by Jude Marquez
Chapter Three
Alyx floated through his week, the thought of Evander making his days easier.
“Well, someone is in a good mood,” Gilbert remarked from his chair. He had lost use of his legs sometime ago and Alyx wondered why Elewisa kept him on when she was prone to firing a person for the least thing.
Alyx smiled at Gilbert, but didn't provide any details.
Gilbert shook his head and went back to kneading the bread.
Elewisa had been in a particularly bad mood that morning and Alyx had the worst of it. His eye was black, his hand was bandaged, there was a deep cut above his hip, and there was a burn that on the inside of his elbow that he was doing his best to forget about, despite the fact that his sleeve kept rubbing against it. He swallowed the pain, just like he always did, but now he had someplace to direct his thoughts.
He wondered if Prince Evander's eyes were as green as he remembered. Or if Prince Gael was as kind as he remembered. Or if Princess Auelina was as sweet as he remembered. Alyx knew that the mind could play tricks on a person, but he would like to think that he was right. The cloak upstairs, at least, told him that it wasn't a dream.
There was a heavy knock at the door and Gilbert and Alyx exchanged a look. They weren't expecting anyone today and they would both hear about it later when their guest left.
Stefanus hurried to the door and there were several people led inside and Gilbert and Alyx both straightened up. Gilbert pointed to the door for Alyx to go look but Alyx shook his head and made the same gesture.
“My legs don't work!” Gilbert hissed and Alyx rolled his eyes, like that was an excuse.
A smile tugged at Gilbert's mouth.
“Your Highness!” Elewisa's voice was loud and clearly heard through the entire house.
This time, Alyx didn't raise his eyes to Gilbert's.
Instead, he panicked, and grabbed the spoon in front of him to continue stirring the soup on the stove. A few moments later he heard steps come into the kitchen and Stefanus cleared his throat.
“Alyx?” He said.
He turned around and the concern was clear in Stefanus's eyes which confused Alyx. Stefanus hated Alyx and had made it abundantly clear more than once.
“You are wanted in the front room,” he announced.
Alyx nodded and wiped the spoon off before he put it down and followed Stefanus out into the front room. He stopped Alyx before they entered the room and wiped his face with his sleeve and tried to put his hair down into some kind of semblance of... something.
He was unsuccessful. He sighed and shook his head at Alyx.
“Come,” Stefanus said and led Alyx into the front room.
In front of the shelf of books, a woman stood with her back to Alyx and the rest of the room. She had golden hair and her back was straight. On the back of her cloak was a lion in gold, reared back on its hind legs, roaring. The cloak itself was midnight blue and long, falling to the floor. Three soldiers stood in different parts of the room, their armor shining, and looking a little interested at Alyx. Prince Gael and Princess Auelina were on the couch. Elewisa, Mariana, and Thea were all sitting across from them.
Prince Evander was nowhere in sight.
“Alyx,” Gael said, a polite smile on his face. He seemed unbothered at the sight of Alyx's face or his bandaged hand. “It's good to see you again.”
“You as well, Your Highness,” Alyx said and bowed deeply.
“Alyx,” Princess Auelina said and stood. Everyone did the same. She crossed the room and curtsied in front of him and when he straightened up, she hugged him, much to everyone but Gael and the guard's surprise.
“Your eye,” she said and reached up to touch his face.
He caught her hand before he fingers landed on the mark on his face and held her fingers away from his face very gently. It hurt still, even when he so much as smiled, and he did not want to know what a soft touch would be like on the mark. “It's nothing, Princess, I assure you.”
She frowned at him, she could probably see the lie in his eyes, but let it go and returned to her seat.
When Alyx looked up, Queen Gia was looking at him.
Alyx could see traces of her sons in her face and her eyes were kind but also very shrewd. There was nothing to hide from her.
“Alyx?” She said.
“Your Majesty,” Alyx said and bowed again.
