And then he was speaking to her, softly, but she couldn't hear his words, her ears were too hurt. She lay there, and felt her eyes begin to close again. Yes, peace at last. She would be able to sleep now, and she knew that the sleep would take the hurt away. Somewhere in her mind, she was aware that dying should make her sad, but she was not afraid of it now, she welcomed it. Welcomed the release. A part of her acknowledged the voice now speaking into her mind, not into her ears. She didn't understand the words, she just wanted to sleep.
She felt wetness falling on her face, and like cooling rain on the sun-baked land, she felt it lift her spirits, re-energize her. He was crying again, and somehow, it was the beginnings of her healing. She tasted something in her mouth, or thought she could, something metallic and unpleasant. Blood, she thought. That’s odd, she thought to herself, that I’m bleeding now, I wasn’t bleeding before. Or was I? Had I just not noticed?
Then Mia became aware of something touching her charred lips, it hurt, she wanted to make it go away, the pressure, pressing whatever it was against her tender mouth, hurting the skin there. The pain all over her body, which had dulled as she had passed further from the light and closer to the shadow world, began to sear through her once again, and she writhed in agony.
That was the moment that she realized she was not going to die. In all this time, she had not been able to squirm in her agony, and now, she twisted and tried to get away from the hand pressed to her mouth. Her awareness was returning, she knew that this was a hand now. And the blood, that was not her own. Somewhere deep inside her, her power stirred weakly, and told her that this blood was his blood, Evan’s blood. She wanted to pull back in disgust, to spit it out, but she was not get strong enough for that. Weakly, she lifted her arm to try to pull his hand away, and he took this as his signal to stop. She opened her eyes and looked up at his face once more.
“Mia, you should have enough strength now to speak with your mind.” He spoke into hers like it was the most natural thing in the world, all the while keeping his eyes on hers. She tried.
“Yes.” Even the voice in her mind was small, croaky and weak, but he heard it, and she felt the joy in his voice as he replied.
“Good, that’s very good! Do you know how to heal yourself, Mia? Do you need me to teach you?”
“No” she replied croakily,
“It’s easy, all you do is…”
“NO!” she interrupted, more forcefully, “I don’t need…I can….”
Even just the effort of that outburst had drained her, and she felt weaker for it. She struggled to keep her focus as she sought out the part of her that was brightest. Most of her body, she was dismayed to find, was black this time. Not even a dull glow of power, just darkness. She sought out the strongest glow, which, as the first time she had healed herself, came from her heart. This time though, the glow was significantly less, and she was not sure there would be enough there to heal anything.
Evan, still connected to her mind, seemed to have been following her process, and interjected.
“I can give you more blood, to give you more strength.”
“No” she replied, disgusted at the thought.
She began the process of healing, drawing the tiniest white thread from her heart, as much as she dared take, afraid that this time her heart may fail, and she would be lost to the shadows forever. Once she had it, she tried to decide where needed it the most, her whole body was so battered, she didn't know how to prioritize.
“Your skin,” said Evan, softly into her mind, “heal your skin first, at least we can move you from this place then, get you somewhere more comfortable.”
Reluctantly, she agreed, his proposal did make the most sense, and she sought out the most damaged parts of her skin, opening channels and allowing a little energy to flow to them. Had she been able, she would have cried in relief as she felt the pain in those areas fade away, left with the pleasant tingle of being touched by power. She resisted the urge to heal her whole body, and let the thread go back to her heart, which wrapped it back in hungrily. The effort had exhausted her, and she slipped off into unconsciousness.
Gently, Evan picked her up, tucking the blanket around her, and shifted to a place where he knew they would be safe - his own rooms.
CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN
Arduino sat in Evan’s room, waiting for him to return. He had caught the briefest flash of the boy earlier, who had disappeared off with a blanket. It was very much like Evan to be up to peculiar things. Arduino knew that the boy had been following the girl, and had kept his master’s secret. Despite any who may think they were in charge of this place, Arduino knew the real prophecy, had been there when Evan was born and the first part of it was fulfilled.
Evan was to be the Angel Prince, and lead them all into victory - one way or another. There were those who simply wanted to use him as a weapon, and then there was Arduino, the only one who treated him as his prince. He was all Evan had, since his parents had passed into the Shadow World, when he was just a boy.
He had raised him as he would his own son, and had mimicked the love and affection that Alexander and Adina had showed to their little boy - which was, in turn, copied from their observations of humans. Children, it seemed, required much more than simply to be fed and allowed to sleep. Arduino was glad that an Angel’s existence was a much simpler one than a human - no wonder humans accomplished so little, when they had to spend so much time just keeping themselves alive. He had tried to raise him as they would have wanted, but was certain he had failed.
After all, they would not have wanted their prince to be so unruly, so wholly uncontrollable. It didn't help that Evan was incredibly intelligent, and had quickly learned he was faster, stronger and had more little tricks than the other Angels. He could not be stopped, if he wanted to do something. And even Arduino acknowledged that was a dangerous quality in a leader. He sat on Evans bed and waited - the boy would have to return sooner or later.
