CHAPTER 23
Ilyana:
I am pleased to find that after just a few moments in the bubble bath I am able to push past and mostly disconnect from my powers. I can feel them all pulling at my core, but nothing is leaving my body. I rest my head back on a towel I placed in the bath and shut my eyes. For a moment I let everything that is weighing me down float away and I allow myself to revel in the magnificence of this place before I will begin to ready myself for tonight.
I am startled by a knock on the door and find that my water has gone cool “Ilyana, are you in there? I’m here to prepare you for tonight!” I recognize Lizzy’s voice from earlier and realize that I must have allowed myself to fall asleep. A series of incoherent expletives slip out of my mouth as I get a towel and begin to dry myself “I’ll be out in a sec. I fell asleep!” I expect her to fuss over my carelessness, but instead I hear her start to laugh. I wrap the towel over my body and step out “Really, this is funny? You obviously don’t know how difficult making me presentable is.” She puts her small hand over her mouth to suppress further laughter “I assure you Ilyana, a little unruly hair is no match for me! This is what I live for.” I allow her confidence to sink in and take a deep breath “Okay, where do we start?” she motions me over to a small powder room facing the window “Have a seat there, facing the sun – it will give me the best lighting so you don’t end up looking like you have a mask on by the time I finished with you.” I do as she says and sit in the swiveling chair closest to the window.
Lizzy begins to pull out numerous makeup pallets and hair contraptions and it reminds me of when Alya came to me and cut my hair. I find myself pondering over their skill and wonder if in the next 4000 years I will be equally matched to either of them. She walks over to me and gently places her hand below my chin and pulls my face up to the side “Perfection! This shouldn’t take us long at all.” I begin to blush and look away at her kind compliment and hope she won’t notice “You know, Ilyana. In all the years that I have walked this earth. I can’t say I have ever met someone that exudes more power than you. Nor have I met someone who is so insecure. You are perfect, but since the moment I first met you – you have been wearing a mask of self-doubt.” I slink back in the chair as she moves in to brush my hair and put it into curlers as I realize the truth of what she says, she continues “I am not chastising you, Dear. I am simply telling you. You may not know the vastness of you own power. But that is secondary to everything else, you are a good woman – I can feel it in my bones. You are beautiful and kind. That makes you valuable, you need to stop questioning it and start knowing it.” She pats my shoulder and I quietly thank her. I catch her smile reflecting in the window and I feel myself relax. I know that I have found another friend, albeit – a very outspoken one, but nonetheless she is my friend and I have been very short on them these past few weeks.
She’s humming aloud and busily working on my hair when it dawns on me I should try killing to birds with one stone “Lizzy, do you mind if I ask you some questions to set my mind at ease tonight?” she stops humming “Of course, but you should know I may not be of much help. I have been a servant to Marcus, but all of my friends and acquaintances run in quite different circles than someone like you or Marcus would.” My eyebrows furrow in confusion “Someone like Marcus or I?” I don’t really know that I want to be more like Marcus and the other Elders than her. “Yes, someone more powerful. Higher on the food chain – if you will.” She keeps working and I still can’t quite make sense of what she said, I am sure she is speaking metaphorically, but I don’t know what makes one person more powerful than another – socially speaking. “Well, what can I answer?” she catches my eyes with hers in the window and smiles as she encourages me on. “Well, I guess, can you describe what you just meant by food chain? What makes you lower and someone like Marcus higher – aside from his age?”
She lets out a small laugh “Marcus actually isn’t quite as old as I. His age and being the only living family member in his bloodline is what makes him an elder. But it isn’t what makes him and I different.” She spins my chair around and goes to work on my pedicure “What makes him different is power. Over the generation, many of our bloodlines have been compromised. Making us more human and less angel.” I think I am starting to understand what she is saying, though I am not sure that I like it “So, in other words. The top of the food chain houses all of the bigoted, social elitist types?” she lets out a full laugh and has to stop herself from painting my toes for a moment before responding “I’ve never thought about it like that before. But it is a fitting description for many of our nobles.” She shakes her head with a smile “But there are many like you, kind and humble. They just don’t voice their opinions so often.” She begins applying paint again “Mostly, they are at the top of the food chain, because they are simply stronger. If we were ever sent into a battle. Many of them would be at the forefront protecting the rest of us – in theory.” I think about Kailands description and realize that she has probably been brainwashed into believing these things. “Can I ask how your bloodlines make you weaker?” she looks frozen for a moment and I begin to second guess my line of questioning but she continues on “In our society, it is quite shameful to be less than full Nephilim. My Mother was human. So I am more powerful and long lived than a regular woman on the street, but I am still mortal. I can sense others abilities like my father could, but I am unable to project any powers beyond physical.” She seems less tense the more she talks so I remain quiet, hopeful that she will share more “Someone with power like yours, could in theory send the walls around us crashing down with only your thoughts. Some Nephilim even have reported having glimpses into the future or into the past. But me? If I want to move something – I have to use my physical strength.”
