The Crown's Entrapment

Another morning came for the Kingdom of Cordon, and once again, the arena was filled to the brim with an audience eager to watch the last fight on the Trial of Combat. It was there that they would witness who would be the final three contenders to fill in the final twelve.

Walking up to the arena, Bella and Jayra decided to watch the final fight to complete the final twelve. On their way to their seats, they saw Lady Clara sitting by some empty spots. Taking the initiative, Bella quickly pulled Jayra along with her so that the two of them could sit beside her lone friend.

"Hey, Clara," Bella greeted her friend as soon as they reached her. She then leaned into Clara's ear and teased, "Are you here to check on your mate?"

Thankfully, their seats were far from the other viewers. They were actually occupying some of the special seats Gilas had particularly arranged for nobles like them. Currently, they were the only ones seated on that particular row right by the front of the stands.

"Bella!"

Bella chuckled at Clara's less than violent reaction. "Fine, I'll stop teasing you," she teased. "I'll try my best to control myself."

"Don't worry about Bella. We both know how she is," Jayra comforted Clara. "Anyway, are you here to see if the contenders that will win are Nasser's pawns?"

"Yes," Clara firmly answered.

By the time they were seated, one of the fights had finally started. Almost immediately, Bella's eyes fixated on Lady Evelyn's direction. She was hoping for the woman to win and advance to the final twelve alongside her.

Seeing as that fight was going rather decently, she then decided to turn her attention to the two other fights that were simultaneously being held on the other sides of the makeshift stage.

Looking down on the contenders, Bella knew the ladies fighting, but she didn't know them enough to be able to tell if they were their foes or not.

"Three against nine…" Bella couldn't help but note their competition. "Damn! Can we do it, Clara?"

"I told you already that Xenia will come running to our side later," Jayra interrupted. "You better count it as four against nine."

Bella chuckled. She felt good, sitting in between these two beautiful ladies that had become an important part of her life.

"So I was thinking… Sister-in-law can probably help you restore your sense of smell, Clara," Bella suddenly suggested. "You see, she's possibly the best healer I've known thus far!"

Intrigued, Clara turned her gaze toward Jayra, her eyebrow raised as if asking if what Bella said was true.

"Bella's right," Jayra validated with a smile. "And honestly, I was already thinking of offering you my services to check on your wolf's problem after this tournament ends…"

Clara looked baffled, her eyes only shifting back and forth between her and Jayra out of sheer astonishment.

"Say something," Bella chuckled at her friend's clear apprehension. "At least let Sister-in-law try before you say no…"

In the end, Clara timidly whispered, "Thank you…"

With that, the three of them inevitably devolved into conversations regarding who was going to win among the last remaining contestants. It wasn't until Princess Freya suddenly appeared that they were interrupted from their discussions.

"Huh… Seeing you three here in one spot made me feel lonely from where I'm sitting," Freya scoffed with a wide smile.

"Come and sit with us then, milady," Jayra offered, gesturing to the seat beside her. But before the princess could sit, Bella quickly moved and signaled for her sister-in-law to move her seat, vacating her previous spot so that Freya could sit in between her and Clara.

"I have a lot of questions for you, Princess Freya, so please sit beside me," Bella motioned as she gave her sister-in-law a grateful wink.

"But aren't you needed down there with the officers?" Clara interrupted with a questioning tone.

"Oh, not really. Gideon's doing most of my work anyway," Freya answered with a bright smile, her eyes sparkling as she gave the man in question a darting glance. "Besides, I can still oversee how this tournament is going from this area, so it's fine…"

"Wow… You look very much into him right now," Bella couldn't help but voice out. She then added, "Is that the effect of the Mate Pull?"

In truth, there was another reason why Bella wanted the princess to sit in between her and Clara. Having noticed how her friend was also confused about the Mate Pull thing yesterday, she thought that it would be best that Clara also chimed in to hear her questions and conversations with Princess Freya regarding the Mate Pull.

"I'm really curious to know more about the Mate Pull since I haven't felt it yet," Bella further explained. "I want to know how it feels from other people's perspective."

"I see," Freya hummed in acknowledgment. "Hmm… From what I can tell, the Mate Pull is strong and distinct enough that I instantly recognized it through smell alone. I haven't smelled anything like it on anyone my whole life, that scent coming from your mate will just pull you to him."

She recounted, "It was so addicting to inhale that you feel like burying your nose all over his body. Also, you can tell what it is through instinct. You'll feel a lot of emotions you haven't felt before, especially when you two get to touch one another… You can easily feel the Pull by then since it feels like you're burning alive in a good way from the pleasurable."

She then added, "But to make things clear, what I feel for Gideon is more than the Mate Pull. I've come to love him with all my heart. Yes, it all started because of that Mate Pull, but I don't think things would've worked out between us if we didn't involve our hearts in the process."

She smiled, "So in the end, what matters most is what's in your heart, and how fully committed you'll be for your mate…"

Freya then turned to look at her as she continued, "Whether or not you're blessed to experience the Mate Pull, I do believe that you'd definitely be able to tell what it is for you, Lady Bella… From my experience, things won't happen to you on their own. You have to work on yourself, and make sure that the choice you'll make is what your heart truly wants…"

"Goodness, Princess Freya… Since when did you mature enough to give out a speech like that?" Bella humorously remarked. "If I can recall correctly, aren't I older than you!?" The Princess was only twenty, and would only soon turn twenty-one in just a few more days.

Freya chuckled, "Well, I guess experience in love taught me a lot, milady."

"Lady Evelyn has won her match," Lord Gilas suddenly announced from below, interrupting the conversation. "She will now advance to the final twelve of the tournament!!!"

"Yes!!!" Bella cheered at the good news. Four against twelve wouldn't be as bad as the other scenario if she lost!

Just when the fights were starting to become more intense, another piece of news came that caught the attention of every Cordonian inside the arena.

"The visions regarding the Princess of Ebodia are showing  through the runes again!"