Jaylen handed the note to Liaxa then went to the horse. He patted the white steed's nose then untied the silver amulet with the large sky blue topaz in the middle. Something glowed at the center, probably his soul segment. Once he slipped it over his head, Pegasa reared back and let out an excited whinny. A warm tingling feeling spread across Jaylen's chest and his arms. Without thinking, he jumped up into the saddle and took the reins in his hands.
Wait. Hands. He looked down to see his same right hand and a pale glowing left hand that had materialized out of nowhere. He could feel everything, as if it truly was there. When he pulled the amulet off, the glowing hand vanished.
"I saw that." Liaxa grabbed his arm and passed her hand over where his hand had been. "It was some sort of magic. That amulet . . . wait. I get it now. That amulet has one of your soul segments in it. The dormant magic in your body must react with your soul segment whenever the amulet is touching your sun sigil. Put it back on."
He did. The glowing hand reappeared. "How is this possible?"
Xair stepped up to the horse and pushed his hood back. "Be careful with that. Carvael has cursed you."
"Cursed me? This is the best thing ever! I have my hand back."
"Which is more important to you? Your hand or your soul?"
"It's just one soul segment out of one hundred. I think I can live without it."
Xair shook his head. "You will see."
Leader came out of his tent with his hand roughly clasped around a crying Liam's arm. He pushed the boy to the ground and took out a rolled piece of paper. "Are you leaving, Jaylen?"
"I guess so."
"Then take this one with you." Leader kicked Liam in the back then handed Jaylen the paper. "I already made him sign a contract for five years of servitude. He's your slave now. Do with him what you will. Once I found him snooping in my tent and taking handfuls of my gold, I decided that I had to get rid of him. It's obvious that freedom isn't the best thing for him. Once a thief, always a thief. Good luck breaking him of those habits. Watch your gold. Turns out that Liam is no stranger to cells and shackles, even at thirteen years old. He has two brands on his face from where he was caught stealing before. I just found them on his cheeks under that mess of hair. So take him. He's yours. Maybe you can find something worthwhile to use him for."
Jaylen looked down at the shivering boy. "Liam?"
"Yes, sir?"
"Take my hand." Jaylen reached down towards him then pulled him up into the saddle behind him. "You're mine now, understood?"
"Yes, sir."
"Good. Come on, Liaxa. We need to leave. It's so cold out here. I want to get back to Oviel and Gavin."
"And Zeriel." Liaxa added.
"Did I say him?" Jaylen asked.
"No, but-"
"Then don't add him. I hope he's moved on and left. I don't know what I'll say to him if I do see him again. Sitting here isn't accomplishing anything."
Xair bowed to Leader. "I will be leaving as well. Jaylen needs me. He doesn't know it yet."
"But you can't fit on the horse with him, Liam, and Liaxa."
"Who said anything about needing a horse? Farewell, friend. Thank you for your hospitality. We will meet again." Xair placed his hands over his eyes as one of the runes on his arm began to vibrantly glow underneath his cloak. In a gust of wind, he vanished.
Jaylen glanced around, trying to find any sign of him when a black raven landed on his arm. He tapped the bird's beak with his finger. "Xair, is that you? Are you a raven now?"
"Yes. Do not wear that amulet all the time. Take it off when you don't need it. Let us go."
* * *
Zeriel splashed the warm water on his face then smoothed his black hair back as he looked at himself in the mirror on the dresser of his bedroom. He looked exhausted even though he had been resting for two days since he collapsed. Oviel couldn't find anything wrong with him. Slowly, he had recovered with the help from his friend's potions and elixirs. He dipped his fingers into the jar of smoothing serum and rubbed it over his long pinion feathers. The black feathers were starting to grow on him. They were much easier to keep clean than the white ones he had before he became Fallen.
Gavin entered the room with a pile of bandages and ointments in his arms. "Help me, will you?"
"What happened?"
The incubus stripped off his shirt to reveal the deep puncture wounds and dried blood that had trailed all the way down to the top of his pants. "Stephan happened. He was in Ilyan when I tried to go to the masquerade."