She looks despondent for a moment and I understand what she is saying so I begin to speak up “You know, I don’t know who my biological parents were. I was raised by human parents – they were very good to me. I could never see their life as holding any less potential or value than mine. I am sorry that you are made to work as a servant. You and I are friends now and I can tell that you are more suited for filling a throne somewhere than this.” I gesture to my feet and see tears threatening her eyes “I am sorry about your parents, Ilyana. Marcus made sure I knew about them. But never feel sorry for me. I am treated fairly and am free to go if ever I please. This has been a haven for me and I enjoy staying busy and helping others.” Her meekness overwhelms me and I quickly understand why Marcus said she is the best. She notices the time and we no longer speak as she buzzes around me, fixing my hair, smudging kohl liner around my eyes and gloss onto my lips. I look outside and realize the sun is steadily sinking. I am still in my towel when she hands me a pink-striped bag full of undergarments and brings my dress and jewelry over to me and excuses herself to clean the powder room while I dress myself.
I have never been so terrified or concerned with my own appearance in my own life. Why can’t there be a mirror in this room? I hear a light knock just before Lizzy steps back in. I am fully dressed but turn around and request her help with my necklace clasp and zipper. She quickly assists me and when I turn around to face her, both of her hands rush up to her face and she gasps “You are a work of art! You must see yourself!” she pulls me back through the bathroom, to the floor length mirror and I barely recognize the woman sitting in front of me. The dress has managed to make curves where I never knew they existed. My hair is exquisitely smoothed out into big waves that are expertly pinned back on one side to draw attention to the beautiful earrings Marcus gave me. “Well? What do you think?” she asks with her hands on her hips. I am at a complete loss for words so I take her by surprise and just hug her “Thank you, Lizzie! Thank you!” she laughs “You’re welcome, my lady!” she says as she pulls back to do a small curtsy. I laugh at her formality “I will be on my way now. Your companions should be ready at any moment.” She excuses herself to leave and once again I am left to myself
. I can feel my nerves trying to creep up and my power trying to sneak back out but I talk myself out of panicking and take slow breaths as I begin to pace my bedroom.
I nearly jump out of my skin as I hear another small knock on the door “Come in.” Levi steps through, he looks absolutely dashing. He is always so playful and light, seeing him in a suit with his hair styled and face completely shaved shows him in a brand new light. I have to stop myself from ogling my favorite friend “My, my – you sure do clean up nicely, Levi.” He relaxes his shoulders and I realize how tense he clearly is, before I can think about it he winks at me “I should say the same. Ephraim is going to have a heart attack when he sees you!” I stiffen at the mention of Ephraim but Levi doesn’t seem to notice as he continues on “Speaking of which, your entourage has arrived and seems to be in an unusually prickly mood.” I follow him out through my bedroom door “Well I guess we better get this show on the road then.” As soon as we reach my foyer I can tell that something is wrong. Alya and Ephraim are standing on opposite sides of the room and she looks ready to cry while he simply looks angry. “Is everything ok?” she looks up and begins to walk over, but before she reaches me Ephraim takes my arm in his and begins to walk me out the front door “Everything is fine. Let’s get this over with.” I realize it would be best for me not to get in the middle of whatever is happening right now.
We walk through the apartment building and through a massive, beautiful courtyard unlike anything I have ever seen. There are clay colored stones and fountains everywhere and perfectly manicured flowers and vines growing all around us “It’s beautiful!” I say as I look around for agreement. I notice that Levi and Alya are walking at their own pace behind us and Levi is looking deeply troubled by whatever it is that Ilyana has to say. I look up to Ephraim for some explanation but he chooses to sweep it under the rug “Don’t worry about them. My sister has quite the history of selecting poor bedmates, it’s probably just another one of her spats.” I look back at them but Ephraim continues to pull me along “He feels me hesitate and clearly forces a smile “You look absolutely breathtaking. Let’s go show you off.” He pushes us through a large set of doors and I realize that this is it.
