The Color of Betrayal: Story of a Boy Named Riven
By: LadyNightSky
A/N: I'm a little disappointed no one has picked up on the hints I've been dropping yet ): . There are some pretty important parts I thought I should repeat here… "Anaxandra sat well away from Riven, suddenly behaving as if her son had the plague." Why would Anaxandra sit away from Riven? Maybe because she blames him for what might be her death sentence? And if she blamed him, how would that affect their relationship? Remember, Riven's just a young child with complete trust in his mother. If his mother suddenly gave him a good reason to hate her, how would that affect him? Perhaps he would be embittered? xD Just some things you should ponder. And thanks so much for the reviews, guys :)
Disclaimer: Don't own Winx Club.
Chapter Three: Of Rumors and Bastards
January 15, 1994; Riven's Room; Olympas Royal Palace
A shadow crept close to Riven's bed, slinking along in the darkness. Sliding up beside the little boy's sleeping form, it bent over him.
"Boy!" it hissed. "Riven!"
Riven sat up with a start, blinking the sleep blearily from his eyes.
"Who's there?" he asked in thick, drowsy voice, rubbing his fists over his eyes. He blinked again, but couldn't make out anything in the inky darkness of his room. A small wedge of panic drove itself into his heart, and he tensed, trying to clear the last cobwebs of drowsiness from his mind.
"Who I am is not important," the voice hissed again. "All that you need to know right now is that your life is in danger, and I am here to help you. Get out of bed and get dressed."
"B-But, what about Reya? And Mama? What happened to Mama?" Riven despised his voice for quivering.
"Not here, boy. All shall be revealed in time. Hurry now! That guard won't be unconscious forever."
Unconcious?!? The word set off warning bells in Riven's head. He had been taught to never trust anyone beyond family, especially strangers; they might be taking advantage of either him, his money, or both.
"Boy! I said I don't have the time!" the voice was impatient and annoyed now.
"I'm not going anywhere! I-,"
"BOY!" the voice was angry. "Your mother sent me. Hurry it up!!!"
"But Mama is in the court-,"
"Her trial's been over for hours. She sent me to you, though I have no idea why. In my opinion, she should leave you here. A child with us would only serve as a hindrance and an annoyance once we leave."
LEAVE?!? Riven scrambled out of bed. His Mama wouldn't go anywhere without him, and if he didn't hurry, she'd be angry when she was kept waiting.
As soon as Riven was dressed, the figure to whom the voice belonged grabbed him and led him quickly through the ajar door of Riven's room. He spotted the guard lying slumped against the wall, and hastily turned his eyes away, telling himself firmly that his Mama would never have told the figure to hurt the guard if there wasn't a good reason. Why, the guard was probably a bad guy.
The hallway was silent and chilly, Riven's and the figure's footsteps echoing conspicuously in the deathly quiet. Riven was still tired, and trudged his feet, taking no particular notice of where he was being led until he spotted the familiar underground corridor that led directly to the stables from the palace. He was about to ask why Mama would be in the stables, a place she hated with a passion, when the figure gave a jerky, sudden movement, and pushed Riven against the wall, clasping a hand tightly against the boy's mouth. Riven struggled, but the figure's hold was firm.
A guard swept by, muttering blearily to himself, and walked past where Riven and the figure stood without a sideways glance.
As soon as the guard rounded the corner, the figure let go of Riven, who knew better then to say anything. The turned down the corridor, and walked along until Riven began to smell the faint aroma of freshly cut hay and soaped leather. He breathed it in deeply, and it calmed his frayed nerves a little, giving the dark night a sense of comfort and normality.
They approached the twin wooden doors that would lead into the stables, and the figure pressed a hand to them. After a few moments, the doors slid open with a quiet creak. Bewildered, Riven stopped in his tracks. The doors operated on a system of magical identity, which everyone in the dimension had. It was what made each person unique. Riven knew for a fact that there were very few people the doors opened for, mainly the overseers of the stables, the horse grooms, and a few select nobles. He himself could not get into the stables unless he got someone with clearance to open the wooden doors for him. Most of the time he ordered the grooms, some of which he had secretly befriended, to open the barriers.
All this added up to the fact that the figure must be someone that either worked for the King as a horse groom, or the figure was a noble. Riven couldn't imagine his Mama associating with anyone that worked at horses for a living, so he assumed the figure was a noble. His eyes narrowed.
Most of the nobles he didn't like, preferring to associate with the servants, who were much more honest and much less snobbish, which made him quite a scandal indeed for his Mama. The noble ladies had all reprimanded him at one time or another, saying that it didn't befit his station in life to go gallivanting among the 'common filth'.
The figure was growing impatient. "Well, boy, we can't stand out here all night. Get inside the stables. From what I've heard, you know the place well enough." the voice sneered.
Riven reluctantly moved into the warm, muggy stables. The figure closed the doors behind him, and led him down the main aisle. Riven could hear the snorts of the sleeping horses, the jingles of harnesses, and some animal munching. The smell of manure and straw permeated the air, but Riven paid it no mind, having grown accustomed to it from all his wanderings among the stables.
