She took his hand, and for the very first time, the boy left that room and stepped out into the beautiful castle, where the movement of people startled and unsettled him. He did not like them, he did not feel comfortable, and he tightened his hand in his mother’s hand as he warily looked at every person who was staring at him.
But very soon, as he began to tighten his hold in his mother’s grip, she pulled her hand away from his and allowed him to just follow her.
When they stepped into the celebration hall where he was to be introduced as the prince, Rohan wanted to run back to the safety of his dark room and hide forever in there. He did not like it here. He clutched his mother’s skirt, but she jerked it away from his hand without losing the warm smile on her face as she looked down at him.
"Mama, hold my hand," he cried internally, but she did not hold his hand. Instead, she told him to follow her.
That night, after the introduction was made and he was officially called Prince Rohan, he was given another room, this one far more beautiful than the dark, cold one he had been locked in for five long years.
By the time he was left alone in the lavish chamber, the boy was shaking, trying desperately to calm the raging noise that had overwhelmed him in the grand hall. But he had held it in—for her. Because his mama was there, and he wanted to be good.
Now, alone in the silence, he couldn’t calm it down. The storm inside his head roared louder, and it hurt so much his head throbbed. The pressure behind his eyes grew unbearable, and the urge to hurt someone began to rise within him like a scream.
When a maid came in to help him change, he had silently followed her into the bath. But when he removed his clothes and she saw the brutal scar where his wings had once been, she gasped. Her face twisted with fear and disgust, and she dared to call him a demon.
The young boy snapped. He attacked and killed her, without a word, without a sound.
He was punished that night.
He was taken back to that dark room without food. His mother had said, "Even though I love you, I cannot tolerate your behavior. You will stay here from now on and will be allowed out once in a while."
The door had slammed behind her as she walked out, and the boy had curled himself into a ball and fell asleep to recharge his energy, not feeling guilty for killing the maid.
When he woke up again, he hadn’t realized he had been asleep for months until he saw his wings had began to slowly regrow.
The boy decided to hide the wings so they wouldn’t be taken away from him again. He was allowed out of the dark room twice a week, until he killed his grandfather, his mother’s father, by pushing the man from the top of a balcony and then flying off with his wings.
Nobody knew why he had killed the man, but that was something his mother could no longer overlook.
"He is a monster, Zach. You can’t keep that monster anymore. Can’t you see? His wings have regrown," Galina cried, brokenly, in her mourning black clothes. He had killed her father... she would never forgive that. She would never forgive him.
"We need to cut the wings from the root this time. We have already given him a betrothed; he is going to marry her when he comes of age."
"What if the wings regrow and people see it? We have managed to hide his beating heart until now."
"If his wings regrow, we will have to let him go."
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