CHAPTER 141: DEBTS OF THE BLOOD

Rain lashed against the stained-glass windows of The Ashen Goblet’s subterranean sanctuary. Beneath the humming tavern, Old Bones leaned over a long table covered in scorched parchment, blood-stained ledgers, and ancient royal scrolls from the Solarian capital of Oakhaven.

Two weeks of relentless pressure by his shadow-agents had finally unraveled a decades-old truth. The Duke of Alban, a senior member on Solaria’s Royal Defense Council and a primary antagonist behind the upcoming diplomatic envoy, held a past deeply intertwined with the Macrae bloodline. Old Bones drew a long drag from his pipe, exhaling a plume of gray smoke that curled around a faded portrait of a fierce young noblewoman.

"Every man has a weakness, Duke," Old Bones rasped, tapping his cane against the stone floor. "And yours was pride."

The dossiers laid out a tragic, blood-soaked history spanning twenty-five years. It began when the Duke’s daughter, fiercely independent and opposed to her father’s political ambition, left court to become a mercenary. On the battlefield, she met the legendary mercenary captain Cullum Macrae, and the two fell deeply in love. Though furious, the Duke ultimately respected her decision. Cullum’s martial prowess was undisputed; he was a true combat monster who rose to become the Kingdom’s Champion, earning the domain of Castle Precipice near the Abyss despite the burning hatred of rival nobles.

When the old king died, his successor hated Cullum and sought to claim the Duke's daughter for himself. Rebuffed by her and unable to cross the powerful Duke directly, the new king called upon an ancient debt owed to the Crown by the Dark Elves, specifically the Dual Sovereigns of Sun and Moon.

Disguised as outlaws, the Dark Elves abducted the Duke’s daughter. A Dark Elf indebted to Cullum from his mercenary days tipped off the Champion, helping him infiltrate as a human slave to rescue his lover. What followed was a bloody chase across barbarian lands, where Cullum slaughtered nearly a hundred Dark Elf pursuers and scores of allied barbarian tribes. The lovers fled into the deepest part of the Abyss, the feared Misted Valley.

The chasers halted at the mist's edge, one Dark Elf testing the perimeter and dying instantly, while the survivors waited outside for five long years. Then, Cullum emerged alone.

The Duke’s daughter was gone. On Cullum’s back, wrapped in black linen, was a five-year-old child: Caius. Cullum slaughtered every waiting Dark Elf, sparing only the son of the Absolute Sun. Standing over the bodies, Cullum declared the blood feud ended, permitting the clans to send one representative every year to duel him to the death to satisfy their oath. Returning to the Kingdom seventeen years ago, Cullum faced an enraged Duke who demanded answers about his missing daughter. Bound by an oath, Cullum revealed nothing about her fate, nor did he admit that Caius was his son, stating only that he found the child abandoned in the Misted Valley.

Throughout Caius’s upbringing, Cullum had strictly avoided the topic. Whenever Caius asked about his mother, Cullum would deftly change the subject or retreat into heavy silence. Three years ago, the noble houses' long-standing grudge culminated in betrayal. During an Orc horde siege on Castle Precipice, the human army stood by and watched as Cullum Macrae fell in combat against an Orc Chieftain, only swooping in to claim the lands after the monster of Castle Precipice was dead.

Old Bones folded the parchment and placed it inside a leather pouch. He turned toward the long staircase leading up to the Black Granite Citadel, where Caius awaited. For the first time in his life, the young Sovereign was about to learn the identity of his mother and the full extent of the royal debt owed to his bloodline.

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The central hall of the Black Granite Citadel sat in heavy, suffocating silence. Caius stood near the high stone hearth, watching embers drift lazily into the dark mantle. On the polished obsidian table behind him lay the leather pouch Old Bones had brought up from the depths of the tavern. Old Bones stood at the edge of the dais, leaning heavily on his wooden pipe, letting the quiet stretch while the young Sovereign digested the contents of the parchment.

Caius stared at the final line of the dossier for a long time. Growing up in Castle Precipice, the subject of his mother had been a wall Cullum Macrae never allowed him to breach. Every time a young Caius had pressed the issue, asking why there were no dresses in the grand wardrobes, or why no portrait hung in the long gallery, Cullum would simply change the subject. He would offer a heavy wooden practice sword, point toward the yard, and say, "Your footwork is loose, boy. Focus on what is in front of you." Now, the silence made sense.

"The Duke’s daughter," Caius whispered softly, his pale eyes completely void of light. "The girl who walked away from Oakhaven to carry a blade."

"Lady Evelyn of Alban," Old Bones replied, his raspy voice cutting through the chill of the hall. "She chose Cullum over a kingdom. The new king never forgave either of them for it, and the Duke has spent twenty-five years nursing a poisoned pride. He believes your father let her die in the Misted Valley."

Caius turned his gaze from the hearth to the old assassin. "And the Dark Elves?"

"The Dual Sovereigns of Sun and Moon paid their ancient debt to the Crown by hunting them into the Abyss," Old Bones said, taking a quiet drag from his pipe. "Cullum slaughtered nearly a hundred of their elite trackers to buy time. But whatever happened inside the Misted Valley, your father carried that secret to his grave. When he walked out five years later with you on his back, wrapped in black linen, he told the Duke nothing. He told the King nothing. He bound himself to an oath."

Caius touched the edge of his collarbone, his thoughts racing back to his childhood training. Cullum had never called him son in front of the royal envoys or visiting lords. He had referred to him only as an orphan found in the mist, a shield meant to keep the entire Solarian nobility and the Dark Elf clans from realizing who Caius actually was.

"And three years ago..." Caius’s voice dropped, the air in the chamber instantly plunging into a freezing frost. "The royal army sat on the ridgeline while the Orc horde breached Castle Precipice."

"They didn't just sit," Old Bones corrected coldly. "The lords on the Royal Defense Council, led by the Duke of Alban and his sycophants, explicitly delayed the vanguard. They watched Cullum fight until his heart gave out, ensuring the monster of Castle Precipice was dead before they stepped in to claim the territory."

Snap.

The stone beneath Caius's boots cracked. Spatial vibrations rippled outward, shattering the fine glass lanterns along the walls into fine dust.

"The Duke is coming with the diplomatic envoy next week," Caius said, his voice terrifyingly calm despite the violent surge of his Crown Core. "He brings spies. He brings political demands. He believes he is coming to negotiate with a barbarian warlord who unified the Steppes."

Old Bones chuckled, a dark, raspy sound that echoed off the basalt pillars. "He has no idea he's stepping into the lair of Cullum Macrae's son."

Caius picked up the dossier, throwing it into the hearth. The black parchment caught fire, turning to grey ash in seconds.

"Let them cross the border," Caius commanded, his pale eyes glowing with a lethal crimson edge. "Prepare the Citadel, Old Bones. When the Duke of Alban sets foot in my hall, I will collect every debt owed to the Macrae name."

Caius turned back toward Old Bones, his expression turning cold and calculating. "Before the Solarians arrive, send three official diplomatic message tokens. The first message token goes directly to the Dual Sovereigns of Sun and Moon, an invitation for a diplomatic envoy. The second message token is a special invitation extended to House Vel'drin. And the third message token is an official invitation to the diplomatic envoys of the Barbarian Forest Kingdom. The pretext for all three is simple: establishing free trade and formal border treaties across the Shattered Steppes. Let every faction sit at the same table."