Chapter 10 Blood and Resolve
The blade struck hard.
Taeyang twisted at the last instant. Cold steel carved a burning line across his ribs. Agony ripped through his side like molten fire. He gasped, slamming back into the tree trunk as hot blood soaked his shirt.
“Hold him!” a masked assassin snarled. “Finish the job!”
Two shadows lunged. Taeyang swung wildly. Steel clashed with a harsh clang that nearly tore the sword from his bloody grip. A boot smashed into his knee. Pain exploded. He dropped to one knee, lashing upward in a desperate arc that forced one attacker to leap back.
“Did Junho send you?” Taeyang tried again, spitting out blood in the process. “Did my stepbrother send you after me?”
“Shut your damn mouth!” the leader hissed, thrusting straight for his throat.
Taeyang knocked the blade aside, but the move left him wide open. A fist crashed into his jaw. Stars burst across his vision. His sword arm sagged. A heavy kick drove into his stomach, folding him forward. Dirt and blood filled his mouth as the air left his lungs.
The leader raised his sword high. “End this worthless prince.”
Steel whistled down.
A thunderous roar tore through the night.
“GET YOUR FILTHY HANDS OFF HIM!”
Wolseong exploded from the trees like a vengeful storm. His blade flashed once—clean and merciless. The leader’s sword arm flew away in a spray of blood. The man screamed, staggering back.
“Behind me, boy!” Wolseong barked, stepping between Taeyang and the killers. His presence filled the path like an iron wall.
One assassin recovered and charged. Wolseong met him without shifting his feet. Their blades collided. With a sharp twist, Wolseong disarmed the man and drove his sword straight through his chest. The body dropped twitching.
“Four left,” Wolseong growled. “Come on then.”
The assassins spread out, voices low and wary. “The old man’s alone. Take them both!”
They attacked in a pack. Steel rang wildly around Wolseong in a deadly storm of sparks. Taeyang forced himself up, ribs screaming, blood pouring down his side. He staggered forward and caught one assassin from the flank. Their blades locked with a harsh scrape.
“You picked the wrong night,” Taeyang hissed, shoving hard. The assassin stumbled. Taeyang drove a knee into his gut, then smashed his pommel down on the man’s skull. The assassin crumpled.
Wolseong moved like death itself. A spinning cut tore open one assassin’s throat in a red arc. The last man turned to flee. Wolseong’s swung his dagger after him, burying it between his shoulders. He fell with a choked gasp.
Silence fell, broken only by ragged breathing and the drip of blood on leaves.
Wolseong turned, eyes blazing. He grabbed Taeyang by the collar and hauled him upright. “You damn fool. Sneaking off to drink and chase women while killers hunt you like a dog. Look at you.”
Taeyang winced, pressing a hand to his bleeding side. “Didn’t think they’d find me so soon…”
“Think?” Wolseong’s voice dropped low and turned dangerous. “You stopped thinking the moment you left camp. The Emperor gave you to me, and this is how you repay it? Nearly dying for cheap wine and tavern girls?”
Baekho, Soohyun, and Yohan burst through the underbrush, weapons ready. Soohyun’s eyes widened. “We heard—”
“Help him back,” Wolseong ordered. “And if he slips away again, tie him down like the reckless idiot he is.”
They half-carried Taeyang through the trees. Every step sent fresh pain lancing through his wounds, but the haze of wine had burned away completely. Back at the fire, Wolseong tore open his shirt and cleaned the cuts with rough efficiency, binding them tight.
“That rib wound will scar,” Wolseong said flatly. “Arm’s shallow. You were soft tonight. Distracted. Chasing pleasure while enemies closed in.”
Taeyang winced as the bandage pulled. “I thought… after training… I could still be me. Just for one night.”
“You nearly died being you.” Wolseong stood up, staring down at him. “Someone wants you erased. That means you matter. Stop throwing it away like trash.”
The words hit hard. Taeyang stared at his bloodstained hands for several seconds before meeting Wolseong’s eyes.
“No more,” he said quietly. “No more slipping away. Train me like you mean to break me. Whatever it takes. I’m done being the joke everyone laughs at.”
Wolseong studied him for a long moment, before nodding once. “Good. It's late already, go and tuck yourself in for the night, we'll continue training tomorrow.”
Taeyang lay back on his bedroll. The stinging pain in his sides kept the sleep away. The several memories of humiliations he'd endured in the last few days all came swirling together. For the first time since his expulsion, the full weight settled on his shoulders.
Someone wanted him dead.
That meant he was worth killing.
He clenched his jaw tightly. He would no longer be the useless prince. Whatever came next, he would face it with steel in hand and fire in his blood.
