Chapter Sixteen

A plan interrupted

As meticulously planned and anticipated as the event may have been; still, many things weren’t convenient about Karou’s transition from Montana to Enoch.

The battle of convincing her to move away from the parasitic blood pimp that had become her Sire was a tedious hitch in the road to iron out, for one. Many a string had to be pulled to orchestrate the mortal attack on the Compound at just the right time. Oh, and never mind the laborious training the young nephilim girl required once she got to the celestial city. The impoverished American girl had no idea how to be a lady, especially not an Enochian one. Nephilimhood somehow seemed a more challenging concept to acclimatise to than her vampirism, which was quite troubling if this girl was going to take the throne as a Morningstar. Celestial culture and customs had to be taught to her from scratch.

All things considered, one thing that transgressed without any bother and that was getting Karou settled into her private rooms at Morningstar Palace.

In all their wisdom, the Enochian Courtiers had put forth the idea that the chambers traditionally reserved for the Monarch should be offered to Karou right upon her arrival instead of waiting until the week before her coronation as was protocol. It was hoped that providing her with a new haven in the form of the most luxurious rooms the Palace could offer might sweeten the blow of the enormous life transplant she’d just undergone. However, that would mean their current resident would have to vacate them. Considering that Cambria Morningstar had lived in that particular part of the Palace since its construction somewhere around the fifth century, moving out seemed like an unnecessary headache to the fallen angel. It wasn’t that she possessed a vast collection of worldly goods; her rooms were eerily minimalist; it was just that the place had become her habitat - it would feel unnatural to be housed elsewhere. Fortunately, Karou didn’t feel ‘at home’ in the rooms presented to her! So with the girl happily housed in the renovated observatory, Cambria got to keep her liar at the centre of the Palace.

A crimson shroud draped over the westerly windows, dimming the glow of the sun's dying light and casting the room into red darkness. Cambria was perfectly comfortable reading by candlelight; her green serpentine eyes glimmered while a crowd of several partially melted ones dripped hot wax onto the surface of her nightstand. Sat up against her headboard, she’d been going over some meeting notes that Alessandra had requested her opinion on a week past when she saw something silver flicking in the light lent by her candles.

Across the way, the surface of her chess table shimmered as it altered. It meant someone was trying to get in touch with her from one of the other two realms.

She hadn’t been expecting any correspondence, so the expression that came over her face as she peered down into the mirrored surface was that of genuine surprise. First, though, she was hit by the blinding light that burst forth in a wide beam of heavenly radiance that filled the room. Suddenly, the evening was no more, and it was as if it were daytime in that room and nowhere else in Enoch. She squinted to find the face staring back at her was her mirror image. It wasn’t her reflection; it was her twin brother, Verchiel. He appeared to her from the Heavenly realm where he’d remained at The Eloheim’s side while she and their father fell in flames at the close of the Celestial War. After thousands of years, copious disagreements, and a great deal of grovelling, only a smidgin of animosity was left between the pair.

Still, she opened the conversation with a bristly request, “What the fuck do you want?”

“Dearest Sister.” Verchiel opened in his incredibly soft and well-spoken English accent. Of the Earthly dialects to choose from, her brother had decided to mimic the cadence of an Ox-bridge professor. It overwhelmed pretentiousness, and she found her eyes rolling somewhere within his first sentence every time they spoke.

“Yes, Vercheil? I will assume that this isn’t a social call, so shall we get this over with? I’m very busy.”

“Yes. I am aware that you’re fully booked in the plans department, which is precisely why I am reaching out to you.” He noted his tone dry and unimpressed.

“Oh, goodie! Who have I pissed off now?” Cambria asked sarcastically, grinning deviously and feeling pleased with herself.

“Not whom but what. Your meddling is upsetting the way of things, again.” His green eyes glimmered. He looked quite testy at that moment, almost devilish.

But there they went! Cambria’s eyes rolled. It hadn’t taken long for him to get philosophical – incidentally, another subject he loved to bring up and something they could never agree on.

“At your behest, I shall keep this short… Warren Howard is the key to the next door, and as such, he is to be handled with care.”

“Why does it feel like we’ve had this conversation before?” Cambria grumbled.

“Are you going to comply, sister?” Verchiel pushed.

“Give me a reason to consider it?” Cambria growled through gritted teeth. Warren Howard, being some kind of golden goose for The Eloheim’s balance, was beyond irritating and once again, she was being asked to spare him.

“You know I can’t divulge anything.” Vercheil looked to his feet, and for a moment, all that Cam’ could see was the top of his head and how his long black locks fell over his face. “What will be, will be,” He whispered the mantra all angels lived by; as tools of The Eloheim, they could not tamper with the balance unless instructed to by The Higher Power.

“You know I don’t believe in any of the fate and destiny crap V,”

The angel sighed, looked up at his sister and smiled weakly. He would not give her the satisfaction of commenting and implying that he agreed that the balance that The Eloheim orchestrated was anything like fate.

“Calling me to request that I cease my pursuit of Warren Howard's pretty head is meddling too, but you’ve called because you’ve found out what the outcomes are likely to be if I end him.”

