Cassius was no fool. If there was one thing he had mastered, it was the art of detecting lies and deceit.
At the tender age of sixteen, his father had presented him with a war. Yes, a war, a brutal initiation into the treacherous dance of power and betrayal that defined their world.
People often say that a crown prince's life should be filled with lessons, and for him, the son of a Vampire King, that couldn't have been more accurate. The lessons came not just from the court but from the bloodshed and manipulation that surrounded him. Each battle and betrayal was a dark education in the cruel realities of his lineage, shaping him into the ruler he was destined to become.
Whenever Cassius awoke from the brink of death, having narrowly escaped yet another bout of poison, his father would gaze down at him with a frown. It was a look that conveyed disappointment as if the mere fact that his son had lost consciousness was an affront to his authority.
