Royal Blood: Chapter 3 (Patreon)

I’m starting a new story called Royal Blood! Here are the first Patreon chapters! If you enjoy it, swing by the story page on Royal Road and drop a rating? It helps a lot!

Note: This chapter has some minor edits, adding a bit of explanation for what quests are in the middle. It's the same as the Royal Road release.

Chapter 3: King’s Ransom

The castle was in an uproar.

No, Elysia decided. An uproar was too tame a descriptor.

The castle was in a furor.

As she paced the richly carpeted floor in one of the larger drawing rooms, she could hear the sounds of that furor drifting up through the open window. The guards had been turned out, the knights dispatched, the Royal Augury consulted. No expense had been spared for the retrieval of Prince Alexander, and the punishment of those responsible for his abduction.

Not, Elysia thought ruefully, because anyone in the guard, or the Imperial Knighthood, or the Royal Augury, cared much for Alex. Instead, it was because of the message his kidnapping sent. The Emperor and Empress were outraged that any would have the gall to infiltrate their private gardens, much less that they’d stolen away a Prince of the Blood, one of three such trueborn children in the current dynasty.

For that alone, everyone involved—and many who were not—would hang. Already, two maids and a guardsman had been detained for disclosing Princess Velari’s itinerary for coin. They would swing from the gallows come dawn.

And as for Velari herself…

“Nothing other than Brance, than that single name?” Knight Captain Myria leaned forward over the thirteen-year-old princess. “They had no identifying markers?”

Velari, seated in the lone chair left in the room and surrounded by several other guards, shook her head vehemently. “Just that, and also that they seemed strangely…ill-equiped for hired killers.” She scrunched her hands in her dress, a gesture of frustration that was quite unlike her. “Prince Alexander, despite his low level, managed to distract them long enough for me to escape. I–they can’t have been higher than level 30.” She looked down as Knight Captain Myria worked her jaw at that tidbit. “I will…I will submit to a full memory reading, should it be of any help, Knight Commander.”

Myria frowned, even as Elysia blinked in surprise, head snapping up to look at her younger sister.

“Very—”

The doors to the drawing room flew open. “That will not be necessary.” Emperor Raxus, first of his name, cut a striking figure in his resplendent crimson cape and robes. He strode into the room, golden hair streaming behind him, and the rest of the room knelt.

Even Elysia, as his heir, was required to curtsy to her Imperial father.

“Your Majesty!” Myria thumped her mail-clad fist against her breastplate, pressing her other fist to the floor. “Princess Velari has already agreed to a memory reading, surely the Royal Augury will find any more information useful.”

Raxus waved his hand. “You may rise.” A pair of servants brought a chair into the room, allowing the Emperor to seat himself closer to his other daughter, Velari. “My augurs have already determined that Velari is not at fault, chasing that dead end will yield no results. Have you discovered any useful information thus far?”

Knight Captain Myria rose to her feet. “Princess Velari has disclosed that one of the attackers was named ‘Brance’, your Majesty. As well as their apparent low level, which suggests–”

“Then it should not be difficult to track them, if the assailants are indeed that pitiful.  I suggest you bring that information to the Augury, instead of wasting more time interrogating my daughter.” He raised an eyebrow. “Lest one think you were more interested in other aims than the recovery of my son, Knight Captain.”

“At once, your majesty!” Myria snapped to a sharp salute, arm thumping against her chestplate again. She snapped her fingers. “Finch, Erakson, you are in charge of the investigation into the staff. Find out who they sold that information to. I shall see to the Augury myself.”

In moments, the Knights had cleared the room, leaving only the Royal family and the Emperor’s hand picked guards.

Raxus steepled his fingers, regarding his two daughters. Elysia often wondered what he saw in them.  In him, she saw a man that could be more kind, so much more visionary than he was. But her father seemed content to play the politics of his court, and let the rest of the realm handle itself. The last time he had stirred himself from the Imperial City was to take the field against the neighboring Laputiens and raze their republic to the ground.

Now the Empire of Norvusk had become Norvusk in truth, the only power left upon their continent. Some might say that such was more than enough.

But Elysia always saw how things could be more.

“You need not debase yourself such, my daughter,” Raxus said at last. “Letting a mage rake his fingers through your thoughts, as though you were a baronette’s daughter accused of infidelity?” He shook his head. “Unconscionable.”

