The Duke Who Loved Me

by Rachelle Stevensen

  It was difficult to sit in his bloody castle and do nothing, while there was work to be done. While there were people slaving away at their estate and he sat like a king in his palace. He would never act that way. So he worked. Aidan would work his fingers to the bone to save someone else from working as hard, from going through what the others had.

  He pushed these thoughts away when another scream came. Right now was not the time to focus on this. He had to save his mother. Had to try his best.

  These things would hold until later. Or they wouldn’t. Either way, he needed to intervene.

  A louder scream and a bark of laughter came, and they made his blood run cold. He heard a massive thud against a wall nearby, and he hoped and prayed that his mother was all right.

  He couldn’t just let his father do this. Not this time. Making up his mind, not caring whether he lived or died, Aidan squared his shoulders and pulled on a pair of breeches, and a shirt as quickly as he could, then his boots.

  He hopped to the door, pulling the last one on his foot, threw the door open, and ran straight to his parent’s bedchamber.

  He was still forming a plan when he got there, and he knew it would end in either his death or Jacob's. His soul would be forever stained by this. But he didn’t care. He would do what was necessary and if he died, at least he would die fighting.

  When he got to the door his younger sisters were standing outside it, holding hands and shaking. Lily’s lip was still swollen and red, and both were crying, trying not to be too loud in their sobs.

  “What are you doing out here? Oh girls, you shouldn’t be here for this. No, you can’t be here for this. You need to leave this place. I am going to stop him. I have to. He needs to be stopped.” He asked as soon as he skidded to a stop beside them.

  Lily looked up at him, “We couldn’t just cower in our beds Aidan. We heard the first screams and ran here as fast as we could. He is hurting her. We just know he will kill her this time. She must have done something this night to provoke him.”

  Aidan grimaced, “No one needs to provoke him, just our breathing provokes him when any of us are around. Girls, you need to go find Cole. Wake him if you have to, he may already be awake. But try if he is not. He needs to protect you from this. If I can’t stop him, he will be your protection. I want you two to hide. I don’t care where, just find a place to hide. Don’t try to intervene to save me. Cole will be there to help you. But, don’t intervene on my behalf. It isn’t worth it. Just do what I said. And go. Now.”

  He turned to leave, but a hand stopped him.

  He looked down at Rose. “Stop! No, Aidan, you cannot go in there. You are barely healed from the last beating you took. And your infection. You still don’t have all of your strength back. You can’t fight him like this. He is in such a temper today that I know he will kill you this time. I am afraid this will be the end for all of us.” The last word came out in a sob.

  Aidan grimaced. He knew she had a right to be worried, but he couldn’t stop. Not this time.

  Aidan grabbed her hand, and looked into her eyes. “I have to try Rose. If not, he will keep hurting us. Again, and again. Like he has our entire lives. I have to protect you. I won’t fail again. Our family can’t survive his tyranny any longer,” he took a breath, “I will do what I need to do to end this.”

  Rose and Lily looked up at him with frightened eyes. “Be careful. I love you both. Please, just do what I said. Now, GO!”

  They nodded, and took off running. Aidan hated seeing them go, but they shouldn’t be here for this. He felt that he had made the right call, making them hide. If he didn’t survive, Jacob would come for them.

  Aidan ran in the opposite direction to his training room, and grabbed the sword he felt most comfortable with. His thoughts full of anticipation, fear, anxiety, and ready for this fight. He had to be.

  He wasn’t very skilled with the blade yet, but he knew the balance of this particular sword was excellent. He would do his best to fight and remember every lesson he had been taught.

  He didn’t want to resort to this, but he knew something had to change. He also knew of his father’s skill with a blade. It frightened him to know that Jacob was one of the best swordsmen Aidan had ever seen. Had seen Jacob use his skills more than once. He was terrifying in his skill and the way he was practically one with the blade. The way he moved with it was unmatched. Aidan had to try though.

