by Regine Abel
Why the fuck are they coming now? The ceremony is only tomorrow!
Nearly choking with panic, I twisted the staff’s pattern to hide the blade, grabbed the holographic disk containing my farewell and rushed to the elevator. As the lift raced down towards the ground floor, I prayed Frollo would meet up with the Elohim and keep them from coming anywhere near here while I made a run for it. But then I remembered he had magistrate engagements outside the city today. That meeting was also intended to serve him as an alibi as to why he hadn’t kept me from running away once my disappearance would become public knowledge.
I tapped on the glass door of the lift, willing it to open the minute it reached its destination. The trumpets having gone silent outside meant the Elohim had landed. Going out the front door was no longer an option. I rushed towards the back exit, dropping the holographic disk with my farewell message on the altar near one of the two entrances to the chapel.
But I never made it to the back exit. The heavy doors of the main entrance opened and the divine aura of the High Seraph slapped me with the strength of my impending doom. It drew me like a moth to a flame, the deep void that now gaped inside me hungry to be once more filled with Divine Light.
“Esmeralda!” Phoebus called out, his booming voice echoing through the empty hall of the temple.
For a split second, trembling with fear, I considered ignoring him and rushing out the building. But he’d already seen me. Even if I tried, there would be no way to outrun or lose him. He was the High Seraph, the military leader of the Elohim army. He always caught his prey.
I paused and fearfully turned to face him. With long, determined strides, he marched towards me with a broad smile, and a gentle, almost tender expression on his angelic features. He glowed with an aura of strength and power that seemed to suck the light and oxygen right out of the room.
As he closed the distance between us, his steps faltered, and his smile faded. The slight frown marring his forehead gradually turned to horror, and then into a seething fury. I took a couple of involuntary steps back as he slowly advanced towards me like a predator moving in for the kill.
“What happened to your Light?” he whispered in a dangerously low voice. “Who did this?”
“I… I’m just burnt out. It… will com-come back,” I stuttered, backing away until the wall against my back stopped any further retreat.
“DO NOT LIE TO ME!” he shouted.
My ears buzzed from the deafening sound. Wincing, I resisted the urge to cover them with both hands. For a moment, I could have sworn the walls trembled. Continuing his advance, he invaded my personal space and brutally drew me into his embrace, his chest crushing mine. There was nothing erotic about the hold. His aura surrounded me, his Divine Light pushing into the gaping void in my chest, seeking my own Light to establish a link, a connection. But I had nothing to answer with. Unlike the day of the Festival when I’d already formed a bond with Kwazeem, Phoebus’s power didn’t hit a wall but passed right through me like the wind through an open valley.
The High Seraph released me as abruptly as he had embraced me. Visibly struggling to control his rage, he fisted his hands and spoke to me between his clenched teeth. “You will tell me who defiled you, and I will make him pay. The shame of a Fallen forcing himself upon you isn’t yours to bear. Speak freely. No harm will come to you.”
My lips quivering, I gazed at him with pleading eyes. “I promise you, Phoebus, I wasn’t violated. There is no Fallen to be hunted. You saw the power I expended at the Festival. I’m merely burnt out from pushing myself too hard. Give me a couple of days, and all will be back to normal.”
For half a second, I regained hope as a flicker of doubt crossed his stunning features. And then he stiffened, his expression filling with a mix of disbelief and disgust.
“You consented,” he whispered to himself, his glowing eyes flicking from side to side as he analyzed the situation before refocusing on me. “You voluntarily lay with that Fallen, and you’re now protecting him.”
“Phoebus…” I pleaded, clutching my staff with both hands and pressing it to my chest like a shield.
“TELL ME WHO HE IS!” Phoebus vociferated.
This time, I whimpered and covered my ears, fearing my eardrums would rupture. Curling up against the wall, I shook my head and whispered in a loop that there was no one. What patience the High Seraph still possessed snapped. I yelped when he caught me by the upper arm and pulled me after him. Without my staff, I probably would have fallen to the floor. My pathetic efforts to free myself failed miserably, and I half-stumbled, half-ran to keep up with him rather than be dragged like a dead carcass behind him.
