The Wildest Woods

by S. K Munt

I was feeling desperate for them, but being reminded of the fact that Raphael Lazarus, the most kind-hearted, most reserved archangel of them all was apparently alive and well and sitting on a fucking throne in this odd little part of the universe had my defences rising again. Were they trying to pull a fast one on me? Or did they honestly believe that their king was divine? Everyone knew that Raphael had abandoned the earth long before God had- everybody! He hadn’t even been mentioned in the Six Books Of Creation! In fact, I hadn’t even known that I’d known his name until it had been said, thanks to my selective memory, but I did know enough to understand that of all the Archangels, he’d accomplished the least on earth.

  But I supposed it didn’t matter if there was a deception going on because the fact remained that whoever was sitting on their throne in their castle was their king in their eyes, and if I went in there all scorn and scepticism, me and my pack of defeated soldiers would probably be thrown straight back over the fence and left at the mercy of the sharp-toothed monsters that roamed the landscape in those parts, and we couldn’t take that again, not now, so I had no choice but to play along. Keeping this in mind, I nodded gently in acquiescence.

  ‘Thank you, I’d appreciate that very much.’ I winced. ‘Please, don’t refer to me as Your Highness though. I have been stripped of that title until I turn twenty-one, and do not wish to misrepresent myself while I am here. I have come as a representative of the army and as an ambassador for Callielian government by default, but not as a monarch because until I have redeemed myself in my brothers’ eyes, I am no more a member of the Noble caste in Arcadia there than you are.’

  ‘Of course, Guardian Barachiel I apologise- it has been a long time since I last lived in Calliel, so I have forgotten how strictly you people adhere to caste labels and the laws that can come with them.’

  My brows lifted in response to the somewhat condescending way that she’d said: ‘You people,’ because it suggested that my people and her people were very different and that was a red flag. If this kingdom had been built by an archangel on unclaimed land in God’s name then it was as valid as my own was, and the people that lived there were allowed to govern it however they liked so long as it was fair and just and adhered to God’s laws.

  However, if she was turning up her nose at our caste system, then that suggested that they didn’t have one of their own and that was strange because the citizens of Calliel knew for a fact that we had established the most successful, most peaceful and most evolved kingdom in the history of mankind. Sure, it wasn’t without its flaws, but I found it very hard to believe that ‘these’ people had found a way to do it better! Had they been hiding from us because they wanted to avoid conflict with the outside world as we in Arcadia once had when we’d first built Eden- or had they been shunning us?

  The first would be understandable- Rabia, new Rome and Asiana had taken a century or two to link their kingdoms to ours in an official way, and Rabia had somewhat defected when they’d become a republic… but the latter suggested that the people here in Raphael looked down their noses at us and that was a very bad sign that made me feel as I had when we’d first been detained: like I’d been trapped by an enemy that regarded us as being inferior to them.

  ‘Are you telling me that you don’t do the same thing here?’ My eyes fell to her brand, and I saw her lips twitch in a smirk. ‘I assumed that because you have people here from Calliel, you would have upheld our laws-’

  ‘We have refugees here from Calliel, New Rome and Asiana, Guardian Barachiel,’ the Companion said, smoothing her skirts and folding her hands primly in front of herself, ‘but they are citizens of Raphael now and adhere to our own system, which is both simpler and more complicated than the one that the Barachiel throne enforces under their own banner. You are correct to assume that I was a Companion before I came here, and you are correct if you have presumed that I still serve as one now, but I do so willingly, not because I was commanded to, and everybody here has the chance to pursue their own interests in a similar fashion.’

  My lips parted around a sharp inhalation. ‘Refugees? You mean to tell me that you have taken in the people that have been ejected from our kingdom regardless of what crimes they have committed?’ Shit! Does she mean to say that this entire kingdom is infested with Godless murderers and whores?

  ‘We give anyone that arrives on our doorstep the second chance they were so desperately seeking when they made their way here,’ the Companion moved to pick up my gun off the ground and when she straightened, she arched an eyebrow at me in a silent challenge. ‘We figure that anyone who undertakes that perilous journey from your kingdom into ours must have been desperate to find some sort of salvation at the end of it, don’t you agree? Isn’t it only fair that we ignore their brands- within reason- and give them a fresh slate?’

