A/N- I have been getting very little sleep and playing alot of games with my fiance, so inspiration has been in short supply. Nonetheless....

Chapter 13

It was the sun that awoke Celine the following morning. Its rays streamed through Zuriel's slim, medieval window. It lit his canopy aglow, and cast the room in pale light. It also stung her eyes before she even had the chance to open them. She squinted against the pain, remembering how long she had cried last night. She had earned this pain, slight as it may be.

Pain… She sat up with a start, remembering the specific events that took place the night before. She leaned over to check on Zuriel. He was asleep, unlike last time they had spent the night together. Biting her lip in anticipation, she leaned over, slowly as possible, and lightly brushed a strand of hair from his eyes. Opposite of what she had been hoping for, he awoke at the feeling of her touch. She bit down on her bottom lip even harder.

"I am sorry," she whispered, feeling truly guilty for having woken him.

Zuriel shook his head and made a tsking sound, to show that there was no need for forgiveness when no sin had been committed.

"Let me change your bandages." If she could not make up for awakening him from much needed sleep, she would at least do her best to hasten his healing process.

Zuriel smirked at her, as if he knew something she did not. He sat up smoothly enough, and looked perfectly free of pain. Thinking that this was more of a show of bravery than anything, Celine began to unwrap the blood stained cloth from his torso. Seeing so much blood there, she expected the worst. She was surprised to find perfectly smooth, healed skin beneathe the stained mass of cloth.

Her gasp alerted him that he was indeed well again. He shook his head good-heartedly. "The curse is not all bad, I suppose," he informed her. She raised an eyebrow at him, skeptical, but did not raise the subject further.

"We will travel today." Zuriel's words were a statement, not a question. If they were going to have to visit the man that Zuriel loathed most of all, they may as well get it over with quickly as possible.

Celine nodded in agreement. She would have begun crying again, then, out of worry for her father, but something in Zuriel's sure sounding tone told her everything would be alright. She gave him the smallest of kisses on his cheek. Zuriel clenched his fists as he had done last night, only this time it was in self restraint against something happy, and not sad. He wanted to grab her and return the affection, but she had been raised that such things were improper, and she had been through enough emotional trauma for one week.

There was a loud, intrusive knock on the door. Celine, eyes wide, slipped from the bed and went to answer it. Fiona stood so close to the other side of the door that Celine would not have been surprised if the girl had been pressing her ear against it seconds ago.

Her hair was an even brighter shade of red than Celine had first thought last night. Her upturned nose and tight lips made her look even younger than Celine knew her to be.

There was a pale pink dress in her arms.

"Shall I dress you here or in your own room?" she asked with a grin. Celine winced all too visibly. Fiona would have this spread all over the castle. She would no doubt be saying that Celine and Zuriel had done more than simply sleep in the same bed, thinking it a marvelous secret instead of a shameful lie.

Celine sighed. "My room, thank you, Fiona."

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Zuriel stood, straight and healthy, in the clearing directly outside the castle's entrance. To Celine, last night seemed a strange sort of dream, given how well and quickly he had healed. A male servant that Celine had not run across yet (or so she assumed. It was hard to tell given the recently broken spell) held the reins of two handsome looking horses. One was a pale, golden color. The other, black, and so large Celine was sure she would not be able to mount it without help from Zuriel. Luckily, this was apparently his horse, so she mounted the smaller one with ease.

They took nothing with them but a coin purse, planning to buy whatever they needed while in town, if it was necessary that they stay and look after William.

Zuriel nudged his horse closer to Celine and reached over, cupping her chin, and kissed her cheek. She blushed and smiled softly, happy for a temporary distraction to the stress she was experiencing. She wished she knew if her father's condition was as severe as Roland said.

The journey was not as long as Celine expected it would be, though they had set off just after dawn, and the sun was now high in the sky. She suspected this was because of Zuriel's company. He was a distracting man, in all the best ways.

Rhys had told them where Celine's father was now living. Celine felt sad, in a way, that he had moved. She missed the old cottage, dark and cold as it had been. It had always smelled of wild flowers, and the air was fresher there than here in the city, where Rhys had said Father now resided.

