The Crown's Entrapment

Both Xenia and Darius almost jumped off the bed to quickly compose themselves. Thinking about his mate’s dignity, Darius quickly grabbed a cloak and put it over Xenia’s shoulders, covering herself up from the thin fabric of her nightgown.

“Thank you…” Xenia whispered, still stupefied as her own actions slowly sank in.

‘So embarrassing… Really…’

With her release came lucidity, and her rational mind immediately knew that this whole thing was a massive blow to her own sanity. She felt so ashamed at the fact that she was too weak to resist Darius’s advances.

Why in the world was her body this weak to temptation? They were in an encampment preparing for war, not on a honeymoon!

Xenia inwardly sighed. As much as she regretted it, there was nothing she could do about it now. It already happened, and it wasn’t like she could go back in time to stop herself from being stupid.

In the end, she could only hope that she’d have enough energy to resist Darius whenever this kind of thing would happen again. It was only a matter of time, seeing how eager he was at taking her…

It was all just frustrating. They weren’t even married yet for her to consent to intimacy!

Looking up, she saw that Darius had also put on his cape. And before she could think any further, he held her hand as he almost dragged her out of the tent.

Outside, the first thing she saw was Jayra sobbing her heart out. Immediately, Xenia’s heart leaped as worry crept up inside of her. Obviously, something bad had happened, but what? Did someone die? Did the enemy somehow breach their defenses? She could only hope that it was nothing too serious.

With wrinkled brows, she asked, “What’s going on?”

“M-milady… It’s Seer Beirut,” Jayra stuttered in between sobs. “P-please come with me. He’s in the Prince’s tent right now.”

‘Seer Beirut? Isn’t he with Admiral Cairo to monitor the borders from the Miran Ocean?’

Inwardly questioning the situation, Xenia could only follow with bated breath as Jayra immediately walked ahead towards Ezekiel’s tent. Darius’s hand was still holding onto hers at this point, so she pulled him in with her.

Walking through the camp, the tension in the air was palpable the closer they approached the tent. There was a lingering fear in her heart as they walked. And sure enough, as soon as they were inside, Xenia’s fears came true as her lips parted, her other palm quickly moving to cover her mouth in shock.

Beirut was lying on Ezekiel’s bed, completely bathed in blood as he lay motionless. Their Head Wizard Lurio was beside him, cleaning him up as much as he could, but it was almost futile from how much blood was covering the seer.

“What happened? Why is there so much blood?” she asked as she hastily approached the bed. Beirut looked badly wounded, and it looked as if all of the blood covering him was all his. He looked like he was at death’s door, and it terrified her to the core.

“Why aren’t you all doing something?!” she hysterically demanded. “Heal him! He’s losing so much blood!”

This was a disaster. Beirut was not only a seer of their kingdom, but he was like a grandfather to her and her siblings. He was one of their Masters, and they’ve learned many a great deal of wisdom about the world from him.

He was someone who would always remind her of a lot of things that she shouldn’t forget, and she’d always tease the old man for it. Still, he would still warmly and patiently teach her despite the grief that she’d give him.

“What’s going on?! Why aren’t you all moving?” she barked out as her eyes shifted to Jayra and Lurio. She then looked at Ezekiel, who was only staring unmovingly at Beirut. Even so, she still saw the clear rage boiling within his eyes.

“It’s already too late. He breathed his last the moment he arrived at the Prince’s tent,” Lurio morosely explained.

“That can’t be!” Xenia gasped as her eyes darted to Beirut.

All of a sudden, her shameful actions from earlier were put to the back of her mind as all of her attention went to the travesty in front of her. Why did he have to end up like this? She would’ve rather seen him die of old age or sickness instead of being wounded like this.

This was a gruesome end, and Beirut didn’t deserve this after all of the sacrifices he had to make just to help their kingdom. Seers weren’t allowed to fall in love or to have a family, and he ended up alone just so he could keep his chastity intact to keep his gift from leaving him.

“I’ll make them pay for this,” Xenia heard his brother Ezekiel grunt. “I’ll hunt those bastards down!” He then looked at Atlas and instructed, “Gather our men and come with me…”

“Yes, Your Highness!” Atlas dutifully answered as he then quickly followed her brother outside, leaving them alone with a sight that she really didn’t want to look at any longer than necessary.

“The Prince isn’t in his right mind to stage an attack right now, Milady,” Jayra hastily reminded, her sobs still coming despite the urgency in her tone. “We have to stop him.”

Xenia grimaced. Jayra was right. What if the situation turned for the worse and it was a trap all along just to lure her brother in?

“I’ll go with him!” Xenia burst out as she turned to follow Ezekiel. But before she could take another step, she felt Darius’s hand on her wrist, stopping her from moving in place as he held her down.

“No. You’ll be staying here with Jayra to handle the proper burial rites for the body of your seer,” Darius spoke with authority. “I’ll be the one to go out with your brother and make sure he’s safe. I’ll do my best to not let him do anything rash enough that’ll put his life in danger.”

Xenia turned to him, her tears finally rolling down her cheek as she stutteringly whispered, “T-Thank you.”

Darius gave her a solemn look as he gently touched her cheek. Brushing it lightly, he whispered, “Hang in there… We’ll be back soon.”

Xenia could only watch Darius’s retreating back as he left. As his visage disappeared from the tent, she looked at Jayra and asked, “What exactly happened?”

“B-based on what some of the survivors said, Seer Beirut had left the ship with Commander Marius and his envoy to go back to the castle. It was during their journey that they got ambushed,” Jayra explained as best she could through her tears.

“They weren’t prepared for it. The commander was badly injured together with the rest of the survivors that arrived, but… Seer Beirut… he was too…” Jayra could not continue as she began sobbing again.

Seeing her friend break down, Xenia pulled her in for a hug as they both commiserated in one another’s grief. They cried their heart out, and it took them a while before they finally managed to gather as much of themselves as they could. Sharing a look, they then left the tent and let Wizard Lurio along with a few of the male servants to clean and prepare Seer Beirut’s body for burial.

“We… We need to inform Father and Mother,” Xenia weakly declared. “Can you please send a message to the castle about this incident?”

Jayra simply nodded with a teary eye before she left to do her duty. Meanwhile, Xenia could only try her best to keep herself together as she saw many of her people waiting patiently outside the Prince’s tent. They were all looking at her, waiting for any news about Beirut.

Xenia let out a long deep sigh as prepared herself. With a heavy heart, she announced, “Our Seer is gone… There is a time and place to grieve, but now isn’t the time for us to let this grievance crumble our resolve.”

She then took on a darker tone, one showing her disdain as she continued, “This only shows how evil our enemies are. We must not let our Seer’s death be in vain! Tonight, we’ll cry for our loss, but we shall stand on our feet again and make Helion pay for their crimes!”

Hearing the news, everyone present fell on their knees as they gave their utmost respect for the seer who helped their kingdom reach the heights that it was currently at. A seer who dedicated his life to the welfare of every Ebodian.

Letting go, Xenia wept hard, sharing her grief together with the Ebodian army.