She shut off the shower, and stood staring at the bathroom wall blankly. Wet tendrils of her hair curled around her shoulders and her neck, dripping crystal clear beads of water down.
She sighed once, and then she put on the mask of confidence and happiness that she had been wearing for the last six months. I must be strong. She shook herself, stepped out of the shower stall and signaled for her attendants. The two women came in and draped thick cloth around her and started rubbing her dry vigorously. When every droplet had been toweled off, they dressed her in her thin silken nightgown. She waved them impatiently away when they attempted to tuck her in.
"Goodnight, M'Lady." The women chorused, and then left her to her own thoughts. She stood at the window, and for a second her heart skipped a beat. There had been a flash of silver in the garden, as if long strands of silver hair had flared briefly in the moonlight … but, no, there was nothing there. She cursed herself as she sat on the coverlet. Six months, and I still can't stop thinking about him.
Father Tres, patrolling the corridors of the Palace of Albion, turned around, alerted by a clattering noise. His gun was out, and a red pinpoint of light was shining out of one pupil. His eyes narrowed when he saw the intruder and he lowered the gun.
"Explain your presence, Father Nightroad."
"Tres! What are you doing here?"
"Cardinal Sforza is currently on a state visit to Albion as a delegate of the Vatican. I am guarding both her and Queen Esther Blanchett. Please answer the question I asked 56 seconds ago."
"I'm…" the tall gangly man shrugged, "I just…I… How is Esther doing?"
"Her Majesty Queen Esther Blanchett has established numerous peace treaties and areas of collaboration between the Vatican, the Empire, and Albion. Queen Blanchett has also funded events that promoted goodwill between Methuselah and Terrans. The use of the term "vampire" is now considered uncouth. Since her coronation, attacks from the Methuselah have reduced by 67, and the unemployment rate--"
Abel Nightroad groaned. "I don't mean what she has done, you metal-brain!"
Tres blinked. "The meaning of your utterance is unclear. My neural circuits are made of biosynthetic materials."
"I meant that my question was how is Esther?"
"I have detected irregularities in her pulse rate and brain activity, indicative of insomnia, possibly due to emotional distress. Cardinal Sforza has also commented on--" Tres, finding himself addressing an empty corridor, swirled around. Abel Nightroad had left.
She dreamt. Every night for the past six months, it was the same dream, and she dreaded going to sleep.
She was falling, falling, falling down a steep cliff and just as she was about to hit the ground, an angel with black wings would snatch her up and bring her to safety. And when she turned to face her rescuer, she would see a drifting cloud of silver hair, the tall protective figure and the cruel teeth and mouth set in a gentle smile. She would throw her arms around him, and he would hug her back, his clawed fingers gently stroking her back. She would close her eyes for just a split second, and then inevitably, when she opened them, a figure in white, in feature and form exactly like the man she was hugging, would descend upon them. Always she tried to shout a warning, and always it came too late. And she would watch as blood gushed out of her love's back……
"FATHER NIGHTROAD!!" She screamed as she awoke, her eyes streaming with tears. The room was quiet and devoid of life.
"Crusnik?" she said softly. "Abel?" she whispered. She burst into tears, as she had done for every single day of the last six months. She buried her head on her knees and cried heartily. A warm hand touched her shoulder tentatively. Her head snapped up. Could it be? She turned to look.
"Abel!"
"Esther." He replied with a smile. She threw herself at him, and wrapped her arms around his neck. As he encircled her with his arms, she suddenly stepped backwards quickly.
"What's the matter?" He asked, befuddled.
"I can't hug you." Her voice was edgy, petrified.
"Why not?" He asked, even more mystified.
"Because of my dream." Her breaths came in short gasps, and she nearly started crying again. "In my dream, I hug you, and then the man who was all in white… he kills you."
Abel Nightroad's eyes hardened. "Cain kills me?"
"Yes."
He went up to her and stroked her cheek. "That's not going to happen."
"How do you know?"
"Cain is dead."
Esther gasped, her wide blue eyes shocked. "Did you kill him?"
"No, Cain was killed by Seth and Lilith, the Crusnik females."
"But Catherina said that Lilith was dead!"
Abel's face fell. "Yes, she is. Cain was killed by an embedded program they planted in the merging machine in case he tried to increase the nanomachine count in his blood. It deactivated the nanomachines. Ion and I arrived in time for him to say goodbye and to apologise. He told me…He told me the nanomachines had controlled him all the while, all these years..." He ran his hand down her neck. "Cain is dead, Esther."
She folded into him, and they stood silhouetted against the moonlight for a long, long time.
END