6

Chapter 6

Bolton Baldric POV.

For two years he had lived his life among people without any connection or friendship. He hated everything about his situation, but the worst part was that his family didn't care about him at all, not anymore. They were all just waiting patiently for him to finally break and leave them all behind. But Bolton couldn't. He was afraid to. They needed him. He loved them, more than anything else in the entire world. And so Bolton stayed strong in his conviction that one day soon his father would realize that too. His mother and sister didn't have nearly as high hopes for him, but Bolton refused to give up.

Ever since he was little, his father had drilled into his head and taught him the importance of perseverance. He remembered his childhood, watching his parents go through the same process, learning the hard way to always do exactly as told and not ask any questions because otherwise they would only be punished. It didn't really make sense to him; they were the ones who taught him to stand up against their tyranny. They had raised him to believe that his existence was worth something, even if others weren't. He had learned that his mother was sick. That the illness that ravaged their town, killed countless villagers and forced them to live underground in a cave, didn't deserve his pity. When they died, he felt a strange kind of relief knowing that his mother was no longer suffering and unable to continue her reign. He hated it though. He knew his mother despised him for his weakness and selfishness.

When his parents passed away in their sleep, he vowed never to repeat their mistakes by letting himself be dragged down by others. Never again. He would work harder, faster and smarter to stay ahead. To live a good life.

And then he met Grenda, whom he married. She cared for him unconditionally, always loving and patient with him, as if he was a small child she had taken in, rather than the leader of the most powerful tribe in the region. For the first few years after their marriage, they moved into their house and Grenda began working on making it her own. She built shelves and tables to make use of for all the dishes and utensils they used for cooking and eating. After years of having nothing to do, Bolton enjoyed being useful, being useful and being productive. It felt nice to be doing something.

And when Grenda had her first daughter, he was proud. It wasn't easy being the new head of the family, but Grenda seemed happy to share her happiness with him whenever possible. They spent hours cooing over their newborn daughter every single day of the year and they shared many of their favorite memories with her. Bolton cherished these moments more than anything and the children's laughter was just like music. He loved how they laughed, clapped and squealed. He would spend endless nights lying awake listening to them and thinking about their beautiful voices. Even now when their daughter was grown up and he was sitting alone in the darkness of his bedroom, he often missed the times that his children were around to comfort him and play with him. He had to face reality though.

Grenda went through hell while he was enjoying the life of luxury and power. She was a weak woman who had suffered greatly during childbirth and had lost half of her baby weight due to stress. At least she managed to raise the baby in peace for a while before giving birth to another child. Bolton was happy that at least the child had a healthy sibling to look after it in the meantime. Then she gave birth to yet another son. He didn't mind the extra mouths to feed since it was necessary. He also supported both his wife and his daughter equally when it came to raising their daughter since he saw how much it hurt to lose them both. He also had an additional burden now, but he tried to ignore it.

He had a difficult time coping with being a single man.