Smoke and Mirrors : Royal Angels I

Black unveiled Bride

~Daniel~

An empty church, an abundance of liquor and a casket with a dead King inside it.

Clinical depression starter pack.

The funeral was long over and it was past midnight. I just sat in the same pew, staring at nothing in particular, emptying my hip flask at sloth speed. The church was cold and silence hung over it like a heavy curtain.

Xavier hadn't come.

No surprises in that department.

"Why did he hate you?" I asked the casket, knowing full well I sounded like a madman. "I always knew you were a shîtty father but what kind of parenting makes a kid run away from being the richest SOB on the planet?"

Silence.

"Xevi would never tell me, of course. He was much too modest to show off how fücked up he was." I told the dead body, conversationally. "And I could never ask you. Because honestly, I was terrified that one day, what you did to him, you'd do to me."

Silence.

"Well, for once, I'm glad you proved me wrong."

In all honesty, the King and I hadn't been close. In my eyes, it had been purely business but right at the very end, when the man slowly lost his mind and mistook me for Xavier, I realised I'd come to see him differently.

"See, I'd never had a father. And I'd always assumed it was because the universe knew I'd be a horrible son right from the start."

I took a long swig from my flask, smiling a little.

"So how stupid were you to pay me 6 million dollars a month to be your son when you already had the best one you could ever have?"

Silence.

Good. Because if you speak now, King of Europe or not, I'm pretty sure I'll kill you again myself.

I have enough ghosts screwing up my life, thank you very much.

After a long time, I was close to passing out right there in the church when I heard the cathedral's oak doors creak open.

Soft bare footsteps were muffled by the carpet.

The lady in the black gown lit a single candle and paid her respects before joining me. She didn't say a word, just wound her fingers through mine in silence.

Always the littlest things.

"How was your trip?" I asked her, trying to smile for her sake.

"Unexpected." She answered simply, resting her head on my shoulder.

I stroked her hair away from her face. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"Do you want to talk about it?" She asked, eyeing the King's casket.

"So we both agree." I muttered. "We should talk about the weather."

"It's too cold outside. For angels to fly."

Adriana's voice was so devastatingly beautiful it made my heart hurt.