Evan arrived back in his rooms under cover of darkness, carrying Mia and laying her delicately on his bed. It had worked, he was relieved to see, there was no sign of Arduino, although Evan knew there was not a chance that the old man would leave the room until Evan returned.
The most complex Truth that Evan had woven seemed to be holding, and this was indeed a good thing, for whilst Mia recuperated, it was imperative that no-one found her - he didn't know what the others would do with her if they did. He knew of the prophecy, of course, but doubted very much that she did. And most others didn't know it either, or if they did, they at best knew only parts of it. He looked at the sleeping girl, and wondered how he would explain it to her. She probably wouldn’t believe him - after all, he had every reason to lie to her. He could think of only one way to make her believe him, and reluctantly he left the sleeping girl alone in the darkened room, to set his new plan into motion.
The first step was to shift Truths, and speak with Arduino. He had to explain himself to his mentor, although he knew the old man would not be pleased. He appeared in the room behind where Arduino sat on his bed, his eyes closed in meditative thought.
“The wanderer returns.” Arduino spoke glibly, without even opening his eyes.
“Hello Old Man” replied Evan.
“Well?”
“Well…what?” Evan played dumb, just as he always did with old Arduino - he knew that one of the few emotions Angels are capable of achieving is anger, and when Evan frustrated him like this, Arduino had a tendency to get comically angry. He resembled a small angry garden gnome, though Evan was certain that this was not quite the image he was going for.
“Not tonight, Evan. Not tonight. Are you going to tell me where you’ve been, or not?”
“As a matter of fact, Old Man, I am.”
Arduino opened his eyes and twisted around on the bed to look at Evan
“You are?” he asked, incredulously.
“Yes - but you aren’t going to like it.”
“Tell me, son, when do I eve
r like anything that you do?”
“Rarely” replied Evan with a smile “In truth, I have been with the girl.”
“EVAN!” cried the old man, exasperated, “How many times must I tell you? Leave well alone! Keep your distance!”
“I was keeping my distance!” Evan replied hotly “She is the one who kept calling me, and I was only obliging her.”
“Evan…”
“I know, I know, she didn’t know she was doing it - but how can you expect me not to be curious about her, Dino? How?” His deliberate use of the name he had called Arduino when he was very small did the trick, the old man softened.
“And why are you telling me this, child?”
“Because…I need your help,” replied Evan awkwardly “Mia…the girl….she’s hurt. Badly. I’m helping her heal, and she’s safe for now, but I’m afraid. Afraid that once she’s healed she will go straight back to them, and drink more of their poison and believe their lies. She’s stubborn, Arduino, and she hates me.” He hung his head, and the old man was surprised to register sorrow on the boys face. The boy, like the rest of the Angels, did not show emotion, although he, unlike them, was capable of it. He had learned his lessons well - emotions were a weakness.
And yet, here he was, sorrowful and defeated, over a girl from the wrong side of the dimension, no less. The prophecy was beginning to come into effect, and Arduino knew he had only one choice.
“What do you need from me, child?” he asked gently.
CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT
“NO, Evan, I said no.” Arduino was standing by the window, staring out across the grounds, his back turned to Evan as he pleaded with him. “Not that, child, I cannot do it - think of the risk, not only to me, but to you and to Mia and to everything. If anyone finds out what you are up to, they will not understand, Evan, don’t you see that?”
“She will never believe me!” Evan raged, “and you know that! How else do you propose we do this? I can’t control her, I can’t bend her will - she is a free creature, and once she is well she will leave and do everything in her power to stay away from me! The next time we meet will be on the battlefield and one of us or both of us will die, is that what you want?” he stormed.
“Evan, hush! Hush! Someone will hear!” Arduino hurried over, his hands raised, trying to calm Evan down. It was not really necessary for Angels to speak aloud, since they had a perfect means of private communication by simply mindspeaking to one another - Evan preferred to communicate the human way, and the Angels obliged him.
“No they won’t, do you think I’m an idiot? No-one even knows I’m here, all they’ll see if they walk into my room is you, just waiting for me to return!”
“How many Truths are you manipulating right now, Evan?” asked Arduino, flabbergasted and concerned.
“Enough!” replied the boy sharply. “That’s how many, enough. Enough for me to be able to speak freely and ask help of the only one I thought I could trust. It turns out though that when you promised my parents that you would take care of me, help me in any way that you can, that you left out the small print - only when it suits you”.
“Be fair Evan!”
“I don’t have to be fair, Arduino - and what would you know of fairness anyway? Fairness is a human concept! You swore your allegiance to me and you are going back on your word to my dead parents. Breaking a promise to the dead? Well I’m sure that does wonders for the soul, and what’s waiting for you in the Shadow World!” he raged “I will handle this myself.”
