject, but how come she was having a hard time doing even a simple sketch?

She was about to start fuming for real when her face suddenly lit up. She recognized the coming of a familiar presence... Osman was near her. His scent was becoming quite distinct to her with each passing day, and it only made it easier for her to know when he was coming.

"I thought I'd see a finished masterpiece by now... But seeing you here is better than any painting you might've been working on."

Hearing him appear behind her, his deep and husky voice sounded so appealing to Bella's ears.

Bella couldn't help the smile forming on her lips upon hearing Osman's manly voice.

[Look at you feeling so giddy and excited,] Poona teased.

[It's boring being alone,] Bella snorted. [I'm just glad that someone decided to come to my lonesome.]

[Phoney!]

Bella inwardly chuckled, totally ignoring Poona's remark.

*****

A/N: I will post the AI-Generated visual for Fairy Queen Helena in the comment section for your reference...