  Aidan made it to his parent’s bedchamber. He took a deep breath, drew his foot back, and kicked the door as hard as he could to open it. It flew open, and hit the wall with a resounding crash.

  What he saw when he got inside their room made his blood boil and he saw red.

  His father was on top of his mother on the bed, his hands around her throat, choking the life out of her. She was clawing at him, but not doing anything to him. No damage had been done to Jacob, but Aidan could see she was trying to fight. And had. Her clothes were ripped, one side of her dress was hanging from her shoulder, almost exposing her breast, her dress was pushed to her thighs.

  She had big marks on her legs, that looked like handprints marring her flesh.

  She was still struggling, but only just. Her face was purple, there was a bruise on her eye that was quickly swelling shut, and blood pouring from a wound on her forehead.

  It was trickling down to the white bedsheets, and Aidan could see how much she had bled already.

  Her nose had blood dripping out of it as well, and her lips were swollen and split.

  His father looked up, his clothes a tiny bit rumpled, but still immaculate and he snarled. “What are you doing in here boy? Can’t you see that we are a little busy?” He laughed.

  Aidan growled at his father, “You bastard! Get off of her! What is wrong with you? She has done nothing to cause you to hurt her this way. I won’t let you hurt her any longer. You have done enough. I will not let this continue.”

  “Oh, really Aidan? Nothing that would have me cause her pain huh? You have no idea. I have done enough? You’re right Aidan, I haven’t done enough. I haven’t even started yet. You come in here all high and mighty, ‘You won’t let this continue,’” Jacob said mockingly, and he slowly rose from the bed.

  Before he got off of Lydia, he leaned over and licked her on her bloody cheek. Aidan caught his whisper to her. “They would finish this after he killed her useless, foolish son.”

  He got off the bed fully, fixing his shirt as he went. Laughing when he saw the sword Aidan held in his hand. “Oh, my. Is this a development or what? Come to hurt your dear old father? That is rich. You are too weak to do anything to a man like me. A spineless coward who trembles and shakes before I walk in the room. Hurt me indeed.”

  Aidan wanted to growl at him, “It’s you who is weak Jacob. Not me. Only a man like you who has hurt those who don’t deserve it, treats people like you have. We have never given you a reason to hurt us, yet you do anyway. Who is the coward then? Me or you? For hurting the innocent? I would never act like you. Be like you in anyway.”

  Jacob scoffed, “A coward? For hurting you? Aidan, you needed to know the things I taught you like the good father I am. It was the only way I would accept you as my son. My heir. I needed to make you grow a backbone. Be a man. Of course, I hurt you, and almost killed you, you are worthless to me. No, you are less than worthless. It’s why I had to keep showing you, keep beating you. Because you never learned. You were too headstrong and it needed to be beaten out of you. But you, Aidan, you came here to try to hurt me. I know it. Or was it to kill me? Not the thing to do when you are the future duke.”

  Aidan snarled, “I don’t give a damn about being the Duke. If I held the title or not. I have never wanted to be the Duke. It has done nothing but cause pain and heartache, greed, anger and lust. I hate that I will one day hold the title for that only. And you? A good father? That is laughable you feel that way. You care nothing for us except for the sport you can inflict on all of us. Care that you can beat your wife and your son almost
to death. You are evil, and truly sadistic. There is a taint that surrounds you, and I believe there is something wrong with you. In your mind. Something so wrong that you cannot see what you are doing; do not care that you do such horrendous things to us.”

  Aidan growled at his father, and Jacob rolled his eyes, seemingly not impressed with Aidan’s tirade. Like he was bored with their conversation. Like it didn’t matter. Aidan hated the man standing in front of him more in this moment than he had in his entire life.