Velari looked down at her lap, visibly struggling to regain her decorum. “If anything that I missed could lead to the safe return of Alexander…”

“That is not your concern.” Raxus reached out, taking Velari’s hand in his. “You are safe; that alone is a relief to myself and the Empire both.”

Velari remained looking down for a long moment, before finally taking a deep breath. “Yes, Father.”

“Very good.” He patted her hand a single time, then stood. “I have been informed that you were forced to subclass into Zephyr Knight to escape. I commend you for your quick thinking; it speaks well of you.”

“Thank you, Father.”

“Be that as it may, a knight class is hardly befitting our lineage. I shall have the knights procure a purging stone for you.” Raxus smiled. “Only the best for my children, as only the best shall be expected of you.”

Elysia saw Velari’s fingers tighten slightly before she forced them to relax. “I thank you, Father, for your kindness, but I think I shall keep my first subclass.”

“Oh?” Raxus raised his golden eyebrow again. “Were you not displeased with it?”

“Upon closer examination, I believe…I was too harsh in my judgement.” Velari gave Emperor Raxus a wan smile. “And perhaps the maneuverability will synergize much more with my future classes, as you and Knight Master Vex suggested.”

Raxus regarded his daughter for a long moment, features expressionless. Then his face cracked into a paternal smile. “If that is what you wish, my daughter.”

“It is.” Velari nodded. “I would not want such a trifling need to interfere with the knights dispensing imperial justice.”

“Very well.” He turned toward his other daughter. “Elysia.”

Elysia let her lips stretch into a matching smile. “Daddy.” Taking two steps forward, she threw her arms around her father. He laughed, sweeping her up into her embrace.

“Oh, poppet. You shouldn’t worry so.” He stepped back, hands on her waist. “I am certain the knights will find those responsible.”

“I know, Father.” Elysia looked away, letting her fear shine through. “But I fear for Alexander. And to let a common footpad be his end, the end of any Nevarius.”

“I will not be borne.” Raxus nodded, though Elysia knew it was more because of the implied insult than any true concern about his son. Elysia pouted, looking up at her father through her lashes, the same shade as his hair. “But…if it pleases you to aid in the investigation, I see no reason to restrain you.”

“Thank you, Daddy.” Elysia pulled Raxus into another tight hug, and he patted her on the back.

“Now, I have matters of state to attend to.” Raxus stepped back, his manservants coming to pick up his throne.

“I shall see you at the evening meal, father!”

Velari rose, curtseying. “Father.”

“My daughters.”

With that, he left the room. Elysia sighed. She truly did love Raxus, and he had never been anything but kind to her, but some days she wondered if she loved him, or if she loved the father she knew he could become.

However, there were more important matters to attend to.

Her hand snaked out, grasping Velari by the shoulder as she made to leave the room. “If it’s not any trouble, I would like to comfort my sweet sister over the loss of our dear brother.” Elysia smiled at the remaining guards. “In private.”

There was some shuffling, but in the end none of them had the guts to stand up to the Crown Princess. It was one of the reasons Elysia had appreciated Alexander so much: he never hesitated to speak his mind.

“I didn’t do it,” Velari said out of the blue. “I—I know it looks like it, but I did not hire common thugs to kill my half-brother.”

Elysia turned to her sister. “Oh?”

Velari looked away. “He was rude, and we had our…differences, but…”

Elysia waited for a moment, before taking her hand back. “You’ve been surprisingly protective of him, since making it back.”

Velari said nothing for a long few seconds. Then, “He pulled me out of the way of the first assassin.” Her hand came up to trace her throat. “Princess is not a class with many combat options, for all its level growth. Had that length of steel wire closed around my throat, we…would not be having this conversation.”

Elysia nodded to herself. Yes…that sounded just like him. “He told you to pick Zephyr Knight as well, didn’t he?”

Velari’s silence spoke volumes.

Elysia huffed. “Forgive me if I do not think that enough to change your opinion of him.”

“I…received a quest as well.” Velari looked down, shoulders hunching in a way that was surprisingly vulnerable.”

“A quest?” Elysia shook her head. “It affected you that much?”

“Because Alexander was the one who suggested Zephyr Knight, as you said.” Velari took a breath, calming herself. “He quite literally changed the direction of my life. When I saw the first quest related to him…that is when I truly realized it. He gave his life not only to save mine, but to better it. Despite everything.”

Elysia looked at the girl for a long moment. “...I believe you,” Elysia released Velari’s arm. “The quest?”

