The Fallen Ones
Page 30
CHAPTER 29
Alya:
I am once again pacing my room in Guinevere’s new compound. I have been to Cairo many times in my life, but never like this, every time I step out into the hall, I see the demons standing guard outside of every door. I know they are our ally now, but they still make my skin crawl. I never quite expected to be in this position, pitted against my own brother. I am struggling each moment with whether or not I made the right choice, but I know deep down inside that there is no other option. No matter how kind Ilyana seemed or how much potential I saw in the girl, she doesn’t have thousands of years of history backing her. She has done nothing to assure the safety of the Nephilim weaker than her and she has caused nothing but chaos since she arrived.
When Guinevere asked if I would join her, I said yes without hesitation, she promised me protection if I offered her my fealty. She said I was important in this new journey, that I could tip the scales in our favor and save a lot of Nephilim from the doom of being allied with Ilyana. She said I would be the mouth-piece of the new era of peace. But so far, all I have managed to do is get disowned by my brother and spend countless hours crying in my room, wondering if there was anything I could’ve done differently.
I resign myself to sitting in the corner and staring outside the window just as I hear a knock on the door, before I bother to respond Julius shuffles in the room “Guinevere has a job for you to do girl, come make yourself useful.” I wonder to myself what the task might be but he doesn’t give me any time to respond, I follow him out the front door into the hallway as he heads to the throne room. I walk past the demons beside me and I offer a small smile to the one closest to me, he responds by sticking his slimy tongue out to lick his near non-existent lips, the gesture is unnerving and causes me to speed up.
As soon as we reach the throne room I see Guinevere sitting in the highest seat. I walk in front of her unsure of what it is she wants from me, she does not seem to notice or acknowledge me at first so I speak up “Julius said that you needed me?” she sharply turns my direction and regards me with a look of annoyance. There are two demons standing guard on either side of her and she locks eyes with them and nods my direction without acknowledging me. The demon speaks up “You will bow to her majesty and address her as such.”
Well this is new…
He grabs the staff in his hand and takes an intimidating step towards me. I quickly drop to the ground “Of course, your majesty, I do apologize. How can I be of service to you?” she reaches out and touches the corner of his sleeve as if to hold him off, suddenly I am getting the feeling that more than an ally to the Nephilim they have become a new pet for her. She speaks slowly as if she cannot be bothered by my presence. “Yes, Alya. It looks as if you can finally make yourself useful here. We have released statements to multiple compounds, some will be joining us shortly but more are hesitating out of fear of the unknown. For some reason, I can’t quite understand – the Nephilim always seem to take a liking to you and given your unusual ability to manipulate time as you travel, you could prove to be an asset to us. I need you to go to the other counsels, starting with Rome, and tell them what an amazing fortress it is that we have built here. Convince them, to come.”
I try to digest what she is asking me to do. I understand that she cannot leave herself, but if the other Nephilim are happy to remain unprotected where they are, there is really no reason for us to convince them otherwise, I try to take a different approach when I speak up “I will do as your majesty has requested, but do you think it wise that we push them so early on? Don’t you think that as they sit back and watch us thrive they will eventually, naturally want to be a part of that?” she looks me square in the face and a condescending laugh escapes her mouth “You are a fool to think you know better than I! I have led you for centuries and this is the gratitude I get from you? Foolish girl. You will go and you will convince the others to join you, do not forget that we have your brother in captivity, I don’t understand your displaced love for him, but I am keeping him alive, merely as a favor to you and depending on what you do next, you might find my gesture of gratitude to be quite fickle if you cannot put your talents to use for me.” I know exactly what she is saying and I don’t like it one bit, I should’ve known better, but I am completely at her mercy now “Yes your majesty, I will leave at once. We best have our servants begin preparing rooms, because soon this new haven will be full.” She waves her hand to send me off and I quickly find myself running in the direction of my room to pack. I have no clue how I am going to get myself out of this one.