Zeriel sat with him on the edge of the bed and dipped a cloth into the warm water. He began wiping away the purple blood. "Did you have a fight?"
"You could say that. Though, it was more like he cornered me and dug his dirty claws into me. But that's what demons do, isn't it?"
"This isn't funny. Those look deep."
"No deeper than the wounds you left me with a year ago."
A year ago? It had been that long since those early days with Jaylen? Zeriel's heart ached even more for his long-lost paladin. "Hold still. I'll bandage these."
"Thanks. You're a lifesaver."
"So? How did the masquerade go?" Zeriel asked.
"You were right to send me. It was most definitely a trap. Though, not by the king. High Priest Corin sent the letter. The priests took me into the inner cloister and tried to sacrifice me, but I fought them off and ran away."
"You fought against all the priests and won? All by yourself?"
Gavin grinned mischievously. "Of course! I didn't say I killed any of them. I just fought back, slipped out of the shackles, then ran back to Gavy."
"Gavy?"
"My gryphon. Gavy the gryphon."
He raised an eyebrow. "Gavin and Gavy?"
"Cute, isn't it?"
Zeriel laughed as he finished tying the gauze around his friend's shoulders. "There."
"Thanks, man. Say, you look like you're feeling better. I've already reported back to Oviel about the events in Ilyan. We need some relaxation time. Let's pull out some of those bottles of wine you hide underneath your bed then we can play some cards."
"I don't feel like playing games." Zeriel washed the blood off of his hands then went back to the mirror where he spiked his hair with the sticky gel.
"Why do you spike your hair like that?"
He shrugged his shoulders. "Because Jaylen said it looked good."
"It does. I'm just surprised that you would have some sort of fashion sense."
"Jerk." Zeriel turned around to face him. "I'll have you know that I was regarded as being the best dressed angel in Heaven when I was younger. I used to do it all. The tights, the robes, the belt buckles, the frilly lace and gold feathers in my hats. I had my ears pierced and would wear ruby hoops in them. I would even dust my feathers with diamond dust so they shimmered. I had long hair that I wove violets into. Looking back, it was truly sickening."
"So why do you wear all black now?"
"Good question. I guess I just like it better. I don't need to stand out and be so flashy now. Of course back then, I was expected to be beautiful. I was the archangel's son. Don't tell anyone, but I had so many angels fawning over me. I saw the way they would admire me from across the room. They would give me roses and buy me trinkets. I was even serenaded by one of them who came to the balcony outside of my bedroom one night. Kind of weird, huh?"
Gavin was obviously entertained. He fell back on the bed as he held his stomach and laughed loudly. "No way! Zeriel the pretty boy? I've heard it all now. What I wouldn't give to see that now!"
"Well, if I have my way, no one will ever see that again."
"There's nothing wrong with being pretty. It doesn't make you strange or anything."
Zeriel closed up the vials. "I know. I just can't be that Zeriel again. That Zeriel was conceited and only concerned with throwing the fanciest parties, collecting the most expensive bottles of wine, and amassing so much wealth that he could never spend it all. I didn't have anything of true
value in my life. It was all tied up with material things."
"And what do you have now?"
Zeriel stared at his reflection. "I don't know. Maybe I don't have anything. Sometimes . . . sometimes I miss that life. I miss being admired by people and knowing that I was privileged in some way."
"But then Doran happened, right?"
"No. Before that, my father happened. He was jealous of my fame and prestige. I think he got scared that I could have been so easily elected as the new archangel. He stopped loving me. Though, it was Doran who made me stop wearing all of my flashy clothes. Doran always said that a warrior's angel shouldn't look like a woman."
"He called you a woman?" Gavin asked, his giddiness fading.
"Many times. Apparently I was too effeminate. But that was simply the way I was. I hadn't been around women except for those few times I would fly down to Aldexa and watch people, so I didn't know."
"Do you think that might have had something to do with why Doran did what he did to you?"
"Who knows? I choose to not think about it."
Gavin took out a set of playing cards and shuffled them. "Come on, now. Enough of this talk. Let's play and get drunk."
