Castlevania: Awakening

Chapter 11

She could hardly remember her father now, but everyone in the village had said Laevon was just like him – noble, brave, and a seeker of justice.
If this were so then a confrontation between her brother and Gabriel would be rather grim.

Her mind was too alive with thoughts of flight. Sleep was the last thing she wanted now.
Laeleth had never traveled beyond her village home and knew nothing of the outlying world. This castle was as far as she had ever gone.
If she were to leave she would be forsaking all that she had ever known and thought she loved.

Laeleth would gladly abandon it all if it was not for Laevon, but she knew now that there was no other way.
If Gabriel had made this choice she would have to trust him. He had never failed her yet.

She sank against him again as she tried to regain her restful state, but the memory of her recent dream came back to make her question.
“Before he died,” she thought aloud, “Father Nicholas told me, ‘Ezareth’s tomb … find it.’ I could not even consider what he meant at the time, but now it haunts my dreams,” she confessed.

Gabriel was listening quietly as Laeleth's head rested on his chest. His breathing was so light, so barely discernible much like his heart beat.
She was unsure if what she said meant anything to him or if it was just some cryptic riddle.

He seemed to be thinking and then after some time finally spoke.
“Ezareth was a knight of the Brotherhood – even before my service,” he began in a low and far off sounding voice.
“He abandoned the order for his own selfish gain. He had been led to believe that there was a relic of infinite value – a gem with the power to defy death itself and control one’s fate.”

He paused here again as Laeleth’s face turned upwards towards his. She watched his expression intently, her eyes full of intrigue;  but he seemed not to notice as he spoke once more.

“It was told that he endured much peril to obtain it, only to ironically be defeated by it in the end.
The knights of the order - although he was disgraced - constructed a tomb. The priests then sealed it with strong magic so that none could possess the relic, for they feared it defied God’s will.”
With these words he had finished his account of Ezareth as he knew it.

Laeleth had listened enraptured just as she had when Father Nicholas had told her captivating stories; but she had never been told this one.
Ezareth’s history had not been in the scrolls she was once allowed to study.
Father Nicholas must have kept this secret intentionally, and for some unexplainable reason he now wanted her to know it.

“Is his tomb nearby?” she inquired a little too eagerly as she sat up to look at him once more.

“Laeleth,” Gabriel sounded somewhat scolding, “now is not the time for these old stories.”

He shifted slightly as though something else upset him. “There is far too much at risk. You saw how close Zobek was to…” he paused, feeling pained at the memory.
“I was a fool to not see it,” he said quietly, “he was there all along and I sent you back to him.”

Laeleth felt his muscles tense as he attempted to suppress the feelings of anger he had awoken. She leaned against him and gazed into his eyes - the red hue no longer unusual or strange.
“Gabriel, I do not blame you. You could not have known,” she began in a reassuring tone. “Even I never thought I was in any danger there. I know you would not have done it intentionally.”

His eyes seemed more relaxed at the sound of her gentle voice, although the stern look had not left his face.

But Laeleth’s curious and hopeful nature had been greatly stirred and she pressed him further.
“I think Father Nicholas meant it as a sign. If we seek his tomb we may find something that can change all of this!” She spoke more assertively and excitedly now as the thought took shape in her mind. “You said it had the power to defy death — to control fate?” she asked.