Disclaimer: Do I really have to mention that I don't own Castlevania? If I did, we would have gotten to see Julius curbstomp Dracula, the storyline would have been neatened up a bit, and Dracula and Alucard would have just HUGGED already after the reveal in Lords of Shadow 2.
A/N: This is what happens when Fridge Horror strikes. If you don't know what that is, look it up on TV Tropes and Idioms.
Prologue
Wolfram Cronqvist smiled broadly as he walked through the halls of his family's manor. As he walked, the servants and few other members of the family returned his smile. It was rare to see such an open, honest expression on Lord Cronqvist's face; normally he was serious and stern, with only his wife seeing the softer side of his personality.
But today was a special occasion.
As he approached the master's chambers, his wife's maid smiled widely at him and opened the double doors for him. He walked through into his bedroom, whereupon he came upon the source of his unusual openness. His wife, the Lady Edeline Cronqvist, sat propped up on pillows in their bed, cradling a small blanket wrapped bundle in her arms. She looked up at him as he approached, and her smile mirrored his own. He sat down beside her and looked eagerly at what she held in her arms.
"Is it..?" he asked eagerly, and Edeline's smile widened.
"It is." she replied "A boy, our son." She carefully held the newborn out to him, and he gently gathered the child into his arms.
The tiny infant, sporting a cap of downy brown hair and eyes of soft green, looked up at his father for a moment, and Wolfram was unprepared for the surge of emotion that ran through him then. A baby, a life, that he and Edeline had created. To think that he had helped create the child in his arms... it was wondrous. It was a miracle.
"Hello there, little one." he said. "I'm your papa." He gently ran a finger down his son's soft cheek, and he laughed quietly when the infant turned his head and tried to suck on it. "My son..."
He ignored the sting of tears in his eyes then, but he felt no shame at crying so openly. He and Edeline had been trying for years to have a child, but every pregnancy had ended in either miscarriage or a premature birth, with the infant dying shortly after. Without a clear heir, the rest of the Cronqvists had been circling like wolves, salivating in anticipation, and some had recommended that he annul his marriage and find a different wife, one that was capable of carrying a child to term.
He and Edeline had been cradle betrothed, but they had been lucky in that they had known each other their entire lives and had already fallen in love long before they exchanged their wedding vows. The first miscarriage, less than four months after their wedding, had been disheartening, but they had tried again, believing it was just one time incident. But then the second pregnancy had also ended in miscarriage, followed two years later by a third pregnancy that ended three months too soon. That infant, a girl, had lived only a few minutes. Three years later, Edeline had delivered another baby, this time a boy, prematurely, and that infant had been stillborn. Finally, ten years after their marriage, Edeline had miscarried again, and it had left her so heartbroken that she swore never to try again. Wolfram hadn't been able to object, because privately, he agreed with her.
Not long after that, Wolfram's father had died, and he had become the head of the family, and that was when the wolves had began circling. Whispers had followed him as he walked the halls of his home, of how his wife couldn't carry a child and how the family was going to fall apart due to infighting once he was gone. He had grit his teeth and ignored them, but...
… he feared that they were right. Without an heir to pass the headship down to, either someone in the family would have to claim it, or he would have to appoint someone, and Wolfram hadn't seen either one of those options working out well. It still wouldn't have prevented infighting among those who wanted it for themselves. He had though briefly of having his wife fake a pregnancy while he fathered a child with another woman and then passed the child off as his wife's, but he had quickly discarded that. He couldn't imagine lying with another woman. He had even considered, while lying wide awake in bed one late one night, adopting a peasant's unwanted child and passing it off as his own. Of course, that would also require that Edeline fake a pregnancy, and he couldn't ask that of her.
He had admitted to himself though, that he wasn't totally opposed to taking in someone else's child. He wanted more than just an heir to keep the family from collapsing in on itself, he wanted a son or daughter to love, so he could watch him or her grow, be proud of their accomplishments, to hear a small voice call him "Papa," and to feel a pair of little arms hugging him around the neck.
He hadn't dared to hope when Edeline had quietly told him that she was pregnant for the sixth time. The doctor and midwife had ordered her to bed for the duration in the hopes that this time, she would carry to term, but he had refused to believe it would work. He couldn't bear having his heart broken and his hopes dashed again.
The months of her pregnancy had rolled by as they moved through the fall and winter, and as spring approached, he allowed himself to hope, just a tiny bit, that this one would make it. He'd been called away to deal with a problem on their lands, several hours from home, and it wasn't until he'd begun the return journey home that he had received the news that he had been equally looking forward to and dreading.
