Trigger Warnings! Hints towards sexual abuse (not gone into explicit detail) and the killing of other humans. If you can't read this chapter, I understand, and it is not an important part of the plot, so feel free to skip it! I also wrote a short summary down near the author's note for those who are curious. Please don't read if it will upset you! Please stay safe!
Approximately 12 years ago
Caiden; age: 10
Maybe this one is better. I thought. I stood up, my right hand clenching and unclenching as I took a few steps back to stare down at my masterpiece. The edges of the paper curled up slightly from the brown paint I had used to recreate the bookshelf and flooring of Romand's room. The background of the painting itself isn't that beautiful, in fact, it was quite dull and muddled, briefly being flung together in order to create an image that would draw your attention towards the main piece of the project. There, slightly off-centered from the middle stood a figure, his back turned towards the painter and holding a book, reaching for a shelf that was slightly higher than him. His hair was a bright white/silver that stood out amongst the muddled mess and created an image that shimmered and drew the eye towards it. It was my recreating of Alan as he was when I met him. Due to his attitude of being aloof and stoic, I found it difficult to accurately portray an image of him, so I thought painting him from the back would be better.
But, still not good enough. I sighed and flopped back down on the chair, leaning lazily against the back as I stared up at the ceiling. If I want to give him something, it should be better than this. But what? I sighed once more, my mind still racing to come up with ideas when a knock sounded on my door. I turned just as the door opened to show my maid, her head bowed in servitude as she came through and the doors shut behind her.
"Pardon me for the intrusion, First Prince Caiden, but your mother is–" just then, my door swung open, causing Alexa, my maid, to stumble forward quickly in shock so she wasn't hit in the back. My mother's worried face came forth, her pink hair shining as she dashed over to me at my desk. My heart pounded as she approached, and my hands franticly went to cover up my drawing just as soon as she reached me. Her breath was slightly erratic as she gripped my face in her hands, turning my head side to side as her eyes danced around me.
"Are you alright, my darling?" she fretted, "I heard you didn't eat dinner. What happened?" I sighed again, letting her do her nervous worrying as I spoke.
"I'm fine, mother. I just lost track of time is all." My mother let out a sigh of relief, then tensed up once more as she glanced over at my desk. I glanced over at my desk and sighed once more. To cover up my painting, I had randomly placed my work and textbooks that I was required to do for homework. I didn't finish any of the homework that I was supposed to do from my classes today; but from the way it looks to my mother, I had been too busy working and studying to be able to eat dinner. This was a problem. "Mother, it's not–"
"I knew it, you've been working too hard. May –maybe I should listen to The King and have you..." she trailed off; her eyes unfocused as she thought about whatever was on her mind.
"What did His Majesty want?" I asked, puzzled, and slightly nervous. My father was not the most easy-going man. My mother blinked a few times before she heard my question, a worried smile spreading across her face as she shook her head.
"It's nothing, my dear. Would you like to take a walk, to the garden?" I frowned, unnerved at her response. My mother had always been a little strange, and very overprotective. I can't count the number of times she has tried to keep me from doing my duties or has invaded my privacy all in the name of "protection". It has caused me to feel like I didn't have my own life outside of what she ran for me.
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.
However, I was not, anticipating a day just like this. A day where I could leave.
I steeled myself, slowly standing up, ignoring the pain in my head, my back, and my heart as I made my way towards them. They were gently laughing, their bodies relaxed and drowsy as if they had a long day, unsuspecting of what was happening. In a swift movement, my left arm wrapped around the guard on my left, gripping his neck with my forearm and keeping him against the bars while my other hand wrapped around the guard's sword on the right, coming up and around to his neck so I could slice his throat. The second guard gurgled up blood, his hands coming up to his throat and staggering away before collapsing. The guard on my left let out a sharp gasp but froze as my forearm clenched tighter around his neck, preventing him from shouting. His hands traveled from around his neck down to his sword. However, I was much quicker, and my blade found its way deep into his skull, causing him to twitch only briefly before collapsing down in front of my cell. Despite being so much weaker than these two due to being trapped in an underground cell for years, the adrenaline and fear of being trapped here for much longer caused me to move swiftly and firmly, strength no longer an issue.
I searched through the guards' pants and found the keys to my cell, unlocking them and stepping out creakily onto the hard surface. I stared down at the guards before me, my first kills, thinking that I would feel something for them, for myself. However, nothing bubbled through, and instead, I grabbed the first guard's pants, the first pair of clothes that I had worn in a while, and made my way towards a staircase. I would then spend minutes making my way through an intricate underground maze, sneaking behind few guards, and killing some more to make my way towards freedom.
