The Crown's Entrapment

“Alright. Let the woman I brought here with me heal the lad until he recovers,” the King agreed, making Xenia let out a sigh of relief.

Once they were out of the meeting chamber, Gideon escorted Xenia to her new bedchamber while Bartos went off in a different direction. Stopping at the door, Gideon opened it to reveal a spacious room.

“This will be your new bedchamber. The next room beside here is His Majesty’s bedchamber,” Gideon commented.

“You are incredibly fortunate to have the honor of residing so close to His Majesty’s personal chambers. After all, you’re the first person that His Majesty even allowed to stay near his room. This chamber had been vacant for a very long time. Besides, His Majesty always prefers his privacy, so his bedchamber was far away from others.”

‘Should I be flattered? I feel like that King will only constantly bug me for his entertainment. He would probably even bully me… I’d rather stay far away from him!’ Xenia inwardly complained.

“I will leave you to rest. The healer you chose will be here to attend to you shortly,” Gideon said before he quickly went out of sight.

Finally walking into the spacious room, Xenia was surprised that the King had treated her with such great accommodations. Her face lit up as soon she saw that her room had a balcony.

She immediately rushed out and admired the sunset from her view. The sky was turning orange… It would be dark soon…

She let out a long sigh as the sight before her reminded her of home. Xenia wondered how things were going on in her kingdom right now, how her father was handling the King of the Valcrez Kingdom in her absence.

In truth, she missed her family terribly, but she just couldn’t accept the marriage. The idea of getting tied to a non-human made her feel uneasy, but fate seemed to work in ironic ways, seeing as she was now actually ‘owned’ by a werewolf king.

Did life want to punish her for trying to fight her fate?

“I trust that you like your chamber?” the deep voice of the king suddenly roused her from her thoughts. Turning to her left, she was shocked to see him standing just beside her.

‘We actually share the same balcony!? This has to be some bad joke?!’ Xenia gasped in horror.

“You look surprised. You are now my person, so I have all the right to do whatever I want with you. Be thankful that I’m generous enough to keep you here with me, rather than throwing you into the pit,” King Darius grumbled.

“Thank you for your generosity, Your Majesty. But if you will excuse me, I will leave you for my rest since I am quite tired,” Xenia politely said. Darius signaled her to leave with a slight nod.

Immediately going back inside, she threw herself on the soft and comfortable bed as her body ached all over.

“How come he has that weird expression every time he looks at me?” Xenia murmured as she stared at the ceiling. The King would frown and then often sigh.

‘Why would I care about his thoughts!’ Xenia huffed, clearing her head before closing her eyes and drifting off to sleep.

Xenia didn’t know how long she was asleep, but she had drifted off into another dream where she could hear her little sister’s soft voice calling out to her.

‘Xenia!’ Mineah’s voice echoed into her ears, almost shouting at her.

It made Xenia wake up with a start.

“What was that…”

She let out a loud breath as she gently moved to sit up on the bed. She couldn’t help but feel worried for everyone back in her kingdom, especially her family. She knew that she had made a selfish decision without thinking of the outcomes it could bring.

Still, she was confident that her running away would not result in bloodshed between the two kingdoms. The Vampire King of Valcrez wouldn’t bother to wage war against their kingdom just for a mere human like her.

She was confident that the alliance would continue without the marriage. After all, their Kingdom was known for having powerful mages even among most other kingdoms. That alone was enough of an advantage for the Vampire King.

Besides, she trusted her brother, Ezekiel. He would definitely come up with a solution like he always did as the future king of Ebodia.

A few minutes had passed when the door opened. Looking up, a sigh of relief left her lips upon seeing Tarah enter her chambers.

“How are you feeling?” the healer asked softly.

“I’m feeling fine now, Tarah. Come here for a moment,” Xenia asked, grabbing Tarah’s hand and pulling her down to sit beside her on the bed.

“I dreamt of my sister. Do you think you can tell me anything that you can see right now at the Kingdom of Ebodia?” she asked.

Tarah smiled and whispered, “I thought you didn’t believe in Seers?”

Xenia’s eyes widened, “You know about that too?”

Tarah gave a knowing nod, “Of course. I’ve told you that I can see you in my dreams. And if it is within your wishes, I can also tell you of your future here.”

Xenia shook her head. “No! No! I don’t want to hear about my future and be doomed to follow it. What I’m curious about is my Kingdom and how they are doing right now. I can survive while I’m here, but I want to know about my family.”

“Hmm, don’t worry about the Kingdom of Ebodia. They’ve already made a plan, as well as a backup for the event that you ran away.”

“Like what?” Xenia asked with a frown of confusion.

“There will still be a wedding. I can see your little sister’s wedding to the Vampire King-”

“What?!” Xenia shouted in worry. Her fists clenched as she gritted her teeth in guilt and fear.

“Relax. Don’t get worked up on it. Your sister has agreed to it, and I don’t see any harm coming her way because of this decision,” Tarah reassured.

“This is her fate, and she’s simply following it, letting her fate flow through naturally…”

“But that can’t be! She will have a miserable life if the Vampire King finds out about the curse!!” Xenia almost yelled out, covering her face for a moment as the guilt of this situation began eating away at her.