They spent many happy years in that keep as Cael watched
Isabel grow up and transform from a peasant into a lady. She
learned how to read and write very quickly, and both her tutor and
Cael were impressed with her rapid progress and her drive to learn.
Cael himself spent most of his time with her, teaching her
etiquette, horsemanship, swordsmanship and rose gardening. He also
watched her health like an over-protective mother, healing her every
time she got a scrape or bruise or the sniffles; doing so after he
was certain she was sleeping as he used to do when he had first
rescued her. She had blossomed into a happy, kind and lovely young
woman with a depth of character the likes of which he had never seen
in anyone before. She had a deeply compassionate soul and did
everything in her power to help as many as she was able, and the
community came to know and love her well. Cael was proud. In her
eighteenth summer, he organized a debutante ball for her (and
several of the girls in the city, at her request). On the eve of
the party, it seemed the entire town had shown up. The girls filed
down the stairs, with Isabel at the back of the line. She was
stunning; her luminous chestnut hair fell to the small of her back
and was strewn through with white roses. She wore a satin gown of
lustrous emerald colour that set off her lovely green eyes
perfectly, and white gloves with dainty green bows at the very tops
of the sleeves to match her dress. The room went quiet as she
reached the foot of the stairs and bowed to everyone. Cael was
among the crowd, and turned to look at her as she stepped off the
stairs and into the ballroom. Something tugged painfully at his
heartstrings when he saw her, but he could not put a name on the
thing he was feeling. He smiled at her from across the room and
found a corner to wedge himself into, watching her from afar and
trying to make himself vanish for some reason he couldn't name. The
party lasted the better part of the evening, with many people
approaching him to tell him what a wonderful young lady he had
raised. He accepted the compliments graciously—knowing they were
true—but distractedly. His mind was a painful tempest, with the
unnamable pain roiling just beneath the surface of his conscious
thought.
It finally broke through to the surface when a young man,
about twenty summers old, approached him. By the manner in which he
carried himself and how he was attired, Cael could tell he was from
a wealthy local family. He bowed deeply to Cael and addressed him,
almost formally, "Lord Cael, I am Elias Martingale, of the Crystal
Port Martingales. I am told that the Lady Isabel is your ward?"
Cael nodded, but did not return the formality. Elias continued on,
smoothly and undaunted, "I would like to ask thee, her ward's
permission, that I court the Lady." Cael studied the young man for
a moment, finally understanding the nature of this pain he had never
experienced before. Mentally collecting himself before he answered,
he gave a curt nod and replied in an uncharacteristically husky
tone. "I grant that request, under the condition that the Lady
herself does also." Elias' eyes widened, never having heard of such
a thing. He stood there, staring at Cael, as Cael grew more and
more irritated. Finally he said in a gruff voice, "Well, what are
you waiting for, boy? Go ask her!" Elias nodded, still too
surprised to speak, and turned and trotted off into the crowd to
find Isabel. With that, Cael decided he had had enough of the
party, and like a spectre, he silently skirted the room and went up
the stairs and into his chambers, his head throbbing in time to his
aching heart.
The bell of the hour hadn't even tolled when Isabel burst
through the door of his chambers. He was in his study, and turned
swiftly to see what the noise was, only to see her standing there,
cheeks reddened, chest heaving from her run upstairs. She walked
purposefully over to where he sat and slammed her hand down on his
burled-wood desk, glaring menacingly at him. She began to speak in
a voice that sounded like a growl crossed with a sob. "Did you give
permission for that young townsman to approach me? He said you
did. Why?" Cael looked up at her and replied nonchalantly, "He
seemed like a fine young man to me. If you do not wish him to court
you, tell him so. I told him he would have to get that approved by
you first." He then gave her a wry look. "What's the matter,
Bella? Don't you want him?" He instantly regretted his biting
words when he saw the look of hurt in her eyes. She balled her
hands into fists as tears streamed down her cheeks, and replied
loudly, in a tear-filled tone, "No, you fool! I don't want him! I
want you!" With that, she turned and fled the room, sobbing, and
all Cael could manage to do was stare after her. The door to her
chambers slammed shut and he put his head in his hands, tears
silently beginning to stream from his eyes.
Suddenly, a light appeared outside his open window,
accompanied with a rustle that sounded like wings. He looked up and
saw a slipper-clad foot on the window's ledge, and the folds of a
golden silk gown shortly after. He sighed and rolled his eyes,
knowing exactly who was paying him the visit, and said in a low
voice "Come in, mother, before these drunken idiots see you."
