Chapter 32: A Mother’s Concession

The silence that followed Karina’s declaration was absolute, completely silencing the sea of panther nobility.

I grow tired of this farce.

A few minutes ago, they had expected a weeping, pathetic Empress. Instead, they were witnessing the total dismantling of their mighty King’s ego.

Rafael closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. He looked like a man watching a carriage slowly roll off a cliff. He knew Leonidas was prideful, but he also knew his King’s panther instincts had latched onto this new, terrifying version of the Empress. And right now, those instincts were being dragged through the mud.

"Karina..." Leonidas breathed, the sound tearing from his throat like a rasp.

He took a step forward. His heavy boots crunched loudly over the broken crystal. He didn’t care about the eyes watching him. He didn’t care about the scandalized whispers that were beginning to hiss through the crowd like a nest of disturbed vipers.

He closed the distance between them, his lips trembling.

"Karina, please," Leonidas begged.

The word sent a literal shockwave through the room. General Aldric’s blue eyes widening in disbelief. The Panther King? Begging? Eh???

Leonidas reached out with his uninjured hand, his fingers trembling as they hovered just an inch away from the silk of her sleeve. He didn’t dare touch her. Not after the courtyard. Not after the slaps that still burned into his cheek and his memory.

"I’ll be a better husband," Leonidas pleaded, his voice cracking, shedding every last ounce of his pride. He looked like a man drowning, begging for a single breath of air. "Please. Just... please. Don’t do this."

Karina looked up at him. She stared into those desperate and pleading eyes, searching her own heart for even a flicker of sympathy.

She found nothing.

"Enough," Karina said.

Leonidas flinched as if she had driven a dagger straight through his ribs.

"Maintain your dignity as a king," Karina continued, her voice displaying zero emotion. That was what made it so devastating. It was pure apathy. "However fleeting it is."

She didn’t wait to see the final pieces of his heart shatter. She simply turned away.

"Come, Valen," Karina said, her voice softening just a fraction as she addressed her son. "Let us leave."

She took a step toward the doors, expecting the weight of Valen’s tiny hand slipping into hers.

But her hand grasped empty air.

Karina paused, her brow furrowing slightly. She turned her head, looking back toward the table.

Valen hadn’t moved.

The six-year-old prince was standing still, his small hands clutching the hem of his dark tunic. He looked up at Leonidas, the towering, broken man who was his father, and then slowly turned his large purple eyes toward Karina.

"Um..." Valen mumbled, his childish voice trembling slightly in the overwhelming silence of the hall. "Can I still play with Nia and Silas?"

Oh.

Karina’s heart violently clenched in her chest, the sudden pain stealing the breath straight from her lungs.

She stared down at her son. In her blind fury, in her desperate need to escape this suffocating castle and punish Leonidas for his betrayals, she had completely developed tunnel vision. She had only been thinking about herself.

"I..." Karina started, her throat suddenly dry. She swallowed hard, struggling to find her voice.

Valen took a tiny, hesitant step toward her, his eyes welling up with tears.

"Pleaseeeee," Valen begged, stretching the word out in a childish whine that shattered Karina’s defenses. His small hands reached out, grabbing a fistful of her gown. "Just for tomorrow. Pleaseeeee."

Karina looked at his pleading face, the way his dark ears flattened against his head in anxiety.

"They’re the first panther cubs I’ve played with," Valen whispered, his voice cracking.

Crack.

That was the sound of Karina’s heart completely breaking in two.

Valen was a panther cub. He was a beast-child who had been raised in the cold, sterile halls of the central imperial palace, surrounded by human servants who feared him, and brothers of entirely different species. He had never known his own kind. He had never seen a city full of people with ears and tails just like his.

And earlier today, despite the chaotic revelation of Renira’s relatives, Valen had been laughing. Joyful laughter as he chased Nia and Silas around the fountain.

He had finally found somewhere he fit in. He had finally found friends.

And she was about to rip him away from it all just to spite his father.

Karina slowly sank to her knees right there in the middle of the grand hall. She didn’t care that the expensive silk of her gown dragged against the stone. She didn’t care about the whispering nobles, or the broken King standing just a few feet away.

She reached out, gently cupping Valen’s small, soft cheeks in her hands.

"Would you like to stay in Shadow’s Edge longer?" Karina asked, her voice gentle, completely ignoring the collective gasp that rippled through the nobility.

Valen’s eyes widened, a spark of hope flaring in his gaze. But then, almost instantly, the hope died. He bit his lower lip, looking down at his boots.

"But you’ll be sad if you’re with him," Valen whispered.

Karina’s breath hitched.

This sweet, traumatized, beautiful six-year-old boy was perfectly willing to give up his own happiness, perfectly willing to abandon his first real friends, just to protect her feelings.

Tears pricked the corners of Karina’s eyes. She fiercely blinked them away, forcing herself to smile warmly. She pulled Valen forward, pressing a tender kiss to his forehead.

"I won’t be sad," Karina lied softly, shaking her head. She brushed a stray strand of dark hair out of his eyes, her thumb gently tracing his cheekbone. "It’s alright, Valen. I promise you, I’m perfectly fine. Just tell me what you want."

Valen hesitated, his eyes darting to Leonidas for a split second before returning to his mother. He searched her face, looking for any sign of deception.

"I want to play with them," Valen finally admitted.

Karina nodded slowly, feeling her resolve harden into diamond.

She would burn the entire continent to the ground for this boy. If he wanted to play with panther cubs, he was going to play with panther cubs. She could endure a few more days in this miserable, freezing castle. She could endure the scheming nobles and the sleazy commanders.

She could even endure Leonidas.

Karina swallowed the last remaining lump in her throat. She gave Valen’s shoulders a comforting squeeze, then slowly stood back up.

Karina turned her head. She didn’t turn her body, just her head, casting a sidelong glance at the ruined, bleeding Panther King.

Leonidas was staring at her, his chest rising and falling in shallow gasps. He had heard the exchange. He knew exactly what she was sacrificing, and he knew exactly why she was doing it. It had nothing to do with him.

"My son wishes to play with them," Karina commanded, looking Leonidas dead in the eyes.

"Kindly arrange a meeting for us," Karina said flatly. "Thank you."

She didn’t wait for his response. She didn’t wait to see the fresh wave of agony that washed over his chiseled features at the realization that he was now nothing more to her than a glorified event planner.

Karina simply took Valen’s hand in hers, turning her back on the Panther King and his entire court.

With her chin held high, the Empress of Zyleria walked out of the grand hall.