Moonveil Academy: Trapped With The Five Kings

Elara:

"You found me?" I found myself asking even though he just said it.

Jasper nodded. "You were completely soaked. Your body was burning with an unusual warmth, but you were unconscious. I carried you inside, and Mrs. Nettle changed your clothes and prepared a warming potion to make sure you didn’t catch a chill. She’s currently preparing breakfast downstairs. Master Brown had gone out for his morning walk."

He said all of this so calmly that it took me several seconds to process it.

So the supposedly empty mansion I’d walked into last night wasn’t empty at all. There was a woman named Mrs. Nettle, a man named Master Brown, Jasper, and apparently whoever else might be lurking behind the dozens of doors I’d never had the chance to explore.

Somehow, knowing that made me feel both relieved and strangely more unsettled. At least I wasn’t waking up in an abandoned mansion after all. And I was especially relieved to hear that a woman had changed my clothes because the alternative would have been far too awkward to even contemplate.

My gaze returned to Jasper. "And you are still not explaining who you are."

He stared at me for a moment before releasing a quiet sigh, almost as if he had expected this question.

"How much do you know about the royal family’s traditions?" he asked instead.

I slowly shook my head.

"Nothing?"

I shook my head again.

Another sigh escaped him. "I thought so." He didn’t sound disappointed or irritated. If anything, he looked like someone who had just been handed an enormous amount of work and was already calculating how long it would take to finish.

I couldn’t blame him. Unfortunately for him, I’d been dropped into Starfall as its Crown Princess without knowing how to behave like one. I didn’t know royal traditions, politics, ceremonies, family customs, noble etiquette, or even which fork I was supposed to use at some ridiculous royal dinner. I barely knew what being a princess meant beyond having people constantly reminding me that I was one.

"The Starfall royal families had a tradition," Jasper finally began. "Every royal child was assigned a blood knight from birth. Instead of one being chosen when the child became an adult, the bond was established when the royal was born." His gaze held mine. "When you were born, I became yours."

I frowned. "A bodyguard?"

"I know that human term." He said, "And being a... bodyguard... is one of the many duties of a blood knight."

I was mostly surprised to finally meet someone who didn’t address humans as groundlings like every other supernatural.

Jasper shifted back in his chair and began explaining how his family had served the royal bloodline as blood knights for generations, long before the Argentis family ever sat upon the throne. They had served the Moonveil monarchs before them, and when the crown eventually passed to House Argentis, the Frost family continued their oath without interruption. His father had served my biological father - the late King - as his blood knight, while his mother had served my biological mother, the late Queen.

"And when you were born," Jasper said, his voice softening, "I became your blood knight."

I stared at him. "How old were you?"

"Eight."

I couldn’t help staring at him. "They assigned an eight-year-old as someone’s blood knight?"

His lips twitched. "I wasn’t exactly expected to protect you from assassins at that age." He suddenly became silent before adding, "At least that’s what we all believed."

I didn’t say anything as I had nothing to say.

"I was trained from childhood," he continued after a minute. "The blood knight oath is passed through generations. My father began training me when I could walk. By the time you were born, I already understood what the bond meant, even if I was too young to understand the responsibility that came with it."

His expression changed again, becoming distant this time.

"I remember the day you were born."

I didn’t interrupt. His eyes seemed to lose focus as though he wasn’t looking at me anymore but at something decades ago.

"There was a ceremony. Your parents were there. The palace was filled with people, but somehow I remember only the three of you." A faint smile touched his lips. "You were so small. Tiny enough that I was terrified I’d hurt you if I held you."

I couldn’t help smiling faintly at that.

"Your mother actually told me to hold you. But I refused because of how worried I was." His smile widened before fading into something gentler. "She laughed at me. All our parents did. I remember standing there feeling embarrassed because everyone kept telling me you were my responsibility, but I couldn’t even bring myself to touch you."

His gaze returned to me.

"And now..." He studied my face for several seconds. "Now you are sitting here looking almost exactly like you did that day."

I stared at him.

"Those silver eyes," he murmured. "That silver running through your black hair. You haven’t changed as much as I thought."

I instinctively touched one of the silver strands falling beside my face.

"But..." His voice softened even further. "You also seem very different."

I wasn’t sure what he meant by that, and I didn’t ask. I could tell those memories meant something to him. They were precious pieces of a childhood I had never experienced, memories of people I had lost and a palace I couldn’t remember. To Jasper, I was apparently someone he had known his entire life.

To me, he was still a stranger. And to me, this distinction mattered.

I wasn’t going to be rude to him simply because I was afraid of trusting someone again. He had been nice to me, hadn’t demanded anything from me, and had apparently carried me inside after finding me unconscious in the rain. There was no reason for me to treat him like an enemy.

But I also wasn’t going to blindly trust him. Not anymore.

Jasper seemed to realize he’d drifted too far into his memories because he straightened and cleared his throat.

"Anyway, a blood knight isn’t simply a bodyguard." His expression became serious again. "We are trained to be many things for our royal. A study companion. A protector. An advisor when necessary. A confidant. A best friend."

"Best friend?" I repeated.

"Yes."

I stared at him. "That sounds like a lot of responsibility."

"It is."

"And you are supposed to do all of that because of some ceremony?" I asked.

"Because of the blood oath."

He explained that during the blood ceremony, the royal and blood knight created a magical bond through their blood. It wasn’t merely symbolic. The oath bound the knight’s loyalty to their royal companion for life. A blood knight could not betray their royal, could not willingly work against them, and could not abandon them when they needed protection.

I listened quietly.

It sounded reassuring, and somehow terrifying at the same time.

A person being magically bound to me meant I never had to wonder whether Jasper would suddenly turn against me. But it also meant whatever loyalty he showed me wasn’t entirely a choice.

Perhaps the bond was powerful enough to tie his loyalty to mine. Perhaps he genuinely cared.

I didn’t know yet. And until I did, I would take every word with a grain of salt.

He seemed to notice the hesitation in my expression, but he didn’t push me. He simply leaned back in his chair and gave me a patient look.

For the first time since waking up, I wondered if perhaps having one person in this strange world who was supposed to stand beside me wouldn’t be such a terrible thing.

But I wasn’t ready to believe that yet.

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