I woke up a few hours later and wandered out into the hallway. Through a tiny window slit in the spiral staircase, I could see that it was dark out. I decided to check out the library further, knowing that it was empty, but I wanted to get a better feel for it. Upon entering, I noticed a large pile of books sitting on the table, along with a note. I walked up to the table and picked up the note.

  “Master Thadeus,

  I have taken the liberty to bring up the books from the library downstairs to your personal library on this floor. I do believe these books will help you improve your existing skills, and you’ll find some other books here that will allow you to learn new abilities that may come in handy later on. I’ll continue looking for more when I awaken.

  -Antharian.

  PS: Please burn this note in the fireplace.”

  Antharian’s handwriting was surprisingly neat, with many curves on some of the letters. I found it odd that with how smart she was, she somehow ended up being offered up to Gabriel. I set the note down, realizing she had also brought up the cylinder the Holy Order gave me. Thankfully the lights in this place appeared to have a magical property to them that automatically turned them on as someone entered the room.

  I looked at both sides, trying to determine which side I needed to open it from, and after a few moments, I figured it out. I slid the cover off, peering inside. Within it, I could see multiple sheets of paper varying in different sizes and colors along with an object of some sort tucked in there. I brought up my other hand, trying to slide the object out. Once it got close enough, I reached my fingers, retrieving it. It appeared to be triangular in shape, with a circle at each corner, silver in color. I held it up above me, unsure what to make of it. It didn’t stand out to me all that much, but maybe something in here would give some sort of indication as to what it would do. I propped it up against the books, before returning to the papers that were still hiding within.

  Within the cylinder, I pulled out at least a few dozen different papers, all varying in colors, possibly indicating the level of importance. I stood there, somewhat confused, trying to make sense of what the colors meant at the time. I had only ever seen standard parchment paper, which usually came in a cream or white color. After I had finished organizing them on the desk by color, I placed a book on the corners of the piles to ensure they wouldn’t fly away if a sudden draft of wind came through and knocked them all over the place.

  I thought about sitting down, but I chose to burn Antharian’s note per her request, so I made my way down to the ground floor. On the couch, I saw that Antharian was lying on the couch, staring into the fire.

  “Antharian, are you okay?” I whispered.

  “Hmm? Oh, yeah. Just… watching the fire” she sleepily said.

  I walked over, kneeling before the fire and tossing the note into it. I went and sat in front of the couch, watching as the note made the fire slightly brighter for a few seconds before returning to its normal state.

  “My lord, I can move if you wish.”

  “No, you’re fine. Are you okay?”

  She sat up, carefully maneuvering her legs to not kick me in the back of the head, before sitting on the floor next to me and leaning her head against me.

  “Master, I have a question” she asked, softly.

  “Sure, go ahead.”

  She shifted her body slightly, placing her hands on my shoulder with her head on top of her hands.

  “Why did you pick to serve under Gabriel when his values are the opposite of your own?”

  I tilted my head slightly to catch her eyes, staring at me curiously.

  “I didn’t pick to serve under him. He picked me. Said that he liked how I was defiant towards him and the others back in the day. I push my luck with him, see what I can get away with and what I can’t. It’s not been a great experience and every time I talk to him, I feel sick to my stomach. One day… I’ll overpower him.” I said, clenching my fist.

  She gave me a kiss on my cheek.

  “I believe in you. You’re soft but strong, and if you keep up the training and learning new skills, you can do anything you set out to do, m’lord.” She said, smiling.

  I continued to stare at the fire, not saying anything, hanging onto her words, thinking about what it could be like having that amount of power at my disposal. Then I started to think about how far I had come and all the good I had done. While I did have to do minor things here and there to keep the illusion that I was part of the Order, I still strived to do my best to be good.

  “Well, Master… I’m going to return to my room. Will you… will you escort me up there?” she asked, yawning afterward.

  I stood up, holding my hand out to assist her to her feet. She grabbed my hand, and I assisted her to a standing position before she started to walk away, still holding my hand. She looked back at me, smiling. She held my hand all the way up the stairs, until we got to her room.

