Chapter • 03

♱ •⋅ 1750 A..C. ⋅• ♱

She floated above the cathedral, her golden eyes shining, her body completely covered by a white cloak. It was as if I was seeing Mary herself—the chosen virgin by the heavens to bear the life of the one who would save all humanity.

Elaine was equivalent to Mary, but her beauty was undoubtedly superior. I wasn't surprised that Calisto had fallen in love with her or accepted death for loving that woman. Elaine was like a deity in a fragile, delicate, and mortal body; she was a strong and determined heroine who was willing to do anything to fulfill what her God had commanded.

I couldn't deny that I admired Elaine. Not only for winning over Calisto—my great literary crush—but also for dedicating herself to a cause as she did (even though secretly I considered it foolish when the reason was something like religion and ancient, archaic beliefs like hers).

"By the nine hells," Calisto grumbled, and I could see his pink eyes burning with anger. He hated situations where he had no control, and with Elaine, he was never in control, and that was one of the significant factors that made him fall in love.

Elaine taught him a lot, but above all, she taught him to step out of his comfort zone, something Asra had never done.

"Order them to bring her down," the king growled, but Azrael pointed to the demons that constantly cursed the girl floating above the temple.

Nothing happened.

Nothing could happen; after all, Elaine was blessed by her God, and he would never allow anything to touch his favorite child, his deadly weapon that would bring about the defeat and death of the one who caused the fall of his beloved daughter.

"They can't reach her, my lord," Azrael muttered, and I could see Calisto burning with the anger that ignited his chest. "Weapons, curses, everything seems incapable of hurting her."

"Then I will bring her down myself," he said with a wicked smile, but I knew where that would lead.

Calisto would leap up, opening his wings for the first time in many years, and when he looked at her up close, when Elaine's eyes opened, he would remember his wife, the way she looked at him, and he would hesitate.

That was all Elaine needed, all the time necessary for him to be brought down from the heavens and for her to finally confront him for the first time.

I wouldn't let that happen, and if this were a dream, I would use everything to my advantage.

"I will," I said firmly, but Azrael looked at me with such disbelief that I almost believed I could not bring Elaine down from the heavens.

"Don't take it the wrong way," he began, and I interrupted him.

"Then shut up."

I felt Calisto's hand on my back.

"Asra, you said you would only watch."

I couldn't discern whether it was concern or irritation.

Asra had always been a burden to him, so I couldn't blame him if it seemed like he was hindering rather than trying to be helpful, but that wasn't a fact that extended to me; I would never be a burden to Calisto, I would never put my purposes above his.

"Darling," I called him with a smile, "let me try."

He seemed reluctant as he turned his gaze to Elaine, who was now murmuring something in Latin. A prayer, it seemed, and from afar, I could hear the screams of the demons and lesser infernals, those who suffered from the sacred words coming from the girl's mouth.

"I may be nothing more than a concubine," I said, playing my final card, "but this is still my people, so let me try."

I was playing dirty, I admit. But from all the scenes I had read, Calisto's pain was apparent when he told Asra that he would never make her his queen, that she would never become anything more than she already was or had been.

He felt guilty, and now I used that to my advantage.

"Fine," he whispered, and I felt his hand tighten on my hip as he leaned towards me, "but be careful," he added, and if I didn't know that Calisto was incapable of loving or caring for anyone other than his son, I would swear he was worried about Asra.

"I will."

His lips touched my cheek and then my lips one last time before he pulled away. I felt my breath pause for too long to remain alive, and then, I fixed my gaze on Elaine.

"As I said before, curses don't work on her," Azrael grumbled beside me, probably thinking of the obvious, that I would try to attack Elaine with magic, but I looked at him with a smile and ripped the black sword from the fallen one's hip.

"Wait!" he shouted, "what do you think you're going to do with that?"

"You don't even know how to use a sword," he shouted mentally, too loud to hide his foolish thoughts from me.

I smiled openly, and with a brief impulse on my tiptoes, I leaped towards Elaine.

I would break her shield, make her fall, and then on the ground; I would drag God's favorite to the depths of hell.

At least, that was my original plan, but unlike the script, Elaine stared at me intensely as I charged toward her, and that hadn't happened; it shouldn't happen.

"You," she whispered, "you are the one who carries the blood of the beginning and the end."

I scoffed; oracles had always been irritating to read, but now that I had to hear them come out of someone's mouth, they seemed even worse.

"Sorry, darling, but I don't have time for this," my words had barely left my mouth when a golden spear that seemed made of light stopped the sword I wielded just centimeters from Elaine's face.

"A-s-r-a..." she called me, "the one who carries the black heart in her chest."

I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion and was surprised by her sudden change; those were lines I didn't know. I dodged, and with a quick movement and a spin in the air, I attacked her again with precision, and this time, she dodged, letting strands of blond hair fall to the ground, deftly severed by my blade.

Elaine's fragile hands now held the spear, and I mentally cursed myself at that moment because Elaine—unlike the spoiled Duchess Asra—had trained for a very long time, and the grace of the Lord blessed any weapon she touched.

A single wound from that accursed spear and Asra's beautiful little body would gain a lasting scar.

"Damn it," I muttered.

I couldn't afford to miss, let alone be hit.

"To hell with it," I thought, "it's just a dream. So what can she do? Kill me?"

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