| angel, for certainly they looked like this! But why chains to hold so great a creature? Why couldn't he just break them, if he was truly a God-like being? Nevertheless, she was filled with awe and wonderment, viewing the timeless icon that sat beside her. "You must feel better now ... or so it would seem," said the creature, as she watched his eyes tame down to a mere celestial, light ice blue. His voice and words were like that of a normal man's now, as he continued: "I know I must have been a surprise to you, and for that I 'm very sorry, but I didn't have a chance to warn you that I was here, though I'm sure it wouldn't have lessened your reaction to me, it I had. "However, to answer your question: Since most people refer to one of my kind as an 'angel,' then this is what I must be. But I have not come to you as a 'messenger', for you have come to me. The truth of the matter is, I am only here as a prisoner on this earth ... and nothing more." "A prisoner!" She was overwhelmed and confused all at the same time. Then, as she thought for a moment, a new fear began to creep upon her. "But who would do such a thing to an angel? Who could do such a thing to an angel?" she blurted out with alarm. "Ahh ..." he mused with understanding. Then he smiled with a sad look of futility, before fianlly replying: "There are many who could ... and some who do, as you see." Lifting his chains ruefully before her, he displayed a dispirited attempt to remind her of the proof of his dilemma. "Oh my God, did Ramon do this to you?" she asked with an incredulous tone to her voice. "I saw him come from here. he was the one who put the key above the door fame outside your door?" "No, he was not the one." The angel's face contoured, to reflect a deep despondency, as if he was thinking back on things that had a long since passed. "He is only my keeper--or jailer, if you will, for want of a better word. You see, I am not allowed to wander about freely, as you might have guessed by now." "But just why is that?" she asked. It was bad enough that anyone would want to keep an angel in chains, but it was far worse knowing that Ramon had had some ghastly hand in the matter. "I'm not sure it would be beneficial for you to know," he sighed, "thought it might be beneficial for me to explain it to you ... if you felt inclined to help me with my problem, that is. But this would not be fair to you since you are not aware of all the particulars involved. "Yet, know only one thing: Those who deemed it fit to have me kept here thought they had their reasons for locking me away. But fear not, for you will find me kindly enough toward you," he made a point of assuring her. "Even so, if you think I suffer unjustly, there are some who believe my dilemma is not punishment enough ... but, of course, I am inclined to disagree. However, no matter--you should not have to worry about such things. "Now tell me your name, sweet girl. I can read it from your mind and know who you are, already, but I think that we should introduce ourselves properly, don't you?" he asked pleasantly, now concentrating his attention on her. "Well, ... m-my name if Faith," she replied very shyly, peeking out a little gingerly from beneath the covering of his wings. That is a very beautiful name--and surely something I need a lot of, by now," he added rather playfully. "But how grateful I am to God, and how wonderful it is that He should have send you to me! As for myself, I am called Za'aphiel [Za-a-fell] by most of the mortals that have heard of me, though I have gone by many names, and have answered to them all ... when invoked. But you may call me by a name that you would find to be more pleasing." "No, Za'aphiel is a good name," she said, rather confused. She thought is was a rather strange thing for him to have said, but, after all, he was an angel, or so he said, so she let the matter rest. Yet, something else was nagging at her curiosity. "You're speaking to me normally, now--why even the sound of your voice changed. I could barely understand the English you were speaking before, and nothing of the Latin or Spanish, though I'm vaguely familiar with them." "It's good that you are not entirely unacquainted with those languages. Such beautiful languages ...! You should really try to learn them sometime," he commented smiling sweetly, as his incredibily mesmerizing eyes darted across her face, taking in all they could of the new visitor. "As far as the sound of my voice, I have tried to decide what language you spoke first, because I haven't been around anything but Latin, Catalan or Spanish for longer than you can imagine. "Although I speak many different languages--most of which, unfortunately, are now long dead--it would have seemed most logical to assume that you spoke Latin or Spanish, or maybe even French, since those are the languages that I have heard spoken here the most. I was about to move on to French, but when I discovered that you spoke English, I only had to read your mind to find how the language had progressed since I had last been exposed to it. Simple enought for an angel," he added, "but my extrasensory skills at this time are not quite as they should be, so you must forgive me. I don't have all the powers in this body that I once had in my former state, though I still grasp much, for they are now only weakened. "But on to you: I cannot tell you how wonderful it is to have someone to communicate with other than Ramon. And I know how you stumbled across me, and that it was not your plan to keep me company, but I am very glad you are here, nevertheless." "Why, thank you," she replied, half stunned by his seemingly normal congeniality, "but too bad I've found you under such alarming circumstances." Her amazement was quickly turning to intrigue, because she was fascinated by him, but she needed to know what kind of situation it was that she had actually gotten herself into. |
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| Sample Excerpt From Wrath of Angels: Robin in the Snow by Elizabeth I. Warner (part of Chapter 12) |