The Great Hall of Ober was a sea of shocked faces. Duke Malphas stood atop the dais, his hand frozen halfway to the crown resting on a velvet cushion. He was a man of cold marble and sharp edges, and for a heartbeat, his composure shattered.
"Gabriel?" Malphas breathed, his eyes darting to the Royal Guards. "This is... a miracle! Seize him! The trauma has clearly unhinged the poor boy’s mind. He is under a delusion!"
The Iron Crest guards moved forward, their halberds leveled. Gabriel didn't flinch. He reached into his belt and held up the Star of the West. The ancient jewel caught the light of a hundred chandeliers, casting a blinding, celestial glow across the hall.
"The vault only opens for the blood of the King," Gabriel’s voice was like iron. "I have the stone. I have the truth. And I have a witness that nature itself will not let you harm."
"Kill him!" Malphas shrieked, dropping the facade. "Kill the pretender!"
As the first guard lunged, a whistle—sharp and cold as a winter wind—sliced through the air. A black-shafted arrow thudded into the floor an inch from the guard's boot. Then another. Then a third, pinning a captain's cloak to a pillar.
High above, perched on the narrow ledge of a stained-glass window, Shino stood. The "Void-Salt" on her arrows made them invisible in the dim light of the rafters, making it seem as if the air itself was striking back.
"The next one doesn't hit the floor," Shino’s voice echoed from the ceiling, disembodied and terrifying.
The guards froze. They were soldiers, but they were superstitious men. To them, it felt as though the spirits of the ancestors were defending the Prince.
"Cowards!" Malphas roared. He snatched a heavy crossbow from a nearby wall and aimed it directly at Gabriel’s chest. "If you want him dead, do it yourself!"
Gabriel stood his ground. He didn't have his sword drawn; he simply looked up.
In the rafters, Shino entered the 'Zen' state she had used a thousand times in the wild. She saw the heartbeat in Malphas’s neck. She saw the tension in his trigger finger. She saw the world as a series of trajectories and possibilities.
For the boy who jumped, she thought.
She released.
The arrow didn't hit Malphas. It hit the trigger mechanism of the Duke’s crossbow just as he fired. The bolt from the Duke’s weapon went wild, shattering a chandelier, while the force of Shino’s impact sent the Duke sprawling backward, his shoulder pinned to the wooden throne behind him.
The hall fell into a deathly silence. Gabriel stepped onto the dais, looking down at his uncle. "You are no longer fit for these walls, Uncle. Take him to the dungeons."
The guards, seeing the tide had turned, moved to obey the true King.
Three nights later, the city of Ober was celebrating. Music echoed through the streets, and the smell of roasting meat filled the air. But Gabriel was not at the feast. He was standing at the edge of the Whispering Woods, a heavy leather satchel in his hand.
A soft rustle in the leaves told him he wasn't alone.
"You're late," Shino said, dropping from a branch with her usual silent grace. She was dressed in new leathers, her leg bandaged properly now. Hecate circled overhead, a white ghost in the moonlight.
"I had a kingdom to put back together," Gabriel smiled, handing her the satchel. Inside were the Royal Maps—ancient charts of the Untamed Wilds—and the Star of the West. "It’s yours. A gift from the King."
Shino looked at the jewel, then back at him. She didn't say thank you; that wasn't the Cait Sith way. Instead, she tucked it into her tunic and gave a sharp, appreciative flick of her tail.
"You're a better King than I thought you'd be, Gabriel Ober," she said, her voice softer than he’d ever heard it. "But the forest is calling. I’ve spent too much time smelling city smoke."
"Will I see you again?" Gabriel asked as she began to back into the shadows.
Shino paused, her golden eyes reflecting the moon. She reached into her quiver and pulled out a single arrow—the one he had recovered for her in the woods. She tossed it to him.
"If you ever get tired of the silk sheets and the boring speeches," she smirked, "follow the trail of the silver bolt. I might not leave the door open, but I'll make sure the monsters don't eat you on the way."
With a wink and a flash of blue hair, she vanished into the canopy.
Gabriel stood at the forest edge, the arrow heavy in his hand. He was a King now, with a crown and a throne. But as he looked up at the moon, he knew that the best part of his story wasn't the palace he had gained—it was the wild friend he had found in the shadows.
The End.
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