Verchiel glanced to his left, implying that he could neither agree nor disagree with her statement. Despite the nervous look in his eyes, he hinted that he wanted her to continue talking so that she might get to the correct conclusion by merely dipping his head some.

Cambria got the message, and although she found the guessing game tedious, she supposed that it was quite a fun way to exercise her intellect this way. “It won’t end well for House Morningstar, whatever it is, because anything else you’d be willing to sacrifice.”

“For balance to remain, House Morningstar must remain on the Earthly Realm’s Throne.”

“But I fear that if Howard stays, Karou might just give up that throne, and Alice isn’t ready yet.”

“Better for Alessandra to sit on the throne than someone belonging to another house, though, isn't it?”

Cambria could see his point. It didn’t seem like she had any other choice.

“I have to go now,” Verchiel announced. “I will speak with you again soon, Sister.” He pressed his hand to his chest, a gesture of goodwill.

“For now, I’ll keep my hands off Howard then,” Cambria rolled her eyes; she hated submitting.

Just before the connection cut off, Verchiel drew closer, eyes wide and serious, and he urgently revealed, “There will be an uprising, whichever path is chosen. Warren is the beacon. What he beacons is the best chance House Morningstar has at keeping hold of Enoch. House Fray must not rise, Cambria. House Fray must not succeed in their conquest.”

With the warning uttered, Verchiel was gone, and Cambria was left glaring at the ebony and ivory checkered chessboard. The hairs on the back of her neck had prickled. It was a rare thing for her brother to caution her with such a haunted look in his eyes.

“House Fray must not rise,” She repeated in agreement.

An Enoch ruled by House Fray would be catastrophic for her people. Yes, that much was certain. House Fray had long wanted Enoch for their own, and if they got it, they’d dismantle the city brick by brick until there was nothing left but grains of sand and rebuild the celestial city in their image.

There was no doubt in Cambria’s mind that Aden Fray was still bitter that he’d been removed from the Royal Court. When Karou was chosen as Cambria’s successor rather than the Court voting to remove House Morningstar from power and instate his son Vance, he’d taken the news as badly as was possible. His embarrassing outburst in front of his fellow Courtiers would go down in the palace history. It had taken several of the Royals Guard's skilled elementals to subdue the raving pyromancer and get him detained in the dungeons.

Though House Fray’s bonds to Lucifer weren’t familial, they made no secret of their loyalty to him. They were orinia, and their demonic ancestor was rumoured to be Cambria’s other brother, Daedric, which meant that they had a claim to Enoch’s Throne and would probably be backed by her father.

For millennia Lucifer was still too weak to surface, but if he had the demonic house of Fray to do his bidding, who knew what apocalypse was possible.

It wasn’t that Cambria was at war with her father. Their relationship was actually rather bland, neither close nor estranged. These days though, she just didn’t agree with all of his ideals anymore. Enoch and the Earthly Realm had been her sanctuary for so long now that the idea of letting her father reign over it seemed ludicrous.

When The Eloheim and her father warred, and they were consequently cast out of Heaven, Cambria had quickly realised that to reside over one realm was enough for one entity. To hunger after more wrought nothing but destruction - whether you called greed a sin, Cambria Morningstar wasn’t interested; it was just a matter of syntax. Plainly put, greed spelled disaster for everyone involved.

Cambria was certainly well-versed in sin, and it was a matter of one of the seven deadliest that caused her determination not to lose. Yes, it was a matter of pride that Karou’s reign over Enoch prevailed - since she had taken it upon herself to fashion Karou into a successful monarch against all odds and the high doubts of the Court. Presiding over a prosperous city flattered Cambria’s ego but watching her progeny do splendidly filled her with an overwhelming sense of pride. But so as not to make the victory all about herself, she would admit that she was quite bored with the cliché that none suffered more than the innocent. That would keep the Court on her side if things went south.

“So, Howard stays, and Fray has to go.” She mused. Slowly a plan was forming in her mind.

No one would dare question the Morningstar if she were discovered. So, walking down the marble-tiled corridor, Cambria’s footfalls were unapologetic in their volume as they tapped off of the stone in spite of the quiet hour. It was the dead of night, nearing two am, and well beyond the curfew in place palace wide.

When she arrived at her destination, she was somewhat surprised to be there. The double doors she’d come face to face with were those of her niece Alessandra’s bedroom. The person she had been looking for was beyond them and lounged in an armchair at the bedside of her sleeping niece.

“What are you doing here?” Warren asked Cambria, lowering his book onto his lap. He’d known she was near before she’d entered because he had smelled brimstone in the air moments before the doors opened, and the fallen made her way inside. Like a shadow, her movements were fluid and creeping and eerie. In the darkness, only the green hue of her vast wings caught in the soft glow of the moonlight that came in through a gap in the window dressings. Otherwise, she blended right into the dark.

“I would ask you the same.” Her green serpentine eyes narrowed suspiciously. They smouldered as if backlit by green flames when they met Warren’s.

“Watching over Alice while Karou sleeps.” He answered plainly, though he loathed the sentiment the tone of her question had implied. “If you’ve come to see how she is, as you can see, she’s still out cold.” Warren nodded over to Alice’s sleeping form. For now, her face looked peaceful, as if consumed by a serene dream.

