by S. J. West
I stood there for a moment, barely breathing hard, as I surveyed the mutilated bodies of my brother Watchers that surrounded me. It was the first time in quite a while that I felt alive.
I walked down the beach until I found Malcolm’s head. I carefully positioned his head to match up with the ragged edges at this neck. After I did the same with his arm, I waited for him to regenerate and wake up. It took almost an hour, but Malcolm finally healed enough to sit up on his own and speak.
“I must be getting rusty,” was Malcolm’s excuse for losing.
“No, I’m just better at combat,” I told him, not arrogantly this time though. It was just a statement of fact. I was designed to conqueror my enemies in battle. That was my whole purpose for existing.
“Perhaps you and I should have another type of contest against one another,” Malcolm suggested. “If you’re going to win at fighting every time, that isn’t much fun for either one of us. Don’t you agree?”
I nodded.
“Let me come up with another type of competition that we each have an equal opportunity at winning.”
“Do you already have something in mind?”
Malcolm grinned mischievously. “Maybe…”
“Then I have one request before I’ll compete in this little game of yours.”
“What do you want?” He asked, suspicious of my motives.
“I want to meet with Lucifer,” I said. “Can you arrange that for me?”
“I could,” Malcolm said hesitantly. “But why do you want to meet with him, Aiden? War Angel or not, you have to know you’re not powerful enough to kill him to avenge Andel’s death.”
I didn’t realize my motives for wanting to find Lucifer were so transparent, but if Malcolm knew my reason for the meeting, I felt sure Lucifer would too.
“Just get me in the same room with him,” I said agitatedly. “Then I’ll play whatever game you want.”
“You mean you’ll play if you’re still alive after the meeting,” Malcolm scoffed. Finally, he shrugged and said, “It doesn’t matter to me if you have a death wish. I just hope Lucifer is in a good mood the day the two of you meet. I’ll make the arrangements and let you know when it will take place.”
“Thank you,” I said, finally seeing an end to my long pursuit. I wasn’t sure how I would find a way to make Lucifer pay for Andel’s death, but I did know I had to start somewhere.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
It only took Malcolm a day to set up my meeting with Lucifer. I still didn’t have a clear plan set in my mind. I had been so focused on just locating him that I wasn’t sure what I would say when I actually came face to face with Lucifer.
Malcolm took me to the city of Seville in Spain. I remember the date was February 6, 1485. On the same date in 1481, the first victims of the inquisition were burned alive at the stake in that city. I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised that Lucifer would pick that particular spot to have our meeting. Perhaps he thought such a setting would remind me that he could turn me into ash with just one touch.
I’ve come to realize that Lucifer is rather vain about his appearance. Since I’ve known him on Earth, he has always tried to choose a body that was handsome instead of plain. Now that I think back on that day, I realize he chose to forgo that particular trait during that period. Tomas de Torquemada was a rather unattractive and dour looking Spanish Dominican friar, but I suppose Lucifer decided power was more important than vanity.
Dressed in the plain black robes of his profession, I found Lucifer walking amongst the six burnt poles on which the people had been burned alive. The poles were still stuck in the ground in the courtyard just outside where the Seville Cathedral was being constructed.
“You know, they wanted to take these down,” Lucifer said to me, not even looking in my direction but staring up at one of the blackened stakes. “I convinced the Queen to leave them up to show the other heathens in this country what we do to known heretics.”
“I see you found a job that suits a heart as black as yours,” I told him, not even trying to hide my hatred for him.
Lucifer smiled, an unnatural look for him in either angelic form or human.
“Actually, I find that my job suits me just fine.” Lucifer narrowed his eyes on me before asking, “So, tell me Aiden. Why exactly did you want to meet with me?”
“I want to know why you sent the other Archangels to the Guf that day. What did the Guardians have that you wanted so badly?”
“Does it really matter what it was?” Lucifer asked. “I think the real question you should be asking yourself is who is truly responsible for Andel’s death.”
