*Edited*
[Story Start]
*Keegan's P.O.V.*
Questions...
So many questions had been running through my mind lately, more so than they usually do. Ever since I had brought the Fallen woman to my palace, I have wanted to know more and more about her. Needed to know more.
There is a strong chance that my questions would not be welcomed. Surely she wouldn't just speak freely with me. She despises me. So why would she tell me anything?
I wanted to know things about her real home, Hell. No one has ever been there or seen it and come back to tell about it, obviously... And anyone who has ever been visited or come across a Fallen never usually lives to tell the tale either.
She will never speak of it with me...
There are just so many questions. A reason I had done so well in my class and graduated early and at the top was because, besides the fact that I was the best logical thinker and best fighter, I knew everything. I asked the questions that most people would be afraid to ask. I thought about things more.
I was currently lying flat on my back in bed, arms up and behind my head. Arianna was sprawled across me wrapped in nothing but the thin bed sheet.
As strange as it was, I had this beautiful woman lying naked upon me, willing to do anything for me. Yet all I can think about is the rogue, Fallen angel slave girl that is a level below me in her own bed.
Memories of last night flooded into my mind. Victoria had been so fragile and innocent when she was in my arms as I carried her all of 50 paces to her room. Nothing about her screamed death as it normally did when she was alert and pierced her eyes into your very soul. As hard as she may try to hide it, her eyes said everything about her, unless she was angry and glaring. That consumed all feeling out of her eyes.
When she was on her bed and pulled me close, she had been so soft. Her skin had been cold and I wanted to warm her up and take care of her, really I did, but I knew that if she had been in her right and sober mind, she would not have allowed that to happen. I shouldn't have let that happen.
I shook my head in disgust as I remembered... I had almost kissed her.
For a split second, I forgot what she was and felt drawn to her. She has a great strength about her. It may be for evil but I'm sure she can do good things if she tried to.
Unlike Arianna, who cares little to nothing for others, Victoria has passion. She is actually still living because of something in her life. It may be for the Devil's prophecy to gain power but it was still something that she took seriously. And that drew me to her.
I always wanted someone in my life that was passionate. And not just in the intimate way that Arianna was.
My fiancée murmured something in her sleep and glancing out the window, I saw the tip of the sun rising over the horizon and I knew that it was time to get up for training my apprentices. Arianna would come out later on to watch.
Slipping out from under her, I pulled the covers up over her shoulders so she would not get cold. Grabbing my boxers that had been aimlessly thrown onto the floor at some point in the night, I pulled them on and I went into my closet and got dressed in a pair of light slacks and a white short-sleeved cotton shirt.
With Arianna still in bed, not having stirred from my absence, I sighed and left the room. Sometimes I wished that I would leave the room and just once she would wake up before I leave and wonder where I was and miss me before I stepped out the door.
Gently closing the door behind me, I start walking down the hall towards the stairs.
As I reach the second floor, I see Trinity pointlessly walking about. She has a habit of walking in the early morning hours. Something about loving the peace and tranquility that surrounded the palace put her in a good mood for the rest of the day.
Once she spotted me, she smiled and skipped up to me and I smiled at her in return.
It has never been discussed between the two of us but we both seem to just know and feel it. She is like the daughter and I am like the father. Only being 7 years older than her made no difference either. I believe that it has everything to do with her past and upbringing as I took her in when she was merely just out of her infant years. She never was with a fatherly figure that I knew of or that she remembered. So I was that to her.
"Good morning, Keegan!" she said happily.
She only ever called me Keegan, without any titles, when we were alone. She knew that it was considered rude to others but like I said, our history meant more than that...
"Morning Trinity, how are you?"
I wasn't able to hear and take in her answer as my eyes were instantly drawn to her neck. They were covered in long purple and red bruises. I stopped suddenly and pulled her closer to me and she knew that I had seen them as she tried to lower her head to hide them.
"What is that?" I asked in a tight voice.
"Nothing..." she lied. She always looks at her feet when she lies, or else she always looks people in the face when she talks to them.
Placing two fingers beneath her chin, I raise her head to get a better view. The bruises were long, in sort of the shape that fingers would be. As much as I didn't want to think it, I knew where they had come from.
"Who did this to you?" I demanded, wanting to hear it from her.
"No one. I just fell..."
"Did Victoria do this to you?" I asked straight out.
Her big innocent eyes widened and filled with worry, "Oh please don't hurt her! It wasn't her fault that she did it!"
My jaw clenched, "I knew putting you with her all the time would be dangerous... she needs to be punished."
"No!" she grasped my lower arm, "I don't want you to hurt her anymore!"
