My Love, Please Kill Me

[pt.12] The Foretelling

Part 12

[Mikael POV]

I stepped inside Raphael's working chamber. A strange iron-like smell hung thick in the air; I ignored it. The chief healer was sitting with his back facing me, apparently was examining something. I cleared my throat. "Raphael." I addressed him, "I need to talk."

"I know." He replied, still looking at whatever it was on his table.

I raised on eyebrow. "You know?"

"It's Lunalea, right? You moved her from my palace." Raphael finally turned around to face me. His expression was stern and I could tell at once that he was displeased with my action.

"Yes. About that. She and I-"

"Married." He cut short. His sharp gaze of his clear blue eyes seemed to pierce through my skull.

I wasn't surprised that he knew already. "She told you." I concluded.

"No." Raphael shook his head. "I just need to look at her aura to know that she's been tainted."

Now I was incensed. "You call it 'tainted'??" I narrowed my eyes dangerously.

"What else should I call it?" he said cooly.

"Look, I understand you're upset that I take her from you. But you're not her father, Raphael!" I heard myself raising the tone of my voice. Oh, no..I had to calm down. I promised Lunalea.. But..a thought popped in my head, a thought that triggered my jealousy. "Or..does she mean something else to you...?" I hissed.

Silence reigned for a few seconds. I clenched my fists, tensing, when Raphael opened his mouth and said: "I may not be her father..or her lover, if that's what you are suggesting, but I'm the one who found her. I'm the one who even gave her that name, Lunalea. And you..what do you know about her?" his voice was serene, matter-of-factly.

I became quiet. He's right; what did I know about her? Except her existence. To think of it, I might have heard rumors about her amongst the soldiers. That Raphael miraculously found her somewhere on the northern border, on the aftermath of a battle against the demons.. she was a sole survivor, perhaps she's an unfortunate civilian caught up in a very unfortunate situation. The only fortunate thing was that she had a healing ability. I also heard that she lost her memory because of the trauma. But then again..I didn't care about her past! What mattered to me were the present and the future. I loved her; she's my wife now. And I wanted to forge a future where we both could live together peacefully, without war, without demons.

Seeing me preoccupied in my own thoughts, Raphael got up and placed his hand gently on my shoulder, bringing me back to reality. "Mikael, I don't object your marrying her." He said, "I just want you to be aware of what you are doing. While her past is still...enigmatic, she's my responsibility."

I glared at him-I was tall, but he was a bit taller than me and it pissed me off. I brushed his hand harshly off my shoulder. "She's my responsibility now, not yours. And you better stay away from my wife." I warned him, putting a stress on the last two words. Then I turned around and walked away before he had the chance to say anything.

[Lunalea POV]

Dark. Again, with the darkness.. and flashes of red. I couldn't move, I just..perceived everything around me with my senses; heard the screaming, the howling, the war cries, the choking sound, the clashing between metals; smelled the horrid iron-like smell of blood, the putrid smell of corpses, the smoke.. I wished I was dead already.

I felt a cold grip on my arm, a ragged hot breath which smelled foul closing in. A coarse voice whispered in my ear coldly and painfully: "..avenge..our deaths..." before everything went silent. Silence. For how long I didn't know.. Until there's this speck of light. Small and distant at first, then it got closer..and closer...