Page 29 of Seraph's Tears
I laughed, mouth full of bread. I couldn’t help it, not with the chagrined expression on his face. “Because it’s indoors and small?” I pointed at his wings as an example.
Gabriel nodded. Then he smirked. “When I was a little thing, only fifty years or so, I sneaked into one of these. My parents employ guards to keep the family and the estate safe, and the barracks has one. I knew I’d be a warrior one day. All second children in Aerie do. I crept in and decided to try some of the models. I could actually fly into the air because of how little I was, and do ducks and twists as I beat the mannequin. It spun on a cranked wheel,” he explained, twirling a finger to demonstrate. “And I thought I was doing well until my uncle, who was visiting, appeared out of nowhere. Nearly made my heart burst.”
I laughed, happy to see him happy and remembering pleasant things from long ago.
He shook his head. “Made me get on the floor, put my bare feet on the wood. And then made me run everything again. I did, ah, much worse that time. But I didn’t give up, and by the end my uncle—who was a general—clapped me on the back and told me to keep learning, and that when it was my time to go to the academy he’d personally escort me.” His smile faded. “He died in the war while I was still in school.”
“I’m so sorry, Gabriel.”
He shook it off, feathers rustling. “It was a long time ago. It was war. It would’ve happened to me eventually if the sky hadn’t split.”
A sour taste crept up the back of my throat. I hated imagining this fierce, proud man hurt. “I’m glad to have met you,” I said impulsively.
He had turned to fidget with one end of the net and turned back to me now in surprise. “Truly?”
I nodded. “And I’m sorry for your family.” I thought of his parents, his older brother. Gabriel was a man in his prime. A horrible thought came to me. “Wait. You—do you have a wife? Are you married back home?”
He stared. “No.”
I sagged with relief. Then embarrassment flooded me. How could I have asked such a personal question? It was now obvious I thought of him romantically. Blast this stupid mouth of mine. “Forgive me.” I tried to salvage my mistake. “I wondered…what a seraph family is like. Are you allowed to marry while in the military?”
Heat flashed in his eyes, then he glanced away. “We can marry while in the military, yes. We have a rigid social structure, so there are many rules. For example, we’ve had to serve at least a decade before getting permission. I am not married. I never formed an attachment to anyone strong enough for me to pursue marriage.”
I took a bite of stewed carrot to hide my smile. “Is that common even among your nobility, then? Love matches?”
Gabriel raised his brows, as if to ask, you truly find this interesting? “It depends on many factors, I suppose,” he said slowly. “The war with the Gar had something to do with that, in a way.”
I perked up. “Do tell.”
He shrugged, as if trying to take back his words. “Not recently, I mean. Just…there’s a few ideas of how our enmity began with the Gar, thousands of years ago, and one of them is a love story.”
“Oh, can you tell me?” I breathed.
“If I can remember it.” He cleared his throat. “Far across a hundred thousand spires, above one hundred and one valleys, there were two peoples: the Seraphim and the Gar.” His voice had taken on a sing-song quality to it, and it reminded me of the time before we joined the church, when my mother would put me to sleep with once upon a time.
“High in the tallest spire of the Aerie lived the nephew of the king. Engiel was handsome and skilled. His arrows could pierce the clouds and his black wings spanned many arm lengths. He was a mighty hunter. One day he went out to hunt wild game. He took his spear and his bow and arrows. He went only by himself, and he flew to an area near the shared border with the Gar. Engiel landed in a small, wooded flat space on a spire and intended to hunt wild goats.
“But to his surprise, instead of goats, he heard singing. So he crept through the trees in search of the maiden with the beautiful voice. Engiel reached a pool of freshwater and stopped, frozen in awe. For there, bathing in the pool, was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen.”
I leaned forward in my seat, my meal all but forgotten. “Who?”
He frowned at me. “This is a myth, you know. Romantic storybook nonsense.”
“Who?” I demanded.
“She was tall and exquisitely muscled, with delicate wings made of membrane so fine sunlight could shine through. The horns on her head curved backward, highlighting the beauty of her face. Her ebony hair rippled down her back.”
“She was a Gar?” I asked.
Gabriel nodded. “A princess in one of the Gar tribes, though he didn’t know it at the time.”
“What happened next?”
He rolled his eyes at my tone, but obeyed. “Princess Onyxa was shocked to see a strange seraph intruding upon her while she bathed. But before she could reach for her sword and slit his throat, he calmed her. They spoke that day, and vowed to return and speak again. Over time they fell in love.”
I sighed happily.
“Engiel swore he’d marry none but her. He promised he would come for her with great fanfare, as befitting a princess of the Gar clans, and that he would prove they were ayim-bound.”
