Chapter Text
There had been an incident in Sweet Reef. A merchant, his wife and their son had been attacked in the middle of the night by criminals, and only the son had survived from his injuries.
What had surprised Wylan the most despite the fact that it was unusual for criminals to roam in Sweet Reef was the reaction of his father. Jan Van Eck was a cold and strict man, and as the years went on, it was getting rarer to see a smile on his face, especially when it came to Wylan. But this incident seemed to have devastated him. Jan Van Eck spent his days making round trip to the hospital to check on the merchant’s son, he even had ordered to Miggson to stay there all day long to make sure that no harm would come over this boy.
Wylan who had become like a ghost in his own house had simply observed his father’s actions, he had listened to him talking with doctors, he had watched Jan’s face being contorted by emotions he hadn’t seen the man express in years, and no matter how hard he thought about it, he couldn’t explain what was up with his father.
It was strange seeing his father who was usually cold and stern, being worried about someone else. There had been a time where he had been like this with Wylan, but it had all changed when Jan had come to terms with the fact that his son couldn’t read and had decided to ignore him as a way to punish him.
But when the explanation for his father’s actions came, Wylan’s whole life was turned upside down.
Everything happened in late autumn morning, a servant had knocked on his door and had whispered words that had made Wylan’s blood run cold.
Your father wants to see you in his office, right now.
He had immediately dreaded the confrontation ahead, and he had been overcome by stress and terror at the idea of being summoned by his father. Jan Van Eck had been ignoring his son for months now, so whatever the reason was for wanting to see Wylan right now could only mean something worse than just being a ghost in his own home.
But Wylan knew better than to make his father wait, so he had dressed rapidly, tried to untangle his messy hair as much as possible and he had gone straight to his father’s office.
Wylan was sitting on a chair outside of his father’s office, waiting for the man to call him inside. He felt sick, his heart was racing in his chest, and his stomach hurt, plus having Prior standing in front of him and monitoring him did nothing to ease his spirit. His mind was also racing because he was trying to figure out why Jan Van Eck had called him. Was it because he had dropped paint on the floor the other day? Was it because he had played the flute too late at night? Every single one of Wylan’s actions felt like a reason for being summoned by his father at that point, he just had to find out which one it was. Not knowing the reason was driving him mad, and he couldn’t help but wonder if he would not die of stress before being told to come in. He just had to hope that it would soon be over, and that he would quickly go back to his room and disappear from his father’s eyes like he had done for the past few months.
After what was probably a good thirty minutes of waiting, Wylan finally heard the cold and harsh tone of his father ordering him to come in. He took a deep breath and stepped into the office. He stopped in front of the desk and briefly met the icy stare of his father before immediately staring at the floor.
He had to repress a shiver; he hadn’t missed being in his father’s presence at all. And he could tell that it was the same for his father, this man did not want to be in the presence of his son.
“Seize him,” were Jan Van Eck’s first words after his son had stepped into the office.
Wylan barely had the time to turn his head before Prior caught his arms with his strong hands and held them behind his back. He let out a little confused “what” before he saw his father getting up from his chair and walk towards him. He didn’t bother struggling against Prior’s grip because he knew he wouldn’t be able to free himself, and he would only hurt himself.
“You are twenty years old now, and I’m tired of wasting my money and my time on a burden like you,” Jan started, his tone neutral and unbothered, almost bored, “You are costing me a lot of money without bringing me anything in return except shame. I had to resign myself to finding a replacement.”
“A replacement?” Wylan asked, petrified.
He felt like he had just been hit in the face, when Jan Van Eck had started ignoring him, Wylan had wondered if one day the man would simply get rid of him, and maybe he had always refused to imagine his father being able to separate himself from his son, but now, he knew that he had been wrong to think that.
“You can come in,” Jan called.
Wylan turned his head to look at the door, and he blinked when he saw a boy step in the office looking like his literal twin. Jan Van Eck put his hand on the stranger’s shoulder and squeezed it lightly.
“Meet Aleksei, or should I say Wylan, my new son.”
Wylan stared in shock at the two men in front of him, he had trouble believing what was happening right now. His own father was getting rid of him because he had found a replacement, he had found a boy that could read and that would not tarnish the Van Eck name with his stupidity.
“Prior, take him to the cellar. I don’t want to see him ever again,” Jan said, not even glancing at his own son.
And without another word, his father’s guard dragged him to the cellar.
Winter had finally settled in Ketterdam, and with that had come a freezing cold that had surprised all its inhabitants.
Wylan had been stuck in the cellar for the past four days now, with this freezing cold as sole company. The low temperature was torturing him, and if it continued that way, it might also take his life.
Making sure that his son was comfortable in this dirty cellar was not a part of Jan’s plan, there was no blanket, no warm clothes, no bed except for an old torn mattress half-eaten by mites. But what Wylan was sure of was that his father had made sure that there would be books surrounding him, just to taunt him. In this cellar, there was this pathetic mattress, three shelves full of old books, and a wooden door that led to a filthy bathroom. His only source of light came from a small window that was too high for him to reach. And for now, someone still brought him food every morning, but he was convinced that it wouldn’t last.
