It was late in the night, and Frederick Mortcombe had a hard time falling asleep. His mind was clouded with little things and his brain was befuddled. For the life of him, he could not understand why the Bloodsworth would endanger their own kin.
Granted, his own kinds are not free from fault. Hell, they are criminals! Even so, being a murderer is only a part of their job. But never in his life would he, nor his men are allowed to harm their own family. Let alone the same bloodline that ran through their vein.
The scars on Audrey's body flashed through his mind and he could not help but wonder whether the poor girl had ever been given love. If there ever was, where did it go wrong?
But then he remembered. The Bloodsworth - one of his trusted generation allies, suddenly planned a rebellion to assassinate him. Not that he minded now as he gained power and followers as a result of their stupid action. But it was hard to deny their action was out of nowhere.
'Is it because of her appearance is different from the rest? Or was it because they could not handle the truth?' Frederick deliberated.
Nonetheless, ever since he ripped her clothes in anger, the shocking surprises had been running downhill. The deep pang of unwarranted guilt kept on resurfacing and no matter how many times he showered her with gifts as a sign of apologies, it did not feel enough.
He felt the need to do more. Something to heal her from within, particularly after all the traumatic ordeal she had been through. Something. Anything! Like a big brother would do to their doting younger sister.
It was when his eyes laid on the painting on his wall did he thought of something.
'Maybe I could take a portrait of her?' He wondered. Immediately with excitement he fished for his phone and browsed for photoshoot ideas.
He came across plenty of incredible pregnancy photoshoots and mentally saved them in his head for the future. With only five months through, his prisoner had not had any baby bumps yet.
And then another obstacle came. He did not want to appear as though he went through all the trouble for her. But of course, that was the least of his problem. The issue was, how to convince this little princess to do something quite trivial as though it was her own idea?
Scrolled and scrolled on the phone, he went. When all hope is lost, one stood out and caught his eyes. It was an image of a weekly belly bump! Splendid! It was the most ideal excuse that is truly beneficial.
One, an excuse to take her picture without being weird. Two, it would be a nice memory to override her old nasty one. Frederick was keen for dawn to break as he smiled proudly at his own suggestion.
The next morning, the pair went down for a simple breakfast. On the table, there were only two large plates filled with a full English breakfast set. This comprises of the typical sunny side egg, three chicken sausages, five strips of beef breakfast, fried tomatoes, fried mushroom, baked beans and four cuts of toasted bread. The meal set was accompanied by an English breakfast tea and a glass of orange juice.
It was not as a luxurious spread as the first breakfast Audrey had, but it was still a hearty meal. Frederick took the book he requested from her and fervently flipped the pages searching for any random baby bump pictures.
"Is something with the baby?" croaked the woman before attempting to clear her throat and repeated her question.
Frederick looked up with his eyes in the midst of searching, head remaining in position. He was too preoccupied to hear what she had said. "Huh?" He asked.
Audrey Bloodsworth fumbled, dropping her fork to the tiled floor. "I'm... I'm sorry. I did not mean to interrupt..." Her words trailed as she quickly shoved the whole sunny side egg into her mouth.
The man's frowned face must have looked angry when he was only confused about the interaction.
"What is it?"
His prisoner shook her head and made up an excuse to ignore what she had said.
"Spit it out, Princess."
And when she refused, he stared her down while he placed his napkin in between the pages of the book, and closed it with a thud.
"You got me invested. Share!"
"I... I was asking if there was something wrong with the baby?" she whispered with her head facing the already half-eaten plate.
Frederick's chair screeched against the floor as he moved to her side. One hand on the table and the other on her chair, he scanned her from head to toe. With a quickened breath and an anxious tone, he asked "Why? Why? Are you in pain?"
"N-no... I was only asking because you were going through the book..."
He breathed a sigh of relief and his momentary tensed body relaxed immediately. "There, wasn't that hard to share, right? No more keeping it in next time. Just fart it out."
He chuckled when Audrey's jaw dropped. "Don't tell me you hold yourself too when you release some gas? You don't want the toxicity to build up, do you?"
Audrey was so red in the cheeks, that she shook her head abashedly.
"Good. If I find out you're keeping it in, I'll have to force you to fart in front of an audience, you get me?"