Would You Like to Know

“Isn’t it absolutely stunning? To think that some disgusting little creature from the land could create something so destructive.” Charlotte dragged the tip of the quill along the map of The Kingdom, marking the growth of the parasite from the previous day. There were dozens of circles, each one bigger than the last.

Sakura pointed to the center most circle. “How large was it here? How long ago was it?”

“It was just a baby then,” the angel cooed. “A sweet, little thing. No bigger than a ten meter radius. That was forty-seven days ago.” Her finger slid further from the center to around the middle of the etches. “This is when it was reported twenty-four days ago. It had already grown so much since I found it. The darling thing started out moving so slow, but as it's grown its really taken off. It moves faster every day.”

“You knew about it forty-seven days ago but didn’t report it for another twenty-three days?”

A small gasp escaped from the woman. “Oh, heavens no. I never reported anything. I wanted to see what it would do. It was someone else who happened across it and made a big deal of it. Then they tried to kill the poor dear, but I think you know how that worked out for them.”

The demon raised a brow as she sipped the red wine that Charlotte kept constantly filled. The blonde woman was veering further and further from the fox’s initial expectations the longer they discussed the parasite. “Shouldn’t you be worried about the parasite like everyone else around here?”

“Of course I have my concerns but worrying myself sick isn’t going to change anything. Now is it? Besides, life here is peaceful, the days basically all the same. It’s not often that something exciting like this happens. It’s hard not to be interested in how it will play out.”

Sakura couldn’t argue with that. She had only ever heard stories of pests in the beginning stages of their growth, when they were weak and easily disposed of. To actually have been in the presence of one that had consumed so much area… to be simply interested didn’t quite cut it. “So, how did you find out about it so quickly?”

“Nothing that happens in The Kingdom gets past me,” she smiled and turned to the dark-haired angel. “Isn’t that right, Ren?”

“Yeah. Sure. Whatever you say,” he flippantly agreed, leaning back in his chair and staring up at the high, vaulted ceilings in disgust. The man had so looked forward to antagonizing the vixen while in The Kingdom, drawing out the extermination of the parasite for as long as possible. Just as he had done with the snow dweller. He very much relished in her begging and whining and pleading for his assistance, the same way she had done when they were younger. It had been commonplace before The Guard, and he hadn’t realized just how much he relied on it until it was gone.

But now, instead of camping in the forest, watching the woman tantrum and foam at the mouth to destroy the parasite, they sat around a large, round, table in a study with floor to ceiling shelves that held books that had probably never been read in a grandiose manor not far from the castle drinking the finest wine that the land had to offer the heavens.

How insufferable.

He should have stayed home and worked on the cabin while finding other ways to harass the woman.

Let the heavens perish to the parasite’s hunger.

The way God intended.

Charlotte turned to the red-haired woman with a sultry smile. “Ren and I were very close while he was here.”

“No, we weren’t,” Ren disputed the claim dryly, unable to find the energy to avert his attention from the ceiling.

“Other than Cassiel, I was the only angel who talked to him.”

“That’s not exactly something worth bragging about.”

“And he always came to me for help.”

“Because you always hunted me down like you did earlier.” He gnashed his teeth, the memories spoiling his already chagrined mood. “Like a fucking leech. Just seeking me out to suck me dry.”

Charlotte propped her chin in her hand as her elbow rested on the polished wood next to her wine glass, staring at the disinterested Fallen One. “You certainly have changed since you’ve left. You used to be such a formidable figure around here. Now you’re just…” she quickly glanced at the vixen in-between them who was now stuffing the provided hors d’oeuvres into her mouth. “Sort of pathetic. Is this what returning to your little lost love on the land has done to you?”

“You can say that.” The man finally lowered his head, his hand going to the crystal platter and sliding it away from the demon who hurriedly grabbed more, and towards the devil and fae on the other side of him. “You don’t need anymore. Let the kids eat.” He grabbed and lifted his glass in front of his face, his brow raising as he swirled the dark scarlet liquid around. “Why’s it only a third full? Where’s the rest of it?”

“It’s Cabernet Sauvignon.” Sakura ate the last appetizer in her possession as she pulled the map closer to herself. “It has to breathe or some shit. It’s just how you drink it.” She watched him gulp the entirety of it down in one swallow and rolled her eyes. “Not like that. You sip it. Slowly.”

Ren gagged, “It doesn’t matter. Either way it tastes like shit.” He pushed the empty glass towards the other angel with a nod. “Go ahead, fill it up. Don’t be shy. All the way.”

The woman obliged, the wine not quite to the rim, and ignored as he drank it like water, instead turning her attention to the boy. “You’re Lailah’s son, aren’t you?” her voice smooth and alluring. The question was merely a formality. She knew the moment she saw him exactly who he was.

“He’s inbred,” the man grumbled before the boy could answer, choking down another drink. “Weird things happen in those Northern Mountains with all that sister fucking going on.”

She laughed, a small and unimpressed tune. “With a face like that? Are you kidding me? I’ve never seen an angel more beautiful. But I suppose that’s to be expected considering who his mother was. How many people have you managed to convince of that story?”

“Every single one of them.”

“That’s not surprising. People believe what they want, but it doesn’t make it true.” Her body sought out Zero’s across the table, closing the distance. “Does it, Lailah’s son?”