His loud shouts had alerted the city guards, including Frollo’s personal guards: Ulrich and Garreth. While the latter two stared at the scene with tense, knowing expressions, the other guards appeared utterly confused. Torn between their duty to protect any Vestal with their life and respecting the ultimate authority of the Elohim, they looked to each other for clues on how to react.
Storming past them, his fingers digging into the tender flesh of my upper arm, Phoebus exited the temple and bellowed an order at the two Archangels that had accompanied him—not his generals. One of them activated the interface on his armband while the other retrieved something from his weapon’s belt. A hush descended over the city as the population looked on, mouths gaping and eyes disbelieving.
When we reached the plaza, a few meters from the Well’s tower, Phoebus stopped and forced me to face him. Hypnotized by the bluish-white glow of his eyes taking on a reddish tinge, I barely registered the crowd gathering around us. With one hand, he tore my staff out of my grasp and threw it to the ground. He wrapped the other around my neck and, for a moment, I feared he would just snap it. But instead, he drew my face only inches from his.
“To think I wanted to put Elysium at your feet,” he hissed. “Last chance to speak his name.”
I pinched my lips and held his gaze in defiance despite the tears gathering in my eyes.
“As you wish,” he replied with a cold, hard voice.
Phoebus cast a sideways glance at the Archangel who had removed something from his belt, before dragging me to the Well’s tower still shooting a beam into the sky. The other Archangel approached us and, while Phoebus held me immobile, he clasped a collar around my neck. Deceptively flimsy in appearance, it could have passed for a black, leather choker, but it was as resistant as titanium. I stared in horror as he leashed me to the tower. The leash, an ultra-resistant and extensible silver thread, would only allow me to move around a two meter radius.
Humiliation washed over me as I stood, leashed like a dog, with every eye in the city on me. Phoebus released me and turned away, although remaining near me. The Archangel who had fiddled with the interface of his armband came to stand before us and released a tiny hovering sphere which I recognized as a camera. Blood drained from my face as understanding dawned on me.
Looking straight at the miniature camera, Phoebus delivered a message which I knew would be instantly broadcast on every media, throughout Eden.
“Citizens of Eden, I stand before you as your High Seraph and ruler of the Nine Circles. More than a century ago, Eden was plunged into darkness when the Light Eater Arahzor defiled the Anointed Vestal Armina, consort to High Seraph Galleus. That treachery initiated the Fall, the bloody war that raged for decades on Eden. And today, the same crime has been repeated.”
A gasp rose among the audience who gaped at me with horrified looks.
“Only three days ago, Anointed Vestal Esmeralda brought infinite light to the realm, ushering in a new era of hope and prosperity,” Phoebus said, gesturing at me. “But she’s Anointed and Vestal no more. A Fallen has ruined her as Arazhor had ruined Armina.”
This time, shouts of anger and outrage rose from the crowd, ready to turn into a mob.
“This crime will not go unpunished,” the High Seraph continued, his voice filled with fury. “The culprit has until sunrise to subm
it to the Elohim’s justice. Fail to surrender, and my legions will descend upon every Fallen tribe and clan on Eden until that animal is found and has answered for his crime.”
My blood turned to ice as Phoebus gestured for his companion to stop the recording then turned to face me.
“You can’t do that!” I pleaded. “That’s not fair! There was no crime committed to justify the slaughter of innocents.”
“No crime?” he hissed.
“There can only be a crime in the absence of consent,” I snapped back.
Phoebus recoiled, and stared at me looking both hurt and disappointed. “So, you confess.”
