“Theodore and Galean brought me from my world to this one when I was a baby,” Eveline said. “How ironic considering that the very act of saving me ruined their lives.”
“How?”
“It was because of me that Theodore left Jophiel, breaking her heart and his vow to marry her,” Eveline said her words broken with deep emotion. “And saving me cost Galean his family.”
“Do you think that Galean would have loved you if he blamed you for his family’s unfortunate death? Considering you lost yours too? Do you think them both as inconsiderate and unfeeling as to place the blame at your feet?”
“I would,” Eveline said with a frown.
“They love you,” Estelle said with a sternness, forcing Eveline’s eyes to meet her own. “There love has shielded you all these years from those who would gladly see you dead. Do not be quick to judge them or quickly to assume how they feel on the subject. Both of them believe in you and the cause to which you represent. There is no bitterness within them that is aimed towards you, there is only devotion and love.”
“Their love for me has separated them from one another, am I not to blame for that?”
“No, we do not choose who we fall in love with, we have to simply accept such a fate and deal with it as it comes,” Estelle said kindly. “In the end it will be there love that saves you, whether they hate one another or not.”
“Can you ever forgive me?”
“There is nothing to forgive Eveline, you are my child and I love you,” Estelle said, bringing Eveline into another embrace. “Come it is time to return to your body.”
“So soon?”
“You have been asleep for too long my love, it is time for you to awaken,” Estelle said gently as the home they once shared together began to fade away as though their surroundings were constructed of small tiles, falling away from the wall of darkness that soon consumed their bodies. Soon the darkness stilled and they both stood within the Abbey, still holding onto one another.
“How will I awaken?” Eveline asked her mother, her fingers clutching at her angelic robe.
“How does the heart awaken?” Estelle asked her daughter quietly, stepping out of their embrace and taking her hand, guiding her over towards the stone table in which her physical body lay, close to that of Belle.
“I don’t know,” Eveline said thoughtfully as she gazed down at her pale and lifeless body.
“Love my child, it is within us all and bears many fruits, including healing,” Estelle said gently, her hand within Eveline’s. “Love transcends death and brings forth life.”
“But how will it help me to awaken?” Eveline asked with a confused expression as she, with the help of Estelle climbed up onto the stone table and laid down within her physical body.
“It will come to you and kiss your lips like the rays of the sun kiss the earth when it rises in the morning and sets in the evening,” Estelle said gently, her head bent low so that her nose touched Eveline’s. Her left hand was laid upon her child’s forehead. “It is time for me to leave you now.”
“Will I see you again mother?” Eveline asked, her golden eyes filled with tears.
“Soon,” Estelle smiled, a tear falling from her own eye, staining Eveline’s cheek. “Look after Theodore and remember, there is nothing to forgive. My love for you is everlasting, transcending all inequities.” Estelle kissed Eveline gently before a light took them both from one another as time altered and Eveline returned to her physical body.
XVII
Breathe Of Life
With a kiss let us set out for an unknown world…
Alfred de Musset.
The sun set for the fifth time over the sleeping bodies of Belle and Eveline, both covered in thick red blankets to preserve their bodies’ heat whilst a solemn and ethereal song filled the cold and silent abbey as the angel’s voices filled the great space, covering it in a light coating of sorrow. Outside, the shadows led by Lagmar waited patiently for news of death and Galean. Within Theodore sat quietly within a pew close to the altar, his head between his hands. Exhaustion riddled his body and drank from his bones as he listened to the hollow song that penetrated him deeply, causing the thick roots that had wrapped themselves about his heart to fall away. Michael and Gabriel together lit the abbey candles, the warmth of their glow touching the faces of Eveline and Belle as the early sun kisses the buds of a rose. After a while the singing stopped and the angels, tired and spent were released from their places within the choir pews. As usual, they left to make for one of the outer rooms where for a few hours they could rest their eyes whilst Gabriel stood watch over the two bodies. The abbey grew quiet but for the light sounds of the flickering candles as Gabriel made his way over to Theodore.
