Chapt 11

Tao had slept for almost the entire day, only waking up once to relieve himself and eat a bit. Sarah stayed by his side for most of it, leaving only to stretch and eat.

Outside of her room, Frau and Castor avoided each other as neither was good at withholding secrets from the other and were afraid of betraying her. But this was tested during the evening, when Frau entered Sarah's room to find Castor already inside, watching as Sarah gave Tai some water to drink.

The atmosphere tensed as soon as Frau walked in. Sarah looked up, and glanced from Castor to Frau, and sighed.

'You can talk about what happened last night; just don't expect me to join your conversation.' And tight-lipped she turned back to the bed.

Castor and Frau immediately relaxed. It wasn't easy for Ghosts to deceive each other, and almost impossible when the other was already suspicious.

Standing up, Castor excused himself; Sarah nodded to him, but when his back was turned, she shot a warning glare at Frau; he still wasn't to reveal her past, only about her powers.

They didn't go outside as the weather had taken a turn for the worse, clouds hung low and sleet pounded against the windows as they walked by. They walked deeper into the dorms, passing dozens of rooms until they were walking up a steep flight of stairs leading up into a tower.

Minutes later, Frau was sitting cross-legged on the floor while Castor leaned against the wall; the rain seemed louder and lightning pulsed outside. No one would be able to hear them.

Through the gloom, Castor looked down at Frau, "I want to know what happened last night, and how you knew about it." He took a breath, "and I need to know what you feel for Sarah." His face was expressionless, even when the lightning cast light on his face.

Frau drew slow circles in the dust on the floor, Castors voice had been full of emotion; he could hear his heartbeat speed up. He looked up and met Castors gaze, and the ferocity in his eyes surprised him.

"How I feel for Sarah?" he said it slowly, not knowing the right words to say.

Castor was patient, but it was almost 10 minutes before Frau looked up into his eyes, his finger still resting in the dust, "I love her." He didn't blink, waiting for Castors reaction.

It was like looking at gasoline poured on a fire: Castor seemed to shake with emotion, Fury maybe? Frau wasn't sure, but then it quickly died from his face, and he was left breathing hard and clenching his fists.

"What about the other questions?"

Frau was surprised, "that's it? That's all? You're just going to accept that?"

"I have no other choice than to accept it. I could fight you over her, but you know she would never take part in the outcome. If I won, and tried to tell her she had to be with me because of that, both of us would lose and she'd walk away from both of us. She wouldn't be classified as a prize, it's her decision. It's always been her decision hasn't it?"

Frau hung his head, "She has chosen you I think. Since I met her she's always been in the back of my mind, but it doesn't matter. She doesn't feel the same for me, but she does for you. I am the unlucky one; she also loves me, I know that, but that's like comparing a mountain and a mole hill, the love for you overshadows mine. I can accept this, because I also love you Castor, and would never be able to hurt either of you." Frau seemed to be embarrassed by this intense moment, and went back to running his finger along the floor.

Even the rain became silent for a bit after that, and a warm feeling spread through Castor as he looked at the man playing with dirt on the floor, willing to sacrifice his heart so that Castors' could be complete.

Castor kneeled onto the floor, "it's not fair that you must be unhappy in order for me to be happy –"

But Frau cut across him, "if you didn't have Sarah, you would fall apart, don't lie or shake your head, it's true. Neither of you express it in words, nor do you express it by your actions, but those little glances are more than either of you has ever given another person. I may have fallen for her, but I can get over it. I've known her almost my whole life and the connection we had is nothing compared to yours; i have never recieved those glances. So it's impossible for you Castor; even though you're a Ghost, she's your soul."

Castor smiled, it felt so long since he'd actually smiled. Leaning over, he hugged Frau softly. "I still expect the rest of my questions to be answered one day."

Frau smiled too, "I'd love to, but I think Sarah will finally be able to tell you herself," and he looked past Castors shoulder to where Sarah was standing on top of the staircase. There were tear trails on her cheeks, and as she made eye contact with Frau she turned and fled down the stairs. Exhaling loudly, Castor picked himself up off the floor, "uh, well, I guess I'll go back to the chapel and get it ready for the service tomorrow, do you think Tao will be there?"

Frau stood up as well, "probably not, I expect Sarah will try and hustle him out in the dead of night before everyone sees him; nobody likes a scandal." He winked at Castor, and walked slowly down the stairs.

It was almost time for mass and both Castor and Frau were already in the church, standing front and centre at the alter. Something was different today, it was as though the church had a spotlight on it, the rain had cleared, and the two Bishops almost shone, extending their light and happiness to those around them.

And it seemed that Sarah didn't mind a scandal. As soon as the bell rang, letting everyone know that mass was soon to start, Sarah came flying in, Tao in tow. Both of the Bishops astonishment was apparent to the congregation, and the entire crowd turned to watch her. Immediately, a murmur went through the hall as everyone speculated who the boy was and why Sarah had finally decided to attend. Sarah flopped immediately into the first bench she came to; Tao on the other hand spent time genuflecting before sitting down.

