Taboo - Balance Of Power Pure

“Then she must die,” the advisor said.

The royal advisors knew the truth: the current King, Aldric, had no scar. His face was ordinary, even kind. The taboo existed because the mask did not hide ugliness; it hid vulnerability. If the people saw a tired, aging man with doubt in his eyes, they might stop fearing the crown. The mask reflected their own ambition, their own fear, back at them. It made the King a mirror, not a man. balance of power pure taboo

King Aldric’s hands trembled as he took the mask. He could have her killed. The law demanded it. But Elara had just given him something no one else had in twenty years: normalcy. She had seen his humanity and chosen not to weaponize it. “Then she must die,” the advisor said