Disclaimer: I do not own POTO or Elisabeth.
A/N: Thanks to everyone for your kind reviews! Here's another chapter. Extremely short, yes I know. I thought that it might be useful to paint this little portrait, though.
Chapter Sixteen
Father and Son
When Raoul heard of Dacio's untimely death, he was devastated. Growing up, Dacio had been his best mentor, next to Philippe. Dacio's word was law to him. He'd never gone against it, except for the time with Christine. Christine… The count shook his head. Christine had played him for a fool. Dacio had told him that and had made him wise to her tricks. He was right to see to his son's education himself. Christine had been wrong to divorce him. He was right and Christine was wrong.
Dacio was right and Christine was wrong. It had all been at Dacio's urging, but what's some help from a wise sister? She hadn't been taking over his life. The Comte de Chagny controlled his own life.
Dacio was wrong and Christine was right. Raoul buried his face in his hands. Christine had never cheated him. He thought back on his actions. He'd ripped Christine's precious son from her arms and thrown him into that boarding school. He had to fix this mess. Christine would come running back into his arms when he admitted his mistake and made all things right.
"What if I don't want you to go?"
"I would go anyway." Christine had said that she would just go away, despite his wishes. Raoul sighed. He had lost Christine.
As the servants prepared the little boy for bed, Vladen's voice echoed through the manor, "I hate England! Where's Mamma and Ami? They don't visit me anymore. Who do I have? Just the man in the study." Obviously, he wasn't on favorable terms with his son either. All day Vladen would complain about England and say that he missed Christine and his mysterious friend. As the sky darkened and Lady Night began spreading her blanket over the land, Raoul turned out the lamp and went to pay his son a call. It was about time they started to get to know each other.
Vladen laid in the darkness of his bedroom in the old English manor and hugged himself tightly. He'd liked Paris so much, but then the man who he knew to be his father had shown up and whisked him away to this awful place called England. He thought about Ami. Ami had promised to come take him and Mamma away to a wonderful place where he wouldn't have to go to the Academy or see his aunts and where he could play with Mamma all day long. Where was Ami now, when he needed him most? Why didn't Ami fulfill his promise? He called out into the dark for Ami but when the cry reached Ami's ears, he ignored it.
The door creaked open, and Raoul tiptoed in. Vladen shot up in bed. "Mamma? Ami?"
"No," Raoul answered softly. "It's your Papa."
"Oh." He sat on the edge of the bed, and Vladen turned his back on him.
"Vladen…" The little boy made no sound. Several times Raoul tried to coax a response from him, but after quarter of an hour had passed, he left Vladen to sleep.
A/N: Please R&R! Your reviews make my day!