It's a sin among Icari to take blood from the young. Children shouldn't know the intimacy of the act. Nor the pain of it. Our nacres can't process it as pleasure until we reach maturation.

I never learned how I survived that night. I awoke several days later to mother and Karter treating me. Mother's belly swelled against her robes early in her pregnancy.

I didn't see my father for several weeks. Savis carried on teaching me the usual subjects. Karter attended her. They bustled around my chambers day and night. I enjoyed the company without complaint.

One afternoon, Savis glanced at the door. To Karter, she whispered, "They left."

Karter nodded and stood before me. "Night Prince, do as I do. Make as little noise as possible. If anything hurts, tap twice. Understood."

I stood from my desk. "Understood."

The Icarean warrior held up her hands like Amolot in the circle. I copied her. Adjusting my stance, she reasoned, "Centered, at all times. Strength comes from here." She poked my belly, and I pulled it tight. Returning to her pose, she glanced at my mother, who moved closer to the door with a nod.

The blow came so fast I never saw her move. It hurt very little compared to the abuse I withstood so far. I tried hard to watch for her next strike until it took too long. Frustrated with the impatience of a child, I swung at her.

Karter allowed me to hit her in the thigh. "Good. More like this..."

We carried on with my training every day as mother listened for spies. We also played. And I worked on my lessons. They let me overhear their discussions on the state of Cinder.

"They bide their time. Black Iron is formidable, unwilling to bend," Karter explained.

Mother looked to the North. "Will the crow fly again? For sanctuary?"

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The warrior shook her head with a weariness around her eyes.

Savis smoothed a hand down her distended belly. "I will have him here."

Karter reached for her and cried out in a whisper, "No, you must not. What if--"

The black-haired woman took the other woman's hands. "This is the way it must be. I will not negate this child. I already feel his love." She smiled down at my unborn sibling. "Quite the mighty force."

"But Savis, it is unsafe here."

Her face fell. "I know that. I--"

"I will protect him."

The two women turned to look at me. I gazed back up at them with my jaw clenched in determination. My nails bit into my palms as I squeezed my fists tightly. I vowed on the blood of Elden flowing within me, "I will break the Black Iron to protect my brother."

Two weeks later, mother delivered Xelan in her chambers. I waited in my room until Karter took me by the hand across the hall. This was the first time I saw my father since the assault.

Umbra stood solemnly at my mother's bedside with his hair draped over one side of his face. No shirt and black tights. He looked anywhere in the room but at me.

Savis called, "Nox, come meet your brother, Xelan."

At her side, I peered down at the infant. So small and so helpless in a home filled with nightmares. I glared up at my father, who looked away from me. I understood so much at Earth-age five. I removed the cord from my neck and tied it around Xelan with the burn of my father's fury at my nape. I repeated my vow to my baby brother, "Both Elden and I will protect you." I kissed his cheek.

Mother sniffled beside me and brushed my face. "Would you like to hold him?"

I folded my arms and tried to make room. She guided Xelan into the cradle I made. With chubby features, my brother mewed at me while I gently bounced him. "My name is Nox, Xelan. I will teach you everything I know. We will play and spar together." Umbra stepped in the way of my pacing. But I continued, "And I will never hurt you." I glared up at my father. And for once, I believe he considered me a threat.

Umbra stepped away so fast that his hair swayed. For a single moment, light touched his face--the ruin of it. Someone poured clay along father's profile on one side and molded a beastly remnant of a visage. How could this be? How did his nacre refuse to heal it? Who did this?

As father lowered his head and stepped further from me once again, realization dawned on me. The King of Cinder ran from his own son. Avoided him outright in the castle. Then that would mean--

But how?

Confused, I returned Xelan to mother. Before I could walk away from her, she cupped my face. "Do not fret, son. No one in this room can hurt you anymore."

Karter repeated with a glare at her King, "No one."

Father slammed the door on his way out.