Chapter Text
Wake up, prepare for the day, eat breakfast, stay in the study all day. Only take a small break for lunch. Resume the work until dinner. Have dinner with family, watch as your wife critiques your children like they’re little abominations ready to be commanded, finish dinner, and then sleep for eight hours just to start all over again.
That was life, of course meeting with the council of the abomination coven would happen every so often but those have been far in between as of late. Then of course his wife had set up the occasional dinner party of some of the most elite witches on the isle but again, those were occasional. Nothing diverted much from his usual routine.
The life of being a Blight. It was an infamous, high status to be in, he led the abomination coven which was tightly run and is favored in the Emperor’s eyes.
It was for the legacy of the Blight name, it was for them. The hard work couldn’t be tarnished by infidels, most didn’t understand the sacrifices that were necessary to achieve these things. He had sacrificed it all, family members who lacked, friends who didn’t agree, true relationships with his children-
Snap.
The shaft of the griffin quill had snapped in Alador’s hand at the point of his fingers. A low grumble escaped him as he discarded the quill into the wastebasket at the side of his desk. Alador leaned onto his desk with his forearms and dripped his head to regain his focus.
He was Alador Blight, husband to Odalia Blight, leader of the Abomination coven and father.
Was he a father? He brought his hand up to rub his eyes.
Of course, he was their father. His three children were of him, they all had his eyes. Pools of gold that seemed to mimic the metal when in the sun. And his youngest, gaining the same hair color he had.
She had the same colored hair, his wife had... encouraged Amity to assimilate to the green.
‘My love, doesn’t she look like a Blight?’ Of course but his daughter had already looked like Blight before so why was there that need to change?
An unsettling feeling found its way to the pit of his stomach. He remembers Amity’s face when he had got home that day.
Odalia had both hands on her daughter’s shoulders, she admired the tedious work of bleaching then dying her hair. She ran her hands through the strands, as Alador watched, he took note of his daughter’s demeanor. Sullen, if he had to describe her in one word. Her golden eyes held a certain shadow to them.
“Amity why don’t you ask your father if he likes the improvement.” Improvement? Why would this be an improvement?
Alador felt the crinkle on his forehead form as he looked at his youngest. She had an old t-shirt on with only a few stains of bleach and green. Her fists held so tightly at her side Alador feared the girl would draw blood with her nails.
“Do you like it, father?” Her voice sounding so small, she kept her eyes off to the side and Alador saw her beginning to shake.
Alador isn’t one for much physical attention but he couldn’t help but take his daughter’s chin in his hand to tilt her face upwards. The glossiness of her eyes told him that his little girl was upset, he felt it.
Her natural hair wasn’t enough. Her beautiful auburn hair that she inherited from him wasn’t enough. The green was what made her a Blight, not for the simple fact that she was their daughter.
“You look nice Amity.” He touched the hair tentatively for a moment before patting his daughter’s shoulder.
“Please excuse me, I have some work to do for the coven.” Alador smiled at his daughter but when he met the eyes of his wife he felt that pit of anger rising. It must’ve translated itself into his face because for a moment he saw something in her eyes. A flash of regret? Alador didn’t care to stay and find out he just wanted to be away from her.
Alador exhaled and pushed himself away from his desk with just a tad of too much force causing his chair to lean back just enough to fall over. His body hit the floor with a solid thud before he began to minor curses under his breath. He stood, pulling the chair up and tucked under his desk. Then his hand reached up to smooth out his auburn hair and beard.
He was usually more graceful than that. He sighed, out of all things he had to think about the thought about the hair situation. There were so many more things that he could think about. The coven, how he could improve it, how it could further benefit the Emperor but he couldn’t help it. Ever since this year's convention, he had noticed a change in Amity. Alador wasn’t close to her, not by a long shot. Most fathers could hold a decent conversation with their child but he just couldn’t. Not when there’s a wall of guilt and anger between them.
Three light but confident knocks interrupted his thoughts. Straightening himself out one last time and clearing his throat he walked over to open the heavy wooden door.
“Alador?” In the doorway stood his wife, Odalia, her green hair tied into a neat bun, her dark purple dress free from any wrinkles and the look of questioning on her face.
“Odalia.” Here was the woman that he was married to, the love of his life yet things haven’t felt that way. There isn’t much to their relationship as of late, not like it was when they were younger. Maybe that could change?
Odalia Blight was that girl at Hexside back in the day. Every witch knew of her, some wanted to date her. the ones confident enough to even approach her would be shot down almost instantly. Citing her fathers would only approve of someone who was worthy and therefore had no time for ‘insolent fools’.
Besides himself there was one other person that Odalia had taken a liking to, she quoted that the girl only hit a soft spot because she had the potential but was too focused on comparing herself to others to be better so that was a short-lived relationship.
Alador on the other hand had known of Odalia but really had no interest at first. He knew abominations and that was what he loved. Learning and combining different recipes for building a stronger abomination. He would often lock himself in his room, creating and learning. Friends weren’t a priority, especially not a pretty girl.
But somehow Alador caught Odalia’s eye, she pursued him, he didn’t realize he was the one she wanted at first. He would pass her in the halls, not glancing at her yet she would walk with him. She would talk, talk enough for the both of them, about everything under the sun and he wouldn’t say a word.
Abomination practice? She would come, telling him she wanted to see his infamous creations. And Alador wasn’t one to lie, it was nice to have someone take so much interest in his work, thinking about it he probably worked harder when Odalia was in his presence.
She pushed him, in the best way at the time. It felt like someone was finally in his corner, someone that recognized his work was good but could always improve. She was the one that introduced him to Armel and Frederick, she bragged how to two excelled in their respective coven tracks.
Alador remembers the days they all had together, graduating and carving their staffs together, getting into the covens they wanted, when they told them that Odalia was pregnant the first and second time. When Armel came to him, worried that Fredrick didn’t want a family with him but just the opposite. Their little girl Willow coming into the world a month earlier than Amity. The way the two grew up together…
The end of their friendship when he and Odalia deemed Willow wasn’t up to par to associate with the Blights anymore.
Then he remembers the sadness in Amity’s eyes when they both forced Amity to end the friendship. It was for the good of the Blight name but...
“What were you saying?” Alador tuned back in, his thoughts crowding his mind thus not hearing a word his wife said. Odalia’s eyebrows furrowed, if she was annoyed by being ignored she didn't show it.
“There was a loud noise, I was checking to see if you were alright and to tell you that dinner is ready and the children are waiting.” Turning on her heels, Odalia walked away before Alador could say another word. He let go of the breath he was holding and decided to join his family now rather than hear his wife’s scolding later.