24. Arenwen
24
ARENWEN
I run the oiled cloth along the curve of Kai's sword, watching the metal gleam in the afternoon light streaming through the windows. The repetitive motion soothes me as I work through his impressive collection of blades. Each weapon holds its own story - nicks and scratches from countless battles that I've learned to read like scripture.
The creak of floorboards behind me breaks my concentration. I whirl around, the sword clattering to the ground.
"Gabriel?" My heart pounds against my ribs. He stands in the doorway, his blonde hair matted and his clothes covered in dirt. Fresh cuts mark his arms, testament to whatever ordeal brought him here.
"Aren." His warm brown eyes fill with relief as he crosses the room in three long strides. "Thank the gods. We've been searching everywhere for you."
I step back, my hand brushing against the fallen sword. "How did you?—"
"I told you I was coming. Didn't you get my note?"
I'm in shock. "Didn't you get mine?"
"I did, but-" He shakes his head, clearly not wanting to get into it with me right now. Instead, he reaches for my arm but I pull away. "We need to leave. Now."
The Gabriel before me is exactly as I remember - protective, determined, ready to sacrifice everything. But something feels different. Wrong. Where once his presence brought comfort, now it feels like an intrusion.
"I can't." The words slip out before I can stop them.
His face hardens. "What do you mean you can't? Has he hurt you? Threatened you?"
I shake my head, struggling to explain the inexplicable. How I've grown to want him, to enjoy his darkness. The way Kai's presence fills every room like smoke, something I crave. The strange comfort I find in serving him.
"You don't understand. Things are different now."
"Different?" Gabriel's voice cracks. "Aren, these creatures ripped us away from our home. Killed and hurt our people. How can you?—"
"Because this is where I belong now." I straighten my spine, meeting his gaze. The life he represents - hiding in temples, living in fear - feels distant and hollow compared to the sharp-edged reality I've found with Kai.
Gabriel's expression shifts from confusion to horror. "What has he done to you?"
I shake my head. "He hasn't done anything. I just…This is where I should be."
But he just shakes his head. He clearly thinks I have some kind of spell on me. "There's a settlement up north." Gabriel's voice drops to a whisper as he glances toward the door. "Past the mountain range. Other humans who've escaped. We can rebuild there, away from..." His eyes dart around the room, taking in the weapons, the luxurious furnishings, the evidence of my new life.
My stomach twists. The thought of leaving this townhouse, of abandoning my place at Kai's feet, sends ice through my veins. My fingers trace the edge of the fallen sword - one I've cleaned countless times while listening to Kai's battle stories.
"I serve him willingly." The words come out stronger than I expect. "He gives me purpose, Gabriel. Not just survival, but meaning."
"Purpose?" Gabriel's face contorts. "You clean his weapons and what? Let him use you? The Aren I knew would never-"
"The Aren you knew lived in the shadows." I lift my chin, my dark hair falling back from my face. "We hid in temples, pretending prayer alone would save us. Here, I pray under open skies. I serve with dignity, not fear."
"Dignity?" He grabs my shoulders, and I see the desperation in his warm brown eyes. "You worship a monster who prides himself in breaking people. That must be what he's done to you."
I shake my head, thinking of Kai's violet eyes glowing in the darkness, the way his wings curl protectively around me during storms. "You see only what you want to see. He's more than that."
"Listen to yourself." Gabriel's hands tighten. "This isn't you speaking. It's whatever spell he's put you under."
"No spell." I pull away, my voice steady despite my racing heart. "Just the truth. I belong here, Gabriel. With him."
The horror in his expression cuts deep, but not as deep as the thought of leaving. Of never again feeling Kai's presence fill a room, never hearing him call me 'little flame,' never watching his wings spread wide against the morning sky.
Gabriel runs his hands through his hair, a gesture I've seen countless times when he's frustrated. His fingers catch in the tangles, evidence of his desperate journey here.
"Can't you see what's happening?" His voice rises. "He's gotten into your head, twisted everything around until you can't tell right from wrong anymore."
"No one's twisted anything." I move between him and the weapon rack, though I doubt he'd know how to properly wield Kai's specialized blades. "I chose this path with clear eyes."
"Clear eyes?" He barks out a harsh laugh. "You're defending a xaphan . The orcs might have been bad, but they are worse. Or are you just going to ignore what happened as soon as we got here?"
"That's other xaphan, not Kai. You don't know him." My fingers trace the pommel of the nearest sword, drawing strength from its familiar weight. "We work together, Gabriel. He teaches me things about faith I never understood in those underground temples."
"Works together?" Gabriel's face flushes red. "He's a xaphan! They see us as property, as things to be owned and controlled. Nothing more."
"Then why am I allowed to pray freely? Why does he feed me and give me a bed to sleep in? There is no one here forcing me to do anything." I lift my chin. "If you want to run north, hide in another settlement, that's your choice. But I won't spend my life running anymore."
"This isn't freedom, Aren." He gestures at my simple clothes, at the weapons I maintain. "This is Stockholm syndrome at its finest. You're his slave, cleaning his home and doing whatever he asks-"
"I serve him because I choose to." Heat rises in my cheeks. "Every morning, I choose this path again. Every prayer strengthens my conviction. This is what our gods have blessed me with."
"You're delusional!" He huffs, trying to calm down. "Look, we can talk about this on the way. Let's just go."
"You don't understand what you're asking." I grip the sword's pommel tighter, the metal cool against my palm. "Leaving here would be like cutting out part of my soul."
Gabriel paces the length of the weapons room, his boots leaving dirt marks on the polished floor. "Listen to yourself! This isn't the temple girl who stood up to raiders. Who inspired others with her strength."
"That strength came from fear." I trace the blade's edge, remembering how Kai taught me the proper way to clean each groove and fuller. "Now it comes from choice."
"Choice?" Gabriel's voice rises. "You have no choice here!"
"You don't know what you're talking about." I shake my head. "You want me to just what? Just leave? For him to come home and find me gone?"
"Yes!" He clutches his hair. "Come on, Aren. These are same beings who?—"
The temperature plummets. My breath catches as frost creeps across the windows, crystalline patterns spreading like spiderwebs. The weapons on the wall rattle in their brackets, metal singing against metal.
Gabriel's words die in his throat. His face drains of color as shadows gather in the corners of the room.
"The same beings who what, exactly?"
Kai's voice cuts through the air like winter wind. Quiet. Deadly. The kind of calm that precedes a storm.
My heart plummets to my stomach. I hadn't heard him return, hadn't sensed his presence until this moment. But now his power fills the room, pressing against my skin like ice.
I turn slowly, already knowing what I'll see. Kai fills the doorway, his massive wings spread wide, blocking any escape. His violet eyes burn with an inner fire that makes Gabriel stumble back.
"Please," I whisper, though I'm not sure who I'm pleading for.