  ‘I don’t know if I’d use the word fair, but it certainly is as dangerous as it is generous!’ My head was throbbing with a headache now. ‘You could have a kingdom full of malicious people that only pretend to want a fresh slate!’

  ‘Actually no, we have ways to safeguard against that sort of malarkey, Guardian Barachiel,’ the Companion shot the redheaded pirate a sideways look and he smiled smugly at me and nodded curtly, making me wonder who the hell he was and why his knight hadn’t thought twice about leaving him to stand against nine soldiers with nothing but a sword and a very small gun. My palms began to sweat- was he a Nephilim? A warrior? A sorcerer? A demon? I had no idea! ‘And in the interests of keeping our people and king safe, I hope you understand that before we take you into court, we’re going to have to bind your hands behind your back to keep your powers in check.’

  My stomach flipped and though I looked over at Saul-Yin for comfort, she was rubbing her temples like she had a migraine too and obviously not paying attention to anything that was being said. I looked back at the older whore, wary beyond belief. ‘I-’

  ‘It’s not necessary, Lady Lucida,’ the pirate said quickly, eyeing me off. ‘What he threw at the Captain was the last of what he had, and it will take him the better part of an hour to regenerate enough to shoot down a wasp, let alone an archangel.’

  The hairs on the back of my neck stood up. Wasp? Had he seriously just said wasp? ‘How do you know that I’m allergic to wasps?’ I asked, getting worried now.

  ‘I just do.’ The pirate glanced over at the other companions and said: ‘Ladies? I can count on you not to be shy about patting the soldiers down, can’t I? Please, relieve them of their weapons and lock everything you find up in the guard tower while I check Guardian Barachiel myself.’ He began to walk towards me, smiling a hostile smile that was a little lopsided, and I quickly unsheathed my sword from the sling across my back and threw it to the grass between us, beating him to the punch and wishing that I’d gone to Rachiel for extra weapons after all because we seriously didn’t have enough bullets left between us to be able to fight our way out of this situation if it got out of hand. ‘No offence, Kohén, but I’m sure you can understand why I’m not about to let you within arm’s reach of one of our lovely Companions, yes? I may not have ever set foot in Arcadia before, but I’ve heard enough about what goes on there to know not to trust you.’

  No offence? If I’d had an inch of power left I would have fried him! But I retracted a grenade from one of my stuffed pants pockets and handed it out to him, which he took. ‘I told you, I’m not that-’

  ‘Yeah yeah…’ the pirate stepped closer to me, looking me up and down while I stiffened, but he made no move to actually touch me. ‘Save it for your creator and our monarch, Barachiel. From what I’ve gathered, they’re a lot more likely to give a holier-than-thou pervert a second chance than I am.’

  My internal alarms were going off now! My creator? If God was my creator, then who was his? I wanted to run, I did, but my soldiers’ wants and needs mattered more, even more than my own life did. I didn’t have any other weapons to speak of, nothing except the tiny blade that I’d sewn into the hem of my pants
that I knew he’d never find that I kept hidden away for emergency situations, so I wasn’t too worried about being manhandled by this creepy pirate or being left completely defenceless. But when he chuckled and bent down, drew a pen knife and slashed through the hem of my pants, cutting the concealed blade free, I could have blacked out from shock.

  ‘You can read minds!’ I croaked, watching in stupefaction as the pirate stood up and pocketed the blade. This was insane! What kind of nightmare had I led my people directly into?

  ‘You’re not as dumb as you look,’ was the redhead’s curt reply, and then he clicked his fingers and motioned for me to walk towards the castle. ‘But you’ve proven that you make some pretty poor decisions in the past, Guardian Barachiel, so a word of advice?’ I felt sharp pains stab into the back of my head as his voice trespassed into my brain without a word being spoken:

  ‘Use the word whore here again- even think it- and it will be the last fucking thought you have, understood?’

  I was eager to agree, to do or say anything to get that pain out of my head, but I was too weak and it was too intense, and the last thing I saw was that perfect, lush green grass rising up to meet me as I collapsed face-first onto it.