“I’m looking at him,” I said angrily, running at Lucifer and grabbing him by the throat until I had him pinned against one of the grotesque reminders of the start of the Inquisition.
Lucifer leveled his eyes on me, but he didn’t struggle against my hold.
“It’s not me you should be wasting your rage on, Aiden,” Lucifer said calmly. “The only reason Andel is dead is because our father forced him to become the caretaker of something extremely important and dangerous. It was something Andel could have willingly handed over without having to sacrifice his life.”
“Andel could have given Levi what he wanted without having to die to do it?” I asked, viewing the situation with a completely different set of eyes. “Then why didn’t he? Why did he sacrifice himself?”
“It was his misbegotten loyalty to God that made him choose death instead of life. He put his faith and trust in our father to protect him,” Lucifer said mockingly. “Perhaps he thought God would intervene and save him from such a gruesome death. I have no way of knowing, but it seems to me that if Andel truly loved you, he wouldn’t have made you witness his execution. He would have surrendered what we wanted from him so he could stay with you in Heaven forever. I’m not sure who you should be angrier with, Aiden. Andel or our father? They supposedly loved you yet they are the ones who ultimately betrayed you. I am what I am and I make no excuses for myself. Either you can continue to hate me for what happened, or you can join me in my efforts to hurt our father. I plan to make sure he pays for what he’s done to us. I assume you and I are of like minds on that particular matter?”
I hesitated because I couldn’t believe I was about to agree with a person I had harbored a burning hatred towards for so long. I loosened my grip on Lucifer’s throat and took a step back from him.
“Yes, on that one thing we do agree,” I confessed.
Lucifer grinned as he rubbed the front of his throat. “Good. As long as you continue to help Justin with his agenda, you and I will be on the same page, as it were. Maybe if we cause enough havoc down here on Earth, our father will be forced to grace us with His presence.”
“I don’t care about seeing Him again,” I replied. “He cursed us and then abandoned us here. I owe Him nothing.”
“Oh, I fully agree,” Lucifer said. “I just want to see the look on His face when He realizes what a colossal mistake He made sending us all to Earth in the first place. I’m not sure what good He thought it would accomplish, but I definitely intend to show Him the bad. Now that you and I are in agreement about what needs to be done, I need to leave to attend to some plans I have in the works. Was there anything else you wanted to discuss with me?”
“No,” I said with a shake of my head. “We’re done.”
Lucifer nodded his head in satisfaction.
“Good. Then I wish you the best of luck in your endeavors on Earth, Aiden.” Lucifer grinned roguishly at me before saying, “And happy hunting...”
Lucifer phased and Malcolm walked back up to me. I almost forgot he was even there.
“What exactly did he mean by that?” I asked Malcolm, confused by the hidden implication behind Lucifer’s words.
“Ahh, he’s probably referring to the contest I have in mind for us. But, we can’t get to that for a few more days.”
“Why?” I asked, suspicious about the delay.
“Oh, well, let’s just say timing is everything in regards to this little contest,” Malcolm replied with a glint of mischief in his eyes. “All I can tell you is don’t make any plans for the evening of the fourteenth.”
“St. Valentine’s Day? You’re not going to write me a poem and test which one of us flinches first, are you?”
Malcolm rolled his eyes at me. “Men are not my cup of tea. No, I have something planned for us concerning the fairer sex of the human race. Trust me. You’ll enjoy the game I have planned. Well…if you win anyway.”
When the evening of Valentine’s rolled around, Malcolm was true to his word. He phased me to a rather posh party being held in the Chateau d’Amboise, which was built near the River Loire and served as the royal residence of the King of France at the time, Charles VIII. Invited guests were arriving in gilded carriages and dressed in the most expensive silks when Malcolm phased us near the entrance of the building.
“A party?” I asked, raising my eyebrow at the sight of decadence. “Will we be competing to see who the better dancer is?”
