Spliff_1090: Blooded

They gave him royal blood.They expected loyalty.They should have known better.Edward "e;Spliff"e; Smith was born into one of the Twelve Ruling Bloodlines, heir to a legacy built on power, duty, and godblood. After his father is murdered and his mother disappears, Edward is raised beneath the watchful eye of the very man who took his father's place.Leader Kehinde expects Edward to inherit the throne.Edward wants nothing to do with it.He would rather disappear into the ranks of the Bloodguard, sharpen his skills beside his best friend Zuberi, and move through T'Shola unnoticed. But it is hard to remain invisible when you keep looking where powerful people have taught everyone else not to look.Beyond T'Shola's artificial skies and glittering upper districts, people are suffering.Edward sees them.Then he starts helping them.A stolen shipment. A quiet act of defiance. A choice that should have disappeared into the shadows.Instead, the shadows begin whispering his name.Soon Edward is caught between the bloodline he was born to serve and the people he refuses to abandon. Every move pulls him deeper into a game of loyalty, corruption, rebellion, and survival until the heir Kehinde tried to control becomes something far more dangerous.A symbol.A traitor.A threat that has to be erased.They can strip Edward of his rank. They can drag him before his own people. They can put him in chains, take his home, and leave him on a dead world with nothing.But there is one thing they never considered.What happens when a man who never wanted their throne finally has nothing left to lose?Enter T'Shola. Follow the blood. Step into the shadows.And meet the man they will wish they had never set free.