The Blood King's Blade (Book one) COMPLETE ✅

Blood King's Day (Chapter Seventeen)

Cora sat at her desk with an open laptop in front of her. Today was Blood King's Day, it had come much too fast, she was supposed to be fine tuning her plan of attack but somehow ended up on an article about Prince Liam.  His eighteenth birthday would have been last week. Cora's blood boiled. How could someone kill an innocent child? Her eyes shifted to the business card on the edge of her desk. She had yet to make a decision about Prince Lyon's offer. She didn't know what she was waiting for, this was the opportunity of a lifetime, but something about it felt wrong.

She was startled by a knock on her door. Her heart pounded so loudly she thought it might burst. She tightly gripped her sword, afraid of what she might find on the other side, she slowly opened the door to see her father standing on the other side. She dropped her sword and let out a sigh of relief. "Oh thank God it's you!"

"Who else would it be? The Blood King?" he laughed.

Cora forced out a laugh.

He handed her a mug full of apple cider, a traditional Blood King's Day beverage. "I'm here to wish you a happy Blood King's Day."

She gladly accepted the mug and took a sip. The fresh, tangy flavor warmed her tastebuds.

"I also wanted to check on you. You've been really out of it lately. I want to make sure you're okay."

"Why wouldn't I be?" Cora could think of many reasons why she wouldn't be okay, but he didn't know about any of them.

He picked up the business card off the desk. "I know about your offer."

"How?" Cora asked bewildered.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a business card almost identical to the one she had received. "This isn't the first time the royal family has tried something like this. King Lucien tried something very similar sixteen years ago," He stared blankly out the window to ashamed to let his daughter see how weak he was.

"I'm guessing it didn't go well."

He gently shut the laptop on her desk unable to bear the sight of the article. "The royal family hired the Ironheart guild as personal security on a diplomatic mission to the outer reaches of Thessionia. My partner and I were put in charge of protecting Prince Liam. Unlike everyone else, we were put on the back of the train, they thought it would be safer there. An assassin snuck aboard and detached our car from the rest of the train leaving us stuck in the middle of nowhere alone. He was a man dressed in all black with bright yellow eyes. His face was completely covered so I couldn't see what he looked like but that didn't make him any less intimidating. He demanded we turn the prince over to him, we refused, which made him furious. He easily took on both of us at the same time. We used every trick in the book, but he was too powerful." He ran his hand down his injured spine. "I fought until I couldn't stand anymore. He took the prince and disappeared into the blackness. A few weeks later Prince Liam was confirmed as dead. My partner vouched for me so my punishment wasn't as severe as it could have been but, we were both discharged from the guild. I failed my mission and now I have to face the guilt and shame every single day." He turned to her. "I want you to take this decision seriously."

"Why didn't you tell me about this sooner?" she asked him.

"You've always seen me as some kind of hero and I was ashamed to tell you the truth."

"You did everything you could to protect Prince Liam, Dad. You fought until you couldn't stand anymore. You'll always be a hero in my book."

The two warriors sat in silence for a few minutes.

Cora checked her watch. "I'm not meeting up with my friends until noon. Why don't you help me with my training?"

A smile of pure joy spread across his lips. She hadn't seen her father smile like that in a long time. So the pair trained together until they were both worn out.