“I was looking for you. You can imagine my surprise when I found you here, alone, with my sweet neice... and not to mention, not the one you Sired either.”

“The circumstance doesn’t seem all that peculiar to me.” He noted in a cool, clipped manner; again, the innuendo in her statement bugged him.

“Well, you’re no stranger to obscenity, so I suppose anything is possible.” Cambria was enjoying poking the beast and came to lean against the adjacent dresser with a smirk on her face. “Anyhow, that isn't why I am here.”

“That's fortunate for you. You almost embarrassed yourself by assuming that I would ever consider abusing Alessandra in any way. I have to admit, though, I had expected this conversation to come sooner.

“And what conversation is that?”

“The make yourself scarce from Enoch one. You’re wasting your breath if that’s what you’ve come to say, though.”

“If I only wanted you gone from this city, you’d be elsewhere already,” Cambria remarked arrogantly. “It would suit my plan nicely if you were off this plane, but alas, the matter of your life has been taken out of my hands.”

“My my, you’ve been muzzled, have you?” Warren smirked. The threat of her previous statement had hardly phased him.

“Oh, I wouldn’t want to bore you with the details, but lucky for you, you’ve been spared my wrath at the behest and grace of a Higher Power.”

“You expect me to believe that God has looked upon me favourably?” Warren’s left brow shot upward in surprise.

““God” isn’t an accurate way to put it- ” Cambria air quoted.

“Whichever way you put it, I don’t believe in any of that…”

“I didn’t have you pegged as an atheist.” She looked somewhat disappointed.

“I’m not. I just believe that whoever they are, control my destiny.”

“What will be, will be, but there are things that must be for the balance to remain. It seems that this time around, you are the weight that will keep the scales level. You should be grateful.”

“As far as I see it, it’s lucky for you that I agree that I must stay here. I intend on staying in Enoch with Karou for the foreseeable.” He closed his book; the sound the pages made as they came together disturbed Alice. She twitched in the sheets, signifying that she was slowly ascending from the pit of her subconscious and coming to.

“For now, that works for the both of us, but don’t get too comfortable. There will be consequences if you distract Karou from her duties as monarch Mr Howard.” Cambria neared the door and shot Warren one final warning glare before she was gone again. Like a shadow, she slipped away, and the stench of brimstone gradually dissipated too until his nose was filled with nothing but Alice’s delicate, fresh and sweet scent.

His attention and focus were pulled away from the door when Alice made a sound, a soft whimper of anguish. Her brows pinched together as if she were uncomfortable. The way it disturbed her expression caused Warren to hush her and reach out to take her hand in his.

“I’m sorry.” He whispered his apology. Cambria’s presence had upset his calm mood momentarily. He couldn’t help it that the Morningstar always got his back up, but he didn’t want his annoyance about the threats made to unsettle Alice in any way.

Since her mother’s worrisome aura had left the room, Alice had slept better being alone with just Warren’s calm emotions ebbing her into a peaceful slumber. Now, he stroked his thumb over the back of her hand to calm her down along with him. His mood levelled quickly while watching Alice’s sleeping face, especially seeing that her forehead uncrinkled as her face relaxed. “There, there, sleep tight.”

From within her lucid dream, Alice felt her hair being brushed back from her face as well as the gentle kiss he planted on her forehead. The moment his lips pressed to her skin, she knew who it was. It stunned her somewhat, and it would’ve been awkward if she hadn’t been privy to the sentiment he’d given it with. ‘The daughter he’d never had,’ a sense of fatherly affection permeated her open, empathic aura. It was quite foreign to her but was absolutely pleasant - being cared for in that way made her feel safe while in Warren’s company, like how she felt around her mother.

Warren hadn’t sat back down yet when the landline telephone in Alice’s room began to ring. In moments, he picked up the receiver to cease the shrill ringing and not wake the room’s sleeping resident.

“Hello?” He greeted in a breathy whisper.

“Hey, how is she?” Karou’s voice asked from over the line.

“She’s still sleeping. Did you get any sleep?” Warren picked up the phone and walked over to one of the windows, the phoneline trailing along behind him while he still had the receiver pressed to his cheek.

“Mhmm. I had a long nap, and I’ve had a hot cup of coffee, and now I feel a whole lot better, thank you,” Karou explained. There was a hint of flirtation in her tone, though, especially when she said, “I’m about to take a nice hot bath with lots of bubbles to relax… I was hoping I’d get to see you again tonight.”

“Oh?” Warren smirked, shaking his head. He could tell what she was trying to do; she was attempting to entice him up to her room. The image of her naked and amidst those bathtub bubbles she’d told him about what enough to bait him, but then she continued,

“Seeing as you’re not actually opposed to bubbly bathtubs, why don’t you come and sample mine? I’ve got a bathrobe here with your name on it.” Karou teased. She giggled too and hiccuped.

“Karou… Have you been drinking?”

“Alright, so the coffee was actually a giant glass of wine, but so what, are you coming or not?” She whined.

“You know you’re just asking for trouble.” Warren tsked and hung up the phone.