The Crown's Entrapment

"No! This can't be happening! I demand a fair trial!"

Staring at the man she had so utterly failed, Pinra almost felt her heart give out as she watched her father be booed and hissed at by every Cordonian present in the arena. On any other day, she would've immediately gotten up and escorted her father to safety. However, that day wouldn't be it.

After all, he had no use for failures like her.

"Nasser! You now stand before this arena to receive judgment for your crimes!" King Darius's voice echoed from high above. "For the crimes of manslaughter, regicide, and corruption, how do you plead?!"

"I didn't do any of those things! There's got to be some kind of mistake! Those visions are fake!"

Pinra watched absently as her father began lying through his teeth, his eyes looking up at the roaring crowd as if there was even hope that he'd be able to talk his way out of his situation. Even in her unresponsive state, she could tell that it was over for him. And on top of the Princess still standing beside her, there was no hope for him to even try and escape his bindings.

"The evidence states otherwise, Nasser!" King Darius bellowed out, the crowd joining alongside him. "Even without these so-called fake visions, our own investigations have unearthed more than enough to bury you into the ground!"

The crowd around them cheered at their king's words, their anger and disgust raining down upon them like a heavy storm. Pinra knew she should've been mad at them for fighting against them. For even trying to slander the man that was her father. But what else could she do?

"Taking these all into account, I, King Darius, hereby sentence you to death!"

"No! Not like this! I can't go down like this!"

Pinra blinked as she watched Nasser kick and scream against his fate. She had thought that her tears had all dried up, but apparently, she could still cry as she felt her cheeks turn wet at the sight before her.

Beside her, the princess suddenly moved. Walking alone towards the man Pinra knew she should protect and cherish, she wanted her legs to move. She willed them to move to try and at least die protecting him. However, her body refused to move.

Instead, she could only watch as the princess that had defeated her executed her father without even a second thought.

The world turned blank as she screamed, her last thoughts before passing out being ones that just further cemented her status as an absolute failure.

***

The crowd watched with vindication as they saw their future Queen behead the traitor that was Nasser. With their King having given out the man's sentence, they cried out in joy as the blood of the one that slew their former King stained the ground beneath them. Truly, justice had been served, and there was no one that would state otherwise.

Likewise, Darius let out a sigh of relief as he watched Xen flick her sword clean of the bastard's blood. She had told him that she should be the one to administer his sentence, and he wholeheartedly let her do without even a second thought.

[It is done,] Xen told him through the Bond. [It's finally over.]

[Yes... Yes, it is...]

A beat of silence passed throughout the arena as soldiers quickly went and cleaned up the arena's grounds. Nasser's remains were quickly disposed of, and Pinra was summarily carried away towards a temporary holding cell where she'll be waiting for her own sentence. Not that Darius himself would be able to change it. He'll make sure that Xen's words will be followed through, and that Pinra would remain alive for as long as humanly possible.

[It is rather cruel to let the woman witness the death of her own father, isn't it,] Zeus remarked. [A fitting punishment for a woman as cruel as her, though I'm sure that's only the beginning for her...]

Shaking his head at his wolf's comments, Darius cleared his throat as the arena was once more prepared. This time, however, it was for the inevitable festivities that came with having the future Queen be announced and coronated. And with a nod of his head, the announcer restarted the program.

"And with that, we now have a winner for the Trial by Combat! Let's all give warm applause to our new Queen: Queen Xenia!"

***

Xenia still couldn't believe her ears as she heard her name being called out with a new title attached to it. The crowd chanted and cheered, all of them glad to see that she had won.

"Queen Xenia! Queen Xenia!"

"Long may she live!"

The energy of the Cordonians' chants filled her with energy, and she couldn't help but grin widely at the people who would now become her subjects.

"Thank you very much for believing in me!" she gratefully shouted out. "I'll do my best as your Queen!"

To her surprise, her words only whipped the crowd into a louder frenzy as they all chanted out her name. It was all so overwhelming, and even as she found herself looking to her family for support, they simply smiled at her proudly for what she had done.

Truly, she had made it.

"My love!"

Her eyes widened. "Darius?! What are you doing-MPPHH!!"

Everything seemed to disappear as she was caught off-guard by her husband's sudden appearance. She didn't even notice him coming down to meet her. She was too busy processing the fact that she was now queen.

And yet here he was now, kissing and twirling her around by the waist for the entire kingdom to see!

"W-What are you doing?!" Xenia laughed aloud, her wings mimicking her flailing as she managed to free her lips from her husband's sudden attack. "We're out in public!"

"That no longer matters," he lovingly smirked, his nose still buried in the crook of her neck. "You're my Queen now, so this sort of behavior is acceptable to us."

Before Xenia could reply, her lips once more collided against his, his love and need passing through his every move as she did nothing more than melt into his embrace.

"I guess so," she giggled. "I really am your Queen now, huh..."

"And nobody can say otherwise," Darius declared, his arms still around her waist even as she finally felt her feet touch the ground again. "I'm so proud of you. You did it. You really did it..."

Xenia didn't know what to say. But what she did know was that what he just said was wrong.

With a loving smile, she let her wings envelop her beloved as she replied, "No, Darius. WE did it... Don't play yourself down like that..."

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