"After the battle, King Drystan was badly injured and taken away to be treated, and that was when Alaric took control of court matters. Because he had the support and influence of many soldiers at the time, the ministers followed his lead. Days passed, and no one was allowed to visit the king where he was being kept. During that time, Alaric killed, threatened, and tortured many people into submitting to him. It became what we now call the Purge. When King Drystan eventually learned what had happened, Alaric ordered that he be taken to the dungeon and confined in solitude. He drugged him countless times and subjected him to so many horrors that the king gradually lost his memories of who he truly was. Before anyone realized what had happened, the rightful king had been reduced to a servant while Alaric sat upon a throne that never belonged to him," Cedric said for all to hear.

"Cedric speaks the truth," the old keeper of the chapel added, and the crowd could only stare in stunned silence as the full extent of Alaric’s actions became clear.

Their gazes slowly shifted toward him, and for the first time he stood before them stripped of the power he had wielded for so long.

Alaric’s grip on reality faltered, everything breaking around him as the weight of failure, and loss of authority finally crashed down on him, and even as he tried to fight it, there was a visible collapse in his expression as the truth of his downfall fully set in.

"What you’re looking at is nothing more than a banished prince," Rowan continued calmly.

"Father banished Alaric because he tried to kill me when we were children, and I, being the foolish brother I was at the time, welcomed him back years later without knowing his true intentions. He used that chance to steal the throne and imprison me for an entire decade."

Now that Alaric could no longer defend himself and all eyes were fixed upon him, he clenched his teeth so hard his jaw trembled.

"Kill that bastard!" he suddenly roared at the guards surrounding Rowan.

"Everything he’s saying is a lie. He isn’t my brother and he isn’t the king. I am the rightful King of Eryndor, and I command you to kill him for the crimes he has committed!" His voice shook with rage, yet not a single guard moved.

Alaric noticed it immediately, and something dark settled inside his eyes.

Fine.

If they would not obey him, then he would kill them all himself.

He seized a sword from beside him and, before anyone could react, began striking down anyone foolish enough to stand in his path. His only goal was Rowan.

Rowan watched him calmly and made no move to retreat because this was exactly the moment he had been waiting for. His brother had finally lost control and no longer cared who witnessed it.

Marek and the others quickly moved aside while Alaric charged forward with murder blazing in his eyes.

Yet Rowan remained where he stood, staring back at him without the slightest hint of fear because he knew Alaric was finished the moment he attacked in front of every ruler present.

"Someone stop him! He’s going to kill the king!" voices cried throughout the hall, but no one dared move because anyone who got close was immediately struck aside by Alaric.

The guards hesitated because no one knew whose orders they were supposed to obey anymore.

Rosalind watched everything unfold and panic surged through her body.

Why wasn’t Rowan doing anything?

Why was he just standing there? One strike through the heart and he would die.

She couldn’t allow that... but there was no way she could reach him in time herself, so her gaze darted frantically around the hall until it landed on the tiger.

"Rama." The name slipped from her lips before she even realized it.

The beast immediately turned its head toward her and growled.

Rosalind took in a deep breath as she ordered, "Finish him,"

At once, the tiger shook off the handlers restraining it and launched itself forward. Screams erupted throughout the hall as guests scattered in every direction, and the beast fixed its eyes upon the target Rosalind had chosen.

Rowan watched Alaric close the distance between them, his expression remaining completely indifferent.

"Your Majesty... he’s going to kill you," Cedric muttered anxiously.

"Stay out of it," Rowan replied calmly.

Alaric raised his sword and prepared to drive it forward, but before the blade could reach Rowan, a deafening roar tore through the hall.

Both brothers turned their heads.

The tiger was already in the air.

It came down upon Alaric with terrifying force, and Alaric barely had time to lift his sword before the beast swatted it aside. The weapon flew from his grip as Rama slammed him into the floor directly in front of Rowan.

The impact echoed through the hall...

As the tiger held Alaric down and the pressure of everything he had built began to collapse in front of him, Alaric’s struggling slowed as his eyes flickered across the hall, taking in the nobles, the guards who no longer obeyed him, and the brother he had spent his life trying to destroy. There was a crack of realization in his expression that everything had slipped beyond his control.

Everyone’s eyes widened in horror as the tiger sank its teeth into Alaric’s neck, and the sickening sound of bone crunching filled the air.

Alaric’s head tilted backward as blood poured from the wound. Through blurred vision he found Rowan standing above him.

"I’ll never leave you alone," he promised weakly, his voice shaking as blood spilled from his mouth.

The next second, the tiger tore into him again, and his body went still.

Rowan’s gaze met Alaric’s. His eyes didn’t hold triumph but a quiet, exhausted sorrow as though he was looking at the brother he once knew before everything was destroyed between them.

In that silence between them lay years of betrayal, fear, and choices that could never be undone, even as the world around them watched the final consequence unfold.