“I have nothing to confess. Love is not a crime. I am a free woman of the Nine Circles. I freely chose my mate and willingly accepted the consequences that might stem from it. I wasn’t trapped, tricked, or violated. If being with the man I love means being stripped of my Light, then so be it. It is my choice. Not yours, and not anyone else’s. Even knowing the consequences, I would make the same choice. I will always choose him.”
The conviction in my words appeared to shake him. Until now, my heart had believed it, but my head had been clinging to what I had once been. But no more… I would always mourn the loss of my Light, but I could never regret finding the other half of me.
Phoebus leaned forward, his face inches from mine. “Let’s see how honorable your mate is,” he snarled. “He will stand before me and answer for this.”
Without giving a chance to respond, he spread his wings and, with a powerful flap, took flight towards the temple, followed by his companions.
Falling to my knees, head bowed, I ignored the stares and murmurs from the crowd. Feeling helpless and defeated, I could only pray that Kwazeem would stay away.
Chapter 15
Kwazeem
I watched the Praetor’s private shuttle leave with mixed emotions. Although he’d come to see me get onboard with his private guards, Frollo hadn’t traveled with us to the Godswood. It had felt odd parting with the only person that had come closest to being a friend or family. I hated that I couldn’t have personally given Esmeralda the staff I’d made for her. However, despite my somewhat tense relationship with Frollo, I trusted him to deliver it to her.
His meaning had been clear when he’d told me to keep it and give it to her myself. I almost agreed, too. But as much as I wanted a peaceful life with my woman, I didn’t want her to have lost her Light. Or rather, I didn’t want to have leached it out of her.
The last two days without seeing Esmeralda had been pure torture. I’d never thought missing someone could translate into literal physical pain. Even the power that had been buzzing through me had waned with each passing hour.
However, a different emotional trial awaited me now. Standing in the small clearing a short distance from Nan’s house, my throat felt too constricted to swallow as I began to approach the house of my youth with hesitant steps. The small hovercart carrying my most precious belongings followed me with a discreet keening sound. The familiar scenery and scent had a million memories and long forgotten feelings flooding through me.
I’d often asked Frollo to let me come to the Godswood by foot to visit Nan. Until today, I’d always believed his arguments that it was too far away had been nothing but a lie to keep me under his thumb. But flying in the shuttle, seeing both the distance and perilous terrain I would have had to cross to reach it made me ashamed for having doubted his word.
Pulse racing, I closed the distance to the backdoor of the house, proud to see how well I’d reproduced its design in my cabin by the temple. My heart skipped a beat when the door opened before I’d even reached it. I then remembered the motion detectors Nan had put in place to protect me from unexpected visitors dropping by.
But none of that mattered. The beautiful, wizened face that I’d grown to love in my youth was all I could see. Her lips quivered while her gaze slowly roamed over me. My chest tightened at the love and joy in her glistening eyes.
“My boy,” she whispered, opening her arms wide.
Tears threatening to choke me, I rushed to her and closed my arms around her frail body. Laughing and crying, she held me tightly, repeatedly calling me her baby, her beautiful little boy. I hadn’t known my biological mother. Whenever I thought of home and of maternal affection, Nan’s face always appeared to me. And in this instance, as she gently caressed my hair and kissed my forehead, I truly felt like the prodigal son returned home at long last. It worried me at first not to see my imps, but she quickly reassured me they had arrived earlier and were off hunting.
She ushered me into the house, and another wave of wonderful sensory overload assaulted me. Nothing had changed: the same layout, the same décor packed with too many mementos acquired over the years, and the same delicious scent of freshly baked bread and sweet jams. Even my old room had remained untouched, aside from the bed which had thankfully been replaced by a much bigger one to accommodate my significantly larger frame.
Nan immediately began to fuss over me, making me sit at the kitchen table and piling a mix of every food I’d ever loved. I argued feebly that it was all too much, but I gladly gorged on every delectable morsel. There was something truly powerful about sensory memory. A familiar taste, a scent, a texture, and even the sound of the wind outside, each one triggered an onslaught of long lost souvenirs.
