SEASICK

59- Wrath of the Forgotten

[[TW : this chapter has mentions of torture, child abuse, and attempted murder. It may not be suitable for some people, some readers may find this a very tame chapter, but with care for the readers who might need to skip I will recap at the very end. I do not own the music in this chapter nor the art!]]

"O-okay." Alana hesitantly replied.
She was not sure she could handle another reveal of what Taycia had done to one of her loved ones, but she felt it was wrong to refuse Ivo the chance to tell his story. She could see how it
So, with an apprehensive will, she listened.
It took a moment for Ivo to collect his thoughts, raging in chaos behind the steel doors of his mind he tried for years not to think about.

"When I was ten years old... my mother sold me." He began. "She was a prostitute for the first nine years of my life. She was kind, I suppose. She fed me, made sure I had water to drink, she met the basic needs to keep me alive. Then one summer I noticed her stomach... it was rounder, poking out. I remember feeling jealousy, thinking she had just eaten a lot and did not share." Ivo dryly chuckled.
He continued to play with Alana's baby hairs, keeping himself busy as he revisited his past.
"But it wasn't that she ate, she was just pregnant. She gave birth to my sister the following winter. Anyhow, she could not feed the three of us, and after a few months of struggling more than usual, she sold me. My mother sold me..." Ivo repeated the last part pained, as the thought dawned on him like a burning sunrise.
"I was purchased immediately by a woman, Countess Belva. I recall the sight of her sitting in her carriage at the slave auctions, pointing right at me with a vile, stubby finger. She was an obese woman with crooked teeth and wore too much rouge. The next thing I know I was kneeling in that creature's bedroom. She informed then that I was to act as a butler, wait on her hand and foot... with a smile. She told me how cute she found me, how handsome I was, asked how a beauty like me could be tumbling around in the slums."
The more Ivo spoke the more Alana could feel his heart racing as her heart sank. In an effort to comfort him she snaked an arm around him and pulled herself closer, in the form of a hug.
Ivo took a minute to collect himself, he could feel his blood boiling and he heard his demon whispering. The last thing he desired was to lose control with Alana so close, so he clenched his jaw and tamed his demon.
Finally, he continued.
"I was not an easy child, unlike the others who fell in line at the sight of the dungeon. I would spill the tea in her lap, refuse to smile, I would break the fine china and other things. Every time I was sent to the dungeon. I was whipped until I lost consciousness and left down there for days without food. Once I was healed, I would cause more trouble. I did so for months until one day Belva herself came down to dish out my punishment. This time though... it was not whipping." Ivo took a ragged breath and shut his eyes tightly.
"First, I was stripped of all my clothes... then I was suspended by my wrists with shackles, my feet barely touched the floor. She had her guards fasten dull hooks on the corner of my lips... and she had them stretched into a smile. From there the countess allowed her guards to use my body as a punching bag. I still remember her words so clearly. She told me: 'If you can smile through this, Ivo, you can smile through anything."
"Every day was a near brand of torture, fire ants and honey, pin needles stuck all over my body, nails placed under my heels forcing me to stand on my toes for hours. I am ashamed to admit, but Countess Belva broke me.
Once it was over, I felt a year had gone by, but only a week and a half had. But she got what she wanted, I smiled and obeyed her every day for years after that.
I quickly became her favorite, I was the best at what she wanted from us, and she never caught me without my smile. I was defeated by that hag and I loathed my existence, but I stayed compliant.
It wasn't until a fresh set came in and I spotted a boy the age I was when I first arrived did I felt a rage so hot that I could've slaughter Belva right then."