“Cael go and rest your eyes,” he ordered gently, standing gracefully before the downtrodden angel, his face white and his eyes heavy.
“Still she does not awaken,” Theodore groaned, his up raised gaze baring the marks of internal torture.
“Time is a great healer,” Gabriel soothed as he came to sit beside the angel. “Soon they will open their eyes when the time is right for them to do so.”
“Why has Heiden not come? She is his granddaughter,” Theodore replied faintly.
“Heiden moves like the wind, sometimes we see Him and sometimes we do not,” Gabriel said with firm eyes. “He is here Cael, He is watching over Celestine and Belle. Do you doubt Him?”
“I doubt myself,” Theodore said with furrowed brows, his golden locks falling over his youthful face and bright eyes.
“Why?”
“From one decision such consequences have sprouted up in my way, leading only to misery and despair. Sometimes I rather feel like doctor Jekyll and at other times like Mr Hyde.” Theodore said quietly as he looked into the beautiful and serene face of Gabriel, one of the oldest angels in Heaven.
“That is quite some analogy don’t you think?” Gabriel said with curious blue eyes. Theodore looked into the bright and blazon pair of eyes, both of them a mixture of a thousand shades of blue, so unearthly, so unhuman and so angelic. It had been over a decade since Theodore had known himself as Cael and in all that time his world had been turned on its axis.
“It bears some likeness to myself,” Theodore said with bitterness. “I seem to transition from being the Cael that spent so many years tracking and ridding London of shadows, revered and respected. I had all the qualities man yearns to have in abundance; kindness, compassion, strength, courage and intelligence. Yet as I got older, all that had once brought me peace and contentment wasn’t enough. I became darker, greedier and self-absorbed. The power and position I had claimed in London wasn’t enough, claiming Jophiels heart after so many years fraught with her refusals wasn’t enough. When you offered me a place among your league, none of what had earned me that place meant a thing to me. I cared not anymore for the vulnerable who were being tormented within the city and lost sight of the love I had for Jophiel.” Theodore drew himself up from the pew and let out a languid breath, turning away from Gabriel. “I jumped at the chance to be placed under a spell in order to become Eveline’s adopted brother and protector so that I could hide myself beneath another disguise, so that I wouldn’t have to look into the same pair of eyes, the same grey soul and selfish heart. Since then I have been a better and purer man than ever I can remember. All the things that I had once turned my eyes from, the simple pleasures in life became the greatest of pleasures. All the virtues I had come to dispense with returned and I had found redemption. I have never felt more duty bound or virtuous as I have these last few years, becoming a pilot and fighting for my country and becoming a husband whose love was unconditional and without complication. Until I was awaken from my dream, from my state of delusional redemption.”
“Virtuous demons prey on angels as they do humans,” Gabriel said as he stood back and watched Theodore pace up and down the aisle, his shoulders heavy and rigid. “We are not created perfect and nor should we be, we have the gift of fre
e will, the ability to change and alter. This darkness you feel within, this pull towards greed and power you can control if you wish it. Redemption is still within your grasp, if you wish to claim it. Jophiel even when faced with death saw goodness in you, her last words were laced with hope and a desire for you to better yourself, to shake those heavy shoulders of their burdens.”
“What if I have no control over the sly serpent within? At every turn, with redemption whispering into my ear still I wave it away, still I give in to my inner needs, needs I place above others,” Theodore said as he ran his fingers through his hair. “Such a change has swallowed me up these last few weeks, such an alteration that even my wife looks into my eyes and sees a stranger. Even now, anger swirls within the pits of my soul. I am glad that Galean is gone never to return, I would feel gladder still if he were dead. Are those not the words of an unyielding being? Am I not as bad as the shadows that stand outside this abbey?”
