The Crown's Entrapment

Darius and Nikolai made their way to the dining hall as soon as they were finished meeting with the Valcrez Royal Council.

“It seems like they’re pushing you hard to make babies,” Darius couldn’t help but tease. Back during the meeting, one of the council members even threatened him to take responsibility for snatching away Nikolai’s initial bride, Xenia, should her sister Mineah be incapable of bearing their monarch enough heirs that would allow the pureblood lineage to continue.

Nikolai only chuckled and murmured, “Aren’t you lucky then, my friend, seeing that you’re not being pushed as hard as me on the issue??”

“Well, they don’t need to,” Darius replied with a burst of crisp laughter. “I’ll get to it anyway in one way or another.”

Nikolai only shook his head as they continued their walk through the hallway. Soon enough, they reached their destination, their respective other halves already waiting for them inside the dining hall when the two entered. The usual greetings were exchanged, and supper went well enough. However, Darius noticed how Xen was being quieter than usual. He could feel that something was bothering her, and he thought of asking her about it later.

After a bout of silence, Xen suddenly cleared her throat, looking specifically at Nikolai as she said, “Your Majesty, it’s been a while since I’ve been with my sister. Is it alright if she sleeps with me tonight?”

Darius almost choked on his own food as he heard Xen speak her request. He looked at Nikolai with a frown, but the latter ignored his gaze as he answered.

“Sure, Princess Xenia. You’ll be leaving tomorrow, so I bet you and your sister have a lot of catching up to do before that,” Nikolai nodded, even winking at his wife as he continued. “You can borrow Mine from me tonight. No worries…”

‘This bat!’ Darius inwardly scoffed.

Looking at Xen, something still didn’t feel right. He could understand Xen wanting to spend more time with Mineah, but for it to extend to her sleeping with her sister? Somehow, he felt worried. And looking at his mate, she seemingly ignored him or rather avoided his gaze.

‘Is she mad at me? But why?’

Dinner ended, and Mineah signaled for a servant and explained, “Follow him. He’ll guide you to your bedchamber, Your Majesty, King Darius.”

Frowning, Darius looked at Xen and said, “Can we have a private talk before we separate, Xen?”

Seeing the king’s worry, Mineah looked at Xen and said, “How about you and His Majesty go ahead and talk? You know where to find me once you’re done.”

Xen nodded, and the two then walked ahead after politely bidding good night to Nikolai. Walking ahead, Darius followed her towards the bedchamber that he was supposed to use with her.

He remained quiet, simply staring at her back as his mind wondered whether or not he did something to make somehow Xen mad at him. Silently following, he only spoke as soon as they were already inside the chamber.

“Xen, is there something wrong?” he inquired.

Xen turned around to face him, her arms crossed as she said, “Until when do you plan to hide it from me?”

Darius frowned. He hid nothing from Xen at all from what he could recall. All except for the bad news about her brother Ezekiel…

Darius’s eyes widened as he gasped, “You… How?”

“I know my little sister, you know. She can’t hide anything from me,” Xen fumed as she rolled her eyes. “So tell me, do you intend on keeping me in the dark about this?”

Darius gulped as he massaged his nape. Xen’s eyes shot daggers at him, and he swore he had never felt this much tension in his whole life. She was mad at him, and her intensity was nothing he had ever seen before.

“I… your parents asked me to keep this from you for your own good…” Darius admitted.

“Is my parents your mate, Darius? I’m your woman, someone bound to you, who will be your lifetime partner, so you shouldn’t keep things away from me even if it will hurt me,” Xen scolded with a sigh.

“You of all people should trust me. Or even if I crumble once I hear the news, you should be confident enough to support me. I don’t like hiding things between us. If we want our relationship to work, we have to be open to one another even if knowing the truth will break us.”

She rambled, “We have each other to lean on, so we shouldn’t be cautious… And I want it to be on everything… through thick and thin.”

Darius was speechless. A beat passed before he managed to reply.

“I’m sorry. I won’t do this again,” Darius murmured. “I’ll never hide anything from you again like this, Xen. I promise…”

He tried to reach for her for a hug, but Xen stepped back, making him frown in disappointment.

“No touching for you,” Xen frowned, a glint of mischief flashing in her eyes. “That’s your punishment for making me mad. You can sleep alone tonight. And make sure that this serves as a lesson for you. If you ever hide anything important from me again, I’ll make sure you’ll end up with more severe punishment.

Darius’s jaw dropped as he watched Xen’s back rush out of the door.

[Feisty!] his wolf Zeus teased. [Haven’t you missed this side of her?]

Darius annoyingly brushed his palm against his face, releasing a mouthful of air as he sighed.

[Again, you didn’t listen to me,] Zeus scolded. [I told you before that you should’ve told her about it.]

Right… Zeus only said it once that Xen would get mad once she found out about it. Not that he had no plans on telling her eventually, but he was still trying to balance things out.

Xen already had a lot on her plate, and adding this bit of news about Ezekiel could potentially distract her, or even worse, stress her out. And stress was the last she needed in her current situation.

[Haven’t you noticed how well she seems to be handling the news?] Zeus commented. [She looks calm enough, and she didn’t let her impulse guide her like going to the Ebodian encampment and looking for her missing brother herself.]

Darius noticed that as well. Xen seemed to be handling the situation well unlike how they had perceived she would take it.

“I guess I simply have to endure a cold night for tonight…” Darius weakly murmured as his eyes darted to the empty bed.

[Pray that it only lasts for tonight~ Hahahaha!] Zeus teased.

“It’s cold because of winter. She’ll miss my warmth,” Darius muttered, encouraging himself for the long night. “Right, she won’t drag this too long.”

Zeus only laughed and quipped, [There’s a thick sheet as an alternative…]

Darius cursed under his breath. Zeus was obviously enjoying his dilemma, especially whenever his wolf proved itself right.