Chapter Two
• Gabriel •
The sound of distant knocking followed by the click of the door opening broke through my dreamless sleep. I groaned into my pillow, tugging the covers over my head. I silently prayed that whoever just entered would leave, but received my answer when I heard the curtains open, filling the room in rich warm light.
“Gabriel,” I heard my little sister say. Her light footsteps resonated on the wooden floorboards as she walked about the room. Her steps seized as she approached my bed, the mattress shifting under her small frame. Lydia tugged on the covers, trying to pull them away from my face.
“Gabe wake up,” she said shaking my shoulder with her small hands relentlessly. “Daddy wants you in the chamber. Have you forgotten?”
Forgotten?
Forgotten what, exactly?
“What’s today’s date?” I asked, my voice coming out muffled.
“The thirteenth.”
I racked my mind for any indication of what today signified. There wasn’t anything I could find to make this day seemingly special. After a few moments of silence I uncovered the sheets from my face and asked, “What’s today?”
Her eyes widened. “The day Fairmore takes his position in our Council!” she exclaimed, hitting my arm. “How could you have forgotten?”
I sat up, rubbing my arm in mock hurt. “I’ve been back for a couple of days, squirt. Give me some slack.”
She smiled, her eyes dancing with glee as she leaped into my arms – engulfing me in a hug. “I’ve missed you. I was worried that they’d get you, but knew your angel would protect you.”
I pulled her back, looking at her soft bluish-green eyes that mirrored my own. “Do you have so little faith in me that you feared I wouldn’t return?”
She looked down, biting her lip as if I had reprimanded her. “No, but I still worry. It’s hard not to.”
I titled her chin up and tapped her nose, bringing a small smile on her lips. Lydia had grown a lot during my year absence. She had grown a few inches, three inches tops – making her stand at 4’10. Her brown curls were tamed in tresses that ran down her back like a cascading waterfall over the ridge. She was only twelve, but held more wisdom and alertness than most Keepers my age.
Lydia was so young – one of the youngest Keepers who had received their gift at a ripe age. She was only seven when her sight appeared. We all thought that it was the workings of a highly over imaginative child, but later we were proved to be wrong.
“They are getting worst, Gabe,” her voice was soft with a note of urgency. “The angels fear that they are getting close to their ultimate goal.”
“Whatever they are trying to achieve, they won’t, Lydia. Do you hear me? Not as long as I’m still breathing. You have nothing to worry about.”
She nodded, her curls bouncing in every direction. “I’ll leave you to get ready. He’s expecting you in half an hour.”
“Alright. I’ll see you later, squirt. We still on for training later, right?”
She grinned. “Right!”
Lydia jumped off the bed and headed towards the door, but stopped, spinning around to face me. “You know what’s strange?”
“What?” I asked, my brow rising in curiosity.
She cocked her head to the side, casting a glance around the room – her gaze finally settling upon the drawn curtains where beams of sunlight streamed through.
“Never mind. It’s silly. I’ll see you later, Gabe!”
She waved her goodbye and was out the door before I could stop her. There was something important that she wanted to tell me, but thought it was insignificant. I had come to learn that everything my kid sister said was vital; holding a deeper meaning than anyone could ever comprehend.
Lydia was young, but was wise beyond her years because of her power. She had the gift to communicate and see angels. It was one of the rarest abilities known to our kind. It was known in our sacred texts that the gift only appeared in a time of need.
I couldn’t find a better time or place for a valuable gift just as Lydia’s to have come by during the Seconda Grande Guerra: the Second Great War.
*
Entering the chamber I noticed three people – two were standing in front of the long mahogany desk that served as the Council member’s dais – engaged in casual conversation with one another. Then there was another lonely figure, a girl around my age who sat perched on the Council steps.
“Ah, there he is,” my father beamed upon my presence– his black clad robe rustling in the still air as he moved forward to greet me. In a low voice he said to me, “You forgot, didn’t you?”
“No,” I lied. “Rough night. I didn’t get much sleep and woke up late.”
He eyed me warily, suspecting that there was something I was hiding. My father didn’t need to know about my personal afflictions – there were far more important matters to be concerned about. My guilt was my own doing, and I would silently suffer alone.
After a few grueling seconds under his penetrating stare he finally nodded and said, “No harm done. The ceremony won’t be held until twilight so you are not late, thank the heavens.”
