The Crown's Entrapment

After dinner, Darius immediately walked Xenia back to her chamber. However, the latter wanted to walk outside so she suggested, “I want some fresh air.” It was a veiled suggestion. She felt that Darius needed to unwind after that intense commotion inside the dining hall, and perhaps a change of scenery was in order.

But instead of going outside, Darius quietly led her up to the battlement walls, towards the roof under the moonlit sky. Guards were stationed all throughout the walls, and they all greeted the two as they passed by.

Wordlessly, they walked towards one of the rectangular parapets, Darius promptly instructing one of the guards to bring her a bench to sit on despite her refusal.

Eventually, the guard settled on placing the bench in a way that it would fit both her and Darius. He then dismissed the guards stationed in that particular parapet to secure their own privacy.

“Let’s sit,” Darius offered.

Xenia simply shook her head as she went and looked around. Breathing in the chilly air around them, she breathed out, “This is nice… Ahhh… Winter is definitely nearing…”

The evening breeze touched Xenia’s skin as she faced one of the openings on the wall, one that just reached the height of her chest.

Feeling Darius’s presence behind her back, she closed her eyes when he hugged her from behind, his nose burying itself into the crook of her neck. Feeling herself, she tilted her head to the side, giving him even more access.

Already, she could feel his warm breath on her skin despite the fabric covering her neck. Before she became drowsy from his closeness, Xenia remembered that he had to ask him what exactly happened a while ago. She wanted to know what was really going on.

“You and Elder Nasser seem to have a lot of tension going on between you two,” Xenia murmured. She was hoping Darius would open up to her willingly. That, and she felt that the king needed someone to talk to about it.

“Elder Nasser wanted the throne for himself, but he didn’t stand a chance against my father before. So instead, he tried again for his son Gilas, but then I won over him.” Darius explained, his nose still nuzzling the side of her neck.

“Imagine his frustration to that… He’s desperate to bring me down after that, opposing me whenever he could. I wouldn’t be surprised if he’d use you against me. But for now… I see that there’s nothing that can stop his greed, even using Freya’s infatuation with Gilas to achieve his goals.”

Xenia sighed in comfort. It was funny how they were getting really close like this with each day that passed, and she was glad to know him more so long as he wanted to. She genuinely wanted to know more about her future husband, so any information was welcome, in her opinion.

So Freya was infatuated with Gilas… “Why do I feel like there’s more to this…” she voiced out. That was what her intuition was telling her. There was something in Darius’s eyes whenever he looked at Elder Nasser, and it told her that he harbored some kind of suppressed anger within him just from the look in his eyes.

“My father died because of him, Xen,” Darius whispered out.

Xenia was caught off-guard by that accusation. Obviously, that was the reason behind his antagonizing eyes against Elder Nasser.

“I’m sorry about what happened to your father,” Xenia murmured out her condolences. “But I heard your father died of sickness though. They say that Elder Nasser and the late King Lucian were blood brothers…”

Well, that was what Jayra and the books told her, at least. King Lucian had been very ill decade ago, so Cordon decided to hold the Battle for the Throne to transfer his kingship before he drew his last breath. As such, she was flustered to know that Elder Nasser was somehow responsible…

“He was healthy, Xen. But after he went on on his last hunt, he became sick,” Darius explained further. “He was afflicted with a toxic poison called ‘Queen of Poison,’ one that has no cure. This poison will kill your system slowly till your last breath. And my father… Elder Nasser’s name was the word he last mentioned before his tongue was completely paralyzed…”

Xenia could feel how his body quivered with each word. She had heard of such a poison before, and it was indeed as deadly as it was incurable. It was a plant that only bloomed a single red flower every decade, a single flower with only one deadly petal. A sure death for one life…

“They were blood brothers, they were bound to each other by ties of a great friendship. They swore mutual loyalty to each other and promised to treat one another as real brothers,” Darius sighed. “My father trusted him, but I will never forget the look in my father’s eyes that night when he breathed his last. It was the look of a man betrayed by someone he trusted. He even shed tears when he mentioned Nasser’s name.”

His voice started to crack as he declared, “I am not mistaken. It was my father’s way of telling me who the real culprit was. I’m sure it’s Nasser, but he still blamed it on a Helion soldier he killed on site.”

Well, he was sure of it, but until now, they couldn’t even find a single piece of evidence that linked the elder to the murder. As such, Darius had no choice but to keep the old man alive and simply monitor all his movements.

“And I suppose I’m also responsible for it. I guess you can say that it was me who killed my father,” Darius weakly blamed. “That hunt wouldn’t have happened if it wasn’t for me. I… I gave Nasser a g-good alibi… t-to k-kill my father…”

Hearing him stutter, Xenia turned around to face him. It was there that she saw tears running down his cheeks. Seeing him like this, she regretted she even asked about it, especially when it had only caused pain for him to recall such a sad memory.

“You see, I’m stubborn and reckless. I… I suggested hunting outside our territory. It was Elder Nasser who picked that particular forest,” Darius continued. “My f-father didn’t feel good a-about it, but a-as a-arrogant as I was… I… insisted t-that it was time that we engaged i-in more challenging hunt.”

Xenia raised her hands, gently caressing his cheeks and wiping the tears rolling down his face.

“It’s not your fault. It’s bound to happen one way or another,” Xenia reasoned. “My father used to say that there’s a reason for everything. No one knows what will happen, so it’s not your fault.”

It was a weak way of comforting someone. That she knew. However, she still wanted to try and wash away the pain that’s probably still hurting him after all these years.

Xenia hugged Darius tightly as she gently stroked and patted his back. “I’m sorry… I didn’t know… I… I unknowingly brought up this painful past of yours…” she regretfully whispered.

This was a mistake. Even now, she could feel how painful it was for Darius with how much the Werewolf King sobbed into her shoulders.

“I can never give the throne away, Xen,” Darius firmly declared with a whisper. “No matter what, that will never happen while Nasser is still breathing…”