His new home, which seemed tiny in comparison to the luxurious castle that Celine had grown so accustomed to, was on the outskirts of the city. Still, it was much grander than Celine had expected, and she looked up at Zuriel as they dismounted their horses, shocked. It was gray, and perfectly symmetrical, and Celine found it less interesting to look at, architecturally, than her home with Zuriel. Columns supported the triangular roof, and the front garden was almost completely lacking in flowers. Instead, bushes, shaped in perfect squares and rectangles, lined the winding pathway to the front entrance.

"I do not think this is the right place, Zuriel," she told him gently. She did not want to hurt his pride by leading him to think she did not trust his sense of direction, but there was no way Father's luck could have provided him such a vast fortune, and so quickly, to enable him to afford such a home.

"It is," was all he said in reply. Celine frowned in confusion but did not question Zuriel's word further.

The manor did not suit Father, somehow, and Celine found it hard to imagine him living here. That was not to say that she did not think he deserved such a fine home, but she felt that a country manor would have suited him.

No matter. He was not her business anymore, save for his health, which she dearly cared about. Even Zuriel's long stride could not match Celine's quick pace as she raced past him and up the front steps of the manor.

She knocked twice on the door, and when no reply came, she knocked again, louder this time. Her knuckles became sore immediately. She was sure the sound could not penetrate through the thick oak of the door. Zuriel, having reached Celine's side by now, grasped her waist gently, smirking at her, and rapped three times on the door. The sound echoed through the gardens, and Celine smiled up at him, feeling protected somehow with him by her side. She ran her fingers over the hand that was touching her waist, admiring how warm it was. She leaned into him while they waited for the door to be answered.

When no answer came, Zuriel raised an eyebrow and opened the door himself. Celine's eyes widened. She was still not sure if this was her father's house to begin with. And if it was, it would hardly be courteous to enter it without permission, let alone if, God forbid, this was someone else's home.

He smiled at her reassuringly and pulled her, by her hand, inside.

"… and she never answers the damned door, I tell you! I want her fired!"

"You do it, Amelie. I would rather not. It is hardly in my nature to mingle with the servants."

Celine's sister's voices sounded down a hall that must have been off of one of the two staircases that led to the second floor of the home. Moments later, both girls immerged from the hall to the left, looking more annoyed with each other than they had once been with Celine.

"Oh, because you are so superior?! Hmmm? I think not!"

Celine sighed. This was certainly her father's home; there was no doubt about that now.

Celine turned to Zuriel, looking anxious. "I am sorry I thought you were wrong," she whispered to him.

"I am sorry I was right," he replied. Celine observed his face curiously. She could have sworn his right eye twitched ever so slightly. She giggled.

The sound alerted her sisters, who paused their bickering to investigate the intruders.

Both girls gasped in unison, as if they had uncovered a very juicy piece of gossip.

"Celine?!" Agnes was the first to speak. She raced forth, looking as if she was experiencing a mix of emotions.

"My God, sister, where the hell have you been?" asked Amelie. Though her words were demanding, she, at least, looked slightly happy to see her.

"Where is Father?" asked Celine, ignoring them and cutting straight to her purpose in being here. She felt no happiness in seeing her sisters again. She wondered if that made her selfish…

"Ah… in the study, I think, why?" Agnes answered her question with a very perplexed facial expression. She looked rightfully confused at Celine's worry.

"Why is he not lying down?" exclaimed Celine, gently as possible.

"He is right this way, milady," came the voice of a female servant. She looked fairly amused at the sight before her. Her two despicable mistresses and the girl that could only be the long lost sister they had been going on about. Thing were about to get very interesting around here, if she guessed right.

Amelie was the first to truly take in Zuriel. "And who are you" she asked. She looked annoyed that her home was not only being invaded by Celine, but a man as well. After looking him over, her countenance changed. "I am Amelie," she said suddenly, rushing forward and dipping into a curtsy.

Celine had to fight not to roll her eyes. She followed the servant, hoping the sight of their sick father would sober up her two sisters.

The study was not far off. It just down the hall. Compared to the stark white tiles that made up the rest of the flooring in the manor, the soft blue carpet of the study was warm and soothing. The study was small, and seemed to double as a library. It could hardly be called a library, however, compared to Zuriel's vast, double storied book collection.

Father was in the middle of the room, perched on a chair behind a dark desk. A chicken leg was in one hand, and a wine goblet in the other. Despite how wrapped up he seemed to be in his meal, he looked up right away when his favorite daughter entered the room.

