Nightingale

Chapter XX

P A R T O N E

Empress Nightingale

In the dark bedroom, all that could be heard over the horrific screeching were the sounds of the ticking grandfather clock and drunken snores. The scream was absolutely primal, a raw intensity that foretold of urgency and desperate need. Babies could not learn or grow if they were always locked between the walls of their cribs. The baby's cries spelled out his pain and begged for anyone to end it. But it would always end with him either getting a spank or being ignored, eventually leading him to shut down in response.

But right now, he couldn't.

The door creaks open, making the little boy cry louder and harder. There in the light of the hallway was his own savior.

Looking into the bedroom, Ambrose is drawn to the sight of a baby wailing in their crib. They sat with nothing but a dirty, messy diaper. Ambrose could see his face, red and wet with tears. The child stood on their tiny legs and tightly gripped the bars of their wooden crib. They were clearly crying themselves to oblivion, with terror evident in their eyes.

Glancing at his shared bed, Ambrose found Kaiya in a deep slumber. The white-haired woman was messily dressed in her wrinkled nightgown. Several bottles of wine were littered either on the bed or on the floor. She lay on her side with her arm outstretched as if it were ready to grab another drink as soon as she woke up.

"Your highness?" Erebus joined his side only to falter as well.

Erebus remained stunned in place, his entire body filled with dread and horror at the sight of the neglected child. He watched as Ambrose stormed into the bedroom and seized the crying baby. The child smelled of feces and urine and their body was very small and skinny.

"Did you know about this!?" Ambrose roars at him, making the baby scream in fright.

"N-No!" Erebus stammers out.

"How could you not!?" he yells. He turns to his drunken wife and shakes her.

"W-What...?" Kaiya murmurs drunkenly.

Ambrose yelled, "What is wrong with you!?"

"Are you happy? Are you proud of me? D-Do you love me yet!?" Kaiya laughs humorlessly, "It's a boy, a new heir to the throne! HA!"

"You were supposed to take care of our child!"

"Ambrose, if you give him attention, y-you'll end up spoiling him," Kaiya excuses.

"He's a baby!" Ambrose sneers, "Of course, he needs attention! When was the last time you fed him or changed his diaper!?"

"What's today?" Kaiya asks without care.

Ambrose growls. He storms from the bedroom, into their shared personal bathroom. He gave the baby a bath, only to bare witness to severely inflamed, bright red skin along his bottom. He had developed a rash, and if Ambrose hadn't done anything it could have caused the poor baby to have a fever.

"Erebus!" the emperor shouted urgently, "Get the royal doctor!"

As his advisor left, Ambrose seizes a nearby towel and carefully wraps his son. "I'm sorry I left you," Ambrose's eyes burned with unshed tears. The baby's soft cries died down to whimpers and sniffles as Ambrose gently rocked him.

"The boy will be fine," Kaiya stumbles and clings to the walls of the doorway. She was still clearly under the influence of her mindless drinking.