The Crown's Entrapment

Once again, Gilas found himself drinking the night away. This time, it was with his liege and their closest allies as they sat at a table with a considerable distance away from their respective mates. He could only be thankful as he down another swig of his wine, hoping that Clara didn't see him be this insistent that she was the most beautiful woman in the hall.

"Huh? I can't believe you're all dismissing Aurelia like this," Calypso drunkenly chimed in. "Have you seen my mate? She's so cool... Always calm and collected.."

"And clearly cannot stand you," Gilas scoffed, his cheeks hinting at his relative state of drunkenness. "At least I'm making progress with Clara. And she's just as much a beauty as any of them."

"Some beauty she is if Cousin Darius didn't accept her feelings," Calypso scoffed.

The atmosphere quickly fell cold due to that statement, and Darius could only stand his ground as Gilas's glare almost rivaled his own. Granted, it was clearly unfocused and lacking the usual malice, but it was still a bit concerning to see.

"Gilas, I admit that Clara is beautiful, but I can truly only see her as a sister," Darius calmly explained, hoping that his words would calm down a drunk Gilas. "And as with the Mate Pull, Xen is simply the one destined for me in the same way that Clara is clearly destined for you."

"I... I guess so..." Gilas mumbled before taking another drink. "But I can still see her admiring you..."

Darius was more than ready to defend himself from Gilas's accusations, but thankfully, the man seemed to be content with what he just said to him before dropping dead onto the table. It would seem that Gilas was the first to fall in their endeavor to get themselves drunk in celebration, even if the man of the hour was off celebrating with his new mate.

"Really, Gilas? You're that much of a lightweight?" Calypso cackled. "Even Osman is drinking you under the table."

Of course, Gilas didn't respond, his head too glued to the table for him to even rise to the challenge.

**************************

A few moments passed, and Gilas opened his eyes to the sound of arguing and explanation. Somehow, the discussion on who was the most beautiful woman in the hall never ended, and he had slept through most of the conversation due to how drunk he was.

Well, that just meant he had a bit of catching up to do.

"And I just said that Clara's the most beautiful..." Gilas slurred out, his vision still swirling as he picked himself up from the table.

"Gilas?" Osman noted in surprise. "You're awake?"

"Well, that just means we have another person to carry the fallen," Darius joked. "Gilas, are you alright?"

If it was any other day, Gilas would've said no. However, he was too drunk to even think about it before he uttered the first words that came to his head. "You two are lucky... you know..."

"Uhh... Gilas?" Osman frowned at him in concern.

"Your women only have eyes for you and you two alone..." Gilas mumbled out in envy, the alcohol making him far too sentimental than usual. "I had to wait... Wait for Clara to come see me... And that was after you completely broke her heart..."

"Gilas... You should stop drinking," Darius worriedly said. "You've had too-"

"I can keep going..." Gilas cut him, unaware that he had just told off his king. "Clara only had her eyes on you... Almost gave her whole life to you... and yet you rejected her like she was nothing..."

"Gilas, I'm-"

"You can't even see that she's the perfect woman for any man," Gilas drunkenly slurred out, ranting and raving as he drank more from the nearest bottle from his right hand. "She's smart... She's strong... and she's even more beautiful than the angel that we call our Queen..."

The atmosphere tensed up ever so slightly, and if Gilas was sober, he would've noticed that Darius was actually glaring at him. Thankfully, he was clearly too drunk to be responsible for his own words, and his king allowed the slightly slanderous words to pass by him.

"No matter how beautiful Queen Xenia is... my Clara will always be better..." Gilas weakly grumbled, his head slowly coming back to the table once more. "She's the best... and there's nothing anyone can say that can tell me otherwise..."

***

Clara let out a sigh as she spotted an unconscious Gilas being carried out by some of the king's men. She had just arrived to bid the King and Queen good night when the telltale scent of alcohol wafted through her nose. And it was potent too if it somehow managed to almost make her gag.

"Excuse me, Queen Xenia," Clara apologised with a bow. "It would seem that my chaperone has passed out on me."

"I understand," the Queen knowingly chuckled. "Darius here also reeks of wine, and we're about to turn in for the night."

"Thank you, Your Grace," Clara smiled. "Good night."

Having finally paid her respects, Clara quickly went to the men carrying off her mate to their room. Coming to Gilas's side, her mate was still unconscious, and each breath he let out almost smelled like it was strong enough to get her drunk without even taking a sip of wine.

"You really drank yourself out of the table this time, Gilas," she scoffed as she followed them. "When will you learn that you're just a lightweight?"

[You mean the same as you?] Sheba teased.

[Not now,] she scolded her wolf. She then turned her attention back to Gilas and sighed, "Really... You'll probably have the worst hangover you've ever had tomorrow..."

Shaking her head, Clara gestured for the men to continue as they were. In the meantime, she allowed herself to make a mental note to prepare a stronger-than-usual hangover cure for Gilas for tomorrow morning. She could only assume the worst. But then again, it was the least she could do for him after everything that he had done for her.

***

Inside the bedchamber assigned to Clara and Gilas, she had remained awake as she sat on the side of the bed.

She sighed as she stared at Gilas who seemed to be in deep slumber. A while ago, she was with the Queen together with Jayra, Aurelia, and Bella, and she was glad that none of them asked her if she would also mark Gilas or not when their conversation led to the topic of their Queen's curiosity about whether or not Freya would mark Gideon back.

Another sigh came out of her before she finally decided to lie down beside him. She was getting cold, so she moved closer to him to get a bit more warmth. Soon, however, her body began to shiver.

She clicked her tongue in annoyance. How many days had it been since her body started shivering too much for her to handle? For Gilas to attentively give her the warmth that she needed each night? She couldn't remember when it started anymore, but she was already getting used to Gilas's warmth wrapping around her every night.

"Gilas..." she called to him as she moved closer to his body, and she stiffened when his eyes suddenly opened. "I'm cold..." she murmured, wondering if he was fully awake and sober.

As she expected, Gilas pulled her tight into his strong arms. "So warm," she moaned as her body got a reprieve from its constant shuddering. Grateful, she tilted her head to him and smiled. "Thank y-"

Her eyes widened as Gilas suddenly sealed her lips with his. She wasn't able to finish her words, the sudden contact making her melt into his arms as he began ravishing her. She could feel how he seemed hungry for it, and she could taste the faint sense of liquor in his mouth the more his tongue explored the insides of her mouth.

Clara, unknowingly, let out a soft moan. It was an aggressive kiss, and she was taken aback by how her body was reciprocating it. Despite her shivering, her body felt so hot as if she wasn't even cold in the first place. It was like she was inside a volcano, with hot burning lava flowing inside of her that she was getting ready to explode. It was enough that she didn't want the kissing to end.

Clara moaned loudly when she felt his hand caress her body. Oh heavens... his hand was roaming all over her body, touching her curves in ways that he had never done before.

'I should stop him...' she weakly thought to herself, but her body wasn't listening to her. No matter how much she willed it, she couldn't find it in herself to stop him.

In the end, she ended up letting Gilas touch her wherever he wanted. Absently, she wondered if she would just end up surrendering herself to him now... to complete the Mate Bond by making love with him.