  *

  When I came to I was very aware of the fact that I was being carried on a stretcher and that I felt weaker than I ever had felt before in my life. My headache had diminished somewhat though and my ears were working just fine, so I kept my eyes closed and my face slack and listened to the whispered conversation that I could hear going on behind me.

  ‘You have to be mistaken!’ the pirate man hissed, sounding irate. ‘She’d never ask that of her- NEVER!’

  ‘She would and she did and I’m not surprised in the slightest, Sam,’ a woman whispered in response. ‘It was on the agenda all along, wasn’t it? More fool the both of you if you didn’t realise it still was.’ She sighed. ‘I can see how it would be upsetting to you-’

  ‘UPSETTING? It’s despicable! Unthinkable! And if it seems that way to a guy that doesn’t have a soul than I can only imagine how SHE feels right now-’

  ‘It’s also a means to an end- an act that could undo years of damage, resentment and despair,’ the woman said quickly.

  ‘How? You know the state her body is in! How will this even work?’

  ‘Via a miracle, I suppose,’ the woman responded, and the pirate snorted. ‘What, you don’t believe in those? Look around you, Sam, our existence here is one. Besides, it has been seen.’

  ‘It was seen before she was born! Before the path she was fated to follow took a hard right! This could be an exercise in absolute futility!’

  ‘Or it could be the answer to many prayers.’ The woman sighed. ‘No one wants the poor thing put in this position, not even me, but there are ways to take the edge off her torment, and her mother has asked that I encourage her to undertake them.’

  Undertake what? I thought, beyond confused. Who were they talking about?

  ‘Some mother!’ the one named Sam spat out. ‘She-’ and then he stopped silently and said quietly: ‘Hush, he’s coming to.’

  ‘Oh!’ I felt us stop. ‘Guardian Barachiel? Are you with us again?’

  I groaned and nodded, trying to sit up and when she tried to push me down, I held up m hand and shook my head. ‘Please, let me walk. I appreciate the assistance, but I’m feeling a bit seasick.’

  ‘Of course Sam- lower your end.’

  ‘Sure thing.’ I was half-dropped onto the ground and though it hurt, I did my best to hide it. When I opened my eyes and crawled off the stretcher, I found myself not only staring up at the front steps of the palace in the fading sunset, but surrounded by curious onlookers. I turned around and saw that my comrades were following me and were either being carried on stretchers of their own, or leaning on strangers in order to walk themselves. I felt humiliated by the state of my division, but there was no shame in our condition, not really. We’d fought feral animals, circumnavigated mountain ranges and survived avalanches and torrential rains in order to get where we were, so I needed to remind myself that though we had struggled, we had survived.

  Division one, on the other hand, would have lost half of its soldiers at the initial jump across the river.

  ‘This place is incredible…’ I glanced back at the hospitable Companion, then remembered that Sam had overheard my thoughts just a moment ago, and assumed it was safer to be honest and openly curious than considered an eavesdropper or a spy. ‘But can I ask what you two were just talking about?’ I turned to study the pirate’s face as he studied my mind. ‘Seems odd to me that a place so lovely would have citizens so miserable as the mother and daughter that you were just discussing seem to be.’

  Sam scowled at me. ‘What business is it of yours, big ears?’

  ‘Sam, stop being so hostile,’ the companion said, stepping around to rub his shoulders reassuringly as she dazzled me with a bright smile. But I was okay- I had even almost laughed at the irony of being called ‘big ears’ by a mind-reader. ‘I apologise, Guardian Barachiel. Poor Sam is simply worked up over a friend of his- one that is dearer to him than he has the guts to admit.’ Sam snorted and she hurried on. ‘She is about to go through a trying time and because he is powerless to help her, he feels out of sorts, and because I have told him that I’ve recently spoken to and have decided to side with her mother in contradiction to his own opinion on the matter, he is cross with me.’

  ‘Oh,’ I furrowed my brow, finding it difficult to imagine that the mind reader could manage to care for anyone, and he bristled when he picked that thought out of my mind. ‘Pray tell, what trial is she about to be subjected to?’