Edeline's labor had begun, and he had ordered the carriage driver to take him home with all possible haste, fearing that it was too late to do anything, that his child would die like all the others. He had prayed to God all the way home, pleading for the life of his child, begging that it and his wife would come through the delivery safely, offering himself in exchange if the Lord saw fit. It wasn't until he had alighted from the carriage in front of his home that he had received the glorious news: his wife had delivered safely, and the newborn was healthy and strong. And now...
He smiled down at the sleeping baby in his arms, scarcely able to believe that, after years of trying, they finally had a son to call their own.
"He looks like his father." Edeline said with a soft smile, and he couldn't help but smile again as he looked up at her.
"But he has his mother's eyes." he replied.
There was a whimper, and Wolfram looked down at his son just as the baby opened his mouth and let out a wail that he was sure could be heard all over the house.
"He has strong lungs." he said with amusement, and Edeline chuckled and held her arms out.
"Hand him here, my lord. I know what he wants."
He carefully placed the crying infant in his wife's outstretched arms and watched with a blissful smile as she nursed him. He scooted closer to her, leaned over, and kissed her on the cheek. She looked up at him with a warm smile, and he gently reached up and brushed some stray strands of her blond hair out of her face.
"Have I told you recently how much I love you?" he asked her quietly over the sounds of their son suckling.
"Not recently, no," she said impishly. "I could stand to hear it again."
He looked deeply into her green eyes. "I love you so much. You've given me everything; your love, years of happiness, and now," He let his gaze drop down to his son, lying cradled in Edeline's right arm. "you've given me this precious jewel, a son, our son."
"Yes," she whispered "our son." The impish smile made a reappearance. "You know this is going to have some frothing at the mouth like rabid dogs."
Wolfram sat up and laughed. "Let them." he said. "I look forward to it." He looked down at his son again, and gently ran his hand over the wisps soft brown hair.
"What shall we name him?" Edeline asked, as the baby finished nursing.
Wolfram frowned in thought for a moment. True, he hadn't given much thought to names, since he hadn't been expecting the child to survive, like his siblings before him, but...
"How about..." he began "we name him... Mathias?"
"Isn't that a variation of Mathew?"
"Yes, it is Germanic, and it means 'Gift of God'. I think it rather fitting for out little miracle, don't you agree?"
Edeline looked down at their son and frowned thoughtfully for a moment. "Yes, it fits rather well." She gently tucked the swaddled blanket around the baby's shoulders. "Hello, Mathias."
"Welcome to the world, Mathias." Wolfram said as he gently ran his hand over the infant's head again. "Welcome home."
OOOOOO
It's just a party, Wolfram told himself for at least the dozenth time. You've been to plenty of them, and being a new father is not a good enough reason to stay at home.
The Lord Cronqvist repressed a sigh as he looked around. He was seated at a massive table, which practically groaned under the weight of the sumptuous feast that covered its surface. Beside him sat Edeline, and she looked every bit as bored with the party as he was. It was true that they had been to several of these over the years and would likely attend several more before their lives were over, but they never before had a newborn son waiting on them at home.
It had been only fourteen days since Mathias' birth, and Wolfram already couldn't imagine his life without his beautiful baby boy, but as he already knew, having a child at home is not an acceptable reason for skipping a neighboring lord's party. He wasn't even sure what the party was for, and truthfully, he didn't care. All he cared about was getting through it so he could go back home and see his boy again. Who knew what was going on in his absence...
Stop it, he told himself. Mathias is fine. He has a nurse to look after him and many doting guards and relatives to ensure his safety. His announcement the day after his birth had gone surprisingly well, with only Wolfram's younger brother, Cordrin visibly angered at the news. The rest of the family had been pleased that there was someone to inherit and take the reins when Wolfram passed on.
Edeline sighed quietly over the merriment going on around them, and he turned to look at her. Just looking at her face told him that she too was counting down the hours until they could return home. Hopefully this party wouldn't run too late into the night...
So absorbed in his thoughts, he barely heard his name being spoken, and it wasn't until one of the other lord's servants came up to his and whispered urgently in his ear that he paid attention.
"A messenger arrived from you home, my lord." the servant whispered "You must return home immediately; something has happened. It concerns your son."