It was only roughly 15 minutes later when I found it, a bright sunny un-artificial light that shone at the end of a tunnel. The guard that I had stabbed laid before my feet, my bare feet trampled over his corpse to make my way towards that exit, towards that freedom I so desperately craved for years.
"Going somewhere?" my heart froze, my feet clambering to a stop and the sword in my hand clattering to the floor at the voice. The voice of my father. The light at the end of the tunnel suddenly grew very dark as a mist-like entity swirled into the area around me. It swallowed all light and sound, even sending a tingling sensation throughout my body as I tried to rush through it, out towards freedom. "You'll never be free, Caiden. Not as long as I live." My father's voice came through once more, and I felt myself tremble at the sound. Then, his face appeared in the mist, swirling around me and closing in, bringing up the metal bars that I had just escaped from.
"No, Your Majesty! Please! Let me out, I beg of you!" my father's laughter echoed off the walls of my cage, his mist-like face coming down close to mine, an enormous grin that caused my heart to race even more than before.
"Then beg."
I woke with a start, my hands flinging themselves upwards and towards where my father's face would be, shielding and protecting myself against him. It took minutes to finalize realize that it was a dream. It took a few more minutes to put down my arms and it took a little bit longer to open my eyes and look at the room around me. My breath was still a frantic mess as I glanced over at the balcony doors that shone with light. I quickly got out of bed and made my way towards it, flinging them open so that morning air rushed through, chilling my body ever so slightly. But it didn't matter.
I was free.
I stood there for a while, breathing in the nature around me, reminding myself of who I was, how I got there, and what I had accomplished. Reminding myself that those days were over, that I was free from the hold they had over me. Reminding myself that I had done it.
It was only after I had managed to calm down that I remembered Alan had stayed with me, and I turned to look at the bed. Then around my room. However, there wasn't any sign of him, other than a note on my desk that was out of place. I took another deep breath and walked over to it, gripping it in my right hand and bringing it to my face to read.
I left in the early hours to my room. I promised to stay with you only for the night. Call for me once you awaken, we should eat outside or something, I heard it was going to be nice. Plus, I'm tired of work, and you should be too. I already cleared your schedule so, you're free.
--Alan
My heart jumped up at the messily scribbled writing. I knew he only wrote this because I had seemingly poured my heart out to him last night, but it was still nice to hear after the dream I had gone through, especially the last sentence.
My fingers traced over the word, "free" just as my maid, Alexa, came in, her steps froze as she looked over at me.
"Your Majesty. I deeply apologize, I had been told by Mage Alan to let you sleep. However, had I known you were awake, I would have entered much sooner. Would you like to eat breakfast, Your Majesty?" Alexa made her way over to my closet, springing it open and dragging out some clothes. I watched her for a moment, then looked back down at the note in my hands. My lips slightly curving up at the words.
"I wish to dine outside."
~~~~~~~
Short summary: We see Caiden approximately 12 years ago as he paints about the happiest moment in his life, being with Alan. When his mother comes in extremely worried about him. We learn that his mother is extremely overprotective of Caiden but he believes that it's better than his strict and cold father. Caiden and his mother go on a walk where Caiden gets kidnapped by his father's guards and learns that his mother is in on it.
We then flash-forward to the present time, to a dream that Caiden is currently having. In that dream we see him locked up in a cage which is where he had been trapped for the past 12 years. He is extremely beaten up due to the incidents that he just went through but still manages to break free of his confinements by killing the guards near him. However, once he tries to leave, his father appears before him as a black misty being that puts him back into his cage, trapping him forever.
Once Caiden wakes up, he rushes to the balcony doors to remind himself that he was truly free from the abuse he had suffered, and he didn't have to worry about it or his father anymore. He realizes that Alan isn't there but then finds a note written by him that reads:
I left in the early hours to my room. I promised to stay with you only for the night. Call for me once you awaken, we should eat outside or something, I heard it was going to be nice. Plus, I'm tired of work, and you should be too. I already cleared your schedule so, you're free.
--Alan
After reading the note, Caiden makes the decision to eat breakfast outside.
~~~~~~~
Hi guys! Saph here! I hope you are all doing well and managing to stay safe during these troubling times. This chapter was decently heavy regarding Caiden's backstory, so I hope you are doing okay. There is, of course, still more to unfold here, but I felt like this was something that should be explained and shown before we continue further. I hope it wasn't too much or too out of place. There is still a large part of me that wants to change some things or move this to a new spot, but I think it'll be fine here.
As always, please don't hesitate to let me know how this chapter was and if you have any questions or concerns about it. I appreciate you all a lot, thank you so much for reading, and I'll see you next time! Bye-bye!