Awakening (Children of Angels) (28 page)

“
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.

Katherine 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?

She wondered now whether the reason she had been kept living all these years was that some day, her Father knew that she would return to their cause, to help them once more. And she had, already. She had found a way to reach her daughter, to bring her to this tower, to convince her to let Leonara in. In all the years she had tried, she had never been able to contact any of her kind - but humans believed there was a special bond between mothers and children, and she had tested it out, creating a Truth that she could communicate with her daughter. And she had delighted in her success.

Katherine wondered if all that was happening now, at this moment, was her doing. They had been unable to find Mia - interesting, that the humans had chosen that name for her - until she had contacted her. Until the boy had noticed a disturbance in the Truths which held her prisoner. She had led them to her daughter. Again.

Could it possibly be that
this
was the reason she was still here, this request that Evan was making of her? That there were parts to the prophecies that no-one knew, that were not written anywhere? Perhaps what made the difference between the two fates of her child hinged on her action or inaction now. Would her inaction lead to the war? Could she possibly influence the child to choose the right path? Or was it as the prophecy said, and she had to choose her own way?

She had already changed the course of things once, by choosing to hand the child over, would changing it again really make all that much difference? And she
was
curious to see the child in the flesh. She stared out of the window of her turret, at the kingdom they called home, but she knew only as a prison. She had not been outside this tower in almost sixteen years. Finally, she turned and faced Evan, who had been waiting patiently, unable to read her thoughts.

“
I will go with you, but I cannot guarantee that I can do what you ask.
”

“
I only ask that you try,
”
he replied simply, and she nodded politely.

He reached out his hand, and with one final glance around the room, Katherine took it, and at his touch she found herself standing in a darkened room. She looked around, her sight adjusting to the dimness. It was unusual - in general, at least from what she remembered, the candles would flicker on at your arrival, or else be there burning and waiting for you. This dark room felt claustrophobic and sinister. Yet even through the dimness, as her eyes corrected and the room brightened before her, she could see that it was a lavishly furnished room. She turned to Evan, who had not yet released her hand, and opened her mouth to ask where they were. He squeezed her hand before releasing it, and through the gloom she saw him raise his finger to his lips, then tap his head. They were not alone in the room, it seemed.

“
Where are we?
”
She spoke directly into his mind, and it felt natural, far more natural than speaking aloud. It was something she rarely did now.

“
In my bedroom.
”
Evan replied, into her mind. His voice, although strong and clear, betrayed his feelings about this kind of communication. It felt unnatural to him, like an invasion of privacy. He did it out of necessity, not convenience like the others did.

“
And why is it so dark? Why are we speaking like this? I know you do not like to do so
…”

She had said too much, and Evan snapped the channel of communication shut. This was why he hated speaking soul to soul, too much information was accessible when you opened yourself up like that. She was not supposed to know his feelings, only the thoughts that he projected. She had violated his privacy, and his face was the feature now betraying his feelings. He eyed her coldly, and spoke aloud softly

“
We were speaking soul to soul so as not to disturb her.
”
h

His voice was as steely as his eyes, which did not soften as Katherine
’
s widened in surprise, reminding him so much of Mia
’
s eyes. Before. Before it had happened.

“
She
’
s here?
”
she whispered in reply.

It was strange that she had not sensed the child. If she were anywhere near as powerful as Evan was, she should have sensed her a mile off. How had she not been discovered, as soon as she entered this realm they would have all sensed her. Whenever Evan came and went, it was as though a breeze blew through the entire place, his power rippling out through them all. But from her daughter, not a thing. She gazed at Evan, wondering how he had hidden her, how he was hiding her now, in this place. Something in Katherine told her that this was a different Truth than the one where she was locked in a tower.

Evan nodded, and gestured towards the bed. Curious, Katherine stepped closer and could see quite clearly now, a figure lying on the bed. The figure was very still, and there was no aura of power about it. It was not even comparable to a human, which at least had the flame of a human soul about it. Katherine had only seen such darkness on figures when she had seen the dead.

Evan seemed to know her thoughts, although it was impossible.

“
She
’
s alive – barely,
”
Evan told her softly.
“
I need your help to heal her, is there a way? I don
’
t know how. I
’
ve done what I can. It
’
s up to her now, unless you know of a way to help?
”

“
I do not.
”
She simply and without emotion.
“
H
ealing is something that one has to do for one
’
s self. It cannot be done for you. The most basic thing, surviving, is all that we have to do for ourselves. If one cannot be bothered to find the strength even to heal one
’
s own ills, then one has no business in this existence, and should move on to the Shadow World, where the workload is lessened.
”

Evan stood in silence - he had been a fool to bring her here. He had known from the start that she probably wouldn't help. He knew that if anyone out there could, it would be the ones who had created the girl in the first place. And here stood her mother, the one who (at least by human standards) was supposed to stand by her and protect her through anything, unwilling to even try.

He felt something then, a shimmering in the air, as though someone was about to shift here, and for a moment, he felt panic rise in his chest. But no, there was no way anyone could have followed them, or known they were there, no-one could sense them through the Truths he had woven around this place. He had used this sanctuary many times, he would not have brought her here if he hadn't been certain that it was safe. Then he realized, it was not someone entering the room - it was someone trying to leave.

In a flash, he was across the bed and holding tightly onto Katherine’s arm.

“
Leaving so soon?
”
he asked, menacingly.

“
Well how can I convince her of anything, Evan, she is so weak I thought she was dead. Her light is almost out, there is no good to me being here.
”

“
Off back to the tower, were you?
”
He asked snarkily, tightening his grip further.