They turned into the last stall on the right, which was empty. Riven was about to ask what they were doing when a cloaked woman slid out from the shadows of the stable.
He recognized the stately gait, and the flashes of shiny blonde hair.
"Mama!" he cried. The figure immediately clapped his hand over Riven's mouth again. He struggled violently against the tight hold, muffled sounds escaping him.
"Shut up."
Riven stopped moving, his eyes wide. His Mama had never spoken to him that harshly before. She threw back her hood imperiously, and he could see that she was dressed all in black underneath the cape. She wore neither adornment nor jewelry, which was strange for her. It was like she was a completely different person. Her eyes glittered coldly at him, warning him not to say anything, then moved to the figure.
"Claudio?" she asked, her voice suddenly soft and breathy. She moved forward, laying a hand on Riven's captor's arm. Riven felt the man suddenly relax. He let go of Riven as if he were a deathly disease, and moved closer to Riven's Mama. Riven, wide eyed, wondered what in the world was happening.
The figure threw back his own hood, and Riven recognized him as the King's Superior General, the advisor of all of Olympas' armies. He was a noble indeed, a fierce, cruel, cunning man that valued strength and submission much more than he should. Riven shrank back against the wall of the stable, watching the General and his mother draw closer and begin murmuring to each other, seemingly not aware that Riven could hear every word being said.
"Ah, my dear, we shall leave soon, and begin a happy life together. Your loveliness bewitches me, my lady, and with you I shall be the happiest man in the universe. The Queen is merely a spiteful old hag that is jealous of your indescribable beauty, and I have no qualms about betraying the King my sovereign for you. " The General's voice was sleek and syrupy, and it sickened Riven to his stomach. He might not know much else, but he knew the General was besotted with his mother; he had hard that same voice used by the courtiers that constantly paid his Mama attention.
Lady Anaxandra merely reached out one small white hand, and traced the General's face. "I am very thankful, milord." she spoke in the same breathy voice.
The General spoke again, but this time his voice was whiny and asinine. "But, my dove, what of you? Are you willing to give up your riches and your husband? I, who have traded everything for your love, would like to hear that you too have sacrificed much for me."
To this, Riven nearly snorted in disbelief. His Mama would never trade in her riches for anything, and he was confident that she would never leave his Papa; the loved each other and him and Reya too much.
Indeed, when Lady Anaxandra answered, the contempt in her voice was ill concealed, though the General, besotted as he was, didn't catch anything.
"Of course, I would trade in everything for your love. You are my hero, my strong brave warrior," she said. Riven could hear the transparent lie in her tone, and suddenly wondered why she was doing this. And why was she out here anyways? He was about to speak up when his Mama continued.
"My husband is nothing compared to you. Where you are like a lion, he is a mere meek mouse."
The General puffed up in pride at this, but Riven suddenly felt like he was going to be sick. This couldn't be happening. He could tell his Mama was telling the truth this time.
"But your son! What are we doing with him? He should be left-," the General began.
"Hush, my warrior." Lady Anaxandra's voice was silken again. "If anything should…er…happen, my fool of a husband would be too soft-hearted to risk the boy. The King would never allow anything to happen to his blood, even an illegitimate son. You see, the boy is our passage to safety. The bastard prince of Olympas would not be allowed to come to harm if the King remains King, and therein lies his value to us."
After a moment, the General chuckled. "What a cunning little swan you are, my dear. What intelligence! What beauty!"
To this, Lady Anaxandra gave a slow, gleaming smile.
Riven watched in dawning horror and nausea as the General and his mother kissed. Was he nothing more to her than that? For the first time in his life, Riven felt genuine anger. A few days ago, he would've tried to kill anyone who had spoken a word against his Mama. But now, he felt the urge to scream, to stare into those cold eyes and spit.
And then, a realization hit him. His Papa wasn't his papa. The Duke probably wasn't Reya's papa either. And he really was a bastard, and extra, someone not wanted any longer, except for wrong means.
And the rumors about his mother had been true. He had refused to believe them before, but now he recalled them with a sickening sense of truth.
The Duchess quickly charms men, but she ruins them quicker…
There is nothing a man wouldn't do for that minx…
They'd die for her, fight for her, and be proud to do it. They'd become traitors for her.
A/N: Whew. Yeah, Riven's incredibly mature for a seven-year-old, but he always struck me as very intelligent. You'll find out how Lady Anaxandra escaped in the next chapter, what she and the General are plotting, and what will become of poor Riven in the next chapter.
And for those of you wondering, yes, Lady Anaxandra is quite the… ahem…slut/cold-hearted bitch. She has the General eating out of her hand, but doesn't care anymore for the poor besotted man than she does for the dirt underneath her feet.
I drew her character from some accounts of Helen of Troy, the infamous starter of the Trojan War. She was the most beautiful woman that ever lived, and thousands of men died fighting for her. Some stories say that she enjoyed being fought over, drew excitement from the fact that she could elicit such bloodshed, even between brothers.