When Angels Sin

42. New Hope

Alina

Strong winds blew and the gargoyles wailed, their cries exceptionally loud and shrill tonight, as if bitterly mourning the loss of a precious soul. Pale Angel Light floated within the Northern woods, bathing the black tree trunks and the grey gargoyles in a faint blue hue.

Alina trembled as she knelt before Lucian's grave, sobbing as bitterly as the gargoyles around her. Two guards still stood at each side, guarding Lucian's grave lest anyone tried to dig him out. He was not killed before his burial. He was buried alive! And although there was no way he would still be alive until now, the guards had to stay there for a full day and night to make sure he was completely dead beyond revival. Alina's body shook, her hands covering her quivering lips in a failed attempt to stop her uncontrollable sobs, the suffocating tightness burning her chest as she merely tried to breathe.

Lucian... To meet such a horrible death. Most Engelmen were cremated before their ashes were buried in the earth or sent over the mountains, along with blessings of peace and joys of another life. But to be buried whole in the ground, moreover when there was still breath in his body, along with a dreadful ancient curse! No one believed curses actually worked anyway, but the heaviness of the words and the gruesomeness of his torturous death, along with the menacing gargoyle that stood above his grave made it sound more than just a void mythical curse.

Alina felt a presence behind her. She was not the only one who came to mourn Lucian's loss tonight. A few servants had come and gone. And a fewer winged ones, mostly squires who practiced with him. Alina realized she had been kneeling here for too long. She would stay here for eternity. But she knew that no matter how long she stayed, Lucian would never be back. Still sobbing, her vision blurred by tears, she turned to leave, avoiding the two servants that were now approaching Lucian's grave.

Another wingless figure appeared far in the distance as she walked amid the trees. It had grown dark, and she had no energy left to conjure light. Even if she had, she did not really care to see anything. She did not want to see anything. But the figure was approaching her. It was coming for her.

"Alina..." a familiar voice whispered, and Alina stopped at once. It was Julian.

Despite the darkness, she could see the deep anguish in his eyes. No longer able to hold herself, she fell into his arms and cried. It didn't matter anymore. It didn't matter if he had hurt her. It didn't matter if she had decided not to forgive him. It didn't matter if he were a slave. She had no choice.

"Julian!" she cried, holding on to him. "Julian, let's get out of here. We must leave. We must leave this dreadful place!" She was desperate. And he was all she had got now.

"Hush. It will be alright," he whispered, though his voice was hoarse with unshed tears.

"No! It won't. It will only get worse. Oh Julian..." she sobbed in his arms while Julian quietly smoothed her hair. "Look what he did... his own little brother..." Her body shook along with her incoherent sobs, and she could feel Julian's arms tightening around her. His body was shaking too. He was crying too.

"Run away with me," she looked up at him, her eyes wide with despair. "Please! I need you Julian. I need you with me."

"Alina, what are you saying? We will definitely get caught and –"

"We won't get caught!" Alina cried desperately. "We can...we can leave at midnight. Tonight! We will be able to get far enough from here before anyone notices our absence. It will work. I know it will work. It must work. It is too unfair that one should suffer so much...It is too unfair!"

"It's just easier said than done Alina."

"No! Please!" Alina cried. "Don't give up on me. You said you love me. You said you've always loved me!"