“My sons informed me that my daughter almost ran you over in the road,” Gia said and Mariana and Thea snickered until the Queen's eyes landed on them. “Is this true?”
“No, Your Majesty. A little mud was all,” he said.
“Hm,” The Queen replied and strode over to Alyx, moving faster than he thought possible in a gown as fine as the one she wore. She looked him in the eye before he remembered his place and lowered his eyes to their feet.
“That's quite the cut,” one of the soldiers said.
“That's what I was thinking,” The Queen said softly and raised Alyx's hand to her eyes. “How did you get it?”
“Alyx is a notorious klutz, Your Highness. He can't handle a knife in our kitchen without cutting himself open on something,” Elewisa said hurriedly.
“I believe I asked Alyx, not you. Do not speak again unless I give you permission,” The Queen said softly but her words rang in the room like she had shouted.
Elewisa shrank back into her seat and the three knights eyed her with distaste.
“Is that true, Alyx?” Gia asked.
Alyx could feel Elewisa's eyes on him. It was a wordless threat that he was familiar with. The last time that he had told the truth about their household, his dog, the last present his father gave him and his only friend in the world, was drowned in front of him.
Alyx was no longer a child but the fear in him kept him silent.
“Yes, Your Majesty,” Alyx said softly.
Alyx risked a looked up and Gia's face was stony and still. Her eyes were hard and it took every single piece of Alyx's determination not to flinch away from her. She turned to look at Elewisa and Thea and Mariana, eyed all three of them before turning back to Alyx.
Her eyes were kinder and Alyx felt like he was being spun like wool. There was something going on that he didn't understand.
“The Prince has requested your presence at the castle, one week hence. Will you be able to attend?” The princess asked from her seat next to her brother.
“I would-” Alyx started to say.
“Alyx will not be able to attend.” Elewisa said harshly and the three knights shifted, reminding her that she was not the one in control here, but rather Gia or any of the royal family. She cleared her throat and went on, “His great aunt requested that he visit her, to say goodbye. She is dying, you see.”
Alyx had no great aunt, no family to speak of, other than the ones that sat on the couch.
“That's unfortunate,” Prince Gael said from his place next to his sister. His eyes were dark and he was staring at Elewisa who was now looking at her hands in her lap. Even she didn't dare look at Prince Gael in the eye, the brother who was the future king's adviser and smarter than most learned men in the castle. There were rumors that he was crueler than the future king as well, rumors that he killed dozens with only a knife to rescue his brother, that Prince Gael had killed more men than even the Crown Prince himself.
“Truly, it is,” Elewisa murmured. “He leaves in the morning.”
Alyx knew he would be lucky to see the morning light.
“In that case, we will be back soon to call on you,” the princess said, looking to Alyx. She stood and made her way to him, to stand next to her mother. She smiled at Alyx and he gave her a small smile back.
There was a flurry of movement behind the Queen and Princess and when Alyx looked, one of the knights, a silent man who had dark skin and wary eyes, was standing between Auelina and Thea and Mariana who had also stood up.
“No one gets too close to the royal family,” the man said. “Especially not to their backs.”
Thea and Mariana sat.
“My daughters would be able to go to the castle at any time of your choosing,” Elewisa said suddenly.
“That's not necessary,” Queen Gia said. “The prince was not interested in them. Elyes, I believe we are at the end of our visit. My horse please.”
“Yes, Your Highness,” Elyes said and left the room. The other two knights stepped up to Gia and Auelina and Gael stood as well.
“Should you need to call on my daughters-” Elewisa started as she stood as well.
“I believe my mother said that wouldn't be necessary,” Gael said. He stepped close to Alyx and it was like he was being hemmed in from all sides. “Alyx. We will be back to call on you again, for my brother's sake.”
“Yes, your Majesty,” Alyx said dully. He knew they wouldn't be back in time. If Elewisa didn't kill him tonight, she would surely mangle him beyond recognition and whatever appeal he held would be a bloodied mess before Elewisa was through.