  “Master, Gabriel is probably going to be too busy to check in on me, and there are some nights where I feel lonely. I wish you’d come spend more time with me, I believe you are the one actually deserving of me.” She said, kneeling.

  “Oh, come now, stand up. Stop kneeling.” I said, looking away.

  She stood up, appearing semi-irritated with me.

  “One day, master… I’ll be yours…” she said as she made her way toward the back of the room.

  I quietly closed the door behind me, thinking about her words. As I slowly walked down the stairs back to the library, I wondered if maybe I should have taken advantage of Gabriel being too busy to drop by or to take her fully. It may have been possible for us to have a romance behind his back, but I was unsure how closely I was being watched, especially since the Order had just reinstated their trust in me. As I reentered the library, I went to the table and sat down. Unsure where to start, I started with a paper that was green. It just appeared to be status reports indicating just how many soldiers were lost during whatever it was that Gabriel had recruited them for. I was slightly confused about how this information ended up in my hands as I was under the impression that someone else had taken over for Gabriel in his absence, and I was strictly just being a bodyguard for Antharian.

  I quickly put the report back under the book before abruptly getting up and running into the hallway, closing the door behind me. I opened a portal to the outside of Michael's castle, and upon exiting, I was met with the tips of spears from the guards.

  “HALT! WHO GOES THERE?!” one shouted.

  “Master Thadeus”

  The tips retracted and I could see the guards taking a kneeling position.

  “Our deepest apologies, Lord Master Thadeus; we did not expect a visit from you this late.”

  “It’s fine, really is. Is Master Michael still awake?”

  The guards looked at each other, before looking back at me.

  “No… he retired to his room a few hours ago.”

  “I require an audience with him immediately; it is important,” I said, trying to emphasize “immediately.”

  One of the guards turned towards the gate, knocking against it three times. Once the gate opened, he motioned for me to follow him. As we ran past the barracks, a guard with gold and white armor stopped us.

  “Stop right there. What is going on, that has you here this late to disturb the master?” he asked.

  “It’s none of your business. If you intend to get into the way of matters between the Right hand and your master, I shall take appropriate measures.”

  If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

  He stepped aside, throwing his hands up, indicating he was not going to interfere.

  We continued into the castle, making our way to Michael’s floor. Through a crack in the door, I could see a light on.

  “Thank you, guard. I got it from here.”

  He bowed before taking off.

  I knocked on the door several times and was quickly greeted.

  “Master Thadeus” he said, slightly surprised. “I don’t know why you’re here, but come in.”

  He walked away from the door to the window, looking out amongst the kingdom.

  “What is it that brings you here this late with a look of concern in your eyes?” he asked.

  I walked up just behind him, looking through the window with him.

  “Master Michael, the information held within the tube.”

  He looked over at me.

  “What about it?”

  “The information within it showed me status reports of all those lost during the campaign that Gabriel is currently on. To my understanding, Gabriel has someone else in charge while I am ensuring his female remains unharmed and untouched from others.” I said, trying to piece together what could potentially be happening.

  “Ah yes. Him… He pissed off the Holy Order and was sent to be with Gabriel. He’s the who had tried to get you removed. But after the Order investigated you, without your knowledge, it was found that you had been faithfully doing your duties. In addition, the question you asked to- well, yesterday, also reaffirmed their belief in you.” He stated confidently.

  “Oh, so what does that mean?”

  He turned his head towards me.

  “Master Thadeus, while you aren’t fully an Archangel like myself, you have been given the status of one due to your position and hard work. With what I have told you tonight, you are now fully in charge of Gabriel’s affairs as suggested by myself and the others. The one Gabriel had placed in charge originally is now on the front lines assisting with recovering Holy Order assets. As for you, your only duty is what you’re doing currently. You will get reports here and there as well as updates; just keep them filed nicely somewhere, as Gabriel will want those later on.”

  I stepped away slightly, thinking about the whole situation.

  “Thank you, Master Michael. Sorry to bother you this late”

  He turned around.

  “Is there anything else?”

  I bowed. “No sir, thank you for your time.”

  “Very well, if you portal out, at least do it in the hall.”

