The Crown's Entrapment



It was another day in the castle, and this time, Xenia simply stayed inside the castle walls to attend to her usual routine as the queen of Cordon. After the usual court meetings with her husband, she went straight to Jayra's working space.

Arriving at her destination, she frowned when she saw that her friend was alone doing some of her experiments.

"Where's Master Kasper?" she curiously asked. "Did he finally leave?" She was honestly surprised to see that the man had been hanging around in their castle for days lately. But while he wasn't saying anything, she had a hunch as to why he was staying in the first place.

"Him? He just left a few minutes ago…" Jayra murmured, her eyes still on her flasks containing her potions.

"Don't tell me he went to the Midnight Pack this time," Xenia sighed, hoping that her friend would tell her otherwise. Unfortunately, she only got a shrug from Jayra as her friend gave her an awkward smile.

"I told you he's smitten with Lena…" Jayra scoffed. 

Right, but Xenia didn't really take those words seriously, especially knowing that the man's reputation would back up her thoughts. He was even called a monk back in their kingdom.

"I still don't trust him hanging around Lena like that," Xenia snorted with a crumpled face. 

"Well, I believe you've warned Lena enough about him that he's practically sulking before leaving anyway," Jayra chuckled. "Oh right, he also said that he thought up a few good names for your twins upon confirming their genders from our king this morning. Arden for a boy, and Dinara for a girl.

"Arden and Dinara, huh…" Xenia whispered, seemingly checking the sound of the names as her lips stretched into a wide smile. "I like the sound of them. I might just use those names."

Chuckling, Jayra continued, "Well, he predicted you'll like them, so he also said that we should trust him with Lena." she shrugged as she added, "He'll supposedly prove that he'll be a worthy partner for her. His words, not mine."

Xenia scoffed. "He better then. He'll have to prove himself, especially since Lena is no ordinary woman," she grumbled. "She deserves the best, and we both know that Master Kasper is a mysterious man. No one really knows him well, even you."

It was true. The Master was quite a famous necromancer, but no one actually knew his origins or what his beliefs even were.

"But we both know that he's a good man, Xenia," Jayra defended. 

Kasper had many secrets, but Xenia still wanted to know them all the same if it was possible. She wanted Lena to have a new life with as few problems as possible. And while he might be powerful, Master Kasper was a man who was practically married to a chaotic life!

Xenia clicked her tongue. She didn't have the energy to debate this topic with Jayra at the moment. She would just have to send an order out to Calypso so that he could increase the security around Lena more. 

She let out a deep sigh. Wanting to change the topic, she asked, "How is Bella doing?"

It was Jayra's turn to let out a deep sigh. Based on her friend's expression alone, Xenia knew that she didn't have any good news to speak of.

"Bella is still having a hard time. She's always having nightmares about that night when she lost Osman," Jayra sighed. "I honestly don't know what to do anymore. We have to keep an eye on her, and Bartos has already assigned a few men to watch over her because if not, she might just go off alone again to look for Osman herself…"

"She needs more time, Jayra. Everything's still fresh in her mind," Xenia commented with a small sigh of her own. "Honestly, I personally… I still can't accept the fact that Osman's gone. I'd honestly prefer to think that he's still there somewhere safe and sound."

It had been months already, but there was still no positive news from their search and retrieval team. It was like Osman simply vanished into thin air. Even the creatures living within those waters couldn't find the man's body after they asked them to help in the search.

Xenia was in deep thought when she suddenly winced.

Jayra quickly asked, "What's wrong?" 

Her friend was quick to her side, but both of them got startled when the door suddenly swung open with Darius rushing towards her.

"Are you in pain, Xen?" Darius anxiously asked as he held her in his arms. "I felt you in our Bond…"

Xenia smiled as she shook her head. "I'm fine," she chuckled as she rubbed her swollen belly. "It's just these two seem to be playing inside my tummy a lot, and it's quite painful."

She couldn't help but smile warmly as she watched Darius gently caress her belly and scolded, "You two, don't give your Mother a hard time." He soothly chastised them, "Stop fooling around. You can play, but do things gently…"

Xenia didn't know whether to laugh or scold her husband for talking like that to their unborn babies.

"Can you blame the babies, Your Majesty?" Jayra chuckled as she jested. "Imagine how hard it is for them to stay inside the Queen's belly."

"That's so true, Jayra. I still can't believe I'm carrying two babies in my belly right now," Xenia murmured with a grin while gently caressing her tummy. "Don't listen to your Father. You two can play around inside all you want," she lovingly murmured.

She chuckled upon hearing her husband harrumph at her. "Hmm, it's fine, my love. It's the first time they kicked inside me so I'm just startled," she reassured him. "I'll get used to it in time. We still have three more months or less to wait for their arrival after all." She then added, "Oh, right… I already have a pair of good names, and they surprisingly came from Master Kasper. I want to use them if you'd agree to them…"

"Tell them to me…" Darius curiously and excitedly told her.

"It's Arden and Dinara," Xenia declared with a broad smile. She really loved the names she got from him. "Master Kasper got those from our combined names as well. I think they're perfect. What do you think?" 

Smiling, Darius held her hand and pulled her closer as he whispered, "They're perfect, my love. Let's use them then…"

Jayra clicked her tongue and pouted. "You two should get a room already and leave me to my lonesome," she sighed. "I'm not in the mood to witness how you too act around each other. I'm getting jealous. I want to have a baby too..."

Xenia kindly smiled at her friend and said, "Don't rush my friend. I'm sure you'll eventually get pregnant soon."

"Hmm, I hope you're right…" Jayra answered followed by a sigh.

*****

AN: Special thanks to our Mara_Heller who suggested those beautiful names, Arden and Dinara…

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