“Be safe,” Gael said and ushered his mother and sister out the front door, the knights behind him.
When the door closed, everyone in the house was silent. Alyx couldn't even hear Gilbert or Stefanus.
Elewisa strode up to Alyx and slapped him, hard enough to make his ear ring. “You whore,” she spat. “Every time you left this house, you were out there spreading your legs? Did you think that your prince could come in this house and take what's mine? After all these years of taking care of you, that's what I get?” She spat in his face.
Alyx blinked and opened his mouth, only to get another slap across his face, directly over the first one. Tears of surprise welled up in his eyes.
“I-” Alyx tried but Elewisa shoved him, hard, back and back again, until he tumbled down, onto the steps. Her shoes, tipped and shiny with polish, caught Alyx in the stomach.
“I will not hear a word out of your lying mouth, you dirty, cock sucking wretch!” Elewisa screamed, spittle flying, her face red. “You humiliate me, you humiliate my daughters, in front of the royal family and ruin any kind of chance that they might marry better than what we have here? I will show you-” Elewisa's words were lost when she grabbed Alyx's hair and yanked him upstairs so suddenly that he was barely able to keep up with her. She pushed him up the stairs into the attic and over to his bed. Above it were shackles that hadn't been used in many years but she pulled on the chain that bolted them to the wall and shoved Alyx down on the straw mat and two blankets that served as his bed and shackled one cuff to his wrist.
“Let's see you charm your way into any royal family cock here,” she hissed and turned and left the room. She locked the door behind her and all was silent but the winds whipping around the house.
Chapter Four
Evander looked confused when he saw his family approach, but without a visitor. He looked to Cade who also looked askance and then shrugged at Evander.
“What happened?” Cade asked when he approached his mother and helped her off her horse.
“That woman,” Gia spat and looked furious. “I believe she is the reason why Alyx looks the way she does.”
“What do you mean?” Ely asked, hurrying to keep up with her.
“That man has been locked away and kept to-” Gia threw her hands up in the air and frustration, “I don't know what for!”
Evander looked at Gael for an explanation and Gael could only shake his head.
“His hand was bandaged. He had been cut.” Elyes said.
“His lip was split and his eye was blackened.” Aldous added.
“There was something wrong with his arm, the way he was holding it. It could also have been cut.” Gabrien murmured.
Everyone trailed after Gia and she unhooked her cloak and passed it off to Ely who folded it neatly over his arm. She made for the throne room, her long green gown catching the light . Her children trailed after her, trading glances with each other.
“That house was spotless and it looked like both her butler and daughters hadn't done a day's work in their lives,” Gia went on. She turned, her gown spinning behind her and they all stepped back. Everyone thought it was King Serlo who taught her children to fight, but they were wrong. King Serlo had been a useless alcoholic who did everyone a favor by drowning in the nearby river after being on a three day long drinking binge while his sons and daughter and wife fortified defenses and attacked Nigel's army.
“He is kept as a servant when he is son to one of the oldest families our kingdom knows,” Gia huffed and paced. “No doubt that he is smart, capable, and wealthy. Why does he not fight back?” She asked and stopped in front of Elyes, demanding an answer. Elyes only shook his head. He had witnessed Alyx's behavior first hand and it didn't make sense to him either.
“We've seen it before. Children raised in households such as this are less likely to fight back against their attackers even when they are grown and able to defend themselves,” Ely said gently, his eyes on his boots on the ground. His mind was clearly on the family that had housed him before he was brought to the castle. It seemed like Ely and Alyx's lives had a lot in common.
Gia nodded. She knew that. She just wanted to hear it.
“What do you propose, mother?” Evander asked.
“That you take your brothers and your sister and go hunting tonight. I will not stand for this down the road from where I lay my head at night.” Gia said. Her voice trembled with fury.
