Page 10 of Celestial Shadows
“Take a walk with me, Eilish.” He waits patiently, sitting on the bed with a lopsided grin as I quickly dress myself. “It is a pity to hide such a figure. Even if it’s beneath leathers that cup your rear and a corset that makes your breasts look delectable. I still prefer you in this bed, wearing nothing at all.”
Though I know him as my lover, as my first of many things, I still grow flustered when I hear his words. I try to hide the pink blush on my cheeks as I open the door and lead him out of my quarters. We move slowly through the courtyard, near the others, but they pay us no mind.
“I must tell you something,” he says. “It may change the way you see me.”
I look at him and frown. “Change the way I see you?”
He nods. “The last thing I wish to do is push you away, Eilish, but you must know I’m not who you think I am. It isn’t in my purpose to be your lover and your mentor, nor is it to care for you as I always have.”
I can’t help but laugh at that. “I haven’t seen you in a long time, Silvanus. I’m not sure how exactly I see you anymore. But I’ve learned we’re all contradictions to our purpose.”
“How do you suppose?”
“Dragan is a gargoyle, the King of Shadows, and yet he walks among us in the daylight. Theren is the Unseelie heir, but if you look at him with that child there, you see no evil in his heart.”
“Then I have nothing to lose, I suppose.” He casts a wandering glance towards Theren before turning his attention to me. “After Morrigan and I trapped Abedon, I took her power away. In the beginning, I told myself I’d done so because of the darkness I sensed within her, but that was not true. It was a different time then, I was weaker and...”
He pauses and I face him, smiling to get him to continue.
“With or without the prophecies, Morrigan was going to seek power beyond her understanding,” he continues. “It was just in her nature. But if she’d been at full power, she could have defeated me and ascended as a god. The world you know now would be a different place. I took her power to protect myself, Eilish, not to protect the realms. It was selfishness that killed the gods and yet I was selfish in my actions against Morrigan.She was heartbroken, alone, and without power for many years. It wasn’t until Elioth took her in that she found herself again in teaching the young princes.”
“Morrigan did find herself in teaching Cambion, Variant, Aima, and Theren, but she also plotted their demise. She taught them magic only to bespell Theren so she could turn him against his brother in a warshestarted.”
“Yes, and I often blame myself for what happened to Variant and Theren. I was an arrogant god, Eilish. I only saw my own suffering and not what was happening around me until it was too late.”
“Until my family died, you mean,” I reply. “I know you were there the day the Cockatrice came to kill me, the day Morrigan heard the prophecy that Abedon wanted me at his side so he could use my power to further his plans of destruction. Out of jealousy, she sought to end me. And because I had no memory, it nearly worked.”
“What stayed her hand?”
“The other prophecies, the ones that she thought would lead her to more power,” I scoff bitterly. “Once she saw herself standing before Abedon with enough power to overthrow him, her course was set. It didn’t matter who she had to kill or manipulate to get to that point. Endless prophecies and rituals, sacrifices without results... she wasted so much time trying to ruin us that she didn’t realize she was nurturing Variant to be her killer.”
“Whatever Morrigan has done, my actions have been worse. Instead of coming to you and protecting you, I watched as your life was torn apart time after time and I remained in solitude. I kept myself safe rather than follow what my heart was telling me.”
“And yet, here you are. You could have stayed away. Whether you’re doing this for me or not doesn’t matter. You’re here to fight beside us and that’s all that matters.”
He shakes his head. “I carry the guilt with me each day.” He lowers his head and glances away in shame.
“I believe in second chances. If I hadn’t given Cambion, Dragan, or Baron a second chance, I wouldn’t be here. If I hadn’t offered Theren and Variant the opportunity to defend themselves, I would never be able to forgive myself, let alone anyone else.”
Silvanus kisses me softly and takes his leave as I head to the war room. Colors somehow seem brighter as I saunter through the dusty corridors.
Aima stops me as she passes. “Woah, Eilish... you lookradiant. I mean, you’re glowing.”
I look down at myself—at my hands—and notice she’s right. I am glowing. “I don’t understand.”
“It’s an angel’s grace, Eilish,” she explains. “It’s been a long time since anyone other than Variant has been able to use angelic grace, but I’m sure you’re a natural.”
“What can I do with it?”
“I think it’s different for each angel. Some I’ve met were able to read someone’s soul and affect their emotions, others had the ability to heal… like your mother. Angels can sense corruption and summon acleansinglight to help them in battle. If most of your angel abilities have been suppressed all this time, there’s no saying what they’ll be.”
Aima heads to the war room with me to fetch a few maps. When she leaves, I look over what’s next on my list but, before I even get to work, I find myself easily distracted. My thoughts pull me in different directions as I wonder what we can use against Abedon. With Morrigan dead, there’s no way of knowing his weaknesses.
“Mind if I interrupt?”
Kolvar ducks his head inside the war room and sits beside me. The happiness I felt dwindles instantly as I begin to sense his unease. “What is it, Kolvar?”
“Novak.”
