Finding Heathcliff

Twenty-Six

It took Astrid a while to remember where she was when she woke up the next day. A faint scent of incense seemed to linger in the blackness that filled the small room around her, the perfume which seemed to follow her everywhere, like a ghost, since the witch trial.

Unwilling to break its magic, to shatter the feeling the scent brought with it, enjoying the way her heart started to beat faster whenever she caught it in the air, Astrid closed her eyes again, smiling at the images of the dark angel which, pulled from her memory by the perfume, played against her eyelids.

A sudden flutter of wings disturbed her reverie, making her turn her head in the direction of the window, its outline a faint halo in the near-perfect darkness reigning around her. She stood up and walked towards it, curious to see the view of Rigel's town, realising at the last moment that she couldn't. It was the Black Night day, which meant that no one was allowed to open that window, or any other, or put as much as a toe outside the house.

Sighing, regretting for the first time in her life that she couldn't go out, that she would waste the entire day closed indoors, Astrid retraced her steps back towards the bed, and switched on the oil lamp, marvelling at the box of matches Rigel had given her the previous night. Some inventions were simple and marvellous, making life so much easier, she mused as she washed her face and put on her dress, then brushed her hair. She needed to ask Andromeda for warm water to wash properly, and her travelling clothes needed to be washed again, too.

Carrying her lamp, Astrid exited the room and descended the rickety wooden staircase, guided by a warm, flickering light of fire towards the room they had eaten in last night.

"Here you are, at last," Orion said, walking towards her from the table where he had been sitting with the other two men, on hearing the wooden steps creaking under her feet. "It's midday, I was about to wake you up for lunch."

Astrid only smiled in response, wrapping her arms around his waist as he kissed her, feeling a blush flooding her cheeks when she noticed Regulus observing them curiously.

"Well, I'm here now. Good morning, everyone." She smiled at Rigel and his father as she reached the table and sat down next to Orion. "What's... going on outside?" she asked, nodding towards the shuttered window.

"Nothing." Regulus returned her smile, shaking his head.

"We've just been consulting a map," Rigel said, raising his eyes from the said map and looking at Astrid, "trying to find the safest and fastest way to Land's End. But before we decide which road to choose, I'll take you to see a friend tomorrow. It's a shame we can't go out today..."

"At least you all rest properly before setting out on the road again," Andromeda spoke from the doorway. "Now if you move that thing," she scowled, pointing at the map, "we can eat."

Azrael left Astrid's room mere seconds before she woke up. He treasured the nights spent with her, he loved the way her arms closed around him the moment he lay down next to her as if in her sleep she entered a parallel world in which they belonged together. Unfortunately, her demon didn't leave her alone often, or maybe it was fortunate. Azrael knew that by spending the nights with her, he wasn't doing himself any favour. The girl didn't belong to him, and he needed to remember that.

He settled on the roof of the cottage above her window, looking around, squinting against the cold rain drizzling from the leaden sky. None of the fallen angels was here yet, but he knew that they would come-- the girl and her fiancé were too tempting, and easy targets for those who were desperate to get their wings back fast, and there were many of those. Pulling the hood of his cloak lower over his eyes, he resolved to wait. It would be a long day, but he wouldn't leave. She needed his protection. Laughing silently at himself, Azrael wondered if meeting this girl was a part of his punishment.