Withdrawing from holy place after sacrificing the last monarch (9)
I believe the answer is:
shrinking
'withdrawing' is the definition.
(to shrink back is to recoil or withdraw)
'holy place after sacrificing the last monarch' is the wordplay.
'holy place' becomes 'shrine' (holy site dedicated to a particular person).
'after sacrificing the last' means to remove the last letter.
'monarch' becomes 'king' (king is a kind of monarch).
'shrine' with its final letter taken off is 'shrin'.
'shrin'+'king'='SHRINKING'
'from' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for shrinking that I've seen before include "Becoming smaller" , "Shy person" , "Decreasing in size" .)