A/N: Well, it's chapter thirty, overall chapter seventy-two in the series and thanks to all of you who have followed it from the beginning!
I have officially hit a wall: I NEED INSPIRATION!! So, for anyone who knows the title of an inspiring/blood-pumping/generally good song then please, please tell me. I'm dying inside! Please no rap (whatsoever), R&B (unless it is really good) or pop (again unless it is really good). I am a rock girl and will be till the day I die. I like everything from alternative to punk to oldies to gothic, so send me anything!
Disclaimer: False hope for the low, low price of one easy payment of a song title!
Catherina walked the long halls slowly, her wrinkled hands sliding along the red-painted walls. She passed a small decorative table, a door, and a large green vase before leaning on the wall with a groan. Taking a deep breath, she began to walk again. A picture, two more doors, and a window later, she was leaning on the wall again. She looked up from behind her once-blonde locks tiredly.
I hate… getting old. Damn Abel and Stella and Vanessa and Virgil for their eternal youth. Quickly she crossed herself and continued on.
The woman had celebrated her sixty-sixth birthday a few months ago. Though there were others certainly older than her, she was still old enough to feel the pains of arthritis and been considerably slowed by bronchitis, which she always seemed to catch just in time for Christmas. Her legs burned and her chest felt heavy, but she refused to go to William for a wheelchair. She refused to let her age get the better of her… at least until Francesco did.
Her brother. Amazingly, although he was six years older than her, he was still Cardinal. To her credit, she staved Leon Sr., Jr., Kate, Alessandro, Woordsworth, James, Tres (though his argument was more often 'it is suggested for you to begin a less stressful job to live longer'), and finally Abel for two years (though Abel was only there for the last few months of one) before she had been convinced to retire. Francesco, however, was not lucky to have friends like his sister and brother. He got along well enough with Petros and had gotten along well enough with Sister Paula, but this was only a superior-subordinate relationship.
Had because Paula Souwauski had passed recently, loosing a long battle with cancer. It had been a hard thing to watch, though Catherina did not particularly like the woman. It had been saddening to watch the once-strong woman reduced to a state so weakened and in so much pain that she would ask anyone who came in the room to kill her. Once, she had pleaded with tears in her eyes to Leon Sr., Hugue, and Petros to do it for her. Still more heartbreaking were her last moments, with the Pope, the Cardinals, and Brother Petros in the room with her, sitting around her bed. She had called them there, claiming that death was near. She briefly acknowledged the Cardinals, who sat on either side by her feet, but turned her attention to the Pope and Petros. She apologized, this time tears flowing down only Alessandro's cheeks and welling in Petros's, for not being a good enough solider and for not protecting the Pope until the end. Then her heart stopped.
Catherina shook these thoughts from her head. She needed all the concentration she had to speak with her younger brother.
Never before had Alessandro acted so like Francesco. He had always been patient and understanding. And ever since the unfortunate incidents in Albion before Esther's crowning, he had become more and more independent. However, she knew that a month ago, he had hired a man, claiming to have ancient ties to Feudal times, Adeodatus. The man had checked out; or at least the documentation he provided did.
She might have been old, but her sharp mind had not dulled at all. She was sure that Adeodatus was somehow manipulating her brother. She was just unsure how.
She stopped, coming to the door that led to her brother's office. She knocked once, twice. She heard a muffled "come in" and opened the door.
Her brother sat behind a desk, he looked up and smiled jupon her entering, sticking a finger up into the air to signify he would be with her in a moment. She sat and watched as he gently took a candle from its holder and turned it, still burning, to its side. Crimson wax dripped onto an envelop that sat in front of him. He waited no more than a minute and a half before pressing his ring, a present from the church to him, into the rapidly-cooling wax. When he was done, he put the envelop to the side and clasped his hands on the desk.
"Catherina, dear sister, what can I do for you?"
Catherina watched her brother's face carefully, as if she could catch some trace of difference from his usual features. His face was like that of Fransessco's, with his high cheekbones and slightly pointed nose, however, the usual imposing affect was diluted, as Alessandro had Catherina's gentle chin and complexion. His head, shouldered by forty-six years, was covered by gray-mottled thinning brown hair. Alessandro's eyes, usually bright and strong (as he had grown ever more confident since his first trip to Albion) were slightly worried, and he seemed to be fifteen again; unsure of his next move.
Well, best not leave him in suspense.
"Alessandro, why are you doing this?"
An odd look crossed the man-boy's face. "Doing what?"
Catherina gestured impatiently with her hand, "This business with Stella!"
Alessandro frowned, his look darkening and he rapidly becoming the man he was again… or the man he was pretending to be. "She is impure and an abomination. Further more, she is uncontrollable. Who knows what she will…"
"Are these your words, or the words from someone else?" Catherina interrupted darkly, but calmly. Using a loud voice would get her nowhere, and it was not good for her blood pressure.