Malcolm slapped me on the back.
“Oh ye of little expectations,” he laughed. “No, we are not here for the same reasons as the others attending the King’s St. Valentine’s ball. I have no desire to make a love match. Such a thing causes too many…complications. You and I will be competing against each other for the hand of one lovely and very virginal young woman in attendance. Whoever beds her first will be the winner of this little game.”
“And if I want to do more than bed her afterwards?” I asked, feeling a hunger build up inside me for more than just sex that evening. It had been a few days since I had a meal, and I was ravenous.
“I don’t really care how you play with your winnings afterwards,” Malcolm said. “That is…if you win.”
“I would say I have a better chance than you considering what you’re wearing,” I told him, staring at his red cardinal robes. “Don’t you think that costume will make it harder for you to seduce her?”
Malcolm shrugged as if he wasn’t worried about it in the slightest. “I have faith in my skill as a lover. I’ve never heard any complaints from women about my chosen profession, and once the robes are off, they seem to forget I’m supposed to be a man of God. Now, why don’t we get this game started?”
We bypassed entering through the front door. Malcolm simply phased us directly into the Council Chamber where the festivities were taking place. Couples were already dancing a Volta, which was a rather intimate dance for the time, where the man actually lifted the woman in the air with his hands around her waist and kept one of his thighs underneath her thighs for added support.
The room itself had a white marble floor with arched pillars that reached up towards the ceiling. The room’s windows faced out towards the Loire River. It was decorated with carvings and tapestries representing the coat of arms of both France and Brittany. The marble hearths on each end of the room were lit with blazing fires, bringing a much needed warmth into the space. All of the partygoers seemed to be having a wonderful time except for one girl in particular who seemed to feel the need to keep to herself in the far left corner of the room.
“And there is our quarry,” Malcolm announced, nodding to the solitary figure I had just noticed.
She was rather plain looking and not in the least bit remarkable in any visible way.
“Why her in particular?” I asked. “I assume there has to be a reason.”
“She’s immune to us.”
I looked at Malcolm feeling confused.
“Immune?” I asked.
Malcolm shrugged. “For some reason she doesn’t find us any more attractive than a regular human male. So, we will be on equal footing with every man here and each other this evening.”
At the time, none of us knew the real reason behind our innate ability to attract any woman to us. The mystery behind it wouldn’t be solved for many years. Not until modern science became advanced enough to reveal the truth about the potent amount of male pheromone our bodies produced.
I studied the girl more closely. She wore a white wimple over her tightly braided hair. Her dress was of a simple design in black and white silks, which denoted that she was part of the lower aristocracy. As far as I could tell, she was no one of importance, which meant that her disappearance after I won Malcolm’s game wouldn’t remain a topic of gossip for too very long.
“What’s her name?” I asked.
“Isabelle de Chambley,” Malcolm told me. “Her parents intend to send her to a convent this summer, but before she is forced to suffer such a fate, I think Isabelle should experience what a real man can offer her first. Don’t you agree?”
“I suppose I can give her that pleasure before I satiate my other need,” I said, keeping my eyes on my prey and drawing her attention to me with just my attentive gaze. “How do you propose we do this?”
“I will allow you to approach her first,” Malcolm told me as if he were making a grand gesture on his part. “After you attempt to woo her, ask Isabelle to meet you out back by the river’s edge. After I’ve had my turn, I will ask her to meet me out front in the courtyard. Obviously, whoever she chooses to meet with wins.”
“Sounds fair enough,” I said, not seeing Malcolm’s contest as much of a challenge. “Though, are you sure you don’t want to just concede to me now and save us both a lot of bother?”
Malcolm chuckled. “Absolutely not. I know I can win this game.”
“Overly confident as always,” I grumbled.
“Touché,” Malcolm replied good-naturedly. “Now, go on and do your best, but just know it won’t be good enough.”
