The Crown's Entrapment

Arriving at Cordon Castle, Darius breathed out a sigh of relief as he took a cursory glance up at the night sky. Evening had just arrived, and they had thankfully reached home without too much fuss or anybody else somehow passingly recognizing him under his disguise. Of course, Xen was only happy to keep proving any of his smarter subjects wrong, but it was only a matter of time until one of them actually managed to put two of them together and call them out on their stunt.

“Finally home,” Xen let out a sigh of relief as she stretched. “Just in time for dinner too.”

“They’ll be expecting us,” Darius hummed as he led themselves through the hallways. “Although, they shouldn’t know that we’re already inside the castle grounds right now.”

As much as they would like to do so, sneaking by the castle guards was borderline impossible no matter how much they tried. So instead, Darius exposed himself to them with the express command that they never reveal that they had already arrived to the rest of the castle. From there, they stealthily made their way into the castle itself, repeating the same thing to any guard that spotted them while also hearing about Freya’s prior fainting incident.

He would have to see if her sister was alright later. But for now, their surprise took priority.

“You think they’ll even notice who we are?” Xen excitedly asked.

“I doubt it,” Darius chuckled alongside her. “Mother, most likely, will catch on immediately however. Though knowing her, she might just keep quiet to keep the charade going.”

“Ooh,” Xen hummed in approval. “That’s going to be fun then.”

Darius couldn’t help but smirk at the thought of their inevitable reveal. Assuming that Freya was fine enough for it, she’ll be present for dinner. And knowing Gideon, he’ll be right behind his sister, probably joining them for dinner as well. He could only assume that they’re already preparing for their arrival. He’d be surprised if they weren’t already busy preparing for it too.

Having decided that they should remain quiet for their approach, the two silently made their way through the castle hallways. Even from where they sneaked by, the busy sounds of preparation echoed throughout the hallways, especially so as soon as they passed the kitchen.

“They’re awfully busy in there,” Xen commented.

“It would seem that Gideon’s running them ragged in there,” Darius amusedly noted. “That could only mean that Freya will be in attendance.”

“You think that she’s fine now?” she hopefully asked.

“Gideon wouldn’t be this fired up if it was just us,” Darius scoffed. “Now let’s be off. We won’t want them to catch us in here.”

From there, they made their way to the dining hall. They didn’t manage to come across any other guards from that point on, and before they knew it, they were now inside a currently empty hall with the table still clearly being set up.

“We’re here early,” Xen commented with a giggle. “What do you think we should do?”

“We should hide somewhere,” Darius chuckled, a hint of mischief coloring his tone as he eyed his usual chair. “We then wait until the table is fully set before we take our usual seats.”

“Ooh… That sounds fun.”

With their plans made up, the two proceeded to hide underneath the long table in the middle of the room. As time went on, servants came and went into the room, setting up the room for dinner all while they were still hidden from sight. Before they knew it, the last of the preparations had been completed, leaving them alone with a moderate spread of food and morsels to eat.

“Wow… This is dinner, right?” Xen asked.

“Indeed,” Darius nodded, having crawled out from underneath the table alongside his mate. “I do admit that this is a bit much, however.”

Truly, Gideon had overdone himself in an effort to cater for his mother and sister… and maybe for himself as well if he wanted to think that way.

“Let’s get seated,” Xen excitedly suggested. “Oh! And do you think we can make it look like we’re intruders eating the food?”

Darius raised an eyebrow at the suggestion. “You’re proposing that we time ourselves in a way that when the door opens, they’ll see us with our hands in what’s supposed to be their food.”

“Yep,” she giggled. “We’re already here. We might as well go all the way.”

The disguised king pondered on the suggestion. A few seconds of hesitation later, he nodded anyway. A practical joke wouldn’t hurt every once in a while. Hopefully, it wouldn’t be too surprising, however.

Taking their respective seats, the two were ready for a long wait when the doors suddenly opened. Dumbfounded, they could only watch as the group froze right by the door, their eyes wide as they stared at the two of them.

“W-Who are you?!”

Darius couldn’t help but smile as Gideon and Bartos quickly took their positions in the front. Jayra and Freya then took their positions right behind them, covering the Queen Mother from the supposed threat they represented.

Seeing it now, he couldn’t help but feel glad that he actually went through with this.

“Speak, intruders!” Bartos barked out with the intensity expected of his station. “Do so, and you may both yet be spared your lives!”

“Why, don’t you recognize us?” Xen chuckled, placing her chin under her fingers as she leaned on the tabletop. “I’d think that after all this time, you guys would actually know it’s us.”

A terse silence settled after his mate’s teasing, only further exacerbating the situation as none of them seemed to have recognized them. Although, the smirk on his mother’s face clued him in that she already knew what was going on.

“Wait… Princess Xenia?”

“The one and only,” Xen chuckled, taking off her hat to reveal her long locks. “It’s good that I didn’t have to tell you, Jayra. I would’ve been sorely disappointed.”

Darius let out a sigh of relief as the tension bled out of the room shortly after. Those that didn’t get their ruse huffed in self-disappointment. Although, Freya was visibly miffed as she pouted beside Jayra.

“Well then,” the Queen Mother interfected. “I suppose we should all get to dinner?”