When I step through the doors I expect to be greeted by Marcus, or perhaps even a nicely dressed butler to escort me. What I was not prepared for however, is for all faces to be expectantly turned in the direction of the door. I take a step back and feel Ephraims hand push gently against the small of my back I turn to look at his face and realize that it is also registering surprise. He leans down and barely whispers in my ear “I won’t let anything happen to you, but you can’t back away now or they might think you’re weak.” I take a deep breath and do my best to convince myself that I am not weak. I proudly walk ahead into the silent room, some heads are bowed slightly and others seem to be arrogantly strained as high up as they can possibly go, as if to literally look down their noses at me. I almost laugh at the ridiculously constipated expression they are wearing. I head to the front of the room where I notice an older looking woman that appears to be in charge and a small man beside her as though he is her equal are sitting. No one speaks so I remind myself again that I am powerful and I push myself to do my best impression of a confident Nephilim “Well, this is quite the party. Did I perhaps arrive a moment too early?” I turn around the room and wait for a response. Everyone here is facing me and I notice the Levi’s expression has darkened and Alya is at the back of the room near the doors still, with tears in her eyes. I hear a voice speak behind me “Ilyana Malakhova, please step forward.” I hesitantly do as she says and step forward as she continues “There has been a slight change of plans, Marcus will not be welcoming you here today. I am Guinevere and this is Julius.” She gestures to the statue of a man beside her “You are hereby charged of consorting with terrorists, high treason & murder. How do you plead?” My mouth drops and before I know it Levi and Ephraim are flanking me on both sides and several voices from behind are speaking up, I hear words being thrown around and have no clue what to make of things. I look around at the chaos that has ensued in the room and then face the cold woman in front once more as I raise my voice “This has to be a mistake. I most certainly have committed none of the crimes on your list!”
She rolls her eyes “So you are pleading not guilty?” I laugh at her insolence “A trial? Really? Yes, of course I plead not guilty – this is absurd!” Levi places his hand on my shoulders and leans down to speak quietly where only I can hear him “you would be best not to anger her. We will get you out of this, I promise.” Ephraim is leaned down reading Levi’s lips and nods his head in agreement “No harm will come to you without passing through me first.” I nod and step forward away from them both and addressed Guinevere – who I am liking less and less with every second “Please tell me what basis you have for these allegations, so we can get to the bottom of this and all enjoy the rest of our evening.” I notice the entire room around me has quieted. Guinevere continues “Marcus came to us today to tell us of your recent discoveries. Your friend Alya made him aware that you were consorting with known terrorists being kept in the enclave holding.” I raise my hands as if to stop her and immediately begin speaking over her “Terrorists? That’s what you call them? They are the friends and family of many the original counsel and as far as I am aware – they are no more terrorist than you.” I hear a few gasps behind me and I press on “What of the other charges, treason, murder? What grounds do you have for those accusations?” her eyes narrow “You were consorting with known terrorists, they have been feeding you lies and now you mean to disrespect the elders in front of you that hold your fate in their hands?” I step forward at her words and am surprised to notice she cowers back as I speak barely above a whisper “Ma’am, I don’t know your who you are, or where you came from. But last time I checked, no one held my fate in their hands – least of all you and your cowering sidekick. Where is Marcus?” she clears her throat and leans forward again “Marcus is being detained, he believed you to be beyond reproach in these matters and it was clear his judgment is clouded where these matters are concerned.”
I scoff at her disrespect, I don’t even know Marcus but I would defend anyone against this woman “So you mean to insult the judgment of your peer and co-elder?” she ignores my question and speaks over me “As for your other charge. You are responsible for the murder of your adoptive parents. When we learned of the destruction that followed you prior to your arrival here, we were willing to believe it was due to your own inexperience or age. But, in conjunction with your recent crimes. We can no longer dismiss it as such.” That’s it. I am officially infuriated “The murder of MY OWN PARENTS?” I shout at her “You are a bigger piece of work than I thought! I have never murdered anyone. You KNOW I was being followed by those monsters! – I have witnesses! They were the cause of the destruction! They murdered my parents – and would’ve murdered me given the chance!” I am inches from her face when I stop speaking. I feel an arm at my side pulling me back and don’t even bother to look and see who it is. Guinevere is not breaking eye contact with me “Witnesses? You mean the half-blood simpleton standing beside you – or his whore of a sister that already sold you out? Listen to me when I tell you, your witnesses mean noth…” I cut her off. I have been pushing my power back but she has not only offended me and the memory of my parents, but she has now made the mistake of shaming my only friends. My power has been boiling and now it is steadily pouring over to her “NO! YOU LISTEN TO ME GUINEVERE! I AM NO MURDERER, KAILAND AND THE PRISONER ARE NO TERRORISTS AND MY FRIENDS ARE NOT SIMPLETONS OR WHORES. BUT IF YOU THINK TO MAKE AN EXAMPLE OF ME – WHEN I KNOW EXACTLY WHAT YOU DID TO THOSE PRISONERS – THAT WERE ELDERS WITHIN YOUR OWN COMMUNE NO LESS! THEN YOU ARE THE BIGGEST FOOL OF ALL!” she is no longer making eye contact with me. Her face is turned down and she is clinging to the table in front of her. Julius is cowering close to the ground like the measly wimp I knew he was the moment I saw him.