Aradia Morningstar stepped lightly off the ledge, folding her large
golden wings to fit them through the window, and bowed to her son,
her long blonde hair falling in her face like strands of spun gold.
She looked up at him, her blue eyes of the same shade as Caels'
piercing and cold for the first time in his memory of her. She
spoke in an urgent, hushed tone. "I have been watching you, my son,
and I have seen all the wonderful things you have done for this
mortal girl. It was very kind of you, but you should not have done
this. You changed the natural order of things, which is a crime for
us Celestials, and you know that." He stood and looked at her, then
replied in the same hushed tone, "I had no choice, mother—she was a
child, and you would have done the same." She cut him off there and
spoke with anger in her voice. "I would have rescued her, Cael,
yes, but not made a life with a mortal! And this thing you are
contemplating now you must not do; it is forbidden for an Angel to
choose a mortal as their life-mate. You have seen the repercussions
of such actions with your own eyes! Monsters are born of those
unions, whether it be the Nephilim these unions produce or the
immortals that turn into abominable horrors and destroy themselves
because they were fed Angels' blood by the Celestials that could not
bear to lose them. And you have seen what happens when these Angels
are tried for their crimes! They are stripped of their wings and
turned into daemons!" She placed her hands on his shoulders and
looked up at him beseechingly. Please Cael; I know your mind, and I
ask that you let this girl go. Just disappear, and let her live out
the rest of her mortal days without any more Divine interference.
Please…" She let her hands slip from his shoulders and fall to her
sides as she saw the look in his eyes. "I can't", he said
quietly. "I can't leave her alone. I promised her I wouldn't." He
smiled sorrowfully down at Aradia. "Don't worry mother, no
abominations will come of this. I will let her live out her natural
life, but I cannot leave her." Aradia bowed her head, and backed
toward the window. "There is nothing I can do for you, my son, if
you cross that line. I will be powerless." With that, she unfurled
her wings and leapt backwards out of the window, disappearing into
the night sky and leaving only a few golden feathers as evidence of
her visit. With that, Cael changed his clothes and tied up his
hair, then headed outside in a near-defiant manner, passing the few
remaining guests without acknowledging them and headed straight for
the rose garden.
He spent nearly an hour in the garden, selecting the most
beautiful red roses he could find and cutting the stems carefully,
then tying them together with a white ribbon made of satin. There
were three dozen in the bouquet by the time he finished and,
satisfied with his handiwork, he headed round the keep to where
Isabels' window was, pausing to pick up a few pinecones along the
way. Smiling to himself when he saw that there were still lamps
burning in her room, he lightly tossed one of the pinecones at her
window. It made a light clatter against the glass, but she didn't
come. He threw another, and then a third, and was about the throw a
fourth when he saw a shadow move in the room. He then dropped the
rest and waited anxiously. She flung her window open and looked out
into the darkness crossly, shouting, "Elias! That had better not be
you! I already told you I wasn't…" Her words trailed off and her
eyes widened when she saw Cael standing in the light that radiated
from the oil lamps in her room, dressed in his finest, looking up at
her with more roses in hand than she could count from afar. She
trembled as she watched him bow deeply to her, and then he began to
speak. "Lady Isabel, I have come to ask thee consent…that I court
ye." With that, she took a step backward, and then flung herself
out her window, landing in Cael's arms. He blinked at her in
surprise and handed her the roses, and she threw her arms around his
neck and cried softly. He cradled her and gently rested his head on
hers, humming to her soothingly. She finally managed to whisper
shakily into his ear "Of course…I accept." Letting her feet drop
gently to the ground, he stood there, holding her silently for a
long time, not wanting the night to end and never wanting to let her
go. She buried her face in his chest and kept her arms tightly
around his neck, feeling the same way.
