The Crown's Entrapment

Xenia ran towards Jayra's chamber as soon as she heard that her friend had awakened. Barging her way inside, she couldn't help the wave of relief that washed over her when she saw Jayra sitting up on her bed.

"My Queen," Jayra whispered to her with a smile.

In that instant, Xenia pounced on Jayra, hugging her as she sobbed. "How could you smile like that!" she scolded.

"And how could you cry like that, Your Grace?" Jayra weakly chuckled as she gently patted her friend's back. "I'm doing well thanks to you finding me at the right time. You looked so ethereal landing with your wings splayed out like that."

Xenia clicked her tongue. "Save your energy," she ordered. "And don't talk too much. You're still recovering."

"Hmm, but I don't want to waste time," Jayra snorted, even if she looked weak doing so. "Damn that Demon King! He told me that I won't remember a thing, but I clearly remember everything that happened!"

Xenia broke the hug as she looked closely at Jayra.

"I'm doing great already, Your Grace. So be at ease," Jayra insisted. "Also, Wizard Lurio already told me everything that happened, and I'm more than grateful to you for offering up your blood to try and save me. And I give my thanks to Queen Mineah as well, who willingly lent me her blood to counteract the bloodthread."

Hearing his name, Xenia turned to Wizard Lurio, who was currently by the side of the room. The old man nodded, then she shifted her gaze back to Bartos who also gave her a small nod. That meant that Jayra already knew everything that was happening including her own origins.

"Hmm... What's with the sad face, Your Grace?" Jayra scoffed in annoyance. "This should be a joyous occasion, right? I won't forgive that Demon King for spoiling this event for you!"

This time, Xenia chuckled as she grabbed Jayra's hands and gently squeezed them. "Don't worry, we'll both make that Demon King suffer," she grimly chuckled. "But for now, you have to fully recover first."

"I understand," Jayra nodded in determination. "Besides, I still need to hunt the Demon King's bloodthread out there."

It was a bit of fresh air from all of the doom and gloom. The two were smiling and getting distracted when Bartos's loud exhale suddenly filled the chamber. "Think about that later, Wife," he remarked. "For now, your health is more important. Let that bloodthread roam around for just a bit more. Besides, it can only manifest in people with demonic heritage."

"Husband! That's an irresponsible statement!" Jayra scolded.

"But your life is more important to me than anyone else in this world!" Bartos defended with a shrug. "Can you blame me for thinking that way?"

Xenia gulped as she watched the couple fight through their stares, both of them glaring at each other without so much as a blink. In the end though, Bartos shrugged as he murmured, "I apologize. Just make sure that you're fit enough before making any moves."

Jayra nodded and quickly hugged Bartos. "Again, I'm sorry for making you worry," she murmured.

The door then opened, and Xenia moved a bit back to give way for Jayra's in-laws to enter. There, she sighed deeply upon seeing how worried her friend's in-laws were for her, especially Bella who hadn't stopped sobbing ever since she latched onto Jayra.

"Come now, my love. Let's give them some privacy," Darius whispered into her ear.

She nodded in agreement. With a silent nod, Darius held her hand and led her out of the chamber. Wizard Lurio followed them outside as well, and he seemed to have something to say as he approached them.

"Your Majesty, Your Grace, may I have a word?"

Darius nodded before leading Lurio into his private study along with them.

"What is it?" Xenia inquired.

"Once Lady Jayra is fit to travel, I would like to suggest that she come back with me to Ebodia together with the person that might be housing the Demon King's bloodthread," Lurio proposed. "It's a strong dark energy, Your Grace, and the Demon King's dark magic is quite strong from what I've felt so far. As such, I strongly believe that it's better for them to stay at Ebodia for a while to make sure that things are properly handled."

Darius sighed deeply and murmured, "I'll have to first talk to Bartos about this matter."

"You can let Bartos stay with Jayra in Ebodia," Xenia suggested.

Darius nodded in agreement. "Fair enough. I'll just let someone fill in for him for a while then," he murmured.

Xenia sighed at the circumstance that was forming for them. Bartos was one of his husband's trusted men, and she was also aware that he was handling the majority of the tasks in running the Kingdom of Cordon. It won't be easy to let him go for a long time, knowing that he was a vital component for the daily runnings of the kingdom.

Darius chuckled, "Looks like Calypso's arrival indeed has its purpose."

Xenia could only sigh. The two of them then discussed things further with wizard Lurio before the latter left the private study. Left alone, Darius and her eyes met, and from there, she couldn't help but noticed how haggard her husband looked. He looked so weary and tired...

Worried, she opened her arms wide and said, "Come here, my love."

Seeing her offer, Darius immediately moved to sit right beside her, snuggling into her embrace as he appreciated her warmth.

"I hadn't postponed the dinner meeting we have later with Gideon's family. We'll proceed with the Ritual of Marking as scheduled on Freya's birthday at Everett Manor," Darius stated.

"It's been long due, and I know how long Gideon had been waiting for this to happen. For now, I'm just grateful for the help wizard Lurio gave to us. He, together with Ebodia's tribute mages, are now formulating a potion that my men could use to identify any sort of dark energy entering in and out of our kingdom."

"Well, we're also grateful for the cavalry you sent to Ebodia Encampment for the war," Xenia gratefully replied. "According to my brother, Commander Zardo did a great job in assisting him. And because of the assistance you sent, they were able to push Helion's army into a retreat."

It was true... The Moonlight Cavalry led by Zardo was the best among the rest of Cordon's knights, and he was glad that they'd done exactly what their job entailed.

"I'm just glad that for now, things have settled down. We just need to tighten up our Kingdom's security, and make sure to plan ahead against Helion's future attacks," Darius remarked. "There's no way that the Demon King will stop trying to conquer everything that he could in this world, and we have to be ready for him."

It was what they should expect. In reality, they knew they should eliminate their enemies before they could even get back on their feet enough to declare war again.

"Hmm... For now, let's just focus more on our kingdom, my love..." Xenia suggested. "You see... I heard that Ezekiel has a plan in the works, and he will discuss things with you as soon as it's more defined..."

"And here I thought we can both focus more on the baby-making aspect of our new relationship..." Darius snorted, making Xenia laugh.

"Well, we can do a bit of multitasking, my love," she replied with a giggle.

Ah, they needed to cheer up each other. This way, they'll be able to keep their morale high against the coming problems they had to face.