308 Record-Breaking Number
Darius held onto the disc with a magical symbol where he was able to watch what was happening to Xen inside the Element Forest. Every pack’s territory in Cordon had the same magical symbol keyed to a particular location where everyone could witness the trials and see what kind of fate the human would receive inside the Element Forest whenever they wanted. It was a part of tradition so that every Cordonian could witness the trials, and they all watched as Xenia was swallowed whole by the ground beneath her.
Heaving a deep sigh, Darius keenly watched Xenia even as his chariot moved to bring him back to the Capital city of Cordon, particularly to the arena. His presence was needed there before the preliminaries of the Trial of Combat between the female werewolves eyeing the throne to be his Queen, leaving Xenia to make her way there on her own as soon as she was done with her trials.
Another sigh came out of his mouth. This time, it was out of relief as he remembered something about the combat trials. “At least Xen doesn’t have to face a lot more female werewolves for one on one combat…”
“Silly…” he whispered, watching the smile on her face even as the ground wholly ate her. She might’ve looked calm, but Darius could clearly feel Xen’s anxiety shining through.
[She’ll definitely get angry with us once she finds out you’re snooping in on her,] Zeus lamented.
Darius could only sigh as a response. He had tricked Xen that night. He only taught her how to put up a wall for the mind link but not the proper way to hide her emotions. He simply pretended that he could no longer feel her emotions, and she somehow bought his lie.
[We’re husband and wife now, Zeus, and there’s no way I’ll let her suffer alone in this,] Darius sighed in determination. [I want to feel everything she feels, even though I’m not with her just so I can at least give her the emotional support she needs in the future.]
His wolf no longer responded, and Darius knew that Zeus was far from being against what he did.
[Let’s just face her wrath together later then…] Zeus snorted.
Darius chuckled as he whispered, “Yes. Let’s do that. Let me tell her that it’s your idea.”
[You!!!] Zeus grunted.
[She’s scared right now. Let me put my wall down and let her feel my encouragement,] Darius cut off, no longer letting Zeus interfere with what he had to do for their mate.
But just as he was about to do so, an authoritative voice echoed from within the Element Forest, making Darius frown.
“We will not allow the Mate Bond connection inside our realm to function, but we’ll be generous enough not to deprive the King of Cordon from feeling the emotions of his mate if that is what he wishes.”
And right then… Darius felt a total shutdown in his mind, his link with Xen, including his emotional connection toward his mate suddenly going dark.
Alarmed, he stopped the chariot and asked for Magnus. The white wizard instantly appeared before him.
“Is this even possible?!” he inquired with a frown.
“It is, Your Majesty,” the wizard replied. “The guardians have power over every living thing inside their realm, so there’s nothing we can do if they block your connection with your mate. It’s already a generosity that they’re even allowing you to feel her emotions.”
Left with no choice, Darius could only grit his teeth as he dismissed Magnus. He reigned in his chariot to move to continue on their journey. It looked like he wouldn’t be able to send emotional support to Xen anymore, but at least he would still be able to share her emotions.
After some time, he finally arrived at the huge arena in the Capital City of Cordon, where the Pit was often held, among other functions that needed such a large venue. Tilted the disc down to stop the spell in it from playing, he put it back inside his pocket before preparing to make his entrance.
Going down his chariot, Darius’s inner court and high-ranking officials that accompanied her to the Element Forest walked behind him as he made his entrance. Cordon’s arena was massive, and it could accommodate a maximum capacity of thousands of Cordonian spectators. It was circular in shape with four levels of arches on the outside, allowing for easier viewing for those that might be unfortunate enough to not get the prime spots.
Darius, of course, went to the King’s area as the cheers rang in the open area. Gilas was the one overseeing said event together with Gideon, and while the king had no plans to watch the whole thing, he was still needed to open the tournament.
“Wow, so many,” Gideon murmured as he watched the lines of women enlisting for the trial from their position.
“How many?” Darius asked with a frown.
“Around hundreds already, Sire,” Gilas reported. “Five hundred and one, to be precise…”
“That’s a record-breaking number, even throughout history,” Gideon mumbled, scratching his chin in thought.
If Darius remembered correctly, from previous records, the last Trial By Combat Cordon ever had was done over a hundred years ago, with the recorded participants only going up to a hundred and twenty.
“I have no intention of watching this,” Darius waved off. “You two monitor the situation. Simply have someone report to me what’s going on every now and then.”
“Aye, Sire,” Gilas and Gideon answered in chorus.
“This won’t do…” he murmured in annoyance. “I need to see how Xen is doing.”
“Bear with it, Sire. It won’t be good for these aspiring female werewolves to see just how much you favor your mate,” Chancellor Talon, who was currently sitting beside him, whispered. “Look at them. They’re all willing to kill each other just to fight for you, Sire. The least you can do is show them some consideration by playing fair, at least for this tradition of ours in selecting the future Queen of Cordon.”
Darius groaned. He didn’t like what he was seeing… Too many women were about to waste their energy trying to become something they weren’t fated to become. And worse, some of them might even lose their lives…