Wylan spent his days alone with his thoughts, and every day he was getting madder at himself for not having seen through his father’s plans or for not trying to resist when Prior had taken him down there. The worst part was that he had spent days observing his father being worried about this boy who had been attacked in Sweet Reef. He should have known that Jan was scheming something, all the clues had been there. His father being worried for another boy already didn’t make any sense, the round trips to the hospital, sending Miggson to make sure that no harm would come over this boy, everything had seemed completely out of character for Jan Van Eck, and yet Wylan hadn’t been able to piece everything together.
On the third morning, he overheard a conversation between the servant that brought him food and his father.
“For how long do you want me to keep feeding him?” the servant had asked.
When he had heard his father talking on the other side of the door, he had been ready to beg him to let him out, but when he had heard the man’s next words, he had known that Jan would never change his mind.
“Aleksei should be ready to step in his new role soon enough. Feed Wylan until the end of the month, then let him starve,” Jan had ordered.
Wylan’s days were numbered, and if he didn’t act, this cellar would be his grave.
On the fourth day of being locked down here, he decided that he needed to stop moping around, he needed to stop thinking about how blind he had been and how if he had thought more about his father’s weird actions, he could maybe have prevented being stuck here forever.
He didn’t have much time before the end of the month, he needed to find a way out or he would be starving to death soon.
The idea of leaving his home was scary, he didn’t know where he would end up if he found a way to get out of this place, but he realized that anywhere else would be better than here. Outside of this cellar, he would have a life, probably a hard one because it wasn’t easy to live in Ketterdam with absolutely nothing, but he would at least live. And slowly, he started thinking about the possibilities of the outside world, and his heart started filling with hope. He thought about making friends, he thought about playing the flute as much as he wanted to without ever being interrupted by his father, he thought about finding love. And, even if Jan Van Eck had spent a major part of his life telling him that the world would treat Wylan harshly because he was a moron, there was also a chance that his father was totally wrong, and that there was a world or a place where someone would greet Wylan with open arms.
He was sure of it now, out there, there was a life for him.
A wave of determination hit him, and he took a deep breath. His first mission was to search the cellar thoroughly, hoping to find an exit or something that could help him make one. He started by taking a brief look around the room, and he noticed two things that seemed out of the ordinary. Firstly, there was a brick protruding of the wall not too far from his musty bed, secondly at the bottom of one of the shelves, there was a sliding door locked with a padlock.
Wylan decided to start with the brick, he would need it to break the padlock anyway. It was probably just a defect of construction, but it seemed movable. He grabbed the brick, and he started pulling on it, trying to dislodge it. He felt it budge, and he knew that after several tries, he would be able to pull it out.
And he was right, after a couple of tries, the brick broke free leaving a hole in the wall. Something shiny inside the hole caught his attention and when he looked closer and realized what it was, he had never been more confused in his life.
Money.
Wylan couldn’t believe it. There was kruge hidden in this cellar, only a few coins and a few paper bills, probably fifteen kruge in total, but it was a start. He would not start his new life with absolutely nothing.
He decided to leave the kruge for now, it wouldn’t get him anywhere if he didn’t find a way out. So, he went to the shelf with the padlock, he put one hand on the wood to steady himself before deciding to break it with the brick, and he noticed that the wooden door was extremely cold as if the wind reached this specific part of the cellar. Instantly, it gave him hope, hope that maybe there was an exit behind this sliding door and this padlock.
He crushed the lock with the brick, and pried the sliding door open, excitation and hope filling him. But when he opened it, it was disappointment that found the way to his heart because his eyes landed on the same wall that had been keeping him prisoner for three days now.
No exit.
Nothing.
Wylan almost wanted to cry, the emotional rollercoaster he had just been through was awful, and had almost made him lose his motivation. He turned away, not wanting to stare at this stupid wall of disillusion anymore, but the sound of the wind whistling forced him to turn again. He put his ear against the stone, the sound was louder, the wind definitely reached this place. He knocked on the wall and the noise it made allowed him to hope again.
A hollow sound.
The wall was not thick here, maybe, just maybe he could create a path and get out of here.
Feeling hopeful again, he decided to look around the cellar to find sharp tools, and perhaps luck was with him today because in one of the shelves, he found a pick.
He took a deep breath, gripped the pick tightly in his hand and he hit the wall once. One hit had been enough to create a small hole. He could feel the wind on his face, and even if it was freezing cold, right now, it felt amazingly good. He decided to observe what lied behind the hole, and to his surprise, he discovered a long and dark tunnel. He didn’t know where it led, but if the wind blew down there, it meant that there was a potential access to the outside world.
He was going to get out of here.
And with this discovery, Wylan went back to the hole with the money in it, he took five kruge, and then his objective for the rest of the day was to tear down the wall and reach the other side of the tunnel.