Let Them Kneel (kaelani and Julian) novel Chapter 236

Chapter 236

Valon rary en as she looked out over the kneeling Unseelie.

they met the

+25 Bonus

***t of starfour waiting beneath the light of the twin moons.

hogy for her

in of voter light, Kaetani vanished.

han fet af before he saw it

He stepped forward inthediately, moving to the edge of the balcony, his hands gripping the stone

framt fightly

A ripple of violet flared at the base of the grand staircase below, and she reappeared there in a

mtrolled pulse of energy, her gown settling around her ankles as though the air itself had bowed to her

MIVA

Caspe Whispered through the crowd.

Juhari’s gaze locked onto her, his jaw clenched, protective instinct rising sharp as he watched from

A/6

She descended the final steps of the staircase that led to where the Unseelie knelt, her heels clicking softly against stone.

She stopped just before the captain of the Unseelie guard.

He remained on one knee, head bowed, but his eyes lifted once.

Briefly

Long enough to meet hers, then they returned to the stone beneath him.

“My Queen,” he began, his voice deep and controlled, though it carried the weight of something far

heavist

“We Were Wrong.

A heavy quiet settled across the courtyard.

“Wrong in the way we treated you. Wrong to act as though you did not belong among us- as though you Were less

A tremor moved faintly through the kneeling Unseelie behind him.

“We stood against you when we should have stood beside you. We raised our weapons with the intent to

M

strike

The words did not come easily.

“We doubted the Seers.”

His voice lowered.

“And we doubted you.”

Behind him, the Unseelie bowed lower.

“I stand before you in humility. Not as a captain. Not as a warrior.”

He bowed his head fully now, not in respect alone but in shame.

“But as one who failed his Queen.”

Stillness pressed in around them.

“If there is punishment to be dealt, I will accept it.”

Another ripple–this one heavier.

“But if there is mercy in you… we ask for it.”

He lifted his head just enough to be heard clearly.

“Please forgive us.”

Kaelani regarded him for a moment.

He didn’t move or fidget. He simply waited.

“What is your name?” she finally asked, her voice calm but carrying clearly across the courtyard.

“Tharion,” he answered.

“Stand,” she said.

He hesitated only a fraction of a second before rising smoothly to his feet.

Kaelani’s gaze shifted past him to the others still kneeling.

“All of you,” she said gently, her voice lifting slightly as it reached the Unseelie behind him. “Please stand.”

There was a wave of movement as armor shifted and fabric rustled. One by one, they rose.

Her gaze moved across them before landing back on Tharion.

“You believed you were protecting your realm,” she said softly. “And I cannot condemn that.”

274

M

+25 Bonus

A flutter of tension eased.

“I wasn’t here to claim a crown or take a throne. I just wanted to understand who I was.”

All eyes were fixed on her–thoughtful rather than tense.

“But you were right about one thing,” she continued. “I am an outsider from another world.”

“And perhaps,” she added carefully, “you should be allowed to choose who leads you… rather than allowing fate to choose for you.”

That stirred something deeper.

A quiet unrest moved through the Unseelie.

“With all due respect,” Tharion spoke.

“Fate did not force you upon us.”

A small breath left him.

“It only revealed you.”

“We did not kneel tonight because fate commanded it,” he went on.

“We kneel because we saw you stand where others would have fled.”

“Because you bled for a realm that would not have bled for you.”

His gaze held hers.

VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABELVerify