Hello, I would like to share with you my second story. This one won't be as long as my other story, about 7 chapters. I hope to update regularly but sometimes I don't always make it. I hope you enjoy reading it and I always appreciate your reviews.
Greetings Petit Erik
Princess Alexia, Crown Princess of Greece, walked through the tents at a fair in Paris. She did not like this place at all. People beaten for "entertainment purposes" just because they looked different. Then she saw a big tent standing in the middle of the fair. She was already dreading what she would see inside, but her curiosity got the better of her and she went in.
What she saw inside made her blood run cold: three boys, about 10 years old in appearance, were locked in a cage and being whipped for the amusement of the crowd. They were curled up in the cage, while above them stood a man who had a wicked grin on his face.
"Look, everybody, come here and see the three devil children!" he shouted through the crowd.
Alexia walked close to the cage and looked at the three boys. Where other people saw only their hideous faces, she saw three children who desperately needed help. One of the three looked into her eyes and she noticed that his eyes were amber and he was looking at her with all sadness. When she looked into his eyes, she made a decision.
She raised her voice and called out: "How much for these three boys?"
At that moment, it became quiet. The evil man, who was still standing over the boys, looked at her.
"You want to buy these three little monsters from me?"
Alexia kept her composure.
"Yes, I want to," she said, "so, how much?"
The man thought for a moment and then, grinning devilishly, he said, "A thousand francs for these three. If you even have that much."
He laughed wickedly and the crowd laughed with him. But Alexia took out a purse from her cloak and dropped it at the man's feet.
"Here, a thousand francs. Now, release her."
The man gave her an evil look, opened the door of the cage so that she could go to the three boys. They looked at her with wide, fearful eyes. Alexia whispered reassuring words to them and together they left the fair, after she had given the three of them each a cloak so that they would not freeze in their thin bodies.
She walked with the three boys to her carriage, which was parked outside the fair. She lifted the three boys up to her because they could barely stand due to their thin build. Then she turned to the coachman and said, "To the Alexiou estate, please." The coachman nodded and together they drove off. The boys had clung to each other during the ride, waiting to see what would happen now.
When they arrived at the country estate, Alexia lifted each of the three boys out of the carriage. She thanked the driver and asked him to find a way that would take them to the Mediterranean coast. The driver nodded, said goodbye to her after she paid him, and drove back to town. Together she went into the house with the three children.
Inside, it was pitch black. But with a snap of Alexia's fingers, all the lights came on. The three boys looked at her in amazement. She looked down at them and smiled. The first boy gasped and looked at her with big fearful eyes. She noticed that it was the same boy who had looked at her in the cage. But now those eyes had nothing but fear in them.
"Are you going to hit us too?" he asked, and Alexia's eyes grew wide. Oh, his voice! It was soft and barely audible, but she had never heard such a heavenly sound ever. She got down on her knees to be at eye level with him.
She looked at him and said: "No, I will not. I took you away from there so that I could give you a life that you deserve and not what you have been given so far. A life full of love."
The boy was still looking at them.
Then he said: "No one has ever loved us. Not even our mother. She sold the three of us to that man herself."
Alexia thought she didn't hear right. Her mother! Her own mother had sold her to this monster of a man! She had to control herself strongly and suppress her feelings so they wouldn't do any harm.
She continued to look at the boy and asked: "So, are you three triplets?"
The boy shook his head: "No, we are not. But the other two have been through the same thing as me. For 4 years we have lived there. Until today."
At this statement, a small smile appeared on his thin lips. Alexia smiled at him as well.
Then she straightened up and asked the three: "So, I'd like to show you your room. Would you like to come with me?"
Another boy looked at her. She noticed that he had different colored eyes. But in the darkness, she couldn't tell exactly what color they were.
"In the attic?" he asked.
"Oh, no, of course not. Up here, right on the second floor. Come with me, I'll show you. But first I would take your cloaks from you," she said.
All three looked at her fearfully.
"No, please don't. You would run away from us," said the second one.
"No, I won't. I promise," she replied.
With eyes still fearful, the three looked at her. Then they took off their cloaks and gave them to Alexia, who took them in her hands and hung them up. Then she turned back to the boys and saw them fully for the first time.
The first was relatively tall for his age but incredibly pale. Also, his body was more than thin. Then she looked at his face. She looked a bit surprised but there was no disgust or fear in her eyes. His face was the most disfigured of the three. So the boy had no nose, thin lips, no eyebrows and only a few tufts of hair on his head. Moreover, his eyes were sunken and this gave him almost the appearance of a skull. But Alexia just looked into his eyes and she noticed that he had very long eyelashes. They looked like black fans on his eyes. Jenny looked at him and saw no difference from a normal boy. Sure, he had no nose and only a few hairs, but he was just a child who wanted love. And she wanted to give it to him. Then she looked at the second boy.
The second boy was not so pale but almost as thin. Alexia looked at him as well. He had a nose unlike the first boy and only half of his face was deformed.
The left side of his face was relatively handsome even for his age. However, the right side was a mass of what looked like scar tissue. It almost looked as if the skin had melted and fused into oddly shaped ridges, especially in the area around his nose. Next to his right temple, he seemed to have a section of bone that was missing and the skin was stretched tightly over that area. Then she saw his lips. His lips were nicely and gracefully curved on the left side, but on the right side they were thick and puffy. He also had no eyebrow and hair, but only a few gray strands on his head. In addition, he also had different colored eyes. While one was blue, the other was amber. However, Alexia was not bothered by this. She saw in him what she had already seen in the first boy. A child longing for love. But the third boy was still missing and to him she went now.
He also looked at her fearfully. His eyes were blue, Alexia noticed. Like the second boy, only the right side of his face was disfigured. His cheek looked as if it had been burned once. The skin had a slight red tinge and his cheek looked as if it had been melted. He had bumps on his right temple that looked like burn blisters, which caused his hairline to be moved almost behind his ear. Due to the scars, his right lower eyelid was pulled down a bit, making his right eye seem larger than his left. He also had no eyebrow. But in contrast, he had hair that covered about three-quarters of his head. Only on his right side it was missing, so he could not even have hidden his face. His hair was a dirty blond color and when she gently touched his head, it turned out to be very soft. She had touched the head of the other two as well and their hair was also very soft. Then she knelt down in front of all three of them and opened her arms for a hug.
Of course the three of them had known what a hug was, they had seen many people hugging each other. But they never thought that a person would ever hug them voluntarily. But they accepted the invitation and fell into Alexia's arms. Soon their bodies were shaking and she was whispering soothing words to them and stroking their heads. Then, when they had calmed down, they leaned back from the embrace and looked at her.
"Do you three actually have names," she asked.
The three shook their heads.
"No, as monsters we don't deserve names we were told," the last one said.
"Well, then I'd give you some, if that's okay with you?"
The three nodded eagerly.
"Okay, you I would call Erik," she said to the boy without a nose, "you I would call Merik," she pointed to the second boy, "and you Gerik. You can of course choose other names if you like."
But the three shook their heads. They had tears in their eyes with joy because they were no longer nameless monsters, but finally had an existence.
"Shall we go upstairs?" asked Alexia to the three.
They nodded and walked up the stairs behind her. Then they stopped in front of a door.
"This will be your room for the night. Because tomorrow I'm going back home and I'll take you with me. That's why just one night," she explained to the three.
"Home?" asked Erik.
"Yes. But first we'll take the carriage all the way to Marseille. That will take some time, too."
The three nodded. Alexia smiled delightedly and opened the door to the three boys' new room. They looked inside and let out a gasp.
The room was very large, with a nice big window through which enough sun always came in. Three soft beds were in the room and there were countless books. In addition, there was also a closet for clothes and a desk for everyone, e.g. for sketching and drawing. Tears came to the eyes of the three of them and they hugged Alexia once again, who returned the hug in a friendly manner. Then each of the three chose a bed. When each had found his suitable one, they returned to her. They looked up at her with wide eyes.
Erik said: "Thank you. You shouldn't have."
"Yes, it would have," Alexia replied, "You deserve the right to be treated just like any other human being. That's why you deserve it."