Evander nodded.
“And when it is done, Alyx is to come straight here He is under royal protection as long as there is a De Loughrey on this throne,” she said and pointed at her own throne on the dais “Are we clear?”
“Yes your Highness,” everyone said.
“Good. Go, get ready,” she ordered and then turned to Ely. “I need a drink.”
Ely nodded and left.
∞∞∞
The shackle that held Alyx in place was high up on a beam, forcing him to stand on the tips of his toes, and after a short time, his calves were begging for rest. Sweat dotted his forehead and a calm seemed to take over his mind.
When he got out of these shackles he was going to leave this godforsaken house and go to the castle, ask for Prince Evander using the instructions he was given, and he was going to leave this kingdom after having served his Prince for whatever need he could possibly have thought of in the short time they met each other. He would scrub toilets and floors, so long as he was away from this household.
At the corner of pile of straw that served as his bed, Alyx spotted the cloak that the prince had given him. The clasp, a metal tiger's claw, could potentially get him out of the shackle and let him regain some strength for his escape.
Alyx reached a toe out and huffed when he came up three inches short. He narrowed his eyes and tried again, stretching his arm to its absolute limit.
Still two inches short.
Alyx looked around for something, anything to extend his reach, but there was nothing, nothing that could help him. His room being as pitiful as it was, with its straw bed, two blankets, shard of glass that he had rescued from one of Mariana's “accidents”, and neatly folded clothes in the corner of the room; there was nothing else near him that could possibly undo these chains that held him.
Alyx looked up at the shackles and sighed.
He was resigned to what he was about to do and he was only putting off the inevitable. He took three quick, deep breaths and jerked at the shackle and he felt the fiery pain in his shoulder as it dislocated, felt it down his back as the muscles spasmed and bit back a scream.
The sweat was running freely down his neck and back and he forced his eyes open but away from his arm where it hung at an unnatural angle.
He was easily able to get the cloak.
With a wince, he tore the lion's claw from the cloak, and made quick work of the lock. When his arm was free, his calves felt better but his shoulder was still a mess.
Well, it wasn't the first time.
> Alyx forced himself to stand and went to the closest wall. Three more quick breaths, a sharp and harsh thud, and his shoulder was aching but back where it should be.
The pain was unbearable and he finally gave in to it and lost consciousness.
When he opened his eyes, night had fallen and Elewisa was standing in front of him.
In her hand, she had one of her father's daggers that she had told him she had sold.
“You're a liar,” he said.
“Aren't we all?” She said, her eyes narrowing.
Alyx barely ducked her movement forward and landed on his injured shoulder. He hissed and rolled away and then Elewisa was on top of him, screaming.
Her gray dress was a tangle between them and Alyx was able to get a leg between them and shoved her off. She stumbled back and fell but stood before Alyx could.
“Let me leave this house and I will never tell anyone, anything,” Alyx said and met her eyes. “You have my word.”
“The word of a useless whore? What good is that?” She bared her teeth at him and took a step forward. She looked sick. Her usual pale skin had taken on a yellow tinge and Alyx could smell the alcohol on her. The dagger looked to at home in her hand. “I would rather kill you now, bury you in a grave no one will ever find, and use the rest of your inheritance.”
It wasn't the first time she had said anything about killing Alyx but there was a plan behind this mention. There was intent.
“You said there was no inheritance,” Alyx replied, not even surprised she lied about that too.
She charged and screamed again and Alyx felt the hot slice of the dagger across his shoulder and that was what caused him to snap.
All the beatings since he was an eight year old boy, all the small cruelties inflicted on him growing up, over a span of twenty years, came to a vicious head and Alyx reached out and jerked the knife from her hand, and threw it away, out of her reach. He put a hand around her neck and pushed her against the wall gently, like a lover would.
Her eyes widened and she looked up at him. He easily overpowered her and for the first time, she looked up at him with fear in her eyes.