Page 74 of The Broken Prince

My father never spoke to me that way. Never cursed in my presence. Now I met the version that Atticus knew, that Uncle Ian knew, that General Henry knew. The hard-ass version that our guards and soldiers knew very well.

He came at me, even more ruthless than before, and slammed his sword down on my arm.

I grimaced at the contact. There would be no wound, but there would definitely be a bruise. When my father hit me, it was always gentle, but now, that mercy was over. The pain made me grit my teeth—and pissed me the fuck off.

I was back on my feet and coming at him, sidestepping one hit and then another, dodging his attacks until I was close enough to do some damage. He swiped down, and that was when I slammed the flat of my blade onto both of his wrists, making him hesitate for a split second.

But it was enough time for me to slam my sword down onto his chest, not once, but twice, hitting him hard enough to make a tiny dent. I kicked him in the stomach to knock him over, but all he did was stumble back a foot or two. But I pressed on, stabbing my blade right into the split of his armor, and then I pushed. The armor cracked and finally popped loose. It was still attached to his body, but now he wasn’t as protected.

He stepped back, his eyes more intense than I’d ever seen them. “Keep it up.”

I wasn’t joking when I said I was tired. I wanted this to end. “Father—”

“We don’t stop until you defeat me.” He raised his voice. “Do you understand me?”

I wanted to argue, but this wasn’t the version of my father that could be argued with. He was maniacal, focused on completing this training until he was fully satisfied. “Yes.” I ignored the pain in my arms and shoulders and straightened.

“Attagirl.”

* * *

When we were finally done, I dropped down onto the grass and sat there. Training had never taken so much out of me, because my father had always given me a tempered version of himself. This one was ruthless, like he really did want my head on a pike.

“Good job, sweetheart.” He stood over me, his sword back in its scabbard.

“Yeah…thanks.” The sun had set further, so the shadows stretched across the ground. The temperature was dropping, which was welcome after sweating in the heat for the last two hours.

He squatted down so we were level with each other. “You alright?”

“Am I alright?” I asked with a laugh. “Gods, I’m exhausted.”

His eyes dropped momentarily. “I need you to understand what battle is really like. It’s a lesson I hoped I would never have to teach you. But now you know the strength of a man, that there will be few opportunities to attack, so when you do, they need to count.”

“I understand.”

“I hope you never have to use what I’ve taught you.”

“Me too.” My eyes met his, knowing that my skill with the blade was good, but when it came to opponents like him and Aurelias, I really didn’t stand much of a chance. And I probably wouldn’t stand a chance against the demons.

“I wish my only job was to protect our family. But I have to protect everyone else too.”

“Father, I know things look grim right now, but it’ll be okay.”

He watched me, eyes guarded.

“It’ll be okay.” He was the one who always comforted me, but I knew in that moment he was the one who needed reassurance. He didn’t express fear the way everyone else did, by stating his worries or running from his problems. He did it by working harder and harder to prepare for the worst. He brought me out here because he was scared—scared that he would die and the only person left to protect me…would be myself.

His eyes moved away. “I’m sorry this is happening.”

“It’s not your fault.”

“I feared one of the Kingdoms would stage a coup against me…or the Teeth would attack HeartHolme…or perhaps Necrosis would somehow return… All battles I knew I could win. But I never expected this.”

“No one did, Father.”

“But I should have been prepared…somehow.”

“Not all hope is lost. We have Aurelias. He thinks his kin will answer his call for help. Or perhaps we’ll discover their weakness on the scouting mission and not need them at all. There are other possibilities besides defeat.”