Ebony

Chapter Two

Ebony walked down the street, holding a cup of coffee. It was a chilly morning, mid-thirties, but she wasn't that cold. She wore jeans and a shirt with sleeves to her elbows. Just like any other morning, she walked slow and was thinking about what the earth above was like. However, as a royal guard, it was her job to protect the royal family, which meant she was not allowed to go to the surface.

"What if something happened and you weren't here?"

"We need you to be at least in our city at all times,"

"No, you may not go above."

Those were her orders. She hated them, but she loved being a guard and protecting the people. Breaking her rules could cost her the job she's wanted since she was small. So she followed them.

Sometimes Ebony wondered what the people were like up there. Did they have horns? Wings? Halos? Claws?

Probably not. It was like a whole different world from what she had heard from the conversations citizens had. They were allowed to leave Hell on one condition: they hid who they were. Most of the people down here were demons. The guardsmen were angels, protecting the almighty: the Phoenix bloodline. The queen and king did not have any heirs. They weren't needed, since they were reborn when they were killed (rarely, but it did happen) or died of age.

Ebony didn't see the point in having guardsmen for the Phoenixes if they were immortal.

She was so deep in her thoughts she was home before she knew it. She untucked her hand from her pocket and pressed her forefinger against the door knob. That didn't make sense either. It was terrible security, because anyone could come along and just chop your finger off, and then you'd have one less finger and locked out of the house and the person who took your finger could easily get in. Oh well.

She stepped in and turned on the light. She dropped her coffee.