  I chuckled.

  “Of course, of course. Good night.” I said, letting myself out.

  Once out in the hallway, I opened a portal and returned to the tower's entrance. As I came out, I felt as though someone was watching me off from my left. I walked over to the corner, peering around it. A guard, ducking down, was sitting there as if I couldn’t see him as long as he wasn’t moving.

  “Stand up and identify yourself. You are not authorized to be here.” I shouted.

  He stood up quickly, looking down at the ground.

  “Well?” I asked.

  Behind me, I heard the door open followed by the sound of someone coming at me. I turned my head slightly to see Selyse, with my sword, run up to me. I reached my hand out, grabbing the sword before unsheathing it and pointing it at the guard.

  The guard raised his hands slightly in the air, revealing human-looking hands.

  “A human?! How’d you get all the way up here?” I asked.

  He looked up at me, his face showing no expression. His face was that of a faceless that we had experienced in that village a couple hundred years ago.

  “Selyse! Sound the alarm! Quickly!” I yelled.

  She ran off into the door, slamming the door behind her.

  “What is it that you want?” I asked it.

  “We haves a message…” the way it spoke sounded as if a snake had learned to speak the language of the Humans.

  “Oh?”

  As the faceless went to speak again, several emergency signal flares went up into the air from the top of the tower, followed by a loud bellow of a horn followed up by horns off in the distance, indicating the rest of the Kingdom had been alerted.

  “We’s are gonna kills you… you dishonors our peoples…” it said, reaching towards its sides.

  I sheathed the sword, opting to bring up my bow instead. I aimed it at the being but found myself too close to be able to use it successfully.

  “I caused no harm to your people when I last ran into you. How you got here though, is a concern.”

  As I said this, a small garrison of elite Holy Order guards showed up, each drawing a sword. One with a sun emblem made his way to the front, looking at the faceless before me.

  “Lord Master Thadeus, we got here as quickly as possible. Allow us to handle this. You go protect the female.” He said, sounding confident in their ability to handle the faceless.

  Despite the faceless being here for me and not Antharian, I decided to take a few steps back aiming the bow at it while making my way back inside. I dissipated the bow and noticed Elise, Anatasia, and Selyse sitting on the couch.

  “All servants must report to Antharian’s room to ensure that Antharian and Anatasia remain okay. There is an active threat outside. I’ll guard the door.” I told them.

  They all quickly hopped off the couch, rushing upstairs. While it was all unnecessary to have them do that since the threat was directed at me, I determined that it was good to use this as practice for an emergency situation if the threat towards her was real. I stood facing the door as I was not sure if the threat could be handled. After standing for what felt like an eternity, there was a knock.

  I raised my sword.

  “Enter. Slowly.” I shouted.

  A pair of hands, wearing brown leather gloves with gold around the top of the hand part, slowly made their way in.

  “Master Thadeus, I am with the Holy Order elite guard. The threat was neutralized, and the threat towards Gabriel’s female has been taken care of.” He said.

  “Very good. If all is well out there, you may go.”

  “Very well. Happy to serve m’lord.” He said, closing the door behind him.

  I quickly made my way up the stairs, knocking on Antharian’s door.

  “It’s me, I’m coming in.” I shouted through the door.

  As I entered, I was greeted by a pillow hitting me in the face followed up immediately with another one.

  “Sorry Master, I told them even if it’s you, to hit you with the pillows.” Antharian shouted from the back.

  The pillows fell from my face, and I saw Selyse and Elise standing atop of a small cabinet that had been moved next to the door.

  “You two…” I said, unsure if I was mad or not. “Okay, it was kind of funny…”

  Antharian came out of the back bedroom.

  “My lord, what happened to cause you to sound off the alarm?”

  “Remember that village we passed through a while back that had the faceless people?”

  She paused for a moment.

  “Oh, yeah, them. What about them?”

  “Well, one managed to find their way in somehow and tracked me here. I left to go check on something, and upon returning, one was watching from around the corner. But they were here to deliver a threatening message to me or attempt to attack me. I'm not quite too sure, but I figured sounding the alarm wouldn’t hurt,” I said with a serious tone.

