To Love A Duke

Sire

Song Recommendation: family line by conman grey

A father is never justified in vile acts against his child or wife, it is simply reprehensible!

She was silent for a while then she said.

“Nothing new, He struck me till I bled” he felt his jaw clenched and his hands ball in a fist. He felt a rush of kill rage and he wanted to punch something, preferably the face of the bastard who didn’t deserve to be called her father

She went on “ he said I showcased too much emotions in public and a lady ought to keep her emotions in check” she laughed bitterly “ I was five and ten, a girl filled with glee at the idea of a night out with her papa, It was the last time I laughed loudly”

“ you were frightened of him” it wasn’t a question but she glanced at him and answered

“No” she looked up at the sun again “one always thinks that one’s upbringing, one’s family is perfectly normal, don’t you think? She said

Orion had never considered the matter, generally speaking dukes were not considered normal, and even without the abnormality -so to say- of the dukedom, his family had not been exactly typical, “in what way?” He asked, he felt all families of means, born of aristocratic blood were abnormal too and perhaps that meant abnormality had seemed normal to him as a child.

“ one’s own family and situation are all one knows as a young child, they are therefore by default, normal, no matter how barbaric it actually was in the real sense. I thought everyone had a papa who from time to time hit their little girls face when she laughed to loudly, or starved her when she had too much to eat the previous day” she laughed. The sound like an empty shell that held no humor. he felt anger on her behalf.

She breathed “ it was when I had my come out I realized girls my age had fathers who saw nothing absolutely wrong in a daughter who laughed a tad too loudly, or ate quite much. I realized that there were fathers who saw the very stars their daughters eyes.” He looked at her bitter expression and he could imagine a five and ten year old Artemis smiling from the sheer bliss of being with her father, only to be beaten for being to happy. He should have been there, he should have known, it was too late to change the past but he swore that she would never go through any pain as long as he had breath in his lungs.

“Did your father ever hit you?” She asked him, sending him a curious glance

He was silent for a while then he spoke

“No” Orion said looking in her direction even as she faced ahead “he hit my mom though”

She turned and looked at him sharply careful to say nothing, he hadn’t offered her the cliche pitiful remarks, so she wouldn’t either, he said nothing for a while then continued “ I saw him hit her one night and I said to myself that I would be just like him if I watched him hit her and did nothing” he looked her right in the eye when he said it.

“So I hit him. Hard. and that was the last thing he ever felt”