Wolfram bolted up from his chair so fast that he nearly knocked it over, and everyone at the table turned to look at him. He didn't bother to make any excuses; instead he only pulled Edeline up from her own chair, and the pair of them nearly ran out of the dining hall. The encountered the messenger in the entrance hall, and he fell into step with them as they left the other lord's house and headed through a light drizzle towards their waiting carriage.
"What has happened?" Wolfram asked as he helped Edeline into the carriage.
"The house was attacked by a large organized group of hooded men in red.." the messenger responded "They caught us by surprise, and they killed anyone that stood in their way. Most of them acted to prevent us from stopping two others in red hooded cloaks. They headed..." The messenger took a deep breath. "They headed straight for the little Lord Mathias' nursery."
Wolfram didn't need to hear any more. He climbed up into the carriage after his wife and shouted for the driver to make all haste home.
The ride between their home and the neighboring lord's normally took only a few hours or so, but on this night, it seemed to stretch on for an eternity as he and Edeline fretted about what had happened and the safety of their son. When the carriage finally rolled to a stop, he didn't wait for the footman to open the door. He threw it open himself and bolted up the drive towards his house. Right away, he began to see signs of the struggle that had taken place. The two guardsmen that kept watch at the door were lying dead in the grass with their throats cut. Behind him, he heard Edeline gasp in horror, but he ignored her as he ran into the house.
The front entrance looked like a battle had taken place, with splashes of blood on the walls and floor, furniture overturned, pictures slashed and knocked off the walls, and banners with their family crest torn down. There were a handful of covered bodies lying about, but none of them were wearing the red cloaks mentioned by the messenger.
Further on, he found servants milling about, discussing what had happened, and all of them looked at him in fright as he moved past them. He also encountered other members of the family, but they refused to tell him what had happened and urged him on. He came across other bodies as he ran through the house, all of them either servants, guardsmen, or, in a few cases, family. He knew he should stop, take stock of what happened, and get the full story from someone, but he couldn't. He had to see Mathias. He had to make sure his son was all right.
The hope though, of finding his son alive and unhurt was fading rapidly as he neared the nursery. The closer he got to that room, the more bodies he found, as though they had realized where the attackers were heading and had tried to stop them. When he finally reached the nursery, he found the door torn from its iron hinges and the men that had tried to protect it dead, with vicious stab wounds through their chests. He carefully stepped over them, heart hammering in terror at what he was going to find, and he found Mathias' nurse lying dead just inside the door. From the bruises and deep cuts on her arms and hands, the young woman had likely put up a ferocious fight to protect her charge before a single deep slice to her neck had ended her life.
He dimly realized that the drizzle outside had turned into a torrential downpour that was hammering against the windows as he forced himself to step up to Mathias' cradle, which sat in front of the fireplace to better keep the infant warm during the still chilly nights. A flash of lightning from an approaching storm illuminated the room well enough for him to see that..
.. it was empty.
Wolfram stared at the empty cradle for a moment, not comprehending what he was seeing. Behind him, he heard Edeline run into the room, and he heard her cry out when she saw the dead nurse on the floor and the empty cradle. Another flash of lightning, and Wolfram looked around, peering into every corner of the nursery, hoping to see Mathias, hoping to find that the boy's nurse had hidden him before the attackers has reached them. He heard Edeline weeping, and he wanted to snap at her to stop crying, because their son wasn't gone! He was just hidden! They just to find where his nurse had put him and...!
"Mathias!" he called as he dug through the wreckage that only a few hours ago had been a comfortable, well appointed nursery. "Mathias!" He moved furniture around, he tossed torn paintings aside, he even moved the nurse's body, but there was no sign of his son. No cries, no whines, no whimpers, nothing to show that the baby was still in the room. "Mathias!"
No, no, no, no, this couldn't be happening! This couldn't be real! Why would anyone take his son! Why? Frantic now, he pulled the blankets out of the cradle, yanked the rug up off the floor, and looked into every corner of the room, but Mathias wasn't there. He ran to the window and unlatched it; maybe someone out on the grounds had him, maybe...
"Mathias!" His call was drowned out by the roar of thunder. "Mathias!" There was nothing, nothing but the rain and wind and thunder and an empty cradle by the fireplace.
"MATHIAS!"
OOOOOO
A/N 2: I don't know how fast this one is going to update. I wasn't going to post it yet until I had a better idea of where was going, since I only have the ending, and not much in the way of an idea on how to get there, but I really like this idea. Hopefully, posting it will force me to keep working on it.