“A sly and slithering serpent lies within all of us Cael,” Gabriel said with clarity, his crystal gaze unwavering, clenching at Theodore’s soul with determination. “Look at me!” Theodore stopped pacing, his back bent with grievous emotion. Such fine clothes did he wear, such fine features did he bare, no one could have thought him anything but angelic, a great warrior of light dressed in the nature of man. Letting his hand fall from his head, he turned slowly to face the great and ageless knight of Heaven. “The serpent can mean many things to us, it can become our conscience when we need it, our companion when we are lonely and our most benevolent of enemies. You are not a shadow of Lagar, you serve Heiden and you are married to his granddaughter. Your duty is to protect her, to help her reclaim her throne and to take her from this world, transporting her through the voids of time so that she may once again be joined with her own people and land. Cast your serpent aside and see sense, speak not of poetic agony and become the great man Jophiel always shielded and loved. Your feet were never meant to stand in shadow, they must always face the sun.”
“I being one angel will not be strong enough to fight of the forces of evil that will come after us like the quiet of a storm. How can I shield her?”
“In time she will embrace her powers and her strength will become your shield as much as yours will be hers,” Gabriel said kindly, his head slightly tilted to one side, his eyes trying to take in all of the sorrow filled angel so caught between the countless shades of light and darkness. “Prophecies are not always legitimate, they do not always come to light. Forget your paranoia it serves you ill, take up all those virtues you once proclaimed to hold and become the better man, the better angel. Do away with your fears and your wallowing, they will only feed the serpent within and allow it to grow, its venom consuming all the goodness within your soul.”
“Is it so wrong to hope that she may want a simple life with me in Keswick as was our plan?” Theodore asked with desperate eyes. “It is not that I wish to detain her from all that you and Heiden wish her to become. But she is not ready to be a Queen or a warrior, she has a gentle soul and sweet nature. She is a pacifist, she will never pick up a blade in order to murder someone.”
“She has already killed, though it was not her choice,” Gabriel said quietly, his hands falling into the depths of his pockets as a cold draft swept by him. “When she awakens she will not be that sweet natured woman you married, she will be changed and you may find yourself having to change with her.”
“And if she chooses to stay here?”
“I cannot force you or Celestine to do as I and Heiden would wish you both to do, but I would plead with you to try and understand that her life was never meant to be one of servitude and ignorance, she is after all not only the daughter of Unyae but she is the daughter of a King. It is in her blood to rule, it is in her blood to lead and whether she acknowledges it or not, it is in her blood to fight for the right to be Queen. She has been blessed with greatness, a greatness far greater than you or I could imagine. She is the ray of light that is so badly yearned for by those who now find themselves bound by the great oppressor…darkness. Would you take that from her so that you may live a simple life? Would you wish to see all her greatness simply discarded and forgotten because you fear that you will one day be unequal to her? That man’s eyes will only ever gaze upon her and not you?”
“Your words are potent,” Theodore said coldly. “It is not my own self that I worry about in regards to my wife, it is the great risk that walks in her shadow that I fear.”
“That shadow will only deepen if she refuses to accept who she is,” Gabriel said, his eyes turned to the still body of Eveline. He breathed out a heavy sigh and walked away from Theodore towards the high altar, passing through the altar railings and coming to stand over Eveline. Theodore followed his master and stood near to the railings, looking on with a sombre gaze. “When one looks at her for the first time they will see her mother,” Gabriel smiled gently as he looked down on the young woman, so fair and beautiful. “But if you look closer you see traces of her father. The small creases that act like wings upon her eyes, that constant look of hesitance and determined nose. She is sweet in nature like her mother, but strong willed and intelligent like her father. A great King or Queen will not last long upon a throne by being simply sweet natured, they must be reverent and strong. They must stand against the great storms like great cliffs stand against the unyielding waves of the sea. With her right hand she must wield kindness, compassion and love. With her left hand she must wield strength, intelligence and wisdom so that those who surround her always live in fear of her power, never to indulge the idea of exploiting or acting against her. She has indulged her kind nature too much and must now look upon her left hand with understanding.”
