Original Sin

Chapter 28

"Who are you?" The woman was clearly tired of asking. She drew a long blade from the sheath at her hip. Still, Hailey was struggling to speak again. Not only was it impossible that Fausta, Constantine the Great's second wife, stood before her looking as young as Hailey herself, but her modernized brain was stretching at the seams to translate the ancient Byzantine language Fausta spoke in. It was long dead to the 21st century, and Hailey had not conversed it in fluently for close to a thousand years.

"I will not ask again! Who are you?" The woman held the tip of her blade to Hailey's throat. The cold metal brought an urgent sense of mortality. 

"They call me...Hailey," she replied, struggling to form adequate vocabulary words and complete sentences. "Are you...Fausta? Second empress of Constantine the Great and all Byzantium?" 

The woman's eyes widened, and she withdrew her blade, sheathing it once more. "I thought knowledge of my existence was long forgotten in the Empire." Her eyes were alight with curiosity. "Pray tell- What year of the Lord is it?"

"Year 2018. Your Empire is no more. It is many countries now." Hailey was regaining command of the old language now. A million questions sprung forth in her mind.

Fausta did not seem as forlorn as an empress should have at the news of her country's fall. "Does anyone know what became of Crispus?" The tone in her voice saddened slightly only at the mention of his name.

A new thought cam to Hailey's mind. She spoke it freely, believing that there was nothing Fausta could do to her in this incredibly curious space and time. "You loved him. Your stepson, Crispus?"

Fausta did not face her, choosing to stare off into the spaces of her own mind instead. She just nodded in reply. "Since you know our relations, you must know how his father felt, how he banished both of us."

"It was written you both were executed, not banished."

The woman chuckled at this comment and faced Hailey, a friendlier look upon her face now. "Well, I suppose it would have to look that way. He never believed in this new faith- Christianity. He was incredibly faithful to traditional worshiping. Alas, tradition always gives way to new ideas at some point. When it was revealed Crispus and I had formed a separate sect of the Council of Nicaea, one dedicated to a blend of Pagan and Christian practices, he did the only thing that was logical for Byzantium. I cannot fault him for that. Crispus and I were banished to opposite ends of the earth, to be parted for all eternity."

Hailey regarded Fausta with an air of admiration. Her care for Crispus, her long-lost lover, was still as strong as if it were 326 A.D. all over again and it was the last time they saw one another. Her devotion to her duty was without measure as well. She and Hailey were so similar. 

"How did you manage to leave him?" Hailey couldn't help but ask.

"Leave?" Fausta's voice was shocked. "Is your familiarity with romance so tragic you believe even death can separate love?"

"Um..." What could Hailey say to this? Who would believe such a tale? Well, if she's not going to believe me, there was nothing to lose anyway, so why not? "My husband is Lucifer, the first fallen angel. And I am..."

"...the immortal daughter of Adam and Eve?"

Hailey's mouth was open. How does Fausta know?

"You seem surprised. Did you really think you could walk upon Earth forever with an arch angel at your side and no one would notice?"

Fausta began pacing circles around Hailey, eyeing her superstitiously, yet with awe. "So the stories are true: A human girl fell for a powerful angel and caused all humanity to succumb to weakness. I must say, though, you're not quite what I expected."