They finally returned to the house, hand in hand, and he
walked her back to her chambers. Embracing her tightly, he softly
kissed her forehead, then opened her door for her and bowed to
her. "Goodnight, my Bella", he said softly, and she smiled at him
and touched his cheek. "Goodnight, Cael", she replied before
closing the door quietly behind her. He walked slowly back to his
chambers, the words his mother had said burning in his mind. He
knew that unions between Angels and mortals were forbidden, and he
knew why. An image of Josiel, his best friend, came to mind. He
had seen the Nephilim child that had been born to him and the
destruction it had caused, had witnessed the terribly deformed
creature that Josiels' human lover had turned into after he had cut
himself and forced her to drink his blood on her deathbed, in an
attempt to save her. He had been at Josiels' trial, and saw him
shackled and stripped in the High Court of Avalon, awaiting his
judgment in shame. And he had seen his horrible sentence; his wings
were painfully torn from his body and the mark of the Eye of the
Beast was branded into his forehead, sealing him as a daemon. He
was then cast into Hell to become a lowly minion for a higher ranked
daemon. His lover had been sent to Hell also, for committing acts
against the natural order with an entity known to her to be an
Angel. She was placed in a different part of Hell. Cael sighed as
he entered his room, and, after changing into his robe and pajamas,
plopped down upon his bed. He knew his feelings for the girl were
wrong, but he felt that they couldn't be helped. He curled up,
trying to think of what he should do, and fell into an uneasy and
nightmare-filled sleep.
He awoke before the dawn and, deciding he had had enough of
the nightmares for one evening, decided to get up. He went
downstairs and into the kitchen and started brewing a pot of tea,
trying to be as quiet as possible so as not to wake Isabel.
Grabbing a tea strainer from one cabinet and some Earl Grey from
another, he then sat down at the small kitchen table and waited for
the water to boil in the copper tea kettle. The fire was already
stoked; the nights had been getting colder and he insisted the fires
were checked every few hours and kindling added as needed. Just as
the kettle began to whistle he snatched it from the stove and poured
some hot water in a teacup with the strainer and tea already sitting
in it. He dunked the strainer distractedly, trying not to think;
but the thoughts flooded in just the same. Irritably, he rubbed at
his temple, feeling a migraine beginning to blossom just behind his
eyes. What am I going to do now?, he thought, finally giving up the
struggle. I love her, but I love her too much to condemn her to
Hell. It wasn't supposed to happen like this; I should have just
given that Elias fellow consent to marry her and left this place to
them and gone home. Why didn't I do that? Because I knew that
neither of us would've been happy, and I would have worried about
her constantly, that's why. But I cannot act on how I feel, or
we'll both be sent to Hell. I just hope she understands… Taking
the strainer out of the cup and setting it on the saucer, he lifted
the cup to his lips and took a long, cleansing sip, the delicate
aroma filling his nostrils and soothing him slightly. He then
looked out the window, and noticed that dawn was breaking. With a
sigh, he stared at the shifting colours and increasing light, still
sipping his tea, putting his troubles aside for the moment.
The sky was still a deep blue with sprinklings of stars when
Isabel awoke. Silently, she made her way to Cael's room, only to
find it empty, his blankets showing the evidence of his nightmares,
as they were disheveled and twisted. Closing his door, she went
downstairs to look for him, beginning in the living room. Not
finding him there, she next went into the kitchen, and was shocked
to see him looking so haggardly. He looked up at her and gave her a
tired smile, then sipped his tea. "Good morrow, sunshine", he said,
and then added, "There's some hot water in the kettle if you would
like some tea." She sat down at the table and looked at him with
concern, and after a long silence, she asked, "Are you all right?
You room is a disaster, and you look ill." Setting his cup down on
the saucer, he folded his hands and sighed, staring at the table.
He then looked up at her, his face serious but his eyes pained. At
last he spoke. "Bella, I must tell you something, and I will
understand if you get angry or even hate me, but I hope you will
understand. We can never be together in the way we would both like
to be, and please know it is not for lack of love on my part. We
are two entirely different creatures, you and I, and if we ever
consummated our love, there would be horrific repercussions. I care
too much for you to put you through that. But know this; though I
cannot marry you, I will never leave you, and if you find yourself
in love with someone else, by all means follow your heart. I will
always be here for you, and I love you with all my heart. That's
all I wanted to say." He could no longer hold back the tears that
had been building since she had walked into the kitchen, and he
looked at her pleadingly; the drops of his silent anguish rolling
down his face. His words began to sink in as she sat there, and
though she couldn't quite grasp what he was actually saying, she
thought she understood. Reaching across the table, she took his
hands and smiled softly at him. "I think I understand", she said
softly. "But there will never be anyone else. You are my heart,
and you have been since I was much younger. As long as I can be
with you, I will be happy." Hearing her words, he smiled at her
through his tears and squeezed her hands, thankful that she
understood. With that he stood and grabbed a cup and saucer from
the cupboard and her favourite tea from the cabinet and poured her a
cup of tea. They then watched the rest of the dawn unfold together.
