The Crown's Entrapment

"With the five seats now completed, we will have to take a short break and resume shortly after," the announcer called out to the audience with a regretful tone. "But before all of that, we would announce the next fight to further thin out our four female werewolf contenders who would fight the Princess of Ebodia in the final round."

The announcer then turned to Gilas, the latter nodding as he stepped forward and gave the former the list of the next match.

"Oh, the first match would be between Lady Pinra and Lady Benet. After that will be Lady Evelyn going up against Lady Bella," Gilas announced, taking on the role of the announcer as he stood by the stage. "There will then be an hour-long break before the fights will resume."

With his job over and done with, Gilas stepped down from the stage and walked straight towards Clara, the latter currently being treated by Jayra even as he spoke. Shaking his head, he then darted his deadly glare towards Pinra as he telepathically fumed, [I'll kill you after all this is over!]

It took him his all not to interfere in the fight just a while ago. He swore and threatened Pinra all the while, but the latter simply shut off her mind link during the fight.

[Kill me? Kill your future Queen?] Pinra scoffed as she let her wall down for just a few seconds. [Feel free to try then, because if you don't, then I'll definitely kill your mate!]

With Pinra having shut him off again, Gilas inwardly cursed as his eyes promptly darted towards Nasser, the old man simply glaring at him in return.

It was an obvious threat from the old man. Such an expression needed no further words for Gilas to understand its meaning. Nasser wanted him to stay put if he wanted his mother safe, and Gilas could only curse as he gritted his teeth in anger.

"Her body was poisoned with dark magic, but I already managed to get rid of it," Jayra explained once he reached their side. "Still, Clara will need a few days of thorough rest for her to fully recover…"

"Thank you so much for everything," Clara thanked the mage. "I'll manage…"

Gilas darted his loving eyes towards his mate. She was still covered with some blood, but he was relieved that she was now safe.

"It's nothing, Lady Clara… You can always ask for my help since it's my duty as a healer, apart from being a mage of course," Jayra commented with a smile. "After all this is over, I'll expect you to look for me so that we can start treating your sense of smell."

The mage then turned to him and said, "Lord Gilas, please make sure to bring Lady Clara to me whenever you can so that I can start treating her. Who knows? Bella might be right and I might be able to help with her disability."

Gilas nodded with a grateful smile as he said, "Thank you for all your help, Lady Jayra."

"Well, my help isn't always free, but you two must know that I'll require payment through other means…" Jayra straightforwardly stated.

Gilas simply nodded, and Clara did the same. Both of them knew what the mage wanted, and it was that they show their genuine and loyal support for the Princess of Ebodia… their future Queen.

[We should also thank her after this,] Ham reminded. [She saved our mate, keeping you from doing something rash like interfering and jeopardizing the plan to make Nasser believe that you're still on his side and in the palm of his hand somehow.]

Gilas could only sigh at the reminder. He honestly had mixed emotions at the moment. He just wanted to carry Clara in his arms and bring her to his home and take care of her. But the tournament was still ongoing and he still had responsibilities that he had to take care of.

Just below him, Clara probably understood his expression as she spoke, "Go back to your post, Lord Gilas. Concentrate on the work at hand. I'll stay here with Lady Jayra in the meantime. I still want to see how things will unfold."

She then added with a faint smile, "Don't worry too much about me. I won't go away. I'll wait for you later so we can both get back home safely."

'Home…' Gilas inwardly uttered as he nodded. Did Clara mean that she'd be going with him later?

[Yes. That's the deal, right? She'll submit to you after this tournament, and that part of the deal begins now since she's officially out of the tournament,] Ham reminded him once more. [She's your mate, Gilas, and you already marked her. You two are officially a couple now. The only thing that remains is for you to complete the Mate Bond by mating and-]

Gilas groaned, telling Ham to stop saying what he already knew. Nodding at Clara, he whispered, "Later then, milady."

Clara nodded, and Gilas then promptly turned around to go back to his seat.

Behind him, Clara looked in Bella's direction and murmured, "Will she still fight?"

"Oh, she will," Jayra answered with a smile. "Her body has already recovered, so don't worry too about her. Besides, she'll fight a worthy opponent like Lady Evelyn, so she probably won't back down even if we wanted her to. If it's Pinra… Well, she promised me and her family that she won't fight Pinra."

"If she backs out now, it'll be too obvious that she's our ally, so she'll fight unless it's Pinra," Jayra continued with a smug tone.

"Besides, we should worry more about Lady Benet. She's the one who'll face Pinra later. The woman used dark magic, but she managed to conceal it well enough that we can't complain about it. And even then there are no rules about it in this tournament anyway. All that mattered was to be the last woman standing…"

Clara simply nodded. She knew that Lady Benet was only in the tournament upon the King's order. Lady Benet was a member of Darius's Elite Moonlight Shadow, and he probably wanted Xenia to see all of Pinra's fighting capabilities before they inevitably met. Knowing that Lady Benet would fight Pinra using her full strength.

"Can Princess Xenia counter Pinra's black magic?" Clara unknowingly uttered as her eyes darted towards the woman that saved her life.

"You sound worried about her. Well, I'm worried as well since Princess Xenia's knowledge about magic and spellcraft is limited," Jayra remarked. "But I also know that she's someone special enough that dark magic wouldn't enough to bring her down. I'm confident that she'll be able to handle Pinra handily once they meet."

"I hope you're right then," Clara replied with a sigh.

It was all she could hope for. Pinra was someone anybody should be wary of. She was way too strong, and Nasser had groomed her well to be his personal killing machine… Truly, she was a force to be reckoned with.