Erik gave her a tearful smile. Gerik tugged at Alexia's skirt and she looked down and at him. He looked up at her with a questioning look.
"What should we call you, anyway?" he asked.
She blushed a little with embarrassment.
"Oh, I'm sorry. You guys don't even know my name yet. I'm Alexia," she said.
Suddenly Merik tapped her on the back from behind.
"Alexia," he said, his voice low and shy, "I'm a little uncomfortable and I think the others are too but could we ask you if we could take a bath?"
The other two nodded.
"Of course you can. Do you want to be in the same room together or separately?"
"Together, please. We feel safer that way," Merik explained.
"All right," Alexia said and went into the bathroom but not before taking clean clothes for the boys from the closets. Then she went into the large bathroom.
She put the clothes for each on a chair and put a note with their names on it. Then she went to the big bathtub. She looked around briefly to see if any of the three were there. When she couldn't spot anyone, she held her hand up to the faucet, made a slight turning motion, and the water flowed into the tub. Then she extended her hand throughout the room, slowly closing her fingers into a fist, causing the room to warm. When the water had finished running into the tub, she called out to the three, who also came right after.
"I have put your clothes here on three chairs," she explained, "while you are here I will make some food but before that we must take care of the wounds on your backs. So please don't put on any nightgowns yet. So, just call me when you are ready, okay?"
The three nodded and she left the bathroom, leaning the door so she could hear them, and went into the kitchen to cook dinner.
She went into the kitchen, stood in front of the stove, raised her thumb, on which a blue flame had suddenly appeared, and put the flame on the wood that was under the stove. Immediately it became warm in the kitchen. While the soup was cooking, a recipe from her mother, with carrots, potatoes and beef, Alexia set the table. Every now and then she checked on her food. When she decided it was cooked enough, she took the flame out of the stove and the wood looked like it had never been burned. When everything was ready, she went upstairs to the bathroom.
There the three boys were already standing and had put on everything except their nightgowns. Alexia walked over to them and looked at their backs and let out a gasp.
"Oh my God," she said, "he did this to you?"
"For four years. From the first moment we got there," Erik replied sadly.
"Well, it's time someone took care of your wounds. So, Erik, can you please come to me?"
Erik approached her unsteadily and looked at her. Then she spun him around so that his back was to her.
"I would ask the three of you to close your eyes now and keep them closed until I say you can open them, okay?" she asked the three of them. They nodded and closed their eyes.
She ran some water into the sink, held her hand over it again, and slowly moved her hand to Erik's back. The water followed her and snaked down the boy's back. Soon all the wounds had healed and nothing was visible. She did this to the other two as well and only then were they allowed to open their eyes again. They saw their backs and were speechless with astonishment. But Alexia just shrugged her shoulders and took the three of them to the kitchen after they put on their nightgowns.
Their stomachs growled loudly as they smelled the delicious food. Alexia led each of them to a chair and they sat down on it. Then she got everyone's plates and ladled the soup onto them with a ladle. When all the plates were filled, she sat down with them.
"Be careful, eat slowly. It's hot and because of your malnutrition, I wouldn't eat it all quickly. Better slow down and take your time, okay?" she asked the three. They nodded and then they all started eating.
Although the three of them were very hungry, they ate slowly and carefully so that they could get used to eating again first. Nevertheless, each of them ate 2 plates until they put them aside. Alexia noticed that they were very tired and exhausted, which was no wonder based on their condition. After clearing the table, she led the three of them to their new room. They each climbed into their beds and were given a teddy bear by Alexia.
She explained to them: "If I'm ever not around, just press the teddy to your chest and it will feel like a hug. Believe me, it really helps."
The three of them hugged their bear to their chest and hummed happily. They had never been in such a soft bed, let alone been given a teddy. She gave them each a kiss on the forehead and wished them a good night. She left the door to the three's room ajar so she could hear if anyone needed anything. She decided that she could do the dishes in the morning. So she went to her own room, extinguished all the candles in the house beforehand with a wave of her hand, and changed for the night. Then she lay down in her bed and quickly fell asleep, because tomorrow she would have a big trip.