He stared at her for a moment, wondering if his eyes were playing tricks on him again. Surely his wife had not come back to him.

No, no, this was someone else…

"Celine!" he said finally, popping up from his chair and lumbering over to his daughter. Celine's mouth was half open. If he was a sick man, he was hiding it very, very well.

"You have returned to me at last! I have been so worried. Been searching, everywhere, I have. Everywhere!" He seemed cheerful enough, but somehow his mood and obvious health did not ease Celine. She felt disappointed in him somehow, and found it hard to believe his words.

"Really?" she whispered after a moment, but his babble drowned out her voice.

Zuriel stepped into the room then, and immediately the old man stopped speaking.

"Y-y-you! I know you!" he said fearfully, looking even more flabbergasted than when Celine had entered the room. Then his mood changed.

"How dare you enter my home? Out, out, get out! I do not want you here, do you understand me? I said-"

"I daresay, sir, that is hardly a way to treat a guest, when I was so previously hospitable to you" Zuriel was in his usual calm stance, with his legs slightly spread apart and his hands behind his back. He leaned against the wall next to Celine.

Agnes and Amelie appeared then, piling into the study eagerly.

"He is lying, you know, Celine" began Agnes. She looked very proud of herself, though why, Celine did not know.

"Who is lying?" asked Celine, thinking her sister was speaking of Zuriel.

"Father. He hardly searched for you at all. He has been too busy spending his riches and attending parties" piped in Amelie. She looked equally as excited as her sister. If this would not send Celine back to wherever miserable place she had been living at, she did not know what would. Life here was better without Celine hogging Father's attention. It was best if she left, to be sure.

Celine looked up at her father with inquiring eyes. "Is this true?" she asked quietly.

Father looked surprised that he had been betrayed by his own daughters. He shook his head before he spoke. "No, of course not! I would do anything to have you back, my Celine, I swear it!"

"Really?" Zuriel's voice penetrated through the thick lies in the room. Celine took comfort in it, and scooted closer to her protector. "Then, I have a proposition for you, William".

Father looked up at Zuriel defiantly. "Whatever it is, I accept!" he said pridefully.

Zuriel ignored him. "If you give back the riches I bestowed upon you, I will return your daughter to you"

Celine gasped, shocked both by the fact that it was Zuriel who had provided this new lavish lifestyle to her father, and by his proposal. Zuriel slipped his hand into Celine's, so that no one could see, to show her that he meant her no harm through his words. Celine's fingers tightened around his, though she felt rejected by what he had just said.

Father was frozen. He looked to be in a stupor. This upset Celine. Most any other father would have immediately accepted. But hers… he hesitated, and for far too long.

"But I…" he seemed to searching his innermost thoughts for some sort of solution. "I have my other daughters to think of!" he finally exclaimed. Celine looked over to her sisters who looked quite a bit more smug than necessary.

"Yes, sister, he has us to think of," said Agnes quietly. She was not soft spoken often, but Celine found that she preferred her to be loud-mouthed and nosy as opposed to this. She was positively icy.

Zuriel was silent this whole time. If there was anything he had learned through his sweet Celine, it was that he could not try to control her. This was her decision to make. He was frustrated that he saw her even hesitating to leave this place, but still, he said not a word.

Celine looked shaken. Then, slowly, her countenance changed. She breathed deeply a few times, and her eyes flashed with something Zuriel had to fight to recognize. It was confidence. She turned on her heal and walked from the room without so much as glancing back.

Her hands were balled into fists, and her arms were locked stubbornly at her sides. Other than that, she showed no sign of regret, sadness, anger, nothing.

She was taking all of this much better than he could have expected. And God knows, he would rather have his angel angry than have her sad.

"You can never be rid of me now," she said to him matter-of-factly. She smiled slightly as she said it. Zuriel, despite himself, smiled too. He nodded in response.

"I suppose that would be a good thing," he teased as they reached the front door. He realized she was not feeling as strong as she looked, because his light-hearted comment caused her tiny smile to falter. She was hurting; she just would not say it aloud.

As they approached their horses, she grabbed her by the shoulders and turned her to him.

"That is a very good thing," he corrected himself. Finally, Celine's smile widened. Satisfied, Zuriel swung her onto her mount.