The Crown's Entrapment

Chapter 96

The meeting continued forward, and Ezekiel was opening the floor up for various opinions and suggestions when Tarah suddenly barged inside.

“Tarah!” Xenia burst, alarmed as she noticed Ezekiel’s dim expression.

“Danger,” Tarah murmured out after making sure that everyone inside the room was looking at her. “Danger is coming.”

Standing up, Xenia quickly approached the seer and held her. Taking her hands to her own, the princess’s eyes widened when felt how cold Tarah’s hands were.

“What’s going on?” Ezekiel called out. “This is a confidential area, and no one is allowed to-”

“I know. I’m so sorry, Your Highness, but I saw danger coming,” Tarah apologized. Her eyes then widened as her gaze darted towards Commander Zandro, who was about to drink some water from his cup.

“Don’t drink that!” Tarah shouted, causing the commander to stop raising the cup to his mouth.

“What for?” the commander asked with a frown.

“I see people dying here because of the water…” Tarah shakily whispered.

Beside her, Xenia could feel Tarah’s body shaking heavily. Despite the lack of evidence, she had a feeling that Tarah was telling the truth. She might not have been someone who believed in Seers, but a part of her had a feeling…

Looking at Ezekiel, whose face had darkened ever since Tarah arrived, she couldn’t help but see the doubt lingering over her brother’s eyes.

In that instant, Xenia looked at Atlas and declared, “Quickly! Tell everyone not to drink water.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

Heeding her words, Atlas quickly got outside the tent to prevent everyone else from drinking any water. Xenia’s eyes then darted at Lurio as she said, “Please see and check if our water supply is poisoned.”

“Yes, Your Highness.” the wizard responded, immediately following Atlas outside to look into the matter.

Back inside the tent, Ezekiel glared at Tarah as he warned, “If you’re lying, then I suggest-”

However, before Ezekiel could finish his words, Xenia was already on the seer’s defense.

“Stop it. I can feel that Tarah isn’t lying. Her hands right now are cold and sweaty, and I can even feel her rapid pulse!” Xenia firmly defended. “Let her rest.”

Shaking her head, she carefully led Tarah onto a nearby seat so that the seer could calm down and relax. Sitting down, Tarah’s eyes were welling up as she whispered, “So many people dying in my vision… They were all vomiting blood, and… the dark witch…”

“It’s alright, Tarah, you can tell it all to us slowly,” Xenia encouraged. She remembered Tarah mentioning to her before how everything was currently known to her; that she herself was still adjusting to the visions that constantly came to her back when they were together at Cordon.

Letting Tarah reorient herself, everyone inside the tent remained silent, all of them curiously waiting for the seer’s next words…

“Who is she? A new Seer?” Ezme broke the silence. “Isn’t Ebodia’s seer dead?”

“She’s Tarah, the one who healed Xen back to health back when she was heavily wounded,” Darius helpfully commented.

“I see that, but from where is she from?” Ezme suspiciously added. “From what kingdom does she hail from?”

“She was a wanderer like Xen. At least, that was what she told us before,” Gideon replied. “She heals people from one place to another… From kingdom to kingdom…”

“Huh, then-”

“That’s enough,” Xenia interrupted with a pointed stare. “As she told me before, She’s still trying to handle her gift, and all the noise isn’t making it any easier. And she’s wandering around because she’s looking for answers, simply following the guidance of her gift as she wanders the lands.”

A tense silence settled after that, the occupants of the tent keeping their thoughts to themselves as they waited for something to happen.

Soon, Lurio returned along with Atlas.

“The water… is poisoned, Your Highness,” Atlas cautiously reported. “It’s only a good thing that we detected it this quickly. A few of our men who already drank the water are being attended by our healers and mages as we speak. They said they can still save them, seeing as the poison hasn’t reached any of their vital organs yet.”

“You must find him. He will escape,” Tarah murmured out. She closed her eyes, then tilted her head. Everyone gasped as a white light illuminated Tarah’s body, her black hair slowly turning silver white…

Xenia stared at the scene in disbelief. Her then eyes turned to Ezekiel, who obviously looked terrified as he watched the scene unfold.

“She’s the seer… Beirut’s successor,” Wizard Lurio blurted out, tears welling in his eyes as he added, “She’s the one… She will keep Ebodia safe…”

Blinking at the mystical occurrence in front of her, Xenia was still in awe as she stared dumbfounded. She would keep their kingdom safe? But… could she also be the one to bring ruin to her brother Ezekiel?

“He will escape. The man is wearing Ebodia’s armor, and he has a tattoo of a black serpent on his back,” Tarah whispered as soon as she opened her eyes. “He’s a spy from Helion.”

A brief silence echoed throughout the tent after that. After what felt like ages, its occupants finally sprung into action.

“Ezekiel!” Xenia called out to her brother to snap him back to his senses.

Ezekiel almost flinched in surprise. He then blinked before he declared, “Search every man and woman out there! Bring me that spy!”

Seeing the commotion about to unfold, Darius looked at Gideon and Bartos as he instructed, “Help with the search.”

He then looked at Ezme, who simply sighed deeply before she looked at her right-hand man.,

“Tell our men to help the Ebodian soldiers with the search,” Ezme sighed.

As the rest of them disappeared out of the tent, Xenia remained inside, refusing to leave Tarah’s side as she soothed her. Looking at Ezekiel, his eyes met with hers, the latter only gulping as his eyes then shifted back to Tarah.

Already, Xenia could tell that her brother was too torn as to what to do. A Seer played an important part in their kingdom, and now…

“This is good news! The despair in our men will be lifted once the news spreads…” Lurio declared. “Everyone will be delighted and inspired once they learn that Ebodia is once again receiving a Seer from the Almighty. It’s exactly like how it’s been prophecized.”

Shaking his head, Ezekiel closed his eyes as he helplessly sat on his chair. Xenia sighed deeply, dragging her eyes back to Tarah as she helped the seer.

“My hair,” Tarah murmured out, her hands gingerly holding onto her stray strands. Only now did she notice how her long black hair had changed color.

“It seems you’ve found your home, milady…” Lurio explained with a nod. “Your hair had turned white because… because you’ve finally ascended. According to our former seer, you will ascend to your power once you embrace your gift to protect the ruler you’re about to serve; just like how Beirut ascended in front of our King Stephan.”

Hearing the story, Ezme let out a scoff.

“I hate to ruin the mood, but there are other rulers present here,” Ezme casually pointed out. “I’m a Princess of Valcrez, and there’s Darius, a King of Cordon. How could you be so sure that she ascended in Prince Ezekiel’s presence?”

Xenia shook her head. Somehow, this vampire princess never failed to annoy her. She stood up and said, “Tell me, Princess, did you somehow obtain a mark like this?”

With a raised eyebrow, Xenia showed the mark that suddenly appeared on the back of Tarah’s left hand. It was a dragon tattoo, one that wrapped against the back of her hand.

“Just from the mark alone, it represents our symbol, don’t you think?” Xenia pointed out. “A dragon…”