Feathers -eng ver-

Chapter 19- Healing Miracle

Slamming the door furiously behind him, Han began walking back and forth inside the room. His breathing was more like a snort, his steps heavy, his gaze black. Insulting his old acquaintance who worked as an counsellor, he tried to understand what he was using to blackmail the angel like that.

He knew he was manipulating him, he was certain of it, he had seen it in Noya's attitude the pitfall. He had noticed the concern he had for them, the terror of seeing them suffer because of him.

The tears that had come out of those blue eyes had spoken of a thousand different emotions: the anger at having been blackmailed, the need to force them to leave him behind, the desire to run away, the pain of not being able to speak openly, the firm will to keep them as safe as possible.

In his hostile behaviour he had seen how much he himself feared making a mistake, how much he felt forced to obey. In his agitated gestures he had seen the anger he felt towards himself, the resentment of having to send them away without even giving them a real explanation.

Neither he nor the others in the spacious room wanted to give up. They hadn't come all that way to go back empty-handed. They would have much rather faced their fears than leave Noya in the company of men like the prince or his advisor.

Disconsolate, the three men had gathered in the eldest's room, waiting for the return of the others and, perhaps, the soldier who had met Estel. After Han had also calmed down, they all sat on the bed, meditating with their eyes lost in the void.

They daydreamed, remembered the times when the blondie had suffered panic attacks. They remembered his fear, the pleas he sometimes made to the ghosts that lived in his nightmares. They remembered the sleepless nights, the ones they had spent by the trance-like boy's side, the ones where they had promised him they would protect him, that they wouldn't let him go back.

They couldn't stop that thought, that little voice telling them they had failed, that they hadn't been able to keep their promise. They had let Noya be brought back; they had forced him back into the past. They had abandoned him, and even this time they would never know what happened within those walls, knowing that he would never have the courage to speak of those events.

          The moon seemed uninterested in stopping its course and continued on its usual path through the starry sky. The minutes ticked by without slowing down, soon beginning to accumulate and turn into hours, driving the clock to midnight.

The knock on the door roused the three men from their trance-like state as they silently waited for the rest of the company to join them. Snapping his chin up from the support created by his entwined fingers, Mikhael looked at the door with alarm, then turned his gaze to Estel, who was staring at the silver doorknob with awe and curiosity.

Getting quietly off the bed, Han signalled the other two to lean against the wall beside the doorway. He ruffled the sheets of the bed, messed up his hair, unbuttoned half his shirt and, making the face of someone who had just woken up, went to see who was calling him at such an unusual hour.

Opening the door, the Wizard found himself in front of two soldiers who, with stern looks, scrutinised him from head to toe. «Make yourself presentable, councillor Killian is waiting for you.» They said, staring into his eyes until he nodded, muttering a few words to give himself time to get settled.

He closed the door and looked at his two friends, then approached the mirror to make himself orderly. He adjusted the brown locks he had mussed and did the same for his shirt. Turning again towards the door, he approached the other two and, with a whisper, told them to return to their rooms as soon as he had left. He went out into the dark corridor and was escorted by the two soldiers to the councillor's study.