  I walked into the room, trying to figure out if only Elise and Selyse showed up to help protect Antharian. She must have known what was going through my head as she walked slightly to the room and motioned for everyone to come out. Upon exiting, I could see they all had armed themselves with daggers in the event that something happened to me, and it was left up to them.

  “What the… where did you get all these?” I asked, shocked.

  “Master, in the event that an active threat is determined to be outside we are allowed to arm ourselves. There’s a hidden compartment in here that opened up the moment the emergency lights lit up the sky and had just enough daggers for us all. Hurry ladies, put them back before they send someone to investigate why they aren’t there anymore.” Antharian quickly said.

  I watched as they quickly ran past me from the stairs towards the opposite end of the hall.

  “Antharian… I have a question, and I want an honest answer.”

  “My lord, you have all my honesty all the time” she said, bowing.

  “Do any of you have any fighting experiences?”

  She looked away slightly.

  “You… want an.. honest answer, m’lord?” she asked, sounding hesitant to answer.

  As I continued to look at her, she looked as though she was struggling to considering telling me. After a few moments, she finally made eye contact with me.

  “Yes, Master, yes, I do. My mother taught me the basics of fighting in secret as she wanted me to be able to protect myself. I can wield small to medium-length blades and bows and know how to fist-fight.” She said this while sounding as if she was confessing to a crime.

  “Hmm. Okay. This will stay between us. Gabriel may execute you if he knew that.” I said, concerned.

  She nodded. “Mhmm. Mhmm. Thank you”

  The servants had all returned from turning in their weapons, wondering if there would be any other tasks.

  “You all may go back to bed; you all did wonderful.” I said, trying to sound like a supportive father figure.

  They all nodded and made their way down the stairs. I walked behind the door, closing it. I glanced over at Antharian, who had a smile on her face. She slowly walked back into the backroom, motioning for me to follow her. As I got close to her, she grabbed my hand and gently laid on the bed and pulling me on top of her.

  “Oh, Thadeus, my big and strong protector. You’re so handsome and your feathers feel amazing against mine. Your wings are so strong… you’re so strong…” she said softly.

  I looked deep into her eyes, revealing her emotions for me and drawing me slowly closer to her face. Our noses touched as she wrapped her legs around me and pulled our lips closer together. Her lips were a little moist and soft, and I could feel her breaths against my face as she breathed. We let our lips lock, and I felt my heart start skipping. She placed one of my hands against her chest, her heart beating just as fast as mine.

  “This is forbidden…” I said in between catching my breath.

  “Only we have to know… the others, they’re loyal to us and won’t tell.”

  I adjusted my hand from her chest onto the bed, rolling off of her, but with her legs being wrapped around me, we essentially just rolled onto our side, still connecting.

  “I want you, Thadeus… I want you so badly…” she said softly. “Why do you deny me?”

  I looked at her, unsure what to say.

  “It’s fine Master… but please stay with me tonight, just like this. I need you for tonight.”

  I chuckled. “Okay. I’ll stay here with you tonight.”

  She unwrapped herself from me, rolling over onto her side, facing away from me, before maneuvering herself to be aligned with my body. I placed my arm over her and held my arm against her head. She nuzzled it with her face a few times before letting out a happy sigh.

  “I want more of this from now on. It makes me feel safe, Master.”

  “Okay, I’ll try to sleep with you if circumstances allow it.” I said.

  I noticed she had a silk blanket at the foot of the bed, which I grabbed, covering both of us. I was unprepared to experience how soft it was. I think Antharian quickly realized I had never actually felt silk all over my body as she chuckled.

  “It’s nice, isn’t it?” she said quietly.

  “Yeah… good night.”

  “Good night, master…”

  I laid there, feeling the warmth of her body against mine, my hand arm wrapped up against her face, and feeling her breathing. Despite knowing that if we this took further than what it has been, I wondered if I could have a romantic relationship with her and manage to keep it in secret. Given what Michael had told me tonight, it was quite possible that Gabriel could be on a never-ending quest, and with the Order no longer on my back, we could likely get away with a hidden romantic relationship.