My temper flared slightly. I shouldn't even be having this debate with her. Victoria has done a wrong and she needs to be punished for it to be righted. Plus, no one hurts my Trinity...
I closed my eyes tightly and pinched the bridge of my nose trying to calm myself and listen to her reason before I punished the Fallen anyways, "Fine. Why do you think that she should not be punished?"
She started to fiddle with the threads of her dress, "Because she was just mad that she had been lied to... I would have been really mad too..."
"Lied to?" I was not able to think of what she had been lied to about at the moment...
Trinity nodded, "Yes. When I had her stay with me in my room that one night, I forgot that you had told her that the handles had been all made of Gael so she would not be able to touch them and escape at any time. I opened the door and she became furious."
It dawned on me now. I had forgotten about that because it had worked so well. I don't usually lie about anything. That is the first lie I have ever made in a long time that I must have forgotten about it as well.
Internally shaking my head, I inspected her bruises again, "That is not enough to redeem her of hurting you in a such a manner."
Her bottom lip pouted out and she gave me her saddest look, "But she's my only friend! You can't hurt the only other being that I've ever come to know that is so close to me! I know how much those weapons hurt her and it pains me to see her so helpless! I don't like it! How would you like to feel like you are dying every time you make one little mistake! It's not right!"
As much as I hated to admit it, she had a point. I had been told that with all of her previous masters, if she was not being raped or fondled in some way, she was being beaten with anything Gael for punishment, pleasure or pure entertainment.
My silence must have been an indicator for Trinity to continue, "She has gone through so much in her life. She hasn't opened up or told me about her life before, but I can see the pain in her eyes. There is no life in them anymore. She doesn't need more pointless hurt. Yell at her if you want but please don't hurt her with Gael."
I almost disagreed with her. Her eyes are not lifeless. They are anything but. Her eyes are constantly filled with life, even if she tries to hide it all the time.
I sighed in defeat and brushed her hair behind her ear and stroked her coloured skin lightly, "Fine. I will leave her be. But she is balancing on a thin line and she will have a lot of work to do to redeem herself."
She smiled and reached forward to give me a hug, "Thank you! I know she will do better! You'll see!"
Her smile was contagious. I leaned forward and placed a kiss on the top of her head and pulled away, "Why don't you go back to your room and catch another hour of sleep before bringing Victoria outside today, alright?"
She nodded and skipped off, leaving me to my thoughts once again.
Should I be ashamed that they were racing around Victoria already?
*Victoria's P.O.V.*
Both Trinity and Lord Keegan had not been joking around when they said that I would be seeing a lot of the three young apprentices. For the next two days, all we had been doing was sitting outside with Arianna out on the deck in the beating heat of the sun, watching them train.
It was starting to drive me insane.
All I could think about were ways to escape and return to Hell. I needed to know what progress was being made with the prophecy. Had they found the woman of both light and darkness? Was the stone a real object or just the one thing that was made up and only meant to give us hopes as we slowly waste away looking for some fictional object? I wanted to know! I wanted out of this life of slavery!
So here I was now, sitting on the ground beside Trinity, as far away from Arianna that I could get. I was once again wearing the gift that Hunter had gotten for me. I hated to say that he was right, it did make me feel a bit more comfortable in this place...
There had been some improvements to my guard in the palace since I learned the truth about all of the handles as well.
My door was no longer locked all the time and I was asked to open more doors now by everyone. The other night I had even opened my door, after much debate on whether my door would actually be made of Gael or not, and I had peeked outside. No one was there and I was greatly tempted to run. But I couldn't do it. I felt eyes on me so I simply closed the door and went back to bed.
I was able to leave whenever I chose. But the fear of being hurt kept me in my solitude for now.
I didn't understand how they would feel comfortable lessening my guard after my little episode with Arianna a few days ago. But I wasn't about to start complaining.
Maybe this was all just a test to judge how trustworthy I am, or can be, since I now know what they can and will do to me.
In any event, the whole idea of it made me smile on occasion. At this rate I'd be able to escape faster since I'll be able to go wherever I want at any time.
Being with Arianna was still the same. I went with Trinity to get a lot of things. I think she did this because she was afraid of being with me alone...
Good.
The odd few times now I had been able to get things on my own. Just simple things like refilling the water. Getting her a hat or stupid things like that.
I was extremely nervous the first few times as I kept thinking that a guard would think that I was trying to escape and hurt me. But it never happened and I haven't seen any of those special guards in all black again.
The sun was now up high and it was sweltering hot out here. There was no breeze and no shade on the deck. It was killing me! I didn't see how this tramp could lay in the sun all morning and not dry up and look like a dirty prune...
