Crown of Thorns

Chapter Thirty-One

By the river, Day 106 A.F

The stranger's words hung in the air, a damp cloth smothering the fire of our excitement. Not dead? The Lovers were not dead? My mind recoiled, rejecting the idea. They were dead. They had to be. Even far away from Aphrodisia the mere suggestion that Myra and Melville could be alive made my stomach clench. Bile rose in my throat.

Tybira was the first to recover her voice. She turned to Enki with wide, pleading eyes. "They're dead... right? Your Chronicles told you everything about this stuff. Enki, tell me they're dead."

Enki winced at the tremor in her voice, the fear cracking Strength's resolve. "They should be... I don't know why they wouldn't be."

The winged man raised his eyebrow towards the Magician. "Your Chronicles never mentioned Carnates, Master of Illusion?" He gave a dry, humorless laugh.

"They don't say everything, Judgement," Enki retorted, eyes darting between the stranger and Tybira as if planning how to defend her should this unknown Arcana attack. "You ought to know that."

Does Enki know this man? Lady Lotus whispered her distrust. Enki wouldn't betray us.

Maybe not, the witch purred. But he might betray just you.

"Well, evidently the Chronicles of  Arendgast are far more compete," the angel replied.

"Arendgast?" The name sent a jolt through me. Arendgast? Wings? The hair on my arms stood on end. It was all hauntingly familiar.

"My surname, Empress." He nodded to me, head jerking with the sharp movements of a bird. "I am Gabriel Arendgast."

My eyes narrowed. "You wouldn't happen to be related to Shiva Erinyes?" I spat the Fury's name. So similar to Gabriel's I couldn't help but guess there was a connection between the winged Arcana.

"No." Gabriel's eyebrows furrowed. "I am the Archangel."

A winged angel. Different than the winged demoness?

"How do you know about the Lovers?" Cyprian must have sensed my unease, for he put his arm around my shoulder, pulling me closer to his side. "And how did you find us?"

"I know about the Duke and Duchess because my Chronicles told me all about them. Unfortunately not enough to avoid getting captured." Gabriel flexed his vast wings stiffly, grimacing subtly at the motion. I noticed a half healed wound on each wing: puncture marks. His long outer feathers seemed slightly deformed, as if they were nearly grown back after being clipped. "And I owe my escape to the lovely Fauna and Magician. I thank you both."

"You weren't supposed to follow us!" Enki snapped.

"You freed another random Arcana?" Cyp demanded, glaring at Enki. "What about everything you told me about the Game? Don't other Arcana mean to kill us?"

Tybira frowned, flashing her fangs. "Others might, but we don't. He was nailed to a wall in the menagerie. We couldn't just leave him there."

"You could have and should have," The Hanged Man stated. "I'll bet my sword we're going to regret this mercy."

I placed a hand on Cyprian's shoulders, wary of the anger in his dark eyes. He covered my fingers with his and bit out a curse, but his muscles relaxed. I looked at Gabriel hesitantly. "You were being tortured too... you're that bird they spoke off? Their prized bird?"

The Archangel glowered, his sharp eyes darkening dangerously. "Freaks. They've been torturing me for far longer than they were torturing you."

The way he spoke... it almost sounded like the twins were still torturing him. I supposed those memories could very easily classify as a form of torment. "They're dead. I killed them." They were dead. They had to be.