  The Companion linked her arm through mine and began to lead me toward the palace steps, and I blinked when I saw a line of little girls dressed as witches scurry out of our way. ‘Rehabilitation for an injury that she sustained a few years ago, Guardian. She lost the ability to, uh, walk properly for awhile, and now it seems like there’s a course of treatment that she’ll be able to undertake in order to gain her life back; a sort of physical therapy, you know?’ I nodded in understanding. ‘Most of us, including her mother, think that it’s a blessing and are encouraging her to work through the pain for the sake of getting her body and her future back, but those closest to her like Sam here, fear for how she will suffer before she finds her stride again.’ She glanced over at Sam and smiled gently as he flanked my other side. ‘His concern for her welfare is touching, but I believe that he needs to keep his eyes on the bigger picture, don’t you?’

  I glanced at Sam. ‘Do you have a healer to help ease her pain?’

  ‘No such healer could exist…’ Sam grumbled, but the Companion tugged on my arm again.

  ‘No, we don’t have Nephilim healers here, like you do in Arcadia, but there are ways to alleviate her discomfort, and I was just trying to convince Sam that the most supportive thing he can do is to be positive and offer her comfort, not compound the multitude of reservations that she already has by rebelling against the treatment entirely.’

  ‘And I was just telling her that some treatments are just demonic!’ Sam snapped back. ‘And that the poor girl has already been through enough!’

  ‘I see where you’re coming from, but like I said, you’ve lost sight of the bigger picture too.’ She paused. ‘And if the girl’s father gives his consent, well, who are we to argue what’s right with him, hmm?’

  Sam muttered something about rocks and hard places but didn’t say anything audibly, so I wet my lips before weighing in:

  ‘I agree that it’s probably in her best interests to work through the pain…’ I mused, wondering if my own healer would be able to help out once she’d recovered from the concussion that she’d sustained during the avalanche. ‘But it also depends on how painful the treatment is. If it’s beyond excruciating, perhaps all of you need to ask the girl what it is that she wants. If she’s happy to go on living with her handicap, then perhaps you should leave her be.’

 
; ‘I can’t believe I’m saying this-’ Sam jerked his thumb at me. ‘But he’s making my points, pointier.’

  I swallowed hard. ‘Then again, I don’t know anything about the situation, not really… what sort of treatment are we talking here?’

  ‘I can’t imagine it would be so terrible…’ the Companion said, and Sam snorted.

  ‘Lady Lucida if she was willing to do everything that you’re willing to do, she wouldn’t be in this fucking mess in the first-’

  ‘Enough, Sam!’ the Companion snapped, baring her teeth and tugging on my arm, causing me to trip up the stairs. ‘Honestly, it’s like you were raised by wolves sometimes.’

  ‘Well we can’t all be hand-fed by princes in gilded cages, can we honey-bunny?’

  I wanted to disappear. I didn’t know what these two were truly saying to one another but it was clearly more than they were articulating and I was getting a headache from trying to decipher it all. I turned to Lady Lucida and said quietly: ‘This girl… the one with the injury… it’s not that lovely creature that ran off before, is it?’

  Lady Lucida looked up at me in surprise. ‘Did she seem like her physical being was impaired in any way to you, Guardian?’

  I flushed because her physical being had been flawless from eyelash to her bare toes, but then cringed when I felt Sam strike me hard across the back of the head. Fucking hell! How did they tolerate having this weed crawling through their heads all the time? Was nothing sacred?

  Look who’s asking?

  ‘No,’ I said, lifting my hand to rub the back of my head, but not after scowling back at my jailor. ‘She just seemed very upset, is all. I thought I had angered her from the way she spoke to me, especially after I hurt that man that she tended to, but her concern for him seemed to dissolve very quickly and after, it looked as though she were trying to run away from him, too.’

  Lady Lucida pressed her lips together and looked ahead, averting her eyes. ‘You are right on all counts, Guardian Barachiel. Though she is not the one we were talking about, that particular Companion has issues of her own. She would have been very shaken by your arrival, yes, but her relationship with the man that you struck is a complex one at best, so he’s probably the last person that can comfort her in her current state.’