“To save his life.” Velari bit her lip for a moment. “The reward is a whole level.”

Elysia’s breath caught. Quest experience did scale with level, but even after the exponential growth period, level experience grew faster.

Except that not all quests were created equal. The more difficult the quest, the more experience one would receive. Quests granting an entire level were vanishingly rare, and just as valuable.

“Perhaps now you understand why I valued him so much.” She stepped around her sister, pausing at the doorway. “For what it is worth, I am glad you escaped untouched. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have just been informed that my brother is still alive, at least for the moment.” Elysia made to open the door, but Velari’s voice stopped her.

“Why?”

Elysia half turned. “Hmm?”

“I want to know why he saved me. You knew Alexander better than anyone, so…why?” Velari turned away. “It was clear I was the target, he reacted fast enough to pull me out of the way, he could have run, maybe even escaped into the river.” Velari clenched her fist against the hollow of her throat, features half-twisted between anger and anguish. “He didn’t have to help me, I—I would not have helped him, I would have left, and now—and now!”

She sputtered out, looking lost for perhaps the first time in her life.

“I see the best in people,” Elysia said after a moment.

Velari’s eyes snapped to her.

“The court trumpets my gift.” Elysia closed her eyes slowly. “Scions of noble houses come to beg moments of my time, asking how best to optimize their subclasses. Father himself has made use of it.” She shook her head, letting loose an indelicate snort. “But no one really stops to wonder what it means. I see classes, yes, but I see the person as well. I see who they are, and I see who they could become.”

Velari looked down. “What did you see when you looked at Alex?”

“Someone good, and kind.” Elysia’s lips twitched into a hollow smile. “Someone who could have been the best of us, not just for his strength, but for his gentle soul. He treated everyone with respect, regardless of their birth, and he had a spark of determination in him that would have led us all to new heights.”

Velari swallowed. “And now he’s gone. And it is my fault.” Her face twisted, and Elysia saw the girl’s anger twist back onto herself. “All because I wanted to push him out of my way.”

Elysia could have left then, but…that is not what Alexander would have wanted her to do.

“When I look at you, I see someone kind as well, Velari.” Velari’s head snapped up her words. “The same skills that make you so good at manipulating others would make you perfect at helping them instead.” Elysia crossed the room, cupping her younger sister’s cheek. “Remember, sister: at the end of the day, we are who we choose to be.”

Velari looked away. “How can you be so nice. I’m the one who got your favorite brother killed.

Elysia’s other hand clenched into a fist, and for a moment she wanted to slap the girl so hard her head would splatter across the far wall.

He’s still alive, her heart whispered.

Not for long, her head replied.

But she mastered herself with the ease of long practice. “Because, Vel, my gift works on myself as well.” She turned away, looking at the mirror. “Every day I look at the best version of myself staring back at me. In the face of that, how could I strive to be anything less?”

Velari began to reach out, but faltered halfway. Before she could pull back her hand, Elysia caught it.

“Please…help me be a better version of myself,” Vel whispered.

“I will.” Elysia sighed. “Now go rest, the hour grows late.” Velari nodded, and a moment later Elysia was alone in the room. She turned fully to face the mirror, lips twisted into a self-mocking smirk. She hadn’t lied to Velari, but she hadn’t told the full truth.

When she looked into the mirror, Elysia did not see the so-called ‘Good Empress’ that the people heralded her as. No.

The face that stared back was the Forever Queen.

With hair bleached bone-white, and green eyes burning with eldritch fire, the Forever Queen stared back at Elysia from the wall mirror. Her face was every bit as beautiful as Elysia’s, but it was the cold beauty of death.

She was the Queen who could place the world beneath her boot. A queen with no friends, no allies, only thralls—both living and dead—bound eternally to her will.

And she was the best, most grand version of Elysia that ever could come to be.

Alexander had saved her from that fate.

He had shown her kindness, yes. But he’d also challenged her views, treated her as an equal, and, more than that, he’d treated her like a sister. One who was older, but not always wiser.

One who was stronger, but not always right.

Even then, Elysia might have rejected him, walked down the path of the Forever Queen, but when she looked at Alexander, she saw something else.

From the very start, she saw that he could be the greatest emperor Norvusk had ever known. She saw the Good Emperor that she would never have become. And so Elysia rejected the Forever Queen. She would forge her own path, seeking a version of herself that was not only great, but good.

For Alex.