The truth, a force more powerful than any magic, hung in the air, leaving Seraphina's lies to wither and die. She stood frozen, her face a mask of shocked fury, as the court's bewildered whispers grew into a deafening roar. The Black Cat Prince, a figure of legend, had just revealed his identity to a crowd that had believed him to be a myth. He had not just defended Evangeline; he had validated her, a truth no one had ever given her.
The air, still heavy with the scent of Evangeline's magic, was now charged with a new kind of energy. The court, which had just moments ago judged her, now looked at her with a mixture of fear and awe. She was not a monster; she was a queen.
Seraphina, finally regaining her composure, pointed a trembling finger at Evangeline. "He's lying! He's trying to cover for her! They're in league together, a conspiracy against the Dragon Kingdom!"
The words, once powerful, now sounded hollow and desperate. The court, who had once believed her every word, now looked at her with a new, dawning suspicion.
Just then, a wave of familiar faces from Evangeline's past broke through the crowd. Her family, her parents, and the nobles of her kingdom, who had come to the banquet as an act of diplomatic duty, now stood before her, their faces a mixture of surprise and disgust.
"Look at her!" a voice, her father's, boomed with a familiar disdain. "She's a witch! A monster! We should have locked her away forever!"
His words were met with a murmur of agreement from his court. Evangeline's mother, the queen, looked at her daughter with a cold, unforgiving glare. It was a look Evangeline knew all too well—a look that said she was a mistake, a blemish on the perfect tapestry of their royal line.
But before Evangeline could respond, Arion's mother, the Dragon Queen, stepped forward. She placed a protective hand on Evangeline's shoulder, her gaze fixed on the human king and queen. "That is enough," she said, her voice a low, commanding tone. "The princess is a guest in my kingdom. And she is my son's fated mate. She is not a monster. She is a queen."
The Dragon Queen's words were a direct challenge to Evangeline's parents, a statement that she was no longer their property. The air was now thick with a new, unspoken tension. A clash of kingdoms was now a clash of mothers, with the fate of their children hanging in the balance.
The Dragon Queen has declared her support for Evangeline, but her own family remains a threat.