Imara Diversifies The Beastmen World

Chapter One Hundred and Forty Two The Court of Consequence

King Winfrey POV

I pulled a power move.

I threatened to remove support and branch my tribe off. Not because I wanted to, but because I was desperate for the situation to fall in my favor—just so we could call it even.

To have to do such a thing, as a King, was ridiculous.

But this wasn't about pride. It was about the pressure.

The pressure of protecting my daughter. My only girl. My most sacred blessing. In a world where females are one in twenty, how could I not do everything in my power to shield what I was gifted? A wife, a daughter—double blessings. I would die for them.

And though Queen Memi was right... I just couldn't hand my daughter over. When she declared her vote for banishment, my heart clenched. Then Calum, King of the Leopards, added his own: "I am a king with a queen." The meaning behind his words rang clear. He stood with his mate.

My anxiety surged, if Gallant or Wilbard voted in their favor, it would be over.

So I firmed my stance and made a counterplay. A trade. A rebalancing. "King Calum, I began, voice steady, "you and your party benefit the most in this situation. You still have your son, and his mate. And your Queen was able to catch Rosa and handle her as she pleased before she made it back to us. I see that as fair gain."

"And to you, Queen Memi," he said, bowing his head just slightly, "I will send two horned melons—plucked fresh from the Deserts of Fire themselves. The most sought after among sacred females... may it serve as a symbol of peace and the respect I owe you."

I turned toward Bai and Imara. I could feel my daughter burning beside me, but I didn't care.

"I will offer twenty of my own tiger warriors—ten to Imara, ten to Bai—for their continued security and safety. They will swear loyalty before the Four Kings, not to me, but to them. And I will send a bag of crystals for each of them as reparations for the distress caused."

"Father!" Rosa gasped, standing to speak—but I placed a firm hand on her shoulder and shoved her back into her seat.

She looked at me in shock. I had never done that before. But this wasn't about what she felt. This was about what I had to do.

I kept going.

"King Gallant," I said, turning to the Wolf King, "your son Bart now bears a fourth stripe. That puts your tribe in the lead. He is Rosa's mate. I propose Rosa, Bart, and the rest of their circle relocate to your territory. Let them strengthen your tribe from within. An alliance of power."

Then I turned to Wilbard.

"And you, King of the Apes... I will retrieve an emerald from the eastern lands during this hot season. One worthy of your vault. Let it serve not only as a token of my honor, but also as a tribute to the unity between our tribes—past and present— as respect for how true unity first entered this city... through the spiritually gifted connected to the beast God."

I had laid everything on the table.

Travels to the land of flames for most sought fruits for a befitting Queen.

A daughter offered to another tribe.

Men sworn to another Queen and her only tribesman.

And a gem for the most dangerous King in the room.

All because I couldn't bear to lose the one thing I was never guaranteed to have. My daughter.

I can branch out on my own—and I think I will. But not yet. Not while the cold season is days away. It lasts a full orange moon—three brutal months. No female survives travel during that time, my Rosetta isn't made for such things. My beautiful mate doesn't deserve that kind of suffering, and my daughter, reckless as she may be, is still a female. A precious rarity.