Tiger's Blood
Chapter 17- Ethan

I sit on the cold ground motionless. Blood stains paint my jail cell everywhere and makes it more colorful. I hate the color red. It looks so threatening and lively. It’s like something always is going on. Why can’t the world be happy like the color blue? All I see is red, brown, and grey. I slowly inhale as I change positions on my bed. I’ve been feeling sick and hurt and just awful. I feel like I could die any second now. I pull up my shirt and gaze at the wound on my chest. Looks like a scratch now, like nothing happened. Wounds heal faster when you’re a Blood. It’s only been a week or two and it’s almost healed up completely.

I look up at the ceiling and slowly breathe in and out as I think to myself. I remember the day when I first discovered my Blood. It was last year on my sixteenth birthday. Chase gave me a new sword as a present and the bakers made me my favorite dessert, custard pie. Chase and I were having a picnic outside the Kingdom when my brother Jett walked towards us drunkenly stumbling. I remember him saying, “happy birthday to the unknown Prince.” I just ignored him and he laughed. He told me, “at least I was wanted. Dad wanted a good heir and I was born luckily with his smarts. You were obviously a mistake.” After he said that, something snapped inside me.

I was so angry that I mutated into a Lion and attacked my brother. I clawed at him and roared so loud that the whole Kingdom could hear me. Chase stood in front of me and stopped me before I could kill my brother. I left a scar on my brothers face that healed up later in a month. I can still feel the frustration I had on that day. The year after on my seventeenth birthday, I planned on leaving the Kingdom. I told my dad that for my birthday I wanted to spend a little while hunting and he let me, surprisingly. I’m glad that he did, because I met Kira a couple months after I left.

I sit up and look outside my cell. I hold Kira’s note in my hand and read it over again. It looks like my father’s handwriting since it is so sloppy, or maybe one of his guards. That symbol is definitely the symbol for the Lion Bloods. I remember because my dad told me that mom designed the original symbol but he didn’t like it and changed it. I don’t remember him sending out fake letters four years ago though. I don’t remember the last meal I had, why would I remember something that happened four years ago? If he somehow sent this to Kira I’m going to kill him.

Kira....what has the devil of my dad done to you? I just hope she’s okay. She’s wonderful, amazing, and intelligent. I can see why Noah likes her. I would do anything to make her mine. I would give her anything she desires starting with making peace in the world like she wants, and I wish I could give her even more than that. We could be married and she could be my Princess, or maybe Queen one day. I want to be always be by her side, show her love, be her balance. She comes from a broken family. I’m royalty, but I’m not being treated like the Prince I am. I would treat her like a queen, even if I can’t marry her.

I wish my mom was still alive. I bet if she was, she wouldn’t have my dad treats me the way that he does. Everything is all about Jett in my family. He is the heir when my dad is gone. Then after Jett, it’s going to be whatever stupid child he produces. You shouldn’t say that about your future niece or nephew. Who knows, maybe they might be like me. Jett might not even want to have kids and I could possibly be next for the Kingdom. He’s not the type of person to get married and have kids. He’s good at one thing, which is showing off at being a Prince. All he does is mess around. I get nothing; I’m the Prince that people don’t even acknowledge. I’m the Prince who gets nothing. Well, that’s not entirely true, I do get one thing. A fantastic woman by my side, and I can’t wait to see her. “IDIOT!!!!” My raging father screams as he storms angrily into my cell.

“What are you talking abo-“ he cuts me off with a hard slap to the face. He picks me up by my bloody shirt and brought his face red with anger so close to me that I could smell the steak and potatoes he had for lunch. “You are not only a traitor, but you gave a weapon to an outsider?? A Tiger Blood for that matter???” The anger in his voice makes me shiver. Is it treason for having different opinions than you? If that’s true then half the Kingdom would be dead by now. He drops me hardly on the floor and I scurry to the corner. “I was…just trying…to help her,” I breathe out slowly.

He punches me once more in the jaw. I rub my face with my hands and look up into his soulless eyes. “You do not give a Tiger Blood a sword! Tiger Bloods are ruthless monsters who have interfered in my life way too much. They only care about change, and peace and making me look like a fool. I would kill your precious little Tiger right now if I could but I can’t,” he spits out. I grit my teeth and stand up quickly.

“Why? Because you know that she could kill your ass any minute now? Or is it that our brave King Andrew is scared of a teenage Tiger Blood who could ruin his plans to conquer the world? You know if you weren’t such an asshole all the time Kira would have had no intention to come here in the first place,” I snap at him. He pushes me against the wall and growls ferociously in my ear.

“You better say your prayers ’cause tomorrow morning you’re going to breathe your last breath in the dead air of this world,” he says. I stare at him intently. “And don’t worry, I’ll make sure that girl you admire so much gets a front row seat at your hanging,” he says. I inhale sharply and spit on his shoes. He snarls at me then walks out of the room. “Fucking bastard…” I whisper under my breath. I don’t understand why he hates the Tiger Bloods so much. I see nothing wrong with Kira.

I take Kira’s note out of my pocket and rip it up. I watch as the pieces float to the ground, while one piece lands on me. It shows the symbol of the Lions. I growl fiercely and rip it in half. The paper cuts my finger deeply and it starts to sting. I suck on my finger to make the pain go away.

Why did I have to be a Lion like my father. I’m nothing like him. We are complete opposites and I’m the same Blood as him. It doesn’t make sense that I’m a Lion at all. My mother was a Lion too, but was she as stubborn and greedy as my father? If she was then my father wouldn’t have killed her in the first place. If she was like my father, then I wouldn’t have been like this. He must have killed her because she was like me and that’s why he has despised me all these years. If only I could talk to my mother. Maybe she would give me the answers that I need.

I climb up on my uncomfortable bed and look up at the ceiling. Now I just wait until tomorrow where I’ll be hanged in front of the whole Kingdom. Kira will be there watching me die, fantastic. Well, we never know. She could have escaped from here already and is planning on getting me out of here too. What I’ve learned is that you don’t underestimate Kira. She knows what to do, and she’s smart. I breathe in and out listening closely to my breathing. I’ve never really focused on listening to my breathing before. It’s somewhat peaceful. If I die tomorrow, please make it quick so Kira doesn’t have to watch me suffer. I’ll follow her in the afterlife and always make sure she is alright. Dead or alive, I’m going to take care of her.