  “Well, Jacob,” he said with a sneer in his voice, “I care about my mother lying there with her face and body beaten to hell. I care that you have raped her, more than once, beaten her within an inch of her life, scared her so much for no good reason, that I can only hope she recovers. I cared when you almost killed me, beat me with that whip for just doing what needed to be done. That Cole had to chase you away so he could save my life. I care that you beat us for things that shouldn't matter. I care about my sisters and the future they should have away from you. How they would be infinitely happier without you looming over them forever. I care about Cole and how he should live his life without your shadow always taunting him. And I care about how much better the world would be if you weren’t in it. You are nothing but a tyrant. A demon. Someone sent from the bowels of hell to punish us for some indiscretion we never knew about. Never realized was placed upon our family. We did nothing to earn your hate, but for some reason, you seem to think we have.”

  His father sneered, “Oh, Aidan. I believe that almost hurt. I cannot believe you didn’t appreciate the lessons I taught you. Didn't appreciate them for the beauty they were. Or the ones I taught your mother? She has always been too headstrong, same as you. And your beyond useless siblings. Every one of you needed beatings to get you to learn those lessons. I am glad they are scared of me. Do you honestly think it bothers me? I relish it Aidan. Love it.”

  Jacob laughed again, a mocking, sneering laugh and Aidan shuddered. That laugh chilling him to the core. Jacob truly didn’t care about any of them. Their entire lives proved it, but this certainly took the cake.

  “What are you going to do now Aidan? Came in here on your quest that isn’t going to end well.” Jacob asked, a sneer in his voice again. “You couldn’t beat me, or hurt me if you tried. I doubt you have never even picked up a blade. Don’t even know how to do a damn thing that would hurt me in anyway. It’s almost laughable. You thinking you could hurt me. You probably stay with your mother, attached to her tit, doing needlepoint all day like a damn woman. You can barely swing a sword properly, and I am the best swordsman in London, you stupid little fuck. You have no hope of ever beating me. You are a pathetic excuse for a man, a pathetic excuse for my heir. I am angry and disappointed that you still live. After everything I put you through. I will give you some credit for living through that last beating though.”

  He bowed mockingly, and Aidan growled at him. His lip up in a constant snarl.

  “You could never measure up to the potential I know you have inside. You had so much untapped potential Aidan! You won’t even use what you were born with. Your mother was so useless in breeding my perfect son that I could raise to become my true heir. The one who would follow directly in my footsteps, so one day we would rise together and conquer society and the ton. It would have been us against them. Yet, you and Cole could never just take orders. Would never just bend to my will. Then your bitch of a mother had those stupid, useless girls. How am I supposed to build my legacy if none of my children take my teachings seriously?”

  Aidan just adjusted his stance, hearing his words, but not caring any longer, “Cole and I wanted nothing to do with your training, teachings, or your orders. We don't want to be like you. The way you live your life disgusts us both. I would rather be dead than be like you.”

  His father walked slowly to where his sword belt lay. Each step making Aidan tense more and more.

  “I can honestly say I am disappointed in you Aidan. You had such a future. I mean, you are headstrong, which was problematic, but I am willing to bet that a few more beatings would have cured you of that. Ones like the beating you took in the stables. A few more of those, and nothing would stop you from being who you should become. Yet here you are for a death wish.” Jacob paused, and laughed.

  “Because that’s where this is going to end. I am going to kill you today, and I will revel in it. You should have listened to me Aidan. Listened to my warnings and your own common sense. After you die, though I will try mold Cole into something better than you. Someone who will walk in my footsteps. Someone who can take over my legacy. No matter what you think, Cole isn’t as whiny or high and mighty as you. He would make an excellent replacement. You don’t know that he could be just as ruthless as I am. When he pulled me off you in the stables, he took a whipping to the arm, and pulled the whip right out of my hands. And then he almost stabbed me with a knife. I was so proud of him at that moment. Finding out how truly ruthless he could be. I found him. My true heir.”

  Aidan scoffed, hating that Cole had gone through that again. “Cole is too good of a man to be molded into your image. Cole only did what he had to to protect me from you. You had no qualms about killing me that day. None. Which is why we will never be like you. Cole hates you Jacob. He hates everything about you, the way you live your life; just like I do.”

