The Crown's Entrapment

Clara was on high alert as she found herself shifting in her seat beside Lady Shila. With the Princess's fight already over, the plan to expose and detain Nasser should be starting any second now. That meant that she should be on the lookout for whoever it was that they would send for Gilas's mother to protect her from the evil Elder's potential retaliation.

She didn't even have the time to process just what exactly happened down below. All she knew was that the Princess had won, and Pinra tried to stab her in the back before white wings erupted into the scene. From there, she saw what was possibly one of the cruelest things she had ever heard Princess Xenia utter.

It didn't matter that Pinra was left alive for now. While she would've preferred that the Princess killed the bjtch, she supposed that leaving her in this kind of state would be a far worse fate than anyone could've thought.

"Who would've thought that Princess Xenia is an angel?" Lady Shila gasped in wonder, her eyes focused on the princess's white wings. "No wonder she's that strong..."

"Indeed," Clara couldn't help but agree. "I didn't even think that she was"

"And to think that she even spared Lady Pinra like this... It's both firm, and cruel in the most justified way," Lady Shila remarked. "Well, it's cruel in the sense that she crushed my niece's hopes and dreams, but at least she'll live, even if it's through a hollow existence."

Clara took a deep breath as she nodded. After all, why even bother to kill someone that was already harmless?

As the events started to wind down, Clara kept her eyes open for the cue that she was sure she would receive. She couldn't allow herself to relax. Not now.

'Just when in the world is it supposed to start anyway?' she inwardly mumbled.

Surely it was about to start, right? They've planned this sequence of events for weeks, and now would be the perfect time to enact them. Did something happen?

Clara didn't know what to think. But just as she was about to try and stand up to see if there was something wrong, a slight pull on her dress caught her attention. Looking behind her, she almost gasped in surprise to see Lady Jayra giving her a small wink.

"I'm here," Jayra giggled, acting as if they weren't doing something inherently dangerous. "Where's Lady Shila?"

Without even a second thought, Clara replied, "She's right beside me. Where do we take her?"

"Follow me," Jayra instructed. "We won't take long."

Hearing her instructions, Clara didn't waste any time before turning to Lady Shila.

"Lady Shila, I'm going to need you to follow me," Clara insisted, her voice taking on a hushed tone. "This is for your own good."

The older woman's eyes widened at the sudden instructions. Her mouth partly opening, it was clear that she had more than a few questions about what was going to happen. Still, Clara hoped that she didn't have to explain herself further. At least, not until later.

"I don't know what's happening, but I trust you, Clara," Lady Shila sagely smiled, her eyes showing that she knew more than she let on. "Very well. Lead the way."

Letting out a sigh of relief, Clara went ahead and pulled the older woman with her to follow Jayra. Retreating to the arena itself, they eventually found themselves in an empty room away from all of the cheering. They were only three of them, and it was clearly a secret chamber built into the arena itself.

"Alright. It should be safe now," Jayra nodded before raising her hand. "I'm going to cast the protection spell now. Are you ready?"

The older woman simply nodded in resignation as she smiled. "I trust that Clara won't lead me to harm's way," she lightly chuckled. "Also, you said it's a protection spell, so I'm sure it won't be too bad."

Clara's eyes softened. "I'm sorry, Lady Shila. I promise I'll explain what's happening after all of this is over," she sighed. She then turned to Jayra and nodded. "Ready."

With a nod of her own, Jayra began casting her spell. With a wave of her hand, the air in the room coalesced around a single point, all of the energies in the room enveloping Lady Shila in a protective barrier meant to protect her from the one she called her husband.

"It's done," Jayra breathed out, the spell clearly taking a toll on her. "She should be safe now."

"Thank you," Clara thankfully nodded. "We can come back out now, right?"

"Yes," Jayra smiled, her posture wavering as she leaned on the nearest wall. "Though I kind of suggest that you both stay here for a while..."

"Are you alright, my lady?" Lady Shila asked.

"I'll... I'll be fine," Jayra weakly chuckled. "This damn spell just took a lot more out of me than I expected. It wasn't meant to be cast that quickly, you see, and I've run out of time to further refine it... And it doesn't help that the scope of it was far larger than I anticipated..."

Clara frowned. "But it'll still work, right?"

"Of course. What do you take me for?" Jayra scoffed. "I just said that it's not perfect yet. Not that it won't work."

Clara let out a sigh of relief. It would seem that the worst had finally come to pass. All that was left was for Nasser to pay for his crimes. Although...

"Why suggest that we stay here?" Clara couldn't help but ask. "If she's safe, then we should be out there, right?"

Instead of replying right away, Jayra simply let out a smirk as she stated, "It's nothing really... Just that the outside might be a bit louder than the usual once it all happens."

Clara pensively frowned. Likewise, Lady Shila seemed bothered by the vague statement.

"I think we can handle a bit of noise," Clara stated. "If it's alright with you, we'll be going back to our seats."

"Enjoy the show then," Jayra chuckled. "As for me, I'll... I'll help once I've caught my breath."

Giving the mage a nod, Clara went ahead and escorted Lady Shila back to their seat. Of course, the sight that greeted them was far from what they expected at all.

"W-What is this?" Lady Shila gasped as her eyes beheld the vision currently playing in the middle of the arena.

"Justice," Clara replied, her efforts finally paying off as she saw the heinous crimes being played out in front of her. "That's justice being served."