"Kill him . No need to waste our breath when we know who sent him . Goodnight . " Kyera replied turning away but Daxin and Lazren watched her for a moment . The way she had spoken, so cold and angry . There had been no compassion or pity for the soul who had tried to kill the prince .
"Are you sure, my lady? He is a kin lead astray . " Oslo pointed out gently . He too did not recognize the coldness in Kyera's voice . Talis nodded his agreement with Oslo . The princess stopped but did not turn to face them, her expression carefully blank .
Advertisement"We were a clan of nearly seven thousand shifter kin before the war . Less than two thousand survived . Most women and children . The three clans split that seven thousand and left for three different kingdoms . Then from our clan, those children who followed Londyn tried to excite the war again when we were barely a thousand strong . We… I took pity on them and allowed seven hundred shifters to part from the clan rather than killing them before they could further harm our people . We now stand, less than a hundred surviving of the main clan and you ask me this? We can not afford to pity those who would see our kind destroyed . " Kyera replied coldly . They could hear pain and emotion in her voice, but no one could truly read her . "It sounds heartless, but I am your Princess . At a certain point I must chose to protect my own or allow you all to die because I could not take a stand . " she explained before pausing, waiting for a response .
Her people stared on, sharing glances and realizing the truth of her words . There was a grim chill that seemed to saturate every heart . Kyera had always been the Kind and Forgiving Tiger Princess but now… she had changed to a warrior queen standing before them, reminding many elders of the Queen who led them in the war . She had grown to resemble her ancestors and make the pack proud, but many felt pain for the innocents murdered before them . Yet another casualty of war .
"Kyera, if we are merciless, then how are we different than them?" a woman demanded, maybe fifteen years old . Kyera turned to her then .
"I am not suggesting we slaughter them, man, woman, and child . I am simply saying that those who raise blade or bow to our people will find us without pity . What is the punishment for the crime of attempted assassination?" Kyera asked her, clearly making a point .
"Death . " the girl replied, a subtle light of confusion in her eyes . Kyera felt a pang of guilt, because she knew this young girl's heart was innocent and gentle . She wanted to believe the best in people, just as Kyera herself had . Yet, Kyera had to teach her the bloody truth of the matter .
"And the punishment for the crime of murder?" Kyera continued and the girl swallowed . She was visibly uncomfortable now, but Kyera had to steel her heart against it . She had to understand .
"Death . " she replied again . This time she looked away, starting to realize where she was wrong . She was looking at this from the position of lives lost and making a stand for a cause, not the crimes they commited to do so .
"Finally, what is the punishment for betrayal?" she asked and the girl looked up at her . The screams of the dying in her home village a stern reminder that this was indeed betrayal . Shifters killing shifters in such a massacre could be called nothing less .
"Death . " the girl's voice was stronger now as she finally realized what Kyera was saying . The girl's expression eased Kyera's dread . If she couldn't help her people understand, she didn't have a chance at saving them . Now it was time to make herself clear .
"We will not slaughter mindlessly, or mercilessly destroy them as they have us . However we will not lay back like weak prey awaiting the slaughter . We will hold them accountable for their actions and punish them accordingly . I said we shall not pity them, we shall not make excuses for them, but that does not mean we forget the meaning of Mercy . " Kyera explained firmly . Once she was sure her words sunk in, Kyera turned to Talis . "Execute the would be assassin according to his crime . "
"Your will be done, Princess . " Talis replied bowing to her before taking three men toward the prison cell . Kyera left, Oslo and Race behind her with Lazren and Clovis at het her sides .
Chapter end
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