The boy was gone before Arduino could stop him, and he was powerless to follow. The boy caused him great concern now, it seemed his anger was getting the better of him. Yes, the boy knew his fate - the fate that his parents had wanted him to know, at least. But there was a second prophecy, of which the boy knew only a part. He didn't know how it would begin. And Arduino feared that it already had.
CHAPTER TWENTY NINE
Evan shifted to the place he knew he would find Katherine, and stood outside, looking up at the magnificent white tower. It resembled something from a child’s fairytale, and the woman waiting at the top of that tower could easily have been a princess. Formally, he walked up to the door, and knocked. Despite the late hour, he knew that Katherine would be awake - he was the only one here who slept. Time meant nothing to the others. There was no day or night.
The door swung open, and a light shone on the stairs. It looked to Evan the way he had always imagined Tinkerbell to look, in Peter Pan. A little ball of bright light. His parents had indulged him as a small boy, told him human stories about magic, which even with all he could do himself, had still seemed wondrous to him. He followed the light obediently, knowing that in reality, there was no such thing as fairies, and that this was just an orb of Katherine’s power, guiding him to her. He wondered if she knew why he had come. Perhaps she had even been expecting him.
He followed the light up the winding staircase until it stopped and hovered in front of a door, then disappeared in a flash of sparkles. He knocked on the door, and entered without waiting for a reply from within.
The knock was more of a formality than anything, politeness out of habit. The others had always found it quaint, the way such human things seemed hard-wired into this curious little person. Katherine turned and smiled at him from her position by the small window.
“Hello, Evan. To what do I owe this pleasure?” she asked, her voice melodious and mild.
“I think you know” he replied curtly.
“Do I, in fact?” Her knowing smile told him that yes, she knew why he had come. “Oh alright, youngling, I know why you’re here. And I think you know my answer.” Her gaze was steady, and cold.
“You would have her die then? Throw her to the dogs?” he replied, already feeling the anger building in him, and he struggled to push it back down. He would get nowhere with her if he got angry, he knew her well enough to know that at least.
“You’re growing up, Evan,” she said with a smile that did not reach her eyes, “self control is a very important thing. You must know, child, why I cannot help you. And even if I’d wanted to, how would you propose I do it?” She gestured sadly around the room, and he knew exactly what she was talking about.
“If you wanted to, if you agreed to, I could help you.” He spoke softly, staring down at the ground.
“Oh no, Evan, no. I made an oath and I intend to keep it. I cannot help you, child. Let it be. What will be will be.” She looked sad then, but Evan knew it was an act. It sickened him, all the times when he was a child that he had believed them when they mimicked the emotions that he truly felt, showed him how to hide them, when really the pretence had been that they were feeling anything at all. They felt nothing. They were logical, they did what had to be done, regardless of cost or consequence. Like robots. Living, breathing robots. If they could be called “living” at all.
These creatures - he saw them as different to him, although he knew he was in fact one of them - were strange. They existed, but were not born. They did not age, they simply came into being exactly as they were now. Katherine looked like someone in her early twenties, still fresh-faced, and probably wouldn’t pass for Mia’s mother. But Evan didn't know how old she actually was. Thousands of years old, possibly. She had always looked this way, and she would look this way until the day her light went out.
“Not even for your own daughter?” he asked softly, but even as he spoke the words he knew that they would have no effect on this strange woman before him.
“Evan…” She didn't know what to say to the boy. He wanted to be human so badly. He did not want his fate, his power, this existence that had been mapped out for him. She knew that he had thought his parents had loved him the way that he had loved them, and that the day he realized all the emotions they showed were falsified, he became a different person. She thought that perhaps humans needed love to thrive. She had seen, on Earth, the loveless ones. The way they methodically destroyed themselves. Curious creatures.
Ka
therine studied Evan now, in silence, and considered what he was asking of her - and what he offered in return. She had known, of course, of the prophecies surrounding her daughter and the other Angelchild, this boy who stood before her, pleading for her help. There had been only one outcome of these prophecies that she deemed acceptable, and so she had made her choice to betray her kin.
She had approached Alexander, the father of the Angel Boy, in secret, weaving complex Truths to shield her deception. She had agreed a place she would leave the child, and she had run as soon as she got an opportunity. Taking the tiny new child, she had left her to be found by one of Alexander’s most trusted aides, but something had gone wrong. The child had been lost.
Katherine herself, of course, could not return to her own people after her betrayal, and the others had agreed to spare her life and give her sanctuary - in the loosest sense of the term. She was, in effect, a prisoner. She stayed here in this tower, receiving few visitors, with nothing to do but stare out of the window at the ever-changing landscape below. She had waited at first for them to come and kill her, but until recently she was content to simply exist here in peace, and wait until the day that her Father decided her time was done. She could not help wondering why she was still here. She wasn't doing any good to her cause, she had in fact, betrayed them all, everything they had worked for. She had interfered with the prophecies, and she had even betrayed Lucien. So why was she allowed to live?
Awakening (Children of Angels) Page 16