"You are not my brother."
๐ป๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐.
The banquet hall of House Valemour was soaked in golden light and drunken laughter.
Goblets clinked. Harps played.
๐บ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐, ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ โ ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ฒ๐๐๐'๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐...
My brother. My executioner.
I staggered, blood rushing down my abdomen โ dark and hot.
Red soaked through the silk of my ceremonial robes.
Not royal crimson,
but the pale gray of the "bloodless."
๐ป๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐.
๐พ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐.
Behind me, the crowd parted like smoke.
Lords, priests, and courtiers turned their heads, refusing to look.
A few smirked.
This was not a murder.
This was a sacrifice.
> "My blood will never mix with yours," Kael said coldly.
"You should never have been born."
Then he wrenched the blade free.
I collapsed.
๐ป๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐.
I heard my mother weeping โ
not out of sorrow...
but shame.
๐ฏ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ . ๐ด๐.
I gasped.
The blood kept coming.
So much blood.
Everything faded...
Thenโ
I heard it.
A whisper in the dark.
> "Drink, child. And rise."
---
๐ฐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐...
Where traitors and monsters are buried.
It was silent.
No heartbeat but mine.
No light, except the faint, red shimmer of a seal etched into stone.
I should have been dead.
Instead...
I was breathing.
And burning.
A pain coiled in my chest โ not just from the wound,
but from something inside me.
Something awakening.
Then I saw it.
A figure in the shadows โ wrapped in bone and ash, its eyes glowing like coals.
It smiled with teeth made of obsidian.
> "You've been cast aside by men who call themselves gods...
But I see you. I know what you are."
"You are hunger. You are vengeance. You are mine now."
The figure held out its hand.
A cup of blackened gold hovered in the air. Inside: blood โ not red, but silver.
> "Drink. Take back what was stolen. Become the first Bloodthief in a thousand years."
My fingers moved before I could stop them.
I drank.
And screamed.
---
It was not pain.
It was power.
๐ด๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ .
๐บ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ฐ'๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐.
A thousand voices screamed and sang and begged inside me.
And through it all, one truth carved itself into my bones:
> I can take what others have.
Magic. Strength. Memory.
Their power... becomes mine.
But only through blood.
---
I don't remember how I escaped the crypt.
Only the scent of burning flesh behind me.
And a single thought,
pounding like a war drum:
> "He stole my future. I'll take his kingdom."
---
๐๏ธ Author's Note: RRyu-san
๐ฐ๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ... ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐?
๐ฌ Comment below:
What would YOU steal if you had the Bloodthief curse?
โค๏ธ Vote if you want Chapter 2 โ "The Girl with the Sword and the Secret" โ sooner.