Your child goes missing. Not long after, a Russian doll awaits you on your doorstep. Within the doll is a farewell letter.
1874, Harry and Louis have a son named Othello. They lose him soon after.
Book III of the Steampunk Trilogy.
Set in Victorian...
Hi! I hope that you'll enjoy this chapter and that you're enjoying the story. Please comment and vote if you are xx. Oh, and brace yourselves; a storm is on its way, and its never been bigger.
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Art above: My tattoo design :) and yes, Alois and the Gypsy-boy are this special to me.
*
Louis paused for a moment, dark eye gazing pitilessly down at the dead body of his friend whom he'd killed with no hesitation; and a few seconds from when the gun stopped letting out its trail of ash grey smoke, he tucked it in his corset and turned that eye away.
It shifted from the faces of his comrades, almost surprised to see a human reaction, as Louis himself had not felt any. There were tears on their faces among the blood that had spattered out, hands clenched over beating and beaten hearts, skin turned pale, eyes opened wide, all of them staring in pure horror at Louis.
Even Harry was trembling where he stood, even he seemed in a state of shock, but Louis was quick to remind him how he'd done the same to Edvard. He'd murdered a man who'd done wrong and he'd not hesitated to do so.
"That was different! Liam was your friend. He was my best friend.." Harry sobbed, sounding like a whining child to Louis' ears.
The Captain turned his body to face him, expression almost curious, the blood of his dead friend pooling around his feet. "Friends or enemies, they're all the same people in the end, the same foolish people. Had you not noticed that Liam had left us long ago? His sense of morality had been slowly burning in booze for years. This was merely his fate, and more certainly, I'd done him a favour in ending his miserable and pathetic life now."
And then all of the Steamers saw Louis Frei in a new light. Or perhaps, it would be more accurate to describe it as a new darkness. It had never occurred to them that Louis could end one of his own, one of the few people in his life that mattered. It all came down to the frightful conclusion that no one was safe from this man, and any one of them at any time could become his enemy.
"Now, get him out of my sight and dispose of him, but before you do, listen carefully to my orders." Louis said, his voice low and echoing around the basement. He looked at his comrades, and they only saw danger in return. Every trace of the happy little steamer had vanished, and only the empty core of a heartless body remained to overpower them. "You shall take his belongings and burn them. Empty every bottle he has into the sea. You shall lock his bedroom door and bring the key to me. His name is now banned, and should I hear you mention it again, you'll join him forever."
He gave a stern look then that demanded a response, and once his subordinates had nodded stiffly back at him, he turned his back on them and left, crushing the Russian doll with his crutch on the way.
*
"...London Bridge is falling down, falling down, falling down. London bridge is falling down, my fair lady.."
