The Apathetic Mage Loves Cats

Chapter 16.5: Dreams pt. 2

Which is to say, it is a lot better than how my so-called father, The King, treated me. His cold and overbearingly strict nature towards grooming me into becoming his idea of a "perfect King" was really way worse than my mother's overprotective nature. Which was why, one of the best days in my life was hanging out with the mage, with Alan.

Too bad that would never happen again.

"Darling?" I blinked and looked up at my mother's worried face. I forced a smile on mine and nodded, standing up and looking towards Alexa.

"Let's go on a walk, mother."

~

It was a chilly evening, enough so that the wind was slightly biting me through my jacket, I was just glad that my mother chose to wear heavy layers, otherwise, she would be throwing a hissy fit. We traveled throughout the garden that His Majesty had planted for my mother. My mother rambled on about all the gossip she had overheard during her tea parties while I listened on numbly, just waiting for it to be over. However, it seemed to drag on and on, as my mother walked me through multiple different areas of the castle grounds and towards the woods on the end of our property. It was only then that I noticed our pathways were lit only by dim light and the guards that were supposed to be watching over us had increased from two to six. My hands shook in nervous anticipation and I grasp my mother's forearm in worry.

"Mother, I think... we should head back. It's late now." My eyes glanced frantically back to look at the guards, who were, for some reason, closing in.

"Um..." my mother whispered, her hands coming up to wrap around mine, just as I watched the guards close in. "My love... He said that you wouldn't suffer..." I felt my insides twitch and flop as I watched my mother's guilty face.

"W –what do you mean?" I asked, trying to step back, however, the guards were there already, ready to block me from leaving. It was then that I realized they weren't mine or my mother's guards, but they were His Majesty's. "Mother?" I asked. I felt the guards close in around me, their hands on my shoulders and dragging me away from my mother.

"Your father said, if I just let him do this, you won't have to suffer anymore. You wouldn't have to work anymore, and I wouldn't have to worry about where you are anymore! And –and he said it was temporary, so you won't really be there for long."

"Where, mother? What's happening?" I struggled against the guards, but of course, being a skinny 10-year-old, it was futile.

"Please, darling, don't struggle, I'll see you in a little bit! Just listen, to what they say." My mother's voice was drowned out by the guards and my own erratic heartbeat as I was carried away into the woods. Into a place where I wouldn't emerge for the next eight years.

Present Time

Caiden; Age: 22

"Damn, can't believe we got stuck on guard duty for the kid, again." My head pounded, my lips tasted like blood and something gross, something I didn't want to think about. The throbbing in my head only worsened as I slowly sat up, recovering from yet another incident with dozens upon dozens of commoner men who "wanted to know what royalty was like". Disgusting men who berated me; tortured me; belittled me; all because of what happened with my mother one fateful night.

As I sat up, a burning sensation grew in my backside. A pain that used to cause me to hurl, but now felt familiar and normal. The ground was once more cold against my bare skin as I sat there, looking in the direction of my capturers. Their backs leaning against the metal bars of the cage I had come to know as a home for the past few years. They were relaxed, thinking that I was once more unconscious after another session with the commoners who had paid their way into my barracks, wanting to have their way with me.