  His father grabbed his stomach as he doubled over laughing. “Do you think I give a damn that you and Cole hate me? What do you want me to do Aidan? Cry? Sob on the floor? Beg for your forgiveness? Whine and snivel that my son hates me? Boo hoo. Your life is rough. And you are shocked that I would try to kill you?” He said this with hatred in his voice.

  “I have done my job then. You hate me. Well, I hate you Aidan. I always have. You and your brother were such a disappointment from day one. You were scrawny, small things that had a hard time being born and you almost died. I wanted to kill you both, and start again, but your bitch of a mother would never let you out of her sight... so, here you stand,” he sneered again and looked down his nose at Aidan.

  “I gave you so many opportunities for greatness. You threw it back in my face. Every single time. I had those maids running around the house, being as provocative as they could be, and you never looked at them. Were never even tempted.” He laughed again. “Even when I took you to see those whores, you couldn’t even fuck them. Couldn’t even get it up. You were in that room with some of the best whores I have ever been with, and you wasted that opportunity. Now you will never know the joy of fucking a woman into submission. Of feeling her flesh give and bleed under your hands as you beat her for disobedience of any kind. Of the high of fucking a woman so hard, everywhere, she can’t do her job as a whore anymore. You ruin her. Break her. It is the most thrilling high you could ever experience-aside from killing a man- and you couldn’t even talk to them. Wouldn’t even look at them. But it wouldn’t have mattered. They didn’t want to fuck you, not with your ugly, scarred face, did they? I sure messed up your beautiful face, didn’t I? Everyone is afraid of your scars, now aren’t they?”

  Aidan recalled the beating he and Cole had taken after refusing to be with the women. It had been worth it to him. And to Cole. But Jacob had been embarrassed by his sons. It was never a good combination. Aidan could feel the tension in the air as Jacob continued.

  He laughed. “Beating you with the whip was the highlight of my year. Seeing you tied to that post, blood pouring from most of your body? I was proud of myself at that moment. I felt that I finally had gotten through to you. That was when I knew that I had gotten my point across. That you will end up like me one day. But here you are. Truly wishing for death.”

  He laughed again and let out a breath, “I have a feeling this will be just as good,” he smacked his hands together and rubbed them. “What a treat for me. Maybe I should find Cole after this and see what I can do to his pretty face. He would probably learn better than you. He might not need so many lessons. He could attract just the right people if
you catch my meaning. The things we could do in London.”

  Aidan snarled at his father. “I don’t care what you do to me. If I have to die to save my family from you, then so be it. You may have scarred my face and body, but it isn’t something you will get the opportunity to do to Cole. He is a better man than you or I. He will never end up like you.”

  His father sneered again. “Well then, there is nothing left to say is there, you self-righteous son of a bitch, let’s get this over with.”

  Aidan sneered as well, “Gladly.”

  With a roar, his father unsheathed his sword and ran at Aidan full out. Aidan met him halfway. Jacob swung his sword as hard as he could and Aidan threw his sword up to block the swing. The jolt of the blow made his arm tingle with aftershocks.

  His father slashed left and right and Aidan parried each blow and gave a few of his own.

  His father would not fight fair, so Aidan had to be vigilant with this fight. He didn’t care what he had to do, he just had to keep fighting, or he would die. And so would everyone else.

  Their swords clashed together time and time again, sometimes so hard, they sparked.

  He had to keep his head, no matter how much he was seething inside. He would use that anger to keep his strength up. Had to remember each and every dirty fight Cole and he had had. It wouldn’t do much good, but even the smallest things helped.

  They swung their swords at each other, nicking each other here and there, catching each other’s skin with their sharp blades, sometimes it was a small cut, others a little larger, but nothing too bad to worry about yet.

  He swung his sword out low, and got his father on his shin. His father raised his eyebrows, “I believe that one hurt.” He growled and swung his sword, which Aidan tried to block, but wasn’t quite quick enough.

  His father’s sword glanced off his thigh, cutting through the fabric of his breeches, and his skin like butter. The cut was deep, and spilling blood down his leg with each movement. The pain of it sharp and biting.