Married To The Mad Vampire Lord-Chapter 172: The past_Part 5

He stood naked before them, wondering why they looked like they had seen a ghost.

"Oh heavens! He is still alive, Zach! He is still alive," Galina cried as she ran out of the room with her husband.

They had locked the demon inside this attic, hoping he would die and perhaps rot away without them having to kill him themselves, and Galina had finally taken the courage to come and see the bones of the child that had almost taken her own life—and to wash herself of anything that had to do with him. But only to come and see he had not died, even without any food, he had grown into a little boy.

"How is that possible?" King Zach said gravely. "We wished for a son, but the heavens had been cruel enough to grant us a dark omen. That child cannot take the throne after me, he’s bad luck."

Galina knew right there and then that the child in that room was indeed the son of the demon, who she had believed until now had not slept with her. She felt so sick in the stomach she retched at the realization. She had carried a demon child.

However, when another year passed, the king made a decision, as his brother had resumed his attempt to make an heir, pressured by the fact that King Zach had failed to introduce his own son to the people of Nightbrook. He had neither spoken about the child nor allowed a single word to leak beyond the palace walls. Everything had been kept a secret, and over time, people had begun to assume that the queen had given birth to a stillborn.

"We can’t throw him away, Galina. We have to make him look like a vampire to keep the throne. We have to introduce him to our people."

"How do you plan to do that?" Galina asked, not liking the idea of being anywhere near that devil of a child.

"We need to cut off his wings and give him gloves to hide those hideous nails and hands."

"What about his heart? Vampires do not have hearts, Zach! That demon has a beating heart that unsettles me," Galina screamed.

Zach pulled her into his embrace. "No matter what, we have to learn to love him. He is still ours, and losing him will be losing the throne. You don’t want that, do you?"

Galina shook her head as she hugged her husband back. "I don’t. I am just scared. His eyes and the way he always grins when we go to him, like he can’t see that he is bad luck... I don’t think I can do this."

"You can." The king kissed her head.

Two days later, the king sent for men who would cut off the boy’s wings and drop a potion into his eyes to turn them red, to make him look more like a vampire.

But when the men went to get the boy, he went crazy on them and attacked them until he killed one of the men. His eyes had turned so dark that no one dared to go close to him—not even the king, who heard about his attacks.

"Let me handle him," Galina spoke calmly as she made her way to the attic where the boy had been locked. She had seen how the boy’s eyes always glimmered at the sight of her, he wouldn’t dare hurt her. She would use that to her advantage.

"My son," she called softly as she pushed the door open and stepped inside. "Darling, it’s your mama," Galina said, and she saw immediately as his savage look relaxed and he began to grin at the sight of her.

"Mama?" he called, looking so happy and excited that Galina couldn’t help but grimace in disgust. She hated how he called her that. She wasn’t his mother, but she couldn’t afford to fail in this or risk getting dethroned.

"Yes, son. Mama wants to have a word with you. Should I come closer?" she asked, and the boy nodded his head and walked to her even before she walked to him.

He stood before her, wearing only a shirt, with his face smudged with the blood of the man he had killed. It took everything in Galina not to pull back when he clutched his tiny fingers to hold her hand.

"Mama talk, and son will listen to anything. Love you, mama." He grinned at her and then hugged her legs.

Galina closed her eyes and took a deep, calming breath before she pulled him back and bent down to his height. "You want to live with mama, don’t you?"

He nodded his head excitedly.

"Then you can only do that if you let them get rid of this." She pointed to the wings behind him. "You can’t live with mama if you have that. It must be cut off, and then you can stay with me. Won’t you do that for your mama, Rohan?"

The boy’s dark eyes brightened. "Rohan?" he muttered.

"It’s your name. I chose that for you, my son. You don’t like it?"

He shook his head. "Rohan likes the name. I have always wanted a name. Thank you, mama." He wrapped his arms around her legs and buried his dirty face into her skirt. "I will let them cut my wings because you love me so much."

"Yes, I love you. Your father also loves you." She willed herself to stroke his strange blue hair with her fingers, feeling the sticky dampness of blood in it.

When the people who would cut his wings came again, the boy did not fight them. In fact, he made his way to the table and laid down face-down. He was still grinning in happiness at the thought that he would finally get to live with his parents.

He did not make a sound as they began to cut his wings. Even though he liked them so much, he did not protest.

Once the wings were cut off, he got down from the table and watched as they flapped on the ground like they were in protest of being away from him. He felt his heart tighten in his chest as he said goodbye to his wings’ friend.

Not long after, he was bathed, and his mother came back to dress him up herself. She wore his clean attire for him and combed his hair, dropped a liquid into his eyes that burned and made him momentarily blind, his vision a blur. But he said no words to show it hurt or to protest, he only kept grinning at his mother. And then lastly, she wore gloves over his hands after trimming his long claws.

"Never let anyone see them. You are to hide them behind gloves forever. People do not like seeing hideous things, Rohan. Do you understand?" his mama demanded strictly.

Rohan blinked twice to clear his vision and then nodded his head. "I will always cover them with gloves. No one will see them, no one. Only mama, because I love you." He smiled, his handsome face holding a warmth that was too much for a boy his age.

Galina returned the smile with a stiff one. "I love you, too. Let’s go, the court members are waiting, you need to be introduced to everyone."