The Fall of Leor

1st Fall from Grace Part II

            "Hmm, if you truly want to know perhaps I should start from the beginning." He said thoughtfully, "It has been a long while sense I told anyone my story." She stared at him in silence as she nibbled on a piece of the pizza.

Taking a deep breath he gathered his thoughts, mentally preparing himself for the flashbacks that were bound to come.

"I was born December 25th 1771, that day there was a great blizzard and a rare phenomenon of lightning and thunder, my father and sister had to birth me as no doctors or midwives would come; all my young life they attached the stigma to me that my birth had been a bad omen. My mother was in labor with me for 13 long hours, 13 long hours of fighting through the pits of hell, to use my father's phrasing, and back again until finally I was born. My father always said that once I was born my mother had me handed to her then ushered everyone away to be alone with me, he said that she sang to me and talked to me as she hadn't done her first two children; we debated on if she did so because she knew giving me life had meant the end of hers." He had to pause for a moment as a twist of pain went through him.

"He said for 2 hours he paced in the hall listening to her before she finally fell silent and when he rushed in he found that she had passed and I lay there crying still snuggled against her breasts. My father had Leila take me from the room and once Kain discovered that mother had passed his loathing of me began." He said bitterly, it always had angered him that Kain blamed him as if he had asked to be born.

Taking a deep breath he continued as she still nibbled on the same piece, "Now, in the beginning my father was a poor man, we were poor, we wore thread bare clothes thrice minded or more by Leila, my beautiful Leila. It was not uncommon in those days for my father to have more than one job and take up as many little side jobs as he could, doing whatever it took to keep food in our bellies, clothes on our backs and a roof over our heads. Leila, Leila stayed home with us, quitting her governess job to raise us boys and we were a handful as most boys are only worse concerning Kain. At an early age Kain started acting out he'd get in fights at school and steal things from the local merchants, everyone viewed him as the bad son. As for me, I behaved myself, minded my P's and Q's, surprising everyone that had attached the stigma of a bad omen to me. My brother and I fought all the time and his loathing of me was so great that Leila did not trust leaving me alone with him at any given time. As we grew older the loathing just grew more heated, to use his words 'Everyone loves Able, what's so damn special about Able' was the way it was." He snarled out then snorted derisively.

"I aided my community, even broke up disputes, I was considered one of the most compassionate and calm people that existed in my town; the endless patience of Able people would praise. Kain had his good ol' boys per se but no true friends and most girls saw him as someone to avoid and showed no interest if Kain came to court them so the fathers sent him away. I on the other hand had fathers, left and right, despite my lack of wealth trying to pair me with their daughters; I was just 16 when I married for the first time. What I didn't know, and what was hidden from me well as I grew into a man was that my Leila was becoming increasingly ill. The first year and only year of my 1st marriage would end in double tragedy and I would learn things." He paused for a moment, pain topped with pain.

"What happened?" she asked wide eyed and very nearly on the edge of her seat.

"My wife and I conceived the first year and only year of our marriage, I lost both her and the infant within moments of each other, days later Leila took a spill and I discovered how ill Leila really was." He took a deep breath waiting a moment to see if she had any more questions but she seemed to be struck silent a deep sadness in her eyes so he continued.

"That was in the summer of 1788, I struggle to recall the exact day for it was a dark time for myself; not only had I lost my wife and child but the woman I had known as sister and mother was very ill. I began to drink excessively after being hit with all that, I got into fights, I gambled with dangerous people; I was essentially throwing it all away and this was my first semi fall from Grace. People tsked at me as I passed but also approached and asked if there was anything they could do, if anything, much to my blessing, their affection grew stronger which enraged Kain more. He could not stand the fact that the poster child had fallen yet everyone still loved him. I was at the end of my ropes in 1789 when I saw the beginning of the French Revolution."