We spent the next couple of hours catching up, or rather her grilling me about all that had happened in my life since Frollo had taken me away. Until now, if anyone had asked me about my life, I would have said it had been boring and uneventful, but as she further questioned me, I started seeing all that I had accomplished, learned, and experienced. My loft at the top of the temple’s spire had given me a unique window onto the busiest city of the Nine Circles, and the best seat to watch all the grand spectacles often held on the plaza. Through my computer and vidscreen, I’d had access to infinite knowledge. Everything I’d ever wanted to learn about, Frollo had provided me with the necessary tools. Even my combat and blacksmithing skills, he’d provided me with a top of the line virtual trainer. I’d hunted in the forest, went underwater fishing, and crafted the weapons of the City Guards.
“So, he kept his word,” Nan whispered to herself, before locking eyes with me. “Through all those years, he gave you the best possible life for your circumstances. I’d been so scared that letting you go had been a mistake.”
My throat tightened looking back at what my life had indeed been like. Remembering my last confrontation with the Praetor, a sliver of shame rose in the pit of my stomach. Frollo didn’t love me, and I didn’t love him. Yet, he had generally been good to me.
“He did,” I conceded. “I missed you terribly, but you made the right choice.” Judging by the immense relief on her face, she’d feared I’d resent her for ‘abandoning’ me all those years ago. “Frollo saved my life. We both know I would have died here had he not intervened when he did. Instead, he allowed me to grow into a man with the skills to care for a family.”
A strange spark lit up in her eyes at that last statement. I squirmed in my chair knowing what question would come next.
“Do you love her?” she asked with a soft voice.
“With every fiber of my being,” I said, my chest swelling with love at the thought of my woman.
“She seemed to have a great deal of affection for you when she came here,” Nan replied carefully.
“She does,” I confirmed. “We are… mated.”
Her eyes widened, first with shock, second with joy, and then worry descended over her features. “Kwazeem, Fallen can—”
“I know,” I interrupted, my stomach knotting again. “I mean, I didn’t at the time, but I do now.”
She blanched and pressed her palm to her chest. “Did you… Is she okay?”
“I… I don’t know,” I confessed, casting a concerned look towards her.
As painful as it felt to give her the gist of what had transpired, I was grateful that she would hear it from me rat
her than from Frollo. Still, being so far away from Esmeralda and not knowing her current status had me sick with apprehension. I wouldn’t rest until she was out of Paris and by my side, or at least until I knew that her Light had returned.
We were deep in discussions about my possible plans with Esmeralda when the sharp, clinking sound of the city-wide alert resonated inside the house. Nan and I exchanged a concerned look, then she went to turn on the vidscreen in the living area. Before the image even appeared, my gut told me it wouldn’t be good news for Esmeralda and me.
As soon as the image of High Seraph Phoebus appeared, I jumped to my feet. A murderous rage slowly took over me as I watched my woman afraid, distressed, and leashed like an animal behind him.
“No, no, no…” Nan whispered before covering her mouth with both hands.
I didn’t say a word, watching the whole message, my hands fisted so tightly that my nails started to dig into my palms. Only my self-preservation instincts kept my claws from jutting out, maiming me.
“I need you to call me one of those Vesta’s Tear transportation pods,” I said in a voice so filled with anger, it sounded like a growl.
“You can’t go!” Nan exclaimed, jumping to her feet as well. Closing the distance between us, she gripped both my arms and stared at me pleadingly. “He will kill you the moment you set foot in Paris! Run away! There are places you can—”
I placed two fingers on her lips to silence her. “No, Mother,” I said in a controlled voice. I hadn’t meant to call her that, but my heart, not my head, was speaking right now. “I will not abandon my mate. And running isn’t an option anyway. As we speak, security is locking down all the spaceports, and any ship trying to leave the planet will be scanned. I don’t even have a ship to begin with, and Frollo will not put his neck on the line to help me escape. But beyond that, I will not be responsible for starting another war.”