My brows furrowed in confusion. “Then why did you-”
“So you must be the great Gabriel Montehue.”
I turned to face the man who spoke, assuming that this was the infamous Avenir Fairmore. His brown eyes were appraising as he flashed me a genuine smile. “It’s an honor to meet you,” he bowed his head as a show of respect and custom to our kind.
“Sir, the honor is all mine.” I bowed my head and clasped our forearms in further greeting just like the ancients had once done.
My eyes lingered to the girl who sat quietly on the steps, her eyes oddly glazed over. She was still, staring straight ahead at nothing and everything. It looked like she was in a different place altogether and we were merely noise for her background. Mr. Fairmore followed my gaze and smiled, gesturing the girl to come forth.
“Gentlemen,” he said, once the girl stood in front of him. His hands clasped the girl’s shoulders tenderly, a small smile forming on her lips. “This is my daughter Alyxandria Isabelle Fairmore.” She bowed her head as my father and I did in turn, greeting her in the process.
“Dad,” she said bashfully after the formalities were finished. There was a silent message that occurred between father and daughter. Alyxandria’s cheeks flushed a crimson red that was a deep contrast on her fair skin. I wondered if Alyxandria’s gift was telepathy just as it was Calder’s. It would explain her behavior when I noticed her sitting on the steps with a vacant look in her eyes.
At last Mr. Fairmore shrugged, an apologetic smile sliding on his lips. Alyxandria turned her dark brown eyes towards us and said, “You can call me Andy.”
My father and I exchanged a glance and nodded, noting that she would like to be called Andy. She was a quiet little thing like a mouse scurrying along the empty walls on midnight. It was odd seeing that sort of behavior as I guessed that she was a full pledged Keeper. Andy didn’t radiate the confidence that was visibly seen in most – if not all – Keepers. Her long corn silk blond hair reached her shoulders in straight tamed strands that reminded me of the tall corn stalks that grew in the countryside. Her eyes – by far her most striking feature – ripped away at my defenses, as if she could see down to the fibers of my soul, reading every nook and cranny and leaving no stone unturned.
I tore my gaze away from hers in time to hear my father say, “It’s good to see you both. I will make sure that Gabriel shows Andy around the castle before the ceremony.” The enormous wooden doors closed upon their exit, but I caught the sight of Andy’s gaze on mine before she was gone.
My arms folded in front of me in their own violation, feeling the need to regain something that I had lost. It took me a few moments to shake the effect that she had caused to stir within my being. No one had taken the time to observe me in that way for years. Most Keepers I came across knew of my past, and left it there.
But with Andy…
“What do you think of her?” my father asked, breaking through my thoughts. He took a seat on the steps, unzipping his robe and folding it into a square in his lap.
“How old is she?” I asked instead. I suspected that this was one of my father’s endearing plans. He meant well, but after half a century his tactics weren’t stealthy in the slightest.
“She’s twenty-three…same age as you. Andy is different.”
I slumped down on the steps next to my father, resting my elbows on my knees. “Different how?” There certainly was something different about her. The question was: What exactly deemed her different.
“For one, she’s been through a lot – as we all have,” my father began. “But she has suffered through the death of her entire family except for her father in this war. Fairmore is known for leading the breech in Milan ten years ago, you remember?”
I nodded. That breech was a turning point in the war that favored our defenses against the evil creatures and their Master. We were able to annihilate and obliterate more than a thousand creatures, but when we reached the core of their liar the Master was nowhere to be found. Every lead we had ever received has led us to the man who had single-handily swayed the demons to his favor. But every time we got close to his whereabouts he would flea at the last moment unscathed.
“Just show her around. Be civil and don’t frighten her away. The girl has gone through enough trouble…she doesn’t need a boy to be amongst her fears.”
A small smile pulled at the corners of my lips. “Don’t worry. When have I ever failed you?”
He gave me a pointed look. “Gabriel.”
“Dad.”
He sighed in resignation. Pushing himself up he began to walk towards to back exit where the Council members kept their robes and sacred texts. He stopped just a few inches away from the door, turning around to say, “It’s been more than half a century, Gabe. Some things never leave us, but it’s what we do with them that matters. You should give Andy a shot. She seemed interested in you.”
The back door clicked closed and with those departing words he disappeared, leaving me alone with conflicting thoughts in the vast chamber.