309 My Heart as Your King
At Cordon’s Arena
Shuffling into the arena, many female warriors from different packs all over the Kingdom of Cordon showed their bravery and courage to participate in the Trial by Combat for the throne. Each and every one of them was aspiring to become the King’s anointed Queen, and they were all determined to see their wish fulfilled.
Looking at their numbers, it was quite overwhelming to see a lot of women in the kingdom keen on participating with one goal in mind: to be the King’s Queen.
It was understandable, of course. After all, the event with many participants like this was the first in the history of Cordon. The royal family, along with some of the officials were seated in the best part of the arena, and the king was looking baffled as they all witnessed a seemingly endless stream of female werewolves enlisting for combat. The tournament should’ve started a while ago, but even now, the registration was still ongoing.
“This is not good. I don’t want to witness too much blood being spilled today,” Freya annoyingly grunted. “There are just too many participants. Who would’ve thought that this would even happen?”
At first, the princess was actually looking forward to witness the trial for the selection of Cordon’s Queen. It would be a first for her to see just how a tradition like this would unfold. But this… This was far from what she expected.
Her eyes darted to her brother Darius, who was currently sitting on his throne beside her. He seemed to be spacing out, looking far too occupied with his own thoughts to even pay attention to the others. Still, despite his look, Freya was sure that her brother had the same thoughts in mind as hers.
Absently, she turned her head back, staring at the crowd of female werewolves enlisting to participate. She could see a lot of familiar faces from different packs. Furrowing her eyebrows, she turned to Bartos, who was currently standing near them along with Gideon and Gilas as she questioned, “Is Bella still joining?”
“Indeed, milady,” Bartos plainly answered with a shrug.
“This will be interesting. Still, isn’t this a bit of fun while we wait for the Princess to come out?” one of the Elders, Karim, amusingly commented towards Elder Nasser, who was seated beside him. “Surely, she will take a long time making her way through the Element Forest, and that is if she’ll even be fortunate enough to pass, giving us enough time for the Trial by Combat to reach the finale.”
Freya bit her inner cheek as she tried her best not to butt in against what she just overheard from the Elder, but she couldn’t help but say her thoughts out anyway.
“I’m sure my sister-in-law won’t take too long, Elder Karim,” Freya offhandedly commented. “Why, she might even come out of the forest before the tournament would even get to the finale. There are just too many participants at this point… It will take some time to downsize them all.”
“How many participants are currently enlisted?” Darius suddenly interrupted.
“There are already around eight hundred and thirty-six registered at the moment,” Gilas promptly answered.
Hearing his question, Freya wondered what exactly was going on inside her brother’s head. Heaving a long deep sigh, Darius seemingly shrugged before suddenly standing up, signaling for his men handling the registration to stop. He also made the ongoing registration at the center of the arena come to pause as everyone bowed and looked up at him, waiting for him to deliver his words.
“The registration will be closed before sunset. The preliminaries for the Trial by Combat will then commence tomorrow morning,” Darius announced. “In the event of my absence, the Queen Mother, along with our Great Constable Gilas, would be the ones to foresee the event.”
There was a pause before murmurs filled the arena. There was a nervous tension filling the air, the normal populace wondering just why the king said those words.
“Son, what are you doing?” Freya heard the Queen Mother worriedly whisper as she stared at her brother. It seemed like her brother would make another bold move again based on his expression alone. He looked displeased at the sight before him, and Freya could honestly share some of his sentiments.
The King seemed unstoppable at this point, seeing that a lot of women were still lining up to fight for his hand. Unfortunately for them, he didn’t want to see his people fighting, spilling unnecessary blood just to be his queen.
The king continued, “To all of you participating in this trial… It will break my heart to witness the blood of my people being spilled needlessly. Yield if you know you will lose your life because fighting to the death is simply not worth it.” He gravely regaled the crowd, “I will tell you all right now… that I will not acknowledge any Queen to stand by my side by all means except for my mate, my wife… the Princess of Ebodia.”
“Your lives are very important to me, so I want to be honest with all of you,” he rambled on. “I want you all to know what is in my heart as your king; what my stance is in this trial. Now, if you still wish to continue to fight, then I will no longer have a say in the matter. It’s your freedom to do so, and it is your right to follow the traditions of our kingdom. But know this… Do not expect me to acknowledge your participation in this battle. Like I said… I will only acknowledge one Queen who is willing to prove herself to all of you,” he firmly pointed out.
Freya sighed deeply as she looked down at the crowd in the arena. She wondered if her brother’s words were enough to discourage some of them not to join this battle for the Queen’s position.
That was all Darius said, and the king no longer hesitated to leave the arena soon after. Seeing him leave, the Queen Mother was quick to look at Elder Handi, the latter of which quickly followed after her son.
Meanwhile, Nasser clicked his tongue as he mocked, “The King is getting bolder and bolder, I see. Did he have to show everyone how biased he is towards his mate? He should be flattered to see a lot of women wanting to participate and risk everything to be his Queen! Acknowledging their efforts is the least he could do!”
“Didn’t you do the same for your mate?” the Queen Mother struck back with a faint smile at the Elder. “I remember you making a risky and bold move back then. Your mate and wife is also human, is she not? One that you refused to let go and fought for by any means?”
She continued,” Anyway, I can only hope that our people will understand the king’s sentiments. He already has a mate, and they’ve already completed the Mate Bond so their connection with one another is pretty much unbreakable. I’m sure you’re well aware of that fact, Elder Nasser.”
Incensed, the Elder was about to say a few choice words before Freya intentionally interrupted him by speaking out in high-pitched volume.
“Mother… Look!”
At Freya’s call, everyone followed her gaze. Sure enough, it became clear that some who wanted to participate started leaving the arena. There were even some who were already registered that finally backed down and left as well.
“I guess they understand Big Brother’s heart,” Freya murmured, hoping that their female werewolves didn’t see their king’s words negatively.
“We can only hope that they will understand their king’s concern for their lives,” the Queen Mother uttered with a sigh.