A New Start

Chapter 2: God, have mercy.

It had been months since the birth of the princess. She was extremely malnourished and injured, but she could not perish. The poor infant had to suffer. Denatos and Alugarde spent as little time on their baby as possible. But mister Lafriniere decided to step in as the father-figure for this poor child. "King Denatos, I heard your hell spawn crying. Should I make her stop?" He always asked. "Sure, but hurt her as much as you can." King Denatos would answer. Lafriniere always said he would, but caressed the child instead. He held her for hours, played with what little hair that was not pulled out or cut off, quietly played with her or would try to take some care of the baby. He would clean her, he would feed her his own pure blood, he would try to heal the wounds and he taught her to speak and walk.

One day, Denatos found out that Blood was walking and speaking, and he came up to Lafriniere and threatened him. Lafriniere was extremely afraid. He did not want to die. Not now. Blood needed him. So he lied again. "Lafriniere, you fucker. Explain why the fuck that little bitch is walking around and talking shit." The king said to him. He grabbed the poor servant by his throat and growled. "A-Ah.. K-King Denatos.. I-I didn't know..! T-That.. T-That bitch keeps quiet w-when I hit her..! I-I swear to f-fucking g-god..!" He yelled. It broke his heart to speak like that, especially about princess Blood. Denatos dropped him and huffed. "Fine. Just make sure you stab her whenever she does walk or talk. I'm gonna do that now. I'll show you. Wait." He mumbled and stomped to the miniscule bedroom that the infant slept in.

Mister Lafriniere sobbed very quietly. He did not want to watch Blood being stabbed. He wanted to take her away. But he could not. It would be too dangerous for now. Denatos came back and held Blood on a leash. He walked way too fast for her to keep up so she had tripped and was dragged over the coarse floor. She cried loudly and Lafriniere quickly had to hide his fear and sadness. When Denatos was back, he pulled out his sword and held the leash tight when Blood tried walking away. He stabbed her and she shrieked. "Lafriniere! Make her stop!" Denatos shouted. Lafriniere hesitantly picked the poor infant up and held her tight. He was shaking extremely badly, so Denatos hit him and shouted to just strangle her to sleep. Lafriniere hissed at him and pretended to strangle the girl.

Princess Blood was already quite smart and knew what her father-figure was doing and played along. She slowly stopped crying and actually fell asleep. "Bring her to bed, fucker." Denatos growled and walked away. "Bed.. You mean that pile of rocks.." Lafriniere mumbled to himself and slowly walked to the small room. Blood opened her eyes and played with Lafriniere's glasses. "My dear Blood... You've been harmed so much.. Yet you are smiling... How do you do it..?" Lafriniere whispered. "Lafinie!! Lafinie!!" She said while he entered her room. He smiled and carefully put her on the ground. His smile slowly disappeared as he saw the girl crawling onto the pile of rocks. "Oh, my poor Blood.. I wish I could get you a better bed.. A better room.. A better life.." he whispered.

The door suddenly burst open and queen Alugarde walked in. "Lafriniere, there you are! Why are you here?!" she yelled. "Your husband commanded me to take your child to bed, my queen." the poor servant replied. He was shorter than her, and she was far more dangerous than him. He was extremely afraid, but hid it very well. The poor man thought he would get hit, but Alugarde pet his head. "Thanks, Lafriniere. I hate the kid, and I wish it all the harm in the world, but my dear Denatos always gets so annoying to me. He growls and yells and talks shit about that dumb kid. So thanks." she whispered and left the room.

Lafriniere sighed and kneeled down next to the pile of rocks. "It's unfair, isn't it.. If only I could take you away from this terrible fate.." he whispered and picked the child up once again. "It seems easy, my dear.. I know it does.. I could just get up and run away with you.. But it doesn't work that way.. There are a lot of guards waiting outside.. Your father is extremely fast.. And I am a simple man.. And besides There will be someone waiting for our help, Blood.. I know it.. Sheiopia wants children so she can take them here and let your parents raise them instead of you.. But it'll be one child.. And we will take it to a better place.. I promise..". Blood giggled. She was a smart little girl, but she did not quite understand this yet. But when she saw his sad expression, she got really serious. Tears streamed down Lafriniere's cheeks. "I apologise, my dear.." he said and put her back on the ground. "I must go.. Please stay strong.." he whispered and wiped his tears away. Blood got back on the rocks and Lafriniere got up and left.

He wanted to return home, but Denatos and Alugarde pulled him into the livingroom. "Lafriniere, you've been acting strange since Blood was born. What the fuck is wrong with you." Denatos said. Alugarde punched him. "Hey. Behave yourself. Friendly reminder that he is the only one who's willing to take care of that stupid little bitch." she said. "Anyway, dear, why are you acting this way? You seem more.. formal. It's strange.". Lafriniere got a little nervous. He knew that Alugarde was quite fond of him, but Denatos was right next to her, and he had extreme anger issues. One wrong word and he would attack.

"Okay, the reason I have been behaving this way is because I want to show my respect. You two are my leaders after all." Lafriniere said. He was very afraid, but he stayed calm. His voice was as cold and emotionless as usual. "Respect? Alugarde, do you hear that shit?! I told you he's broken!" Denatos yelled. And once again, Alugarde punched him. "You fucking idiot! He's respecting us because we're his boss you dumb fuck. He cares about us and wants to keep working for us." she replied. "One more word and you'll be sleeping in the fucking freezer.". Denatos started pouting and stomping his feet on the ground. "Okay, that's it, I'm done with you. Get in the freezer." Alugarde said and grabbed Lafriniere's hand. 'We'll be in MY room." She growled and walked to the bedroom. "Queen Alugarde, what are you doing?" Lafriniere asked. Alugarde did not answer.

She kicked open the door and got in. "I'm sick of him sometimes. He's a little baby. An idiot." she said. Her lip started trembling. "Ah, my queen, don't cry.. I'm here for you.." Lafriniere quietly said. Alugarde broke down and hugged him. She cried for an hour or two and then slowly calmed down. Lafriniere just stayed calm and comforted her. "L-Lafriniere.. I-I apologise.. I-I didn't mean to cry... T-Thank you for being here for me... T-Thank you for taking care of B-Blood.." she whispered. "It's alright. Get some sleep now. I'll be at home when you need me." Lafriniere calmly said. He left the castle and walked to his house, thinking he would finally get some rest. But Sheiopia waited for him and wasn't happy.

"Why the fuck are you so late?! I told you I wanted you to be home early because you know I want children. The king will love us if we give them to him!" she screamed. "Well while you were here doing nothing, I took care of their kid and helped queen Alugarde because king Denatos was being a little bitch! Leave me alone!" he shouted. He tried so hard not to cry. Being so rude broke his heart. He ran to his room and got his stuff. He didn't want to be home. He ran back to the castle and curled up against the wall. Alugarde heard sobbing through her window and looked out. She saw him and spread out her wings to get him. He spent the night in the guestroom and continued his life.

This happened for months. Years. Until Blood's fourth birthday.