"Ahhhhh" Frau watched this, and he exchanged looks with Castor. The only reason Sarah was here was because Tao was religious, and had wanted to come to mass; Sarah was only there to make sure he wasn't still exhausted from the attack.

During the entire ceremony Castor watched Sarah. It was like watching a baby deer trying to stand on spindly legs. He had never seen her uncertain about anything before, and she had never seemed so vulnerable as she did while trying to keep up with the cermony and all of the motions and songs.

But Tao helped her, and she followed when he kneeled, or stood or shook hands with the other patrons.

It was near the ending that Castor realized Sarah had fallen asleep, and Tao was trying to prod her awake without anyone seeing. But Castor couldn't blame her; she hadn't slept while taking care of Tao, and had used a huge amount of energy to kill his kor. People had started to notice, and were looking scandalized and pointing; people from all over came to hear the Bishops talk, so how could this girl sleep while in their presence?

Tao wasn't having much luck, so instead he tried to make her confortable and gathered her into his arms, her head resting on his chest, with his chin resting on top of it. Castor stopped smiling, and glared at Tao.

Everyone was bowing their heads in reflection, and Frau glanced at Castor. But the other Bishop was already sweeping down the aisle, and walking towards where Sarah sat. He leaned over Tao, and gracefully lifted Sarah right off the bench, making sure to give Tao an unrestrained glare. As Frau watched, he saw Tao give an involuntary shudder as he looked into Castors face; the crowd of people followed Frau's gaze, and some were now craning their necks to see what was happening.

Frau took no notice of them and continued to watch. It wasn't until Castors robes whipped out of sight and the doors had closed that he snapped back and hurriedly ended mass.

Castor was having an inner battle with himself as he walked across the lawn, had he over-exaggerated? Tao didn't have the right to hold Sarah like that! 'Crap!' he muttered, of course he was wrong; Sarah was going to kill him. He had actually walked out on mass, not good, definitely not good.

When he got to her room he wrestled the door open, and laid her on the unmade bed. It smelled of stale sweat from Tao, so Castor crumpled the bedding into a ball and went in search for clean ones. There weren't any under the bed or on top of the dresser, the only other place to look was the closet, but for some reason he was hesitant to open it, but there couldn't be anything dangerous could there?

He quickly opened the doors before he could think further, and exhaled. Nothing weird, just neatly hung clothes and a few boxes, with a blanket on top! He took it down and wrapped it carefully around Sarah. He'd have to wait for her to wake up so he could tell her what had happened, so he pulled the desk chair to the bed and sat down.

Minutes went by and his eyes seemed to be pulled towards the closet. He hadn't shut the doors, so he could still see the neatly stacked boxes; powerful curiosity pulled him towards the closet, his hand just about to close around the handles when he stopped. He wasn't a sneaky person, if she wanted to show him, then she would.

He was just about to close the closet doors, when the door to the room burst open and Frau and Tao were standing there, Frau took one look at Castor, and then at the open closet. With one powerful push, he threw Tao out of the room, only saying, "Out! Wait here!" before slamming the door shut.

He was still looking wildly from Castor the closet. "Hey, you didn't, -" but that exact instant Castor dived back for the closet, wrenched it open, and tried to grab a box down. Frau had realized instantly what Castor was doing, and flung himself at him, tackling Castor to the ground. Castor didn't need to be brilliant to know that Frau didn't want Castor to know what was in the boxes.

But it was too late, he had gotten a finger around the box and it went tumbling out with them. The room was suddenly filled with paper floating to the ground. Still on the ground, both of the men flailed around trying to get the papers, Frau swearing the entire time, and trying to incapacitate Castor, while the other yelled "What are they!" over and over.

Castor won because of a quick jab to the back of Frau's head, the Bishop was stunned long enough for Castor to scoop the remaining papers up, and back up against the wall, breathing deeply and straightened his glasses.

"What are they? What don't you want me to know? WHAT ARE YOU TWO HIDDING FROM ME?" His eyes flashed towards the bed where Sarah was lying. But she wasn't still anymore. She was sitting straight up in bed, her eyes huge, mouth wide open, staring straight at the papers that Castor was holding,

"Oh my god, Frau…" her eyes darted to the ground where Frau was kneeling, and then back up, "Castor, please, no. That box, you don't understand, I don't want you to see, it's not the right time, you won't understand! It's awful, that box –" words seemed to fail her, but the shock was wearing off, and she could feel her confused thoughts straightening out.

Castor went over to her, and placed the box next to her. "Then tell me, why can't you tell me everything? I know who you are, even if you did something horrible, I won't judge you, I'm so far in that I can't judge you! Everything you did, I'll accept it, and I'll accept you!"

Sarah's eyes were huge, was he confessing? And suddenly he wrapped his long arms around her, she could smell his sweat, and the shampoo he used, she knew she'd never be able to live without those smells, or without the comforting size of his shoulders, they were more like home than anything she had ever known, even more than when she was with Frau.

So she clung to him, "I- I know," she whispered into his shoulder, "I can tell you everything, we can tell you everything." And looking past Castor's shoulder, she looked straight at Frau. This was going to take some time...