Pomegranate Seeds ~ Editing in Progress

Chapter XII

AUTHOR'S NOTE: To all of you who read this regularly, I'm sorry I haven't updated in so long. I've been focusing on other things. Anyway, this chapter is a little shorter than usual, I think. And if your confused my it, that's okay, I was confused too. Also, I edited the previous chapter. I don't think I made any drastic changes, but you may want to read it, purely to refresh your memory. I don't know. It's up to you. 

C

I return with haste to the breakfast room and am on the verge of entering, when I notice the raised voice issuing from within. Still lingering by the doorway, I lean closer to it, attempting to catch snatches of their conversation. I immediately recognise the shouting to be that of Cassiel’s. After each of her outbursts Titus makes some softly-spoken comment, each of which seems to infuriate her still further.

“The girl will not stay here any longer. She will continue with me.” Titus’ voice is low and firm. He sounds adamant.

Cassiel laughs in return, but it is high-pitched, verging on hysterical. Her voice is strained and desperate as she replies,

“You speak as though she were just an object - your object – to use at your disposal. She’s a human, Titus, a living, breathing being.”

“And of course you would know so much about humans.” You can hear the sarcasm lying thick and heavy on his tone. “You know precisely how best to poison their minds and break their hearts. Obviously the girl should stay with you.”

“What is it that all you want from her?” Cassiel is quieter this time. She has her back to me, but I can imagine the sly smile spreading over her face, and shudder at the thought. “Don’t lie to me, Titus. You forget how well I know you. You always have an incentive, a motive. You’re not a good person, no matter how much you try to convince yourself otherwise. You’re selfish, Titus, that’s your failure. That’s your weakness. You’ll pretend to help people. But it’s never just for the sake of doing so. There always something you want from them. So come on. Tell me, Titus. We can’t have secrets. Not now.”

Titus is facing me. I watch, half in shock, as the tears accumulate in his beautiful eyes.

“What if, for once, I wanted to do some good? I wanted to help someone purely for the sake helping them? Why is that so difficult to believe? Humans are not like angels. Our personalities are not set in stone. We are fickle and changeable. You forget that. Always. Like the first time. You thought that my love and admiration for you would last forever. Why did you think that? No human is capable of absolute devotion. We twist and turn, as rapidly as the waxing and waning of the moon. And you’ll never be able to catch someone in time.”

“But you’re different.” Cassiel stumbles backwards, as though warded off by his words. Her voice is no more than a whisper, a breath of wind. “You don’t want to be like that.”

“I changed, Cassiel. You changed me.”

“But I loved you.”

“No you didn’t.” Titus spits out the words, his whole demeanor changed in an instant. He’s angry, angrier then anyone I have ever seen. He paces around the table, with the long, languid strides of a cat stalking its prey. “You do this everyone you encounter. You charm them, you beguile them. You get them to trust you. You poison them with your own bitterness and despair. I’ve seen the maids here. Their bound to you, like a dog chained to their master. Their more than just servants, more than slave, even. They’re your minions, your own unswerving army. They'll never leave you. I know I can’t save them, Cassiel. Your stronger than I’ll ever be, even in such a form. But I won’t let you do the same to Lilith. I was wrong to even bring her here.”

He makes to leave, but Cassiel speaks again,

“Don’t forget, Titus, the reason I am bound to this earth.”

Titus slowly turns to face her.

“You are bound to this earth because you disobeyed God’s will.”

“You believe that?” Cassiel is smiling now. It’s as though he is a puppet trying to break away from his string, but now she has his trapped so that he can never escape.

“Yes.”

“Well, you’re wrong.” Cassiel walks over to him, and places an elegant white hand on his shoulder. “I’m bound here because of you. Because I did love you. And I gave you all the love that was in me. That’s why I am what I am now. I am the poisonous, manipulative witch you accused me of being, because you destroyed me. All the goodness I once had is gone. I am empty, and so I ensnare all of these innocent young girls, so that I might have just a portion of the affection and goodness I once had. You stole that from men - unknowingly maybe - but still you did it. It’s your fault Titus. You should never break an angel's heart.”

“You left me no choice.” Titus is speaking through gritted teeth. His normally fair and untroubled countenance is flushed red with fury. “I did not love you Cassiel, but what man can resist an angel? You came and entranced me with your beauty. I desired you – for the first time I felt what so many men have felt before me. I wanted you - I needed you, like I need water to drink and air to breathe. I did not love you, not for once moment of our courtship, but still I had no choice but continue with it. You allowed me to do so, allowed me to break myself and break you too. You have many centuries of knowledge, which I can never hope to obtain. You knew better, but you allowed it all to happen. And afterwards, when I had realised what it was – what you were – it was too late. And you wanted me to forgive you. You’ve broken me once. And I won’t let it happen again. I’m going. And I’m taking Lilith with me.”

“Do you…  love her?”

I draw my breath sharply, shocked by her question, but all the more eager to hear the answer.

“What do I know of love? I have never experienced, and I probably never shall. All I know is that Lilith has been destroyed and manipulated just as I have. And that if I can offer her a second chance then, however scarce they may be in this world, I might get one too. I can still redeem myself, Cassiel. You can’t. And anyway. You don’t want to.”