Last Line(s): “Fine.” Obraya floated - she didn’t float, she was
walking, but it looked as if she was floating - towards the three of them. “But
hear me out first.”
That caught the travellers’ attention.
Chapter 13
Zoya still wasn’t comfortable with the fact that she
was with an Angel. And so were the Painter and Writer and that just made things
worse. What made things worse worse was that the Painter and Writer
themselves had agreed to listen to what the Angel had to say.
And what she had said, seemed utterly unbelievable.
Audrey, Will and Zoya were behind a couple of trees,
a yard away from Obraya, who was wringing her hands nervously an biting her
lip.
“Look, she’s an Angel, which is our version of what
Humans consider Devils. You guys think Devils are completely untrustworthy,
stuck-up, and foolish. They are not. Angels are,” Zoya explained for the
umpteenth time.
“We get it, Zoya.” Audrey sighed.
“We just… we think we can trust her. We have a
feeling in our gut,” Will told her. “And… Akol told us to trust our gut.”
Audrey nodded.
“If Obraya turns out to be a complete fraud, don’t
come crying.” Zoya slapped her thighs and stood up, walking out of the tent.
Audrey and Will looked at each other. “Is she our
mother now?” Will asked.
Audrey shrugged. “Let’s go.”
***
“You what?” Zoya yelled over the suddenly
crackling fire. It was now afternoon. Everyone had decided they’d stop at a
clearing, set up tents, and at the same time, listen to Obraya.
“Yeah… After Herschel kicked me outta the kingdom, he
made sure I’d never return. I’m sorta stuck down ‘ere with y’all.” The Angel
wrung her hands again.
Audrey and Will were frozen, staring at Obraya in
shock. “Seriously?” Will’s jaw fell open. Obraya waved her hand it clamped
shut.
“Let me get this straight. The leader of the Angels
kicked his girlfriend out of his kingdom, because she started talking about a
way to defeat the Devils which sounded impossible, but wasn’t impossible,
according to you.” Audrey pointed at Obraya. “And now you want to take
the Devils’ side, and destroy the Angels, which has never happened in the whole
history of Pluto?”
“You got it,” Obraya said.
“What if this is your plan?” Zoya said, narrowing
her eyes at the Angel.
Obraya sighed. “I knew you’d say that. If wounds are
going to be of any use, then -”
She reached down to the hem of her dress and started pulling it up. Audrey
slapped her hands over Will’s eyes. Will moved it away reluctantly.
Obraya took off her visiting dress (the ones that
they wore back in the days) - she was left in a blouse that didn’t cover much
and a short petticoat.
Zoya gasped. There were welts and scars all over her
limbs. The Angel turned around stiffly. The sight made Will look away and
Audrey put her hand on her mouth. There were bruises and burns - and worse,
they all looked fresh. Her feathery wings looked broken as well.
“Goodness, who would do such a thing?” Audrey
squeaked.
“Can’t anyone get rid of them for you?” Zoya asked,
taking out her wand.
Obraya sighed. “They’re Pains, child, can’t be fixed
up.”
Zoya lowered her wand. She reached down towards
Obraya’s dress. “This must be hell to wear. Don’t you have anything
comfortable?”
“I… I was actually wondering if the lotta y’all could
make something for me. I heard about your magic.” She lowered her head
slightly, her blondish white hair getting in her face.
“I’ll put your hair up. It’s probably bothering
your…” Audrey trailed off, not bothering to finish that sentence.
“And I’ll just cook the food we already made,” Will
said.
***
It was evening by the time Obraya had been made fresh
clothes, her wounds cleaned to avoid infection, and everyone’s stomach was full.
They hadn’t travelled much - the Angel took up most of their time. Zoya was sad
to admit it, but she felt bad for the Angel, and wanted to do anything in her
power to help.
Everyone was in comfortable clothes, sitting around
the campfire, and staring into the crackling fire. Obraya opened her mouth to
talk but she decided against it.
“Obraya, do you need anything?” Audrey asked, getting
up.
“N-no, I’m good, you s’down,” she said.
Audrey sat back down. Zoya sighed. “How can we trust you?”
“I thought we’d been o’er this.” Obraya looked at the
girl.
Will put his head on Audrey’s shoulder. “Stop, Will,
I’m thinking.”
“Sorry but I feel sick,” he said, tiredness dripping
from his words.
“You’re probably just tired from all the magic,” Zoya
said. “If one overuses magic in a day, then they get pretty tired.”
“We didn’t even use much.” Will raised his hand in
the air and listed off what they had made. “Three tents, clothes for Obraya and
food to feed four.”
“That’s an awful lot,” Obraya said. “I feel bad for
bein’ a burden on ye. I’ve done a nurses’ course; I could check if you have a
fever or anything. I woulda done everything for me myself but Angels can’t do
that sorta stuff.
Will waved her off. “No no, I’m fine. Aud says so.”
He got up, swaying to the side. Zoya pushed him up. “Are
you drunk?”
“He doesn’t drink.” Audrey shot Zoya a look.
Will swayed to the other side, towards the fire.
Audrey shrieked, and pulled him towards her. She grumbled. “Let’s go. Zoya,
clean up this place and go into your tent. And Obraya, your tent is ready. You
can go in there when you’re ready.”
Holding Will up, Audrey made her way into the tent
that she and her husband were going to share.
She sat him down on his sleeping bag and gave him a
glass of water. He gulped it all down. “Audy, you have three heads.” He giggled.
Audrey furrowed her brows. “Are you okay?”
He nodded and giggled again. Audrey massaged her
temples. “Today has been hectic. You rest.” Will fell back on the sleeping bag.
As soon as his head hit the pillow, he was sound asleep. Audrey bit her bottom
lip. Something was wrong with Will. Something really wrong. And if it were
serious, it would be impossible to get to the Angels’ kingdom and -
“No.” Obraya said, standing in front of
Akol again. “I have a job to do.”
“What is it?” Akol hissed and narrowed
his eyes at her.
“I have to kill two specific people.”
Obraya smiled again, the corner of her eyes crinkling.
Audrey gasped at the sudden memory. It
had suddenly flooded her mind, overwhelming her. “Kill two specific people.
Kill Will and I. And…” Audrey’s eyes fluttered. “Obraya was going to kill us
and she’s sleeping in the tent a few feet over, oh my gosh, WILL!”
Will groaned, turning over onto his
side.
“Oh my gosh oh no oh no.”
Just then, the entrance to the tent she
was in flapped. “Who’s there?” she called.
“Geez, it’s just me.” Zoya crawled in
and sat right next to Audrey. “What happened? Your sweating.”
“It’s Obraya. When we first met her,
Akol and the two of us were coming to the palace. And she said she’d kill us.”
Audrey looked around, panicked.
“You met that witch before you met me?”
Zoya scrunched up her nose in disgust.
“Zoya!” Audrey face palmed. “Stick to
the topic.”
“Okay, okay,” Zoya said. “We’ll keep
her with us. If she really is evil, and if she really is Herschel’s girlfriend,
she’d be very precious to him. We could put her at flail-point if he tries to
harm any of us.”
“Y-yeah, okay.”
There was a pause. Will groaned again.
Then he grinned.
“Why are you here?” Audrey looked at
Zoya, wringing her hands.
“I can’t sleep alone and it’s very
dark.” Zoya smiled sheepishly.
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