Zeriel pulled over a side table and a chair. "Sounds good. Deal them out."
They played a few hands and drank a bottle of red wine before Gavin glanced over to the doorway then set down his cards. "I will leave you alone." He then left the room as soft footsteps approached.
"Is this what you've been doing the entire time I was gone?"
Zeriel dropped the cards as his hands trembled. That voice . . . He slowly turned around then his heart sank. "Jaylen . . ."
The innocent boy he had left in Tivareshen was gone. That was the first and immediate thing he noticed. Standing before him was a man, one hardened by pain and struggle. Jaylen was thin, very thin. His skin was streaked with blood and dirt. His tangled and messy hair had lost its luster to the point of looking like thin hay. Stubble covered his chin and jaw where a deep bloody scar was closed with stitches running up to his hairline. The once bright blue eyes were somehow darker, deeper. Then Zeriel noticed the way Jaylen held his left hand under the long sleeve.
"Say something."
Zeriel didn't know what to say, but he spoke the first thing that came to mind. "Is your left hand broken?"
Jaylen rolled up the left sleeve of his shirt. "It's gone."
"No! Sola's rays . . . Jaylen . . . I don't know what to say."
Jaylen simply stared at him. "Then just answer one question for me."
"Anything."
"Am I enough of a man for you now?" Jaylen asked.
"Jaylen, don't."
"I remember what you said to me before you abandoned me in Tivareshen. You told me that I was a waste of time. You were right. Before all of this, I was worthless and could never hope to be worthy of your help. I don't blame you for leaving me there and breaking our bond. I would have done the same thing."
Zeriel dropped to his knees in front of his Master. "Please stop. This was never my intention."
"But it happened. So now you see me after I have suffered. Tell me, Zeriel. Am I good enough to be your paladin now?"
"I don't deserve your forgiveness. Here. This is yours." Zeriel dug in the pocket of his black wool coat and put the velvet coin purse into Jaylen's hand. "I'm so sorry."
Jaylen held it up in the mage-glow and studied it for a long minute as if he was trying to remember what it was. When he finally did speak, his voice was filled with anger and hurt. "You did this? You did this to me? You are the one who stole my money from me and ensured that I would be sold as a slave?"
Zeriel lowered his wings submissively then kissed Jaylen's boots. "Forgive me. I had no idea that would happen to you. I would never purposely send you off to be a slave. I didn't think that you would destroy the room."
"But that's the problem, Zeriel. You didn't think. Now look at me. I went through all of this because of you!"
The tears streamed down Zeriel's face and landed on the soft worn leather. "I understand if you hate me, but I didn't do it on purpose. Please believe me. I was so torn up once you had vanished. I didn't know what to do. I was dying inside. I was so afraid that you were dead, that I had lost you forever. I love you."
Jaylen pulled away from him and turned his back. "Go to Hell."
"Jaylen, don't! Please. Didn't you hear me? I love you!"
"Love? Love has nothing to do with it." Jaylen left the room, slamming the door behind him.
Chapter 12
Jaylen was just rearranging his belongings in his long-empty room when the door opened and Gavin stepped inside. "Hey, Gavin."
"Sit down. We need to have a little chat, man to man." The incubus joined him on the edge of his bed. "I know you are angry at Zeriel for what he did. I would be angry as well."
"Thank you!"
"I'm not done. However, I was here with him when he was close to killing himself over losing you. He has been filled with guilt and pain like you wouldn't believe."
"I've been hurting too. A lot."
"I know you have. I know." Gavin rubbed his shoulder comfortingly. "But eventually, you are going to have to move on. Move past the pain and learn to forgive. I have never seen anyone love someone as much as Zeriel loves you. He loves you completely. It's almost scary sometimes. If I didn't know better, I would have said that he was . . . well, that doesn't matter. Just know that you mean more than the world to him. Zeriel would never do anything to put you in harm's way. I know that."
"But he did."
