The Crown's Entrapment

With the magical pearl doing its thing, Xenia watched as the room devolved into rapt silence at the visions being played right in front of them. Sure enough, Nasser's story and past actions struck a chord with all of the people present, and it didn't take long before one of them began commenting on the scene in front of them like it was some kind of show.

"This is horrible," the Queen Mother remarked, her tone obviously straining against the calming spell in effect. "I know I should be livid, but I can't find it in myself to care at the moment."

"Mine as well," Jayra chimed in. "I suppose that the calming spell I did is doing its work more effectively than I thought it would."

It was certainly a strange feeling to have. Even Xenia herself felt like her emotions were being held back despite knowing that she should be angry and morose right now. Despite having already seen the visions, she was still affected by what it showed. Especially now that her friends and loved ones were seeing it in action... She couldn't help but empathize with their predicament.

She could only imagine what was going through their heads right now.

The visions continued, and the part where Nasser just went and killed his own brother came into the picture. Of course, all of them didn't take the betrayal kindly.

"I see... So that's how he can justify betraying other people," Bartos scoffed. "If he can do that to his own brother, why not to others that would've thought of him as a friend?"

"I'm not liking what I'm seeing, Xen," Darius growled, the calming spell barely managing to clamp down on her husband's anger. "And there's more to this, isn't there..."

Xenia simply nodded, electing to let the visions show them what they wanted instead.

More visions passed, and the ultimate scene of Nasser's betrayal finally came into view. Prudently, Xenia positioned herself closer to her husband. Likewise, she noticed the rest of the people on the table scoot over to their preferred loved ones for both comfort and support.

Seconds ticked by, and once King Lucian dropped dead in the vision, tears began trickling from some of the soft-hearted individuals between them.

"T-That was... Why am I not more upset?" the Queen Mother confusedly asked, her tears streaming down her cheeks. "Is this the work of that calming spell?"

"This is unnatural, Lady Jayra," Freya called out, her own eyes leaking tears of their own despite her voice being uncannily calm. "Perhaps you should reverse this spell and let us feel our emotions."

"L-Let's please wait for it to wear off on its own," Jayra insisted, her own tears starting to prickle through her eyes. "The moment it goes down, all of our emotions will come rushing back in. Knowing that, please brace yourselves for the backlash of it happening."

"Well, that was good to know," Calypso growled from his spot on the table. "I can barely handle my own anger right now. What more once this spell of yours wears off? I want to kill that man right here and now."

"Now, let's not be too hasty," Osman urged, sensing the hostility brewing from Calypso. "The only reason why this spell is in effect is for us to not make any rash decisions due to the spur of our emotions. I'm sure all of us want to kill the Elder themselves, but we have a plan in place, don't we?"

Xenia let out a sigh of relief as she felt the growing tension across the table simmer back down. Well, it was still significant enough that she just knew everyone there wanted to lash out, but it felt like nobody was going to be standing up the moment the visions ended.

A few more heinous crimes then played out after that, as well as the revelation of Pinra being the Elder's daughter being received rather unsurprisingly by the room in general. Then again, it was probably the calming spell helping them stomach the sudden news with a bit more decorum.

Eventually, the visions ended, and Xenia watched as the magical pearl retreated back into its container. The room was silent for a solid minute, all of its occupants deeply in thought about what had happened.

"I'm going to kill that man," Darius grunted. "Even through this calming spell, I can feel my rage building the more I recall Nasser's reasons for doing what he did."

"He will pay for what he's done. That much is certain," Gideon grumbled, his hand tightly holding onto Freya's as the latter trembled. "We'll make sure of that. He's going to die once all of this is over."

"That's a given," Calypso scoffed. "Also, when is this calming spell gonna end? I want to get angry."

Xenia turned to look at her friend Jayra, the mage clearly preparing herself with a deep breath for what was to come. "It should be ending right about now..."

As soon as Jayra called out her spell's expiration, it was as if a heavy veil lifted itself from the room as a whole. All of a sudden, Xenia felt like her world was coming down as Darius's anger and sorrow came down on her like a ton of bricks both physically, and mentally through their Bond.

"N-No... Nooo!"

The Queen Mother cried out first as the calming spell lifted. Then came Freya and Jayra, before Xenia herself felt the onslaught of sorrow threatening to suffocate her. Combined with Darius's own emotions, she felt like she was choking under the weight of the entire world.

"I'll kill that bastard!" Calypso raged, his own emotions now in full force as he stood up. "He doesn't deserve to breath longer than he should've!"

"No!" Osman stood up, his own anger temporarily forgotten as he took it upon himself to control the situation. "I know King Lucian treated you like the father you never had, but we have a plan, remember?! We can't throw it all away now!"

"Do I look like I care?!" Calypso yelled out. "What he did is unforgivable!"

Xenia ground her teeth as she forced herself to swallow the pain and emotion around her. Looking up, she quickly grabbed her husband's hand and squeezed tight, her own reassurances streaming through their shared Bond in an attempt to calm him down.

[Calm down, love. We'll get him soon enough...]

[Not as soon as I'd like,] Darius growled. [Not as soon as anyone here would like!]

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