A Royal Purr-suit

Previously

…Seraphina let out a strangled cry, a mixture of rage and despair. She made a sudden lunge, not towards Bartholomew, but towards the exit, her sleek form a blur of desperate flight. But the guards were faster. They moved with practiced efficiency, blocking her path, their growls a clear warning. She was trapped, her reign of deceit brought to an abrupt and ignominious end. The queen who had played the game of power with such cunning had finally miscalculated, undone by the very heir she had so desperately tried to eliminate. The lion's roar, Bartholomew's roar, had finally been heard, and its echo reverberated through the silent ballroom, a promise of a new era.