Ren slammed the half filled glass down before the angel who flinched away at the sudden change in the man’s demeanor, the crimson liquid splashing onto the table and the woman’s blush, chiffon dress in warning. “The only truth that matters is the one that people believe.” He leaned towards her, his presence pushing her further back into her seat, his voice lowering as his eyes darkened on her. “I suggest you start believing it and stop asking questions because all you have to offer me now is some shit wine, and I don’t need you around to pour it for me.”

“I guess the Ren I knew is still around.” Celeste forced a tight smile and uncomfortable giggle as she poured the wine, noting that her three other guests were unphased by the man’s outburst. “What does Cassiel believe?”

He took the glass and sat back in his chair, taking a swig. “He’ll believe whatever I tell him if he wants this parasite gone.”

“And how are you going to do that?”

Ren nodded towards the demon who was still closely observing the map, uninterested in the conversation between the two angels. “I’m not going to do anything. She is.”

Charlotte filled the woman’s now empty glass, taking the opportunity to reset the mood. “Have you ever killed one before? Perhaps with that large glaive you have there?”

Sakura shook her head, concentrating on the distance between the circles and their locations. “No. They’re not exactly a common occurrence. It’s a slow process for the parasite to take over and excruciatingly painful for the host the whole while. Do you know who brought it back?”

“I don’t. They assume it was a Rogue One, and by the time I found it, whoever it was was already completely consumed.”

“Rogue One?” Ivy piped. “What makes someone a Rogue One?”

Charlotte’s sky eyes fixated on the girl. “Murder. Rape. Infidelity. Rejecting God. Those are the main ones.”

The vixen looked up at the woman in shock. “Infidelity? Really? That’s on par with rape and murder? You angels aren’t exactly as chaste as you want others to believe you are.” Although she and Ren had been raised by an angel who refused to acknowledge even the basics with them, she had heard plenty of talk in Golden City to know better. There were even rumors of underground brothels throughout the city, ones of which you needed to have the right connections and coin to get into.

The blonde leaned forward on the table, smiling. “Of course not. But that’s not infidelity. As long as you haven’t made that bond under God then it’s forgivable. But once you mark someone and they mark you.” Her finger reached out and ran along the demon’s own mark. “You can never give yourself to another. And you can never birth their child. Isn’t that so, Ren?” She peered at the Fallen One, her smile slowly fading as she sat up, noticing his puzzlement. “You don’t know how you came about, do you?”

“No.” The man shook his head slowly. “I was never told, and I wasn’t going to ask anyone here. I also wasn’t authorized access to any records or books.”

“Would you like to know?”

“How much is it going to cost?”

“Nothing.” She filled his glass to the brim, drops of wine spilling over the glass and down the stem. “I’ll tell you as an old friend. What do you know?”

“Not much,” he admitted. “I know my mother was in The Guard, and my father was a sword smith, and they weren’t supposed to be together. Cassiel said my uncle was some big wig around here. I’m not sure what that would make her, but probably someone too good for a peasant.”

Her brows furrowed together. “That’s it?”

“Basically.”

Charlotte stared at the man and the raven wings behind him, considering where to start. “I was only small when everything happened, but it’s quite infamous. Raziel was the current Grand Duke of your House but for whatever reason, no one knows, he relinquished his duties after killing two devils and left for the land. That meant Celeste had to make a bond with a duke of another House. It was no secret that Celeste and Ben had been lovers, so when they found her newly bonded One dead the morning after their ceremony, it was assumed that Ben had killed him and taken off with Celeste. They found him on the land months later, alone, and he admitted to killing the duke. They tortured him, but he refused to tell them where or what happened to Celeste. They never did find her. Then, Raziel returned with you and used his prayer to keep you alive. But by doing so he was betraying God, and because he was of royal blood, not only did they strip him of his wings but of his eye as well as scarring his face and body so that all would know of his shame. He swore to The Counsel that Celeste had killed herself after leaving you with him, but some think he killed her himself.”

“Huh.” Ren shrugged as he took a large drink of his wine. “Not exactly the fairy tale ending I had always expected, but close enough.”

A shrewd curve returned to her ruby lips. “It really turned The Kingdom upside down for years. No one knew what to do. That duke’s House was fine, there were other heirs to take his place. But there was no one for yours. That was why Celeste bonded with the duke in the first place, to further her House with a new generation of heirs after Raziel left. But all she ever had was you, so the House died with her and Raziel.” She giggled lightly. “All that’s left of God’s most beloved warriors is you, a bastard Fallen One. How poetic.”

The man watched the last bit of wine as he swirled it in his glass, having mostly lost interest in the story. “I’m sure it’s for the best. One less cog in the aristocracy wheel. All of it should be done away with.”

“I rather enjoy the perks that my father’s title offers me.” Charlotte held her palms up, bringing attention to the fineries that surrounded them before placing them back onto the table. “Would you like to know what your mother did for The Guard? It was quite the reputable position. So very important for the sanctity of The Kingdom, and despite the initial backlash due to her being a woman in the field, she was highly regarded and celebrated for her accomplishments.”

“Sure. Why not?” Not like he had anything better to do.

She watched the man closely with a morbid curiosity, as if waiting for disaster to strike. “She was a Light Bringer.”

He was silent, ocean eyes steady on the woman as he pushed the empty glass towards her, tapping the stem impatiently.

“What’s a Light Bringer?” Sakura asked, filling the uncomfortable quiet.

Ren glanced away from the scarlet liquid that splashed into his glass and into emeralds. “They track down and kill Fallen Ones and their mothers.”