The Crown's Entrapment

At Cordon Castle

As soon as a report regarding the sightings of Helion's army hiding themselves in between the borders of Ebodia and Cordon came, Darius and his men quickly gathered inside his private meeting chamber to discuss the situation.

"One of my warrior servants is dead while the other is heavily injured," Gideon huffed, his clear displeasure to the men present with him. "I cannot just stand still knowing that my sister is out there still in danger. Please allow me to come with the rescue group to save my sister."

"Calypso is with her, and I'm sure that he'll do his utmost to keep Aurelia safe," Darius reassured his distraught friend. "Still, for your peace of mind, I will let you lead the search party. Bring Cordon's army with you, Gideon, and make sure that you choose the ways to wipe out all of Helion's army near our borders."

Quickly dismissing Gideon, his eyes then darted towards Caro and said, "I want to know how that army managed to get this close to our borders. How, when, and why, I want it all figured out."

His Beta, who was quite good at being a spy and investigating in the shadows, quickly bowed down to him and left as soon as he had been given his orders.

Darius's expression turned dark as the implications of such a move dawned on him. This was bad. Helion was probably already surveying the borders to try and penetrate Ebodia's defenses.

Immediately, he went about and sent a message to dispatch to his father-in-law about this development. He looked at Commander Jargon and instructed, "Make sure you give enough assistance to the borders of Ebodia, Jargon. I don't want those bastards penetrating the borders of my wife's people!"

"I understand, Sire," Jargon answered. Darius then gave him and his other men a few more instructions before dismissing them all to complete their tasks.

Being only one man, he was left with no choice but to entrust these tasks to his men. After all, he still needed to stay in the castle and wait for Xen to come back safe for the final battle. He had to ensure that she would be first crowned before he could engage in the battlegrounds.

'How come I still can't communicate with her through our Mate Bond?' he mused with a frown. It was slightly worrying, but he was at least relieved that he was still able to feel Xen's emotions. It wasn't ideal, but he could monitor her well-being that way.

"I still hated these damn trials!" he grunted in annoyance.

He was already in the process of abolishing this kind of trial, but he still couldn't help but curse whoever of his ancestors it was that made these kinds of rules and traditions. They were clearly biased and racist, and he would make sure that the next generation wouldn't need to suffer through this kind of traditional idiocy.

"Why does my Queen even have to prove herself through these damn trials?" he scoffed out loud. "It's such a waste of time when she can just simply prove herself during her reign..."

[Well, you never really thought of this happening before since having a Queen never crossed your mind until now,] Zeus began.

[That's not to mention that your unexpected mate isn't even a part of our kind. There's always a first time for everything, so I guess this is kind of good in a way that it made us realize that these kinds of rules and traditions should be abolished. If Xen didn't come, and you happened to have a werewolf mate instead, you would've probably overlooked this since there wouldn't be a need to implement these kinds of trials for a werewolf mate.]

Darius simply nodded in agreement with his wolf. Grabbing the documents on his table, he started checking the revisions Osman and Chancellor Talon suggested for the benefit of the next generation to come.

********

Meanwhile, Freya kept on pacing inside her bedchamber. She was utterly worried upon hearing the news of how her cousin Calypso had been ambushed between borders on their way back to their kingdom. Knowing the gravity of the situation, she was fully aware that Gideon would volunteer to lead the search party and battle against their enemies.

Her brother, the King, wouldn't let a single Helion soldier roam around even in between the borders of Cordon and Ebodia. She understood just how great the danger in such a scenario was. She was worried for everyone, especially for her mate.

"This won't do! I can't just stay idle like this!" she anxiously grumbled. In that instant, she called out for her servants and instructed, "Prepare my battle gear. I'll be joining the search party and battle between the borders!"

There was no time to waste as she quickly sent words to her brother and mother about her sudden decision. Freya was quick in her movements, and she soon found herself already lining up in the front among Gideon's army.

"What is this, milady?!" Gideon burst the moment he saw her lined up along with his men.

"Why are you asking the obvious?" Freya scoffed. "Let's go! There's no time to waste!"

"But... You can't come with us," Gideon retorted. "This is a dangerous mission. You don't even have battle experience yet!"

"So? This is a good time for me to experience it then," Freya defended with raised brows. "I want to fight alongside my mate. What's the big deal with it?"

[Stop treating me like a child! I can protect myself perfectly fine! I'm well trained enough for this! I just... I just can't let you go alone like this, do you understand?!] she telepathically ranted.

[I want to be with you, so there's no way you can stop me now. And don't you dare use my brother or my mother to try and talk me out of this. You know well how stubborn I could be! Do you want me to try and sneak out alone by myself? Or will you just let me go in a way that you'll at least have your eyes on me?]

She was not bluffing at all. Even if they forbade her from going, she would still find a way to sneak out and follow after Gideon no matter what.

Gideon's frown deepened, but he no longer argued with her as he simply gave out his instructions. "We're ready to go. Start the march!"

With that, Freya fought the urge to smile as Gideon lent her his hand to let her climb onto one of the soldier's backs in his wolf form. Then he followed and sat behind her back.

"Since when did you become this clingy, Sweety?" Gideon murmured into her ear before he started giving his signal for the wolf to run. Wrapping his arms around her waist, he enveloped her into a hug.

Feeling his warmth, Freya returned his hug and replied, "I don't know. I just feel like I can't let you go into danger like this alone. I want to be with you at all times, Gideon..."

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