I turn to addres
s the rest of the room “I suppose you all are my jury?” I look at the 30 or so faces across the room and see some begin to nod “Then let me tell you of these terrorists she speaks of. I met them quite by mistake one day in training. They are being held in a prison with dark magic – if they are the elders own prisoners, who is it that is holding their own captives? These prisoners are not traitors. They are Nephilim like you and I. Family members left over from battle after these Elders standing before you silently killed each of the 6 remaining elders. This woman and this coward of a man standing before you, bringing these accusations against me were willing to kill off and hide anyone that might get between them and their crooked schemes and comfortable lifestyles. They have been deceiving you for centuries – while your true leaders have been locked away starved, turning into stone.” I look around and see many faces looking up at the elders differently after hearing my words “I may not know much yet, but I have been told that I am powerful enough that I can help free your original counsel. So, today I am drawing a line in the sand.” I raise my voice “You WILL STAND WITH ME! OR I WILL DESTROY YOU WITH THEM!” I feel my power flooding out and the ground beneath me is shaking. Everyone around me is cowering to the ground. Levi is crawling up beside me “You need to draw your powers back in – it’s too much and if you don’t, none of us will be left to stand with you.” I hear the alarm in his voice and immediately crouch down on his level and begin to draw deep breaths. When I feel the room around me start to calm I begin to stand again. I look around me and see that people are shifting, some further away from me and many closer. I notice that Alya is still in the back corner crying and I give her a pleading glance but know that her mind is made up. I look at Ephraim and see that he is feeling the blow of her rejection as well. I place my hand on his forearm in an attempt to calm him and he just looks away from her “I’m on your side. No matter what.” He mutters to me as he turns to face the counsel, I do the same as Guinevere speaks up “I see that you mean to bring dissension amongst our nobility.” A large man standing close to me speaks over her “The protocol indicates that in times of conflict like this we must bring in Elders from other compounds to reach a determination.” Guinevere pulls her eyes shut and lets out a low growl “Correct. We shall both have our trial. In the mean-time. We will put the girl under house-arrest.” I narrow my eyes at her “I assume you will be under house arrest as well then?” she scoffs at me and the man speaks up again “Protocol would state that Miss Malakhova’s expectations are quite fair.”
Guinevere stands up and hits the table in front of her “Fine. If she so much as steps outside of the compound, she steps outside of our protection we have provided her the last few weeks. Julius and I will accept the same. Until we are able to conduct a full trial. No more & no less.” The man looks rather smugly at her then turns to me “Are her demands acceptable?” I look at Levi or Ephraim and they both shrug – so much for guidance “Fine, those terms are acceptable. Are we done here?” I look around the room at all the wide-eyed faces and for the first time Julius speaks up “Tomorrow we will contact the other compounds. For tonight, you are all dismissed.” Everyone begins to move around the room, Guinevere is among the first to leave and she refuses to break eye contact with me until she steps outside the door. When she exits I immediately feel the oxygen rush back into my legs and I allow myself to stumble back into a chair behind me.
The room is now empty of every except for Ephraim, Levi and the man that spoke upon our behalf I turn to him “Thank you for your help. I believe tonight would’ve ended much differently had you not spoke up.” He laughs “Maybe I shouldn’t have then. Guinevere has been in need of someone that would put her in her place for as long as I have lived here.” I smile at him and reach my hand out to shake his “I’m Ilyana as you may know. What is your name?” he takes my hand and shakes it “I’m Samuel, the current historian of our little enclave.” I stand up so we can all make our way back to the apartments “Samuel, is it safe for me to assume you are on my side?” he laughs again – as young as he looks there is something very old and comfortable about him “Yes, Ilyana. I think it is safe to assume that anyone that felt your power in there is on your side.” I blush at his compliment and secretly hope I didn’t scare anyone too much “Well, I am honored to have met you and I can assure you that I am on your side as well, Samuel. I want to help whoever will allow me to.” He nods his head in agreement as he exits ahead of me “I suspect we will be needing a lot more of your help. For tonight we should all rest though.” I wave goodbye as he exits and look to Ephraim and Levi. They look how I feel “Thank you both. You don’t have to stand with me, but you did. That means the world to me.” Levi gives me a bear hug and kisses the top of my head “I can’t believe we got all dressed up for this…” I laugh at his nonchalant comment and grab Ephraim’s hand to pull him with Levi and I as we all make our way back to the apartment building.
The Fallen Ones Page 24