Trinity was smart. I guess she knew that it was going to be like this so she planned for it. She had put on a different, smaller dress, made out of a thinner material that was all white as always.
My entire black outfit of pants and long sleeved shirt was not the best.
Looking over at her now, I took in all of her purity as she sighed contently and started to hum quietly to herself. A strange feeling lightly fluttered in my chest but I instantly crushed it. It was not a welcomed feeling, whatever it was.
I closed my eyes and let the sun soak into my skin; it really was a beautiful feeling.
I tried to ignore them, but suddenly the hunters were all talking loudly about something. No, they were disagreeing about something...
The yells got louder...
"What are they yelling about-" Trinity said out loud and I could tell that she was turning to check it out.
It all happened so fast, but my instincts were still there to help me. I heard the sound of something cutting through the air first. It was a sound that I had grown up with and learned to avoid.
My eyes snapped open.
Sitting up as fast as I could, my left arm reached out and knocked Trinity down flat to the deck. In the same movement, my right arm came up and snatched the flying arrow right out of the air just as it was inches away from piercing my heart.
Trinity looked up and gasped. But besides that, the world seemed to be dead quiet.
Looking straight ahead of me, in the direction of the training area, in line with the arrow that I still held in front of me, I saw the two males still both holding a single weapon. From the way they were standing, it looked as though they were fighting over it.
The brown haired one, Sheridon, was the one who had pulled the trigger. I stood up slowly still gripping the arrow tightly as it was now hanging at my side.
"Now you've done it!" The girl Rachel yelled at them.
I noticed that Keegan was watching me but he didn't seem all that tense. But I didn't care much about him right now.
"Are you ok, Victoria?" my Pure angel asked me as she stood up as well, but my eyes only flickered to her before they stuck on Sheridon again and glared.
He had almost killed Trinity...
Arianna looked up and saw that I was holding an arrow and freaked, "Oh my god! Keegan! Why does that filth have a weapon?"
From the corner of my eye I saw her hand reach for her Gael rod that was on the small table beside her. My leg swung around and kicked the table, knocking the rod somewhere far into the bushes.
Her eyes were wide and afraid but I knew that I shouldn't hurt her. I couldn't hurt her. I wouldn't hurt her. Of that I was sure. She did nothing wrong yet anyways...
Snapping the arrow in half I left it drop at my feet as I turned around to face Sheridon again. He was the one who needed to be punished...
I started walking towards him. I determined look with each step. Trinity tried to stop me but I simply pulled my hand away from her weak grasp.
Anger was powering my actions. I was seeing red I was so furious.
The three hunters looked like they were about to charge at me but they stopped and held their defensive stance. My eyes narrowed, a bit confused at their hesitation but I kept walking towards them.
Towards Sheridon...
Suddenly, and completely out of nowhere, I was knocked down from behind, onto my face and in the grass. In my panic I was able to spin around to be on my back and as I did, my hands were instantly held above my head and there were two legs pushed tightly against my hips so I couldn't move.
Without looking to see who it was, since I was so angry, I hissed at my attacker and tried to rip my hands free, but they were too strong for me.
"Relax, angel. Relax... It was all an accident. Breathe..."
Taking deep breaths to calm my anger, I quickly recognized the voice to be Keegan's. Squinting my eyes up into the sun I was able to see his shadowed face.
"Can I let you go now?" he asked calmly.
I took a deep breath and paused before nodding. Keegan slowly let go of my wrists and then he let his fingers lightly trail down my arms to my shoulders as he sat up.
Confusion showed clearly on my face, I'm sure. There was the tiniest hint of a smile tugging on the corner of his mouth as he stood up and offered me a hand. Ignoring it, I slapped his hand away and hissed, and then I stood up on my own and dusted myself off.
Keegan turned back to his students, "Now, it will come with practice, but did you see the speed she had there to snatch the arrow out of the air like that? That is the speed that you must eventually conquer."
I watched as they nodded and Sheridon called out, "I'm sorry Trinity!"
She waved and called back, "It's ok! I know it was an accident. Thank goodness Victoria was there to save me from it."
The cute angel skipped towards me and without a pause or any kind of hesitation; she wrapped her delicate arms around me tightly to give me a long, warm hug. Her head was just at my shoulder height, as she rested it there.
She had trapped my arms beneath hers so I sort of stood there awkwardly. Not that I would have returned the sign of affection anyways...
After a few moments I was able to gently pry her off of myself. And once again she just giggled at me.
I heard a chuckle from behind me and I glanced over to see it was the black haired male... Jayden. I glared at him and he shut up very quickly...
