Fire sparks

Ch. 6 A Child's Smile

Lucian grew. And grew. And grew. 

Razor sharp teeth sprouted less than a month into his life. When he began teething, I worried the entire realm would buckle and crumble at the power of his pained cries. The perfectly pointed teeth only took a few days to fully ascend, but the residual migraine pounding in my skull promised to last a lifetime.

Once the grueling process had completed, I realized the earth shattering cries had been only a hint at the terror my son's new teeth would inspire. Those sharp little weapons suddenly gave my son an insatiable hunger and he would settle for nothing less than fresh red meat. 

Day after day, I'd stood in the castle kitchen, unwrapping the butchered meat from what was recently one of my own people. I wouldn’t feed my child the swill that King Charming sent to the Dark Place in the supply drops, either. It seemed barbaric to eat my own people, but it was a small price to pay if it meant Lucian would be well fed. 

To my credit, I did opt for the more animal-like townsfolk and stuck to creatures who had worn out their welcome amongst the living.

By the time Lucian was six months old he was three feet tall and already trying to walk. His babbles had evolved to something almost reminiscent of the common language. He was so opinionated, I wasn't sure of whether that skill would prove to be a blessing or a curse. 

Grow as he might, he still had a long way to go before he'd have any real shot against the creatures of the Dark Place. I kept him hidden, carefully safe-guarded within my castle, away from the evil that dwelled only a few hundred meters below. I was all too aware I couldn't keep him locked up forever like some toiling princess in a tower. No, he'd grow into the sort of beast Kings and Queens used to guard towers, not the frail things they'd house within.

Only myself and my three personal guards had any amount of access to the child, though a slew of soldiers were in constant rotation on the long and treacherous stair case leading to my front door. Braxis and Galen had become men of even fewer words upon Lucian's birth. And Hades...

I saw the way Hades looked at my child. I was sure he didn’t miss the physical similarities between him and the beast. But honestly so many of those features were shared in some capacity with any number of the creatures within this realm. The similarities meant nothing. And Hades had to have known that, didn’t he? I thought he did. I hoped he did. 

Beyond Lucian's birthday, Hades hadn't spoken to the child, or to me much either for that matter. He stood in the shadows, a well trained soldier carrying out his professional duties, always keeping his presence discrete. But still... I'd catch that look of assessment, curiosity- an unasked question- flicker through his watchful gaze too often to go unnoticed. I ignored it anyway.

Once again, I stood in the kitchen preparing the flesh of what had only hours prior belonged to a living, breathing civilian in my kingdom.

Lucian hobbled into the kitchen, using both hands on the wall to guide his steps. Every time I saw his face I was reminded of the life he wouldn’t get to live. The life that was ripped from him because of one man’s selfishness. And of my own stupidity.

I blinked wildly, trying to fight off the image of his face that was stained in my memory. The face was handsome, but the man beneath was anything but. Yet, I'd been the one who was foolish enough to believe his pretty words. I was tricked. I was heartbroken. I acted rashly. Mistakes from a different lifetime, it seemed, that had bled into this one- led to this one. And now my child had to eat meat from a centaur instead of normal food. Not that Lucian was complaining; he didn’t know the difference. 

He paused as he reached the counter where I stood daring to remove his hands from the wall, swaying for just a moment, before toppling into my legs. I gently kicked one leg out, knocking him to the ground. “Aht, aht. No, Lucian. You do not touch mother.” His eyes glowed and his bottom lip quivered. He lifted his arm, pointing to me as he babbled out his hurt. My heart broke, but I didn’t let it show on my face. This boy needed to be ruthless. Ruthless people didn’t have loving mothers.

I tossed him a chunk of the raw meat. “Eat.” He crawled to where it landed in front of him, wasting no time before gnawing at the flesh, frustratedly babbling as he did. He looked at me warily, still clearly hurt by my rejection. I tossed him another piece of meat before stalking out of the room.

***

I made the mistake of taking Lucian to the Judgements around the eight month mark. By that time he could walk and he had learned his first three words. They were: “Kill.” “Eat.” and “Ma.” I had made it abundantly clear he was never to say ‘Ma’ in front of anyone but me. I did want him to call me mother when he could, as a sign of respect, but ‘ma’ seemed way too casual and affectionate. 

The person on the Pedestal at his first Judgement had been caught conspiring to kidnap Lucian. I addressed the audience explaining the crime, but when it came time to give a punishment I turned to Lucian. His brows were low and his eyes glowed brightly, clearly understanding the threat the man had posed. 

“Lucian, what is the punishment you choose?” His eyes became round, and he shook his head slowly. I could see the silent plea. I didn’t want to make him do this, but this was a sure fire way to earn him respect. “Lucian, I will not ask you again.” I made my eyes glow, letting him know I meant it. He needed a nudge though. He was my child, and gods knew that meant he was stubborn as all hell. I had prepared for this. I hadn’t fed him for days. He had to be ravenous. I lowered my voice, “Are you hungry, Lucian?” He licked his lips, but shook his head ‘no.’ “Really?”

He glanced to the person dangling above the fiery pit. The prisoner didn’t even look afraid anymore. Instead, the man appeared judgmental of his weak princeling if not a bit amused of how terribly my plan was failing. The faces in the crowd seemed to match.

This was a disaster. Panic swelled in my stomach. There were so many witnesses. They would see Lucian's weakness. He wasn’t a threat. Not yet, at least, I hoped. But I still was. I lifted my hand and brought it down, sharply. My knuckles collided with Lucian's flawless face. His bottom lip trembled as he looked up to me, so I smacked him again, effectively knocking him to the ground at out of the crowd's sight before they could witness another second of his weakness. 

I ordered the prisoner be dropped into the fiery pit. A swift punishment, but I had to put an end to this horrible display. I gripped the back of Lucian’s neck and dragged him all the way back to our castle. To his credit, the child didn't flail or fight once during the long trek up those horrible steps. I threw him into his room, slamming the door behind me. 

When he heard the click of the lock sealing him within the confines of the room, his resolve broke. He screamed and kicked and wailed as I sunk to the floor on the opposite side of the wall. 

I felt the energy shift as the air moved slightly around me. I didn’t need to look in front of me to know Hades was the cause. He squatted in front of me, tipping my chin towards him. “He’ll get there. He just didn’t have the right motivation.” He pulled my hands from my face and kept pulling until we were both standing. “I think you should keep him hidden away until you find what will motivate him.”

Lucian quieted on the other side of his door. If I didn’t know him any better I’d think he’d calmed himself or fallen asleep, but I did know better. The wise little toddler had only stopped screaming to listen in on the conversation.

“I think you might be right. Ugh! This f*****g sucks!” I massaged my temples. Locking him away would come with its own complications. A babysitter was not an option. But I couldn’t stay locked away. I had appearances to uphold. There was so much to figure out and no clear answer.