Alessandro looked stricken. He took a moment to recover, as he knew better than to lie to his older sister, never mind being the Pope and lying in front of God. "I… They may be someone else's words, but they are my thoughts."
"Are they, Alessandro?" Catherina questioned quietly. "Are they?" she repeated.
The Pope stuttered a few times. Unfortunately, he was saved by a knock at the door. Without waiting for a sign to enter, Adeodatus entered. He smiled fluidly at Catherina, before turning his attention to Alessandro.
"My Lord the Pope, Lady Catherina, there seems to be some tension in the air, what may be the problem?"
Alessandro piped up like the small child nobody in class liked very much. "We are discussing Stella Iceheart. My sister seems to think that the agent deserves to be let free."
Adeodatus was pretending to be surprised, Catherina was sure of it. "Oh? Really, Miss Catherina, I would think that you would be the first to support Miss Iceheart's incarceration, seeing as her unreliability unstableness is a threat to your very brother's well-being."
"Stella is not unreliable," Catherina blurted before she could stop herself.
Adeodatus pursed his handsome lips. "Oh really? Tell me, Catherina, when Father Nightroad first came upon Miss Iceheart, was she not in a fit of rage, and killed officers of her home land?"
"Those officers were wrong and they were killing her!" Catherina defended her agent.
Adeodatus smiled, and shook his head at her, tutting slightly. "But what about her missions after that? Tres has reported that she barely managed to defeat her beast, and claimed that if she had not, she would have ripped her two comrades apart. And then she disappeared for months," he smoothly slid behind her chair, placing his hands on either side of the wood and leaning his face, so that his words snaked into her ear. "What if her beast of her absence results in the death of your brother, the Pope?"
Feeling his words resonate in her soul, and the way his aura made her feel was all Catherina could do to keep from shuddering.
Alessandro, as if from some brotherly instinct, seemed to notice her distress. He barked, "Enough!" startling, both Lord Adeodatus and her. The Lord rose slowly to a standing position, stepping away from Catherina, for which she was glad. She sent her brother and thankful look, which he nearly beamed at. "Leave us," he said to Adeodatus.
The Lord looked to argue, but a pointed look from Alessandro, which made him look even more like Francesco, sent him on his way, not looking at pleased. His displeasure warmed Catherina to an extent. She turned her attention back to her brother, who, she was alarmed to see, had laid his head onto the desk. Her sisterly instincts made her jump from the chair, ignoring her old joints, and put a gentle hand on his back.
"Alessandro? Alessandro, are you all right?" she asked, trying but failing not to let her panic show through.
Alessandro raised his head, and she could see wet tear streaks. He had not cried in front of her since he was a teenager. "Catherina I don't know what to do!" He exclaimed. "If I go the way Adeodatus wants to go, an innocent woman will live her life for years in torture and her friends in a similar predicament. If I go your way, I could be putting myself and others in danger!" He seemed to slow down for a moment. He looked straight forward, at the door, and spoke his thoughts allowed. "Although the suffering on her part will be great, and I'm sure on the others' as well, I cannot allow people to be hurt for just their comfort. It wouldn't be right. At least, that is what justice would say." He looked back to his sister, as if looking for conformation that he was right.
Catherina tried to smile warmly and leaned down to hug her brother. She gently kissed his forehead and pulled away, though not too far, intending to make every word count. "This is a decision that you must think about with your heart. Step away from all the mights and the maybes and think about the people at stake here. Should you decide to exile Stella, many of the members of AX, which I will remind you are the only people who are competently dealing with rebellious Methuselah anymore will quit. One day, they will simply be gone. You must remember that Adeodatus only came a few months ago; Stella has been in our hearts for nearly half a year. This is no large number, but has this man proved himself in anyway loyal. How dare he presume to pass judgment without being judged. And," she leaned down, lowering her voice as she did so, "I know Stella. She would never harm anyone or betray you. She will put herself in the path of a rain of bullets for the Inquisition officers that hold her in prison now. Think on that, if you will." She raised herself to her full height. "Tonight, I pray for her, Your Holiness. Her, and your decision."
She walked to the door of the room, pausing, hoping to hear something, anything from her brother.
"I… will think on it," Alessandro said, finally.
Catherina closed her eyes in relief and nodded her head to show she heard. She left the room, then, closing the door. She had walked only a few steps when Adeodatus stepped from the shadows. She clutched her chest as her shock caused her skin to singe.
Adeodatus smiled slightly (oh how she hated that smile), "Careful, Sister Catherina, we don't want you to have a heart attack." His tone said differently.
When Catherina only narrowed her eyes at him, he chuckled in his throat and walked back towards the Pope's office, straight-backed with his hands clasped behind him.
Her eyes slid until she could see his body no longer, and then she began walking again.
A/N: I know this chapter took forever but I've had no inspiration lately, and I think it was worth the wait, I really enjoyed writing this chapter and I hope you guys like it as much as I think you will. Review!