Chapter 57 — Bloodline
"Take this."
Ethan held out a coin, his coin, etched with faint, shifting runes.
"You'll be able to contact me through it."
Jack accepted the coin without hesitation. The moment his fingers touched the cold metal, a weight settled in his chest. A presence. He couldn't explain it—but he instinctively knew: he would never be able to disobey this being. Not truly.
Not yet… but once he became king, the pact would bind.
Still, Jack didn't linger on that thought. His mind was elsewhere.
'I will finally be king' he thought, a hungry gleam in his eyes.
"If you're done," Ethan said, tone dismissive, "then go. You have the tool. Use it. Take your crown."
Jack rose to his feet and bowed deeply, reverently.
"Thank you, Honorable One. I will not disobey."
Then—he was gone.
Silence returned to the cave.
Ethan sat alone, fingers steepled, eyes distant. If everything played out as intended, he would soon have an entire kingdom under his shadow.
