For some, bearing witness to the suffering of others is pleasing in and of itself. Usually, the foolhardy, and those seeking glory/military admiration are the ones who rush out to the battlefield to die gloriously.
The more intelligent stand back and watch.
In the case of the ambitious like ms. Kodkod, this natural pruning simply cuts down on the competition, and leaves more for her.
In my case, not choosing to die for queen and country is merely prudent. "Team" is simply a clever way to spell "meat", afterall. I prefer to remain in one piece, and kill in secret, from a distance.
As such, should kodkod succeed in her regal ambitions, it would be inevitable that she and I would come into direct opposition eventually. I prefer complete personal autonomy, and am not vulnerable to sheild beating, saber rattling, nationalist propoganda, and am adept at seeing through plots and plans of schemers. As such, my unwillingness to submit to her rule as an absolute monarch would create an unsufferable situation, in which she would seek to get me into her scorpion pit, even if it means killing the oddball who makes the delightful skin creams.
Of course, the situation would be different if my gender was different, but being of the bearded menace, my fate would be sealed. Too strong a personality, with too many skills, and a lack of state dependence (and thus, unneeding of her rule) would write my own death warrant.
That's the way power struggles turn out.
She might be content to imprison me for life, chained to an alchemy aparatus in her own twisted version of the tower of london though. That way she could still get cosmetics and emolients out of me.
Sadly, people like me tend to know how to destroy iron chains, and how to gently demolish walls with controlled explosives. Keeping me in the tower would be a genuine accomplishment.