Cornered (Part 1)
If the King didn't award Lith and his group during the ceremony, he would send a clear message to everyone who had half a brain. It would let the upper echelons of the Kingdom know that Verhen had fallen from grace and that there was something fishy about his alleged achievements.
It would destroy Lith's public image and make him lose all the political supporters that he had left after Mirim's death. Few of them cared about the opinion of the young magical bloodlines, but none of them would risk losing the Royals' favor for a nobody.
'This would have never happened if Mirim was still alive.' Solus said via the mind link. 'Thanks to her nature of fake Awakened and to her bond with Tyris, she would have found a way to disprove whatever accusation Onia is about to throw at you.