"Not on purpose. It was an accident, a mistake. Everyone makes mistakes. Let me tell you a story about me when I was younger. This will get a bit weird, so bear with me. I had what you could call multiple personalities. One personality was Gavin and one was . . . uh, let's call him Jerk-face."
Jaylen giggled. "Jerk-face?"
"He was a jerk. Anyway, Jerk-face was always nagging at me, trying to tell me that I was a horrible person, that I would never accomplish anything, that I was worthless. I believed him. That's when I decided that I needed someone else to tell me that I wasn't all those things that Jerk-face had called me. So, I agreed to sign a blood covenant with Stephan after the archdemons said we would be a good couple. He made me feel good about myself. He made me feel attractive. I needed that. But then he changed and became more and more like Jerk-face. Now, I've recently found out how evil Stephan was and that Jerk-face may not have been as bad as I first thought."
"I didn't learn anything from your story."
"I figured. Well, what I was trying to convey to you was that just because someone hurts you doesn't make that person inherently evil. I made a mistake by completely shutting out Jerk-face. I think with time, Jerk-face and I will be able to make amends and be friends again."
"What?" Jaylen asked. "I am beyond confused right now."
"Forget about it. All you need to know is not to make a mistake that you will end up regretting later. Think about this. What should a holy paladin do?"
Jaylen groaned as he rubbed his eyes with his hand. "Be like Sola and offer forgiveness."
"Then why don't you go forgive your angel? Yes, you two are still bonded, so he needs you."
"Fine. I'll do it if it means that I don't have to sit through any more of your strange stories."
* * *
After Gavin left, Jaylen went to his closet and pulled it open. "Ah!" He jumped back as bright green eyes stared out at him from the darkness. "Liam?"
"Hi."
Jaylen grabbed the boy's collar and dragged him out of the closet. "What are you doing? I thought I told you to stay with Oviel."
Liam crawled away from him and clambered to his feet. "I'm sorry. I'll go back. I wasn't stealing nothin'."
"Anything. You weren't stealing anything."
"That's what I said."
"You speak like a peasant."
He bowed his head to Jaylen. "That's 'cause I am a peasant. You sound like a noble."
"I was. I was Duke of Ilyan."
"Oh. That's why you're so clean."
"Clean? Uh, okay, then. Why aren't you with Oviel anymore?" Jaylen asked as he straightened his coats and boots in the closet.
"Oviel got angry at me. He wanted me to read stuff."
"And what's the problem with that?"
"I . . . I can't read. I didn't go to school."
"Oh. Well, did you tell him that?" Jaylen asked.
"No. The only reason I told you is 'cause you're my owner. My owner in Cilona beat me when I couldn't write stuff about the fish we caught. I tried to tell her that I didn't know how, but she screamed at me."
"You worked at the fishery?"
The boy crossed his arms on his chest and frowned. "Yeah. I hate fish."
Jaylen went up to Liam. "Show me these brands that Leader was talking about."
Liam pulled his messy brown hair out of his face to reveal two brands of a key below the letter V for Vilyron, one set on each cheek. "They caught me stealin' stuff."
"Why were you stealing stuff?"
The thin boy held out his hands. "I had to. My ma and pa were hurt one day in the cotton fields. They were blind then and couldn't work. I had six younger sisters and they were cryin' for food. They were so hungry. I went to the bakery and broke open the window to the cellar where they kept the stale bread from the previous day. I took all of it I could hold and ran away. But little ones need a lot of food and then they were cryin' again from empty tummies. I went back, but the baker was waitin' for me. That's how I got my first brand."
Jaylen instantly felt really bad for the kid.
"Then my second one was when one of the babies had a bad fever. But we didn't have money for a healer. I broke into the apothecary and took some medicine. But I left my footprints in the mud outside. 'Cause I was already known to be a thief, the guards tracked me down and gave me my second one. They told me that I would be hanged if they caught me a third time. I got caught a third time, but I slipped out of the shackles and ran back home. That's when I found my ma and pa and all of my sisters dead. The red paladins then caught me and chained me up real tight before they hurt me. They sold me instead of killin' me."
Angel of Darkness Books 1-5 Page 34