I held Isabelle’s attention with my gaze as I made my way over to her. I noticed that some of the partygoers were lining up for another dance of the Volta. When I reached her, I held out my hand and bowed to her at the waist.
“Lady Isabelle, my name is Dom Fernando of Portugal, would you grant me the great honor of dancing with me this evening?” I asked, keeping my eye contact with her to make sure I kept her thoughts centered on me alone.
“I am not a very good dancer, kind sir,” she admitted shyly.
I gave her my most disarming smile as I stood back to my full height.
“Truth be told,” I whispered back in a conspiratorial manner, “neither am I. But, maybe we can help each other enough so no one else will notice our faults.”
Isabelle’s smile grew wider, and she placed her pale, delicate hand into mine.
As I led her onto the dance floor, she said, “I have never seen you at one of these parties before, Dom Fernando. What brings you all the way from Portugal to France?”
“Fortune it seems,” I replied giving her a meaningful sideways glance. “It provided me the opportunity to meet you, Lady Isabelle. I would say Lady Fortune has smiled down kindly on me this evening.”
I saw her smile but didn’t outwardly show that I had noticed.
As we stood across from each other waiting for the music to begin playing, I kept my eyes locked with hers. I noticed that she was breathing more rapidly now and knew I had her within my grasp. As we walked towards each other for the first step of the dance, I gently held her hand and lightly ran my fingers against the tender flesh of her palm in a lingering manner. Even though there were times during the dance where we would have to be parted, I wanted her to know she maintained my full attention. When it came time to lift her in the air, I did so with ease because of my strength and made sure to slide her body intimately against mine as I brought her back down to the floor.
She looked at me in surprise at my forwardness, and I took the opportunity to lean in and whisper in her ear, “I want you, Isabelle.”
When I leaned back, I could see how startled she was by my proclamation, but she didn’t look frightened, which was a good sign. If anything, she looked excited by the declaration. Odds were that no man, much less one like me, had ever professed such a thing to her. I could only guess her homeliness was th
e reason she was being sent to a convent. Her parents probably couldn’t arrange a proper marriage, and if her clothing were any indication, they didn’t have enough money to pay a man to take her off their hands. Their only other recourse would be to send their plain daughter to serve the Lord. At least as a nun, she could act as a servant of God and do something with her life that they could be proud of.
When the dance ended, I offered to retrieve her a refreshing drink. I escorted her back to her corner in the room for safekeeping and walked over to the refreshment table to procure two goblets of wine.
“How is it going?” Malcolm asked, as he came to stand beside me at the table and pretended to want one of the small heart shaped cakes being offered.
“Very well,” I told him, grabbing the two goblets I came for and turning around, “now to just seal the deal. Are you sure you don’t want to just give up now before I walk back over there?”
“Not on your life,” Malcolm said with a confident grin. “We’ll soon see which one of us she chooses to come to.”
I walked back over to Isabelle and handed her the goblet of wine.
“I’m sorry. Did I shock you by what I said?” I whispered intimately, carefully watching her reaction to my question. “If I did, you must accept my humblest apology. I’m usually not so forward, but I find it impossible to keep my feelings from you. I thought you deserved to know my true intentions.”
“Such words have never been spoken to me before,” she admitted demurely with her eyes downcast. “I was taken aback by them, Dom Fernando…but not frightened by them. I simply do not understand why you would say such a thing to someone like me. I am fully aware that my countenance is not as beautiful as many of the other women in attendance tonight. Why would someone like you choose me? I dare say you could have any woman you wanted in this room. That fact is unmistakably obvious by the way they are all looking at you right now.”
“The beauty of a person isn’t always manifested on the outside. I will not lie to you and pretend that you are the most beautiful woman here, Isabelle. However, there is a light inside you that cannot be extinguished. It is to that light that I am drawn to, like a moth to a flame. I want to bask in the warmth of your goodness and show you how truly remarkable you are.”