One Crown & Two Thrones : The Prophecy ( Book One) - Prologue

Chapter Four - Shadows In The Night

IV

Shadows in the night

5th November 1940

Listen to them, the children of the night. What music they make...

Bram Stoker.

Theodore encountered another sleepless night among the many that had already passed since his time in the RAF. He now found that his newly enlightened state had only added to the burdens he already carried. Now fully in receipt of who he was, Theodore digested a fact that greatly troubled him above everything else thus far. He had gone against the oath he had sworn to his master and married the very woman he had promised never to bind himself too. To disobey such an oath meant exile or worse death. Of course he sympathised with his human self, the self that had completely and on purpose blocked out everything in relation to his real self. But as he lay upon his bed he realised, alone and undisturbed that when he had married Eveline, he felt deep within that the very act was wrong. With his blue eyes upon the plastered ceiling above, he drew in a deep breathe. Eveline had married Theodore, the man who was unaware that he was in fact her guardian and an angel, two hundred years older than she. She had willingly, placing all of her trust in him entered into a lie. Would she look at him with those trusting eyes when all would be revealed? Would she bind herself to his true self, Cael? He did not know and it greatly troubled him that he was faced with uncertainty. So much time had passed between their quickly pressed wedding, rushed not by his wife but by himself that he could hardly make out the contours and features of her beautiful face in his mind, most of all her beguiling eyes.

All men who fought in wars always returned altered, Theodore was no different. Before Eveline when he was just an angel living upon the earth, he led a quiet life in London, under the tutorship of Lier. He and those alike including an old friend by the name of Jophiel had willingly given their lives to protect the citizens of London from the shadows that preyed on the vulnerable. Theodore had become a revered angel, known by many and feared by many. It was his dedication and courage that had earned him his first commission under Gabriel, to leave this earth and retrieve the granddaughter of Heiden. It was upon this mission that he had met and befriended Galean. Galean was much younger than he and bore a great many qualities; strength, intelligence and honour among the many. There was however a distinct difference in Galean; Firstly he was only part angel and his home was upon the planet known as Unas. Secondly he was the heir to the northern Kingdom of Meer which was connected to the southern Kingdom of Calnuthe, in which Eveline was also heir. And yet despite this difference they both had lost their mothers and it was this and their love of adventures that had brought them together. Theodore had been present when Galean had married the young Marsalia, a beautiful angel that had been loved by many. Never had he seen his friend so happy and so alive. It pained him to learn that Galean's wife and daughter had been killed without his knowing. During many of their recent discussions throughout the week, Lier had divulged to Theodore the terrible shadow that had been cast upon Galean which had forced him to return to him homeland spending many years in isolation, unable to stand in the light for the great pain and anger that consumed his being.

"I did not know myself until Galean spoke to me of it when he was here last," Lier said with saddened eyes. "When his wife and child died, he was not seen or heard of for six years."

"How did he kill Lagman?" Theodore asked as he sat back into a leather chair, which sat opposite Lier's mahogany table in his study.

"I had heard rumours, but never thought them possible," Lier said, puffing on his pipe. "Not even experienced angels like myself could possibly hope to find and kill Lagman."