The panther watched until the other big cat was out of view, and turned himself towards the throne at the end of the large, regally decorated room and the fallen king near the bottom of the platform.
He ignored both in favor of sitting on the opposite side of the stairs leading up to the throne's platform. The panther knight took one final ragged breath in, used his thumb-claw to crack apart the wax seal, and unfolded the letter to begin reading what was written inside.
[My dearest Jagón, tonight, I write you two letters to be delivered based upon what the night brings. If this is the one you have received, then please know the greatest joys I've ever known in this life were my moments spent with you by my side.
You and our sons gave my life purpose, happiness, and the most unfathomable love I never believed could have existed since the very day each of you became a part of my story, and from the moment I first became a part of yours.
I know your heart may fracture from the news, but I beg of you, don't let your sorrow alter who you were meant to be. Do not honor me by raising your blade for my sake as our king has for his fallen bride, but by raising our sons into the most amazing, and truest versions of themselves possible.
You were always the knight who came to my rescue, but not all of our battles are meant to be won. Instead, I now ask that you be that knight for our cubs. Leaving you alone to raise three boys may be the most selfish thing I could ask, and probably one the toughest fights you've ever had laid before you if I know our children like I think I do, but they will need you to be there to get through both this loss, and this life.
Please, shower them with more kindness, more patience, and more love and respect than you ever knew that you had to give. Grow with them. Play with them. Teach them. Learn with them. Love them scores more than you even loved me. This is the last I ask of you, my tall, dark, heroic knight. Forever grateful for being a chapter in your story, With more love than you will ever know.
~ Felicity Astrin Venatus.
(I know it falls to the father to name the cubs, but I've found myself quite fond of Aster, a name worthy of our little star.)]
The knight's hands trembled as he finished the last of the letter. His attention turned to a smaller bit of parchment that was folded inside the letter which had spiraled to the cobblestones below upon opening it. His shaky digits managed to trap the paper between them as tears welled into his eyes.
"For the love of all things kind and good in this world, please, no more heartache today," The panther squeaked to himself as his voice began to break. He wiped the tears from his eyes enough to see before daring to read what was written in a handwriting much different than his wife's.
"The child did not survive. He will be laid to rest with his mother."
The knight clenched his jaw shut and his lips peeled back into a snarl, his hands now violently shook, tearing the smaller note in half from the force as his body began to break down. The panther leaned forward, trying so desperately to catch a breath that just wouldn't come. His hands moved to clutch the back of his head, his claws dug into his damp fur until small red droplets began forming at the tips, leading to trickles of blood gliding down the cats ivory claws. After what seemed an eternity, his screaming lungs finally made purchase .
The large cat inhaled sharply, stood up, threw his arms to his side, tensed his entire body, opened his mouth, leaned his head back, and roared in his anguish. He let loose two agonizing screams before he fell to his knees. He kept on roaring, letting all his anger, rage, and feelings of hopelessness out into the night air.
Eventually, his body fell forward, barely catching himself on trembling arms and knees, tears fell freely onto the backs of his hands as his mournful howls echoed around the throne room.
His heavy calls eventually began to die down as his voice broke, leading the great knight to instead hoarsely and weakly just weep in place as he closed both his eyes, and his heart off from the painful truth.
In all this tragedy, the last thing the panther expected was for another's cries of mourning to join his own. But sure enough, the cat's breath hitched in his throat as his ears heard the unmistakable cry of an infant.
"M-my son lives?" The panther thought to himself within his delirium, his mind desperately wanting to make some sense of the tragedy, to make it true. Surely he couldn't have lost both his wife and his cub? The gods weren't that cruel were they?
His head shot up as another cry echoed into the night, his ears perked in their search for where the sound was coming from as he looked frantically for the source of the cries. He struggled to stand, and staggered briefly doing so, but managed to get a hold on his footing. He heard another round of the cub's frantic call, locked on to where it was coming from, and made his way towards the empty throne.
King Alocer knew his knight may receive the worst of news, but nothing could prepare him for hearing the ear-splitting, piercing roars of defeat echoing even outside the thick castle walls that confirmed what the messenger had already relayed to him.
The king knew of the sorrow of losing a wife and the mother of his sons was agonizing, but a cub too? Knowing his friend now had to endure even that as well crushed his own heart.
That, and the final words of king Calium seemed to hang fresh in the lion's already heavy mind. Something about what he was told by the man in his final moments made him uneasy, (much of his faith in things would begin to fade into doubt from the day's events in time,) but he wouldn't speak on that for quite a while to come.
Instead, he mourned with his friend as he bared his soul to anyone within earshot of those haunting howls, and mentally, the king accepted he would allow his knight all the time he may need... and whatever else may ease his suffering.
Jagón was frantically feeling around the metal of the throne for some groove or hitch, the cries were coming from behind the King's chair somewhere, and the only explanation that made sense in his mind was some hidden chamber.
He was correct in this assumption, and soon realized the throne could be slid over, revealing a shadowy tunnel. Daunting stairs seemed to disappear into the unknown darkness of the tunnel, but the wails were now even clearer, so the panther quickly sprinted over to the wall, removed a still-burning torch from its bracket, and returned to the askew throne with a renewed sense of purpose.
Somewhere, in the back of his mind, he knew what he believed to be was impossible.
Instinctual alarms from years of surviving countless battles sounded in his consciousness, "This was clearly a trap set by the enemy, Your son wouldn't be here." but any voice of reason was smothered by the pursuit of the often unrealistic ray of light we simply know as hope.
***