The story of Elward (Chapter 6)

The story of the prisoner named Elward who had to make eyeglasses for a prince. (1,200~ words)

His name was Elward. His mother had named him in hopes that he would always move forward in life, and grow up without getting stuck in the past. She was a sickly woman with little to her name except a fallen noble title and the label of mother, and her life had been trickling away by the day ever since she caught the plague of the epidemic. It didn't kill her, but it devastated her eyesight. She struggled to provide for her only son as her eyes continued to deteriorate, so young Elward would sneak out during the day to get extra coin by the way of manual labor. He would then sneak his coin into his mothers clothes, bedding, and her basket of “savings.” After discovering them, she would exclaim and run to Elward, telling him that a fairy must have visited. She believed that fairies loved anyone who lost one or more of their senses.
On the first day of spring, his 13th birthday, she died. It was a hazy day without a shred of sunlight, and the fields outside were still dead and brown from the harsh winter.
“Elward,” she asked with a smile, eyes unfocused. “What does it look like out the window?”
“It's sunny, Mother.” He had lied without blinking. “The grass is lively and green, and there's a big, fluffy white cloud above our house at this very moment. The breeze is cold, but there are still flowers peeking out of the dirt to greet the sun.”
“That's beautiful, Elward.” She closed her eyes, imagining it. “What color are the flowers?”
“White and pink, as far as the eye can see, Mother. They are covered in morning dew, and your white dress would be dampened with the moisture.” Her dress is beige. White was too expensive, but she was so happy when he brought her a new dress that he wanted her to dream of a better life than the one they had.
“Ah, it's a wonderful day... I’m glad, Elward. The winter is terribly cold. I was afraid I wouldn't get to be with you on your birthday, but this body of mine managed to get one thing right in the end.”
“Mother…”
The frail woman reached out and Elward leaned forward, so that she could cup his cheek. Humming softly, she opened her cracked lips, “My sweet boy… You are the most precious gift I’ve ever had the fortune of holding… in these broken hands of mine.”
“No, mother…!” Elward cried, grasping at her hand with a gentle touch that could not carry the desperation in his heart.
“Don’t worry about me… We’ll meet again, one day, my dear. My boy… My sweet, beautiful, handsome child. My… fairy.”
The day she died was miserably bleak. He cursed the sun for hiding behind the clouds and the dead grass devoid of white and pink flowers for making him a liar. If he had been a large, strong man, he would’ve waved away the clouds and raised the plants from the dead, so that he could take his mother into his arms and carry her into the dewy morning, to let her feel the sunshine on her face before she went.
It was the worst feeling.
He wasn't allowed time to mourn as he got swept away by work and life. He hated his name, which forced him away from the memories of his mother and towards a future that was lonely and bitter. He hated himself, who didn't want to abide by his mothers advice. He wanted to be held in her frail embrace and look into her unfocused but warm brown eyes again, if only one more time. He was helpless against the tide of time.
He got himself a position as an eyeglass apprentice. Learning many lessons and skills, he didn't have the pleasure of reminiscing, and his growing memories made him discard more and more of the old and decaying fragments of his mother left. In only a few years, he stopped thinking about her. He didn't forget, no, but the moments of remembrance became farther and farther apart from each other. Time passed, and he filled his loneliness with friends.
He eventually took over his masters position and made custom orders for clients. His business wasn't booming, but it gave him the chance to grow close to his clients. One of which was a young woman, close to his age, whose younger brother had bad eyes.
She was taller than himself but he didn't mind. The pair of sister and brother were loud and cute together, teasing and smiling the entire time they were in his shop, and Elward couldn't help but fall in love. Like magic, he couldn't stop thinking about her, day in and day out. And it turned out that he wasn't the only one. The young woman had two other sisters who could have taken their brother to the shop, but she stubbornly refused to allow them. She harbored a secret crush on Elward, but was too insecure to ask him out.
Everything happened very quickly after he took the initiative. They dated, she moved in, and they got married. Then they had a cute baby girl. The birth went well, but his wife decided not to have another child after their first. Her hips were nearly too narrow to give birth to a relatively small baby and it was almost dangerous. He respected her decision.
Several blissful years passed and he immersed himself in creating helpful books for his daughter to learn from, in order to take over the family business one day. He had even contacted his former master for advice on how to write it. The old man promised to help his once-apprentice's daughter learn the craft. It was going so well.
Then the palace called for him.
He never got to return.
They had him create several pairs of glasses for the second prince, but the prince refused to let Elward leave after they were finished. He was afraid Elward would spread rumors about him being an imperfect prince and ruin his chances of succession. The king didn't want to either babysit Elward in the palace or kill him outright, so he sent Elward to a place of sure oblivion. The manor of the Golden Eyes.
The reason Elward was chosen out of dozens of eyeglass masters was because of his faint status as a fallen noble. The second prince wouldn't deign himself to meet with a commoner. The nobler eyeglass master happened to be out of the kingdom when the prince decided to get glasses and refused to wait a few months. It was a matter of luck. Terrible, terrible luck.
Then he was thrown into the dungeons a mere two weeks after getting trapped in this manor. For watering the flowers on a Wednesday and not a Thursday. Bad luck again.
He begged for his life, which was spared at the expense of his body and mind. For three weeks he experienced misery on misery. It allowed him to submerge himself in memories of his mother again, in the time he was left alone�" which was frequent. The master hardly cared about a man like him when he had so many people to choose from. Then, the butler abruptly dragged him out, and he found himself in a cage with a boy and a girl.
He missed his wife and his little girl beyond words. But his wife’s family would reach out to support them and his old eyeglass master wouldn’t let the craft die with Elward. They would figure it out without him.
Now… it's time to return to his mother.

Author's Note

I made up his name on a whim, is it weird? I just didn't want to name him Edward. How is the story? He's a bit progressive for what the times should be like, but I do what I want. I still don't know how to do tags.