Arianna ran over to Keegan and wrapped her arms around his neck, "She almost attacked me again! This time she needs to be severely punished!"
He gave her a weird look, "I don't think that's necessary..."
"What?" she screeched in disbelief.
Rachel cleared her throat, "She wasn't going to attack you, Lady Arianna. She just didn't want to be interfered when she defended Trinity."
Arianna scoffed and crossed her arms over her chest, "Well why would she even do that for Trinity. She's a Pure angel, the natural enemy of the Fallen and they haven't even known each other for that long..."
Rachel shrugged, "Hidden maternal instinct?"
"Love, why don't you go inside and relax. Take Trinity with you and leave Victoria out here with us, alright?" Keegan said to his fiancée.
She sighed, probably not wanting to leave the sight of her flawless, shirtless future husband, "Fine. I'll be waiting in our room for you... Just make sure you shower first. You were just touching that vile creature all over and it's gross."
Locking his head in her hands, she brought his mouth down to hers and kissed him hard. I looked away in disgust and I noticed that the apprentices all looked away as well. I bet they all felt very uncomfortable.
Keegan pushed her back politely and cleared his throat and I could tell that he was embarrassed that she had kissed him that way right in front of his students, "I'll see you soon."
She nodded and finally left and Trinity followed. Not without waving to me first obviously, "See you later Victoria!"
I didn't respond to Trinity at all, but I'm sure she knows that I acknowledged her in my own way.
When they were out of hearing range, Keegan turned to me, "Do you know how to get here from your room?"
Running the way through my head quickly, I nodded.
"Good. Be here tomorrow at 6 o'clock sharp."
I gave him a questioning look.
"Why do you want her here when we meet to start our training, Lord Hunter?" Jayden asked.
Keegan took the crossbow from Sheridon and hung it up on the, "Because. She is going to help you train."
My eyes widened in shock at this.
Please tell me he's kidding...
Rachel looked at me warily, "Are you sure that's a good idea? Training with her, she would get stronger and that may give her incentive to escape. She will be too weak to fight us all anyways. To make it realistic we would have to take off her collar and then she would have access to her powers and that would be very dangerous. I must say this isn't a very logical idea..."
Keegan nodded, "Well we wouldn't take her collar off. But she will help with the groundwork, and close up fighting. She has grown up a fighter. She moves differently than I do. It would be a new experience, and it would be very helpful to you three for your training. In this way you are getting the chance to fight with one of the most experienced and deadly angels that has ever been captured."
His gaze had shifted to me as he started talking about me. His eyes locked onto mine and held me there and I felt like I couldn't move. I found that I didn't want to look away either...
But I couldn't hold his eye contact for very long though. His blue eyes felt like ice as they froze me in place. With my eyes cast down I listened to them debate it...
"I personally think you're crazy," Jayden said.
The girl was flabbergasted, "And who's to say that she won't kill us all!"
Sheridon shifted uneasily, "Yea I don't know. I don't want to be the first one to go against her, that's all I'm saying...."
"Fine," Keegan said, "I'll fight her first to prove that she won't hurt you."
My eyes lifted to look at him again as he added, "And if she does try to hurt one of us, with the true intent of trying to kill, then I will personally make sure that she is punished for it severely and for a very long and painful time."
My insides felt like they were being burnt and I winced as flashbacks of previous punishments raced through my head. And I could tell that he was being more than serious.
He looked up at the sun, "Alright, that's enough for today. Go on in and wash up and get to the kitchen for a late lunch."
Instantly the three young hunters put the weapons away and headed inside. I wasn't sure what to do once they left as Keegan had just been staring at me the whole time. I was starting to feel a little uncomfortable.
"Thank you," he said once we were alone.
"Why?" I asked hoarsely as I haven't spoken much to anyone lately. Plus, I always got so nervous when I talked to him. The fact that we were alone now made it even worse.
"For saving Trinity from that arrow. I would have been devastated if she had been hurt."
Looking deeply into his eyes, I could see the sincerity of that. He really likes her, and I don't understand! It can't be because he has intimate feelings for her. She is an angel and 7 years younger than him.
So I simply nodded. There was nothing else to really say.
He cleared his throat, "So, will you be here tomorrow morning to help train my students?"
The question was almost as if I had an opinion to my answer, but I knew better and simply nodded my head.
I wasn't happy about the whole thing. I didn't actually want to help teach students how to hunt angels better...
He smiled at me and my stomach started to tingle and flutter a little, "Good."
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What did you all think? I decided that you need to know how Keegan thinks about things a little. Just to know what he is always thinking because I feel like I have been making him very mysterious and confusing.
Please comment and vote!!!
Thanks :)
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