“And if she too falls from grace?” Theodore asked aloud, his hands upon the railings, tightly curled about them.
“That is why we surround her, that is why she must find those who can help her to control her power,” Gabriel replied with furrowed brows, laying a hand upon Eveline’s clasped hands. “If she is to rule as Heiden wishes her too, then she will need training. She is not yet fit to sit upon a throne, but in time it will be the throne that is not fit enough for her.”
“And where is she to have such training?” Theodore asked with a raised hand.
“She will know where to seek help,” Gabriel said with knowing eyes for he knew only too well that her spirit had split itself from her physical body, knew that she had been in counsel with Heiden. It had been for that reason that he kept Theodore at bay, least she should awaken from her dream. As he looked over at Theodore, whose face was immersed with confusion he caught a glimpse of a figure, huddling close to the organ which lay some distance from the altar. At once he knew the eyes of his descendant and brought a hand to his head, for if indeed Galean was present within the Abbey then the consequences he knew would be bloody. “Go now and rest your eyes for you are weary and heavy with burdens,” Gabriel ordered Theodore. Theodore lifted his hands from the railings and held Gabriel’s gaze.
“You will alert me if she awakens?” he asked, his words crisp.
“Of course,” Gabriel said with a slight bow. He waited patiently for Theodore to leave the Abbey through the side entrance, making his way down to a room beneath where he could rest a little. Once the side door had shut, he stood still for a few moments to ensure there was privacy before lifting his eyes to the organ. “I told you to return to your father, where my orders not explicit enough?”
“I could not leave her, not when she lies dying,” Galean replied, his response echoing within the abbey as he came to stand in front of the organ. “If that means giving up my life to ensure that she lives then so be it.”
“I never mistook you for a fool Galean,” Gabriel said with icy tones, he had felt Eveline’s hand twitch when Galean spoke, rendering him slightly shocked and relieved. “She is not dying, she is sleeping.”
“That is not what I heard,” Galean said, his face and figure in full view.
�
��And what did you hear?”
“Lagmar is proclaiming that she lies dying,” Galean said with a haunting gaze. Gabriel observed his pale face and withdrawn eyes, he did not look anything akin to his strong and warrior like self. Instead he looked undone and broken, a shade of the man he had been the night he had raided the mortuary to save Eveline and Belle. “He tells his shadows that they both lie dying, is it true?”
“Jophiel gave herself to save Belle,” Gabriel said with a heavy heart, he could feel Galean’s pain as though it lined the walls of the great Abbey and drenched all that lay within. “She will live and in time all of this will be but a fragment of her memory.”
“Why has she not awoken yet?” Galean asked curiously.
“Perhaps you should come down here, it will only rouse those beneath if they hear your voice echoing about the Abbey,” Gabriel ordered kindly. Galean nodded before turning on his heel and disappearing behind the organ. It was not long before his footsteps could be heard as he descended the winding steps that led to the organ. Soon he came to stand before the great doors. He turned his eyes as the door shook once more.
“Et mortuus est?” a familiar voice called out. Galean stood close to the doors and felt himself growl inwardly as Lagmar sneered loudly, knocking on the doors once more. Everything within him wanted to open the doors and kill the vile demon that plagued Eveline. It took him considerable strength to walk away and turn his back on the demon that had brought with him the plague of Hell. Gabriel watched Galean and he made his way up the nave, dressed simply in navy robes.
“You went home?”
“I was there one night until I could sleep under the moon of Unas no more,” Galean replied as he came to stand before the altar railings.
“Your father, does he know that you have returned here?”
“He did not know that I had returned to Meer,” Galean said as Gabriel unhooked the chains of the altar railings, standing aside for the prince.
One Crown & Two Thrones: The Prophecy Page 47