The Devil's Smile Chapter Eight

Chapter 8: The Things We Do For Love

"So you're finally awake." Mihr looked up, blinking the sleep from her eyes, to see Zepar wreathed in the light of dawn, watching her with cold eyes. "I've never had a woman sleep so long on me before." She sat up slowly, processing what he had said, uncertain. He pushed himself up. "You heard me, get up."

"What is the matter?"

"The matter?" He crossed to her, his smirk growing. "Nothing's the matter. I've pulled an angel down from a pedestal. And now I'm bored of watching you sleep."

"I...Lord Zepar, you can't mean - "

"What, did you think this was serious? Did you think I loved you?" He gave a cold laugh. "What a little fool you are."

Mihr could hardly breathe as he ran his fingers into her hair.

"But, you said...you told me..."

"I lied. I'm a demon. I'm the Prince of Demons. And you're so easy to manipulate. You're the stupidest angel I've met. Did you really thing it was real? That I loved you?" She pushed away, rising, and he watched her go.

"You said you loved me. You waited here every day. It was a game?" she asked weakly. She felt the heavy weight of anxiety and fear and pain crushing her and could hardly breathe. Then he gave her a smirk and she knew. The tears slipped out.

"Did you love me, little angel? Did you love me with all your heart when you fell from grace? I hope so."

"You're evil," she whispered, and he watched as she stared at him in fear and anguish, tears on her cheeks, a moment longer before she turned and ran as hard and as fast as she could.

Zepar watched her go, leaving her be. What good would there be in following her? What good could come from taking her in his arms and whispering it was all a lie, all of it, everything, and that he did love her, he wanted to love her, and she was not meaningless to him. She was his everything? But no. It would be better this way.

He fell back into a seat and grimaced, embracing the empty sensation that seemed to creep up over him from his toes all the way up through his heart. The place where Mihr had been was aching, and he gritted his teeth.

'At least she is safe,' he thought darkly. 'She is safe from me, and safe from Beleth, and that is the only thing that matters.'

***

He had hardly moved an inch since he had first come home and seated himself before the roaring fire in his chambers. He just stared into the flames, his eyes glassy and blank, his expression stormy. Enepsigos did not like it one bit.

"You're brooding," she said quietly, finally voicing her words. "You were gone awhile. Has something happened."

"No." He would not say anything more. She sighed, coming around the chair to sink into a seat before him and consider her face.

"I have always been your loyal servant, my Lord. I am worried about you." He did not even look at her, brushing her words aside with a slight wave of one hand. Enepsigos blinked.

"If you don't want to tell me, then fine, but you can't go on like this as it is. Something is clearly bothering you, and you need to do something about it instead of sitting here moping." It had to be about that angel. It just had to be. He would never speak a word of it to her, she already knew. He simply drew a deep breath.

"It is not the place of minions," he said quietly, "to question Masters." But the threat was missing where it usually stood and so she blinked, her gaze narrowing slightly.

"You know that I would do anything for you. If this is someone who has hurt you, say the word, my Lord, and I will go and deal with - " Pain flashed through her. In an instant she could feel the constricting force of his mind crushing her life from her. A Master of the ether such as Zepar could wipe out his minions with a single thought if he so chose. She fought for breath, clutching at her throat, and then finally he released her, and she fell to the floor gasping.

"I said," he repeated sharply, his voice low and dangerous now, "it is not your place to question me. When I want your advice, Enepsigos, I will ask you for it. It is none of your concern what is the matter." She closed her eyes a moment, then slowly pushed herself up a little.

"None of my concern? It affects me?! I can sense everything in your head! If something is wrong, I know about it, and it sends ripples through the ether miles wide! It is my concern!"

He rose in a flash and was on her, yanking her hair until she was forced to look up at him from her knees.

"Never," he hissed, "speak back to me again." The grip in her hair was painful, but she felt a flutter of something else, and her lips parted as she looked up at him. He met her eyes a moment, and for a second she felt she could see his entire soul, and then he pulled back, ripping his hands free and turning away, stalking off and out the door.

Enepsigos gathered herself together, shaking a little, and swallowed. An slight loss of self-control, a flash of anger, gone as quickly as it had come, and the look in his eye. By every soul in heaven and hell, she knew the look in his eye. Pain. Hurt. Anguish. And most importantly, love. He was in love with her, that angel. And something terrible had happened.

Enepsigos felt her soul turn to ice and for an instant she wondered what she would do, and then she closed her eyes and succumbed to the feeling she had never been able to fight all her life: her own love for Lord Zepar. She would help him. She had to. And there was only one person alive who could help her.

***

Yes, it was a foolish plan, but there was no turning back now. She had crossed the gate in silence, sneaking her way into the Plane of Heaven, which had somehow decided to admit her despite her demonic blood, and broken the Covenant. Yes, it was too late to turn back.

Before her, gazing into the pool in the garden of the Queen of Heaven was Lady Sachael, the brightest star in the firmament of angels. Enepsigos drew up all her courage and approached.

"I know you're there."

Enepsigos froze, watching as Sachael slowly rose, turning to look at her with all the cool judgment of Heaven. "Did you think," the angel said quietly, "that I do not know all that happens in the Plane of Heaven? I knew you were here the moment you crossed the Gate."

"Why didn't you stop me there then," Enepsigos said, struggling to keep her voice strong. This woman was the highest order of angels in Heaven, and she was a simple minion. She stood no chance in a fight, should it come to that. She'd already broken the Covenant and effectively declared war. There was nothing to stop Sachael's fury except Sachael's whims themselves.

"You came here for a reason," was Sachael's answer, "and I want to hear it before I pass judgment on you." Enepsigos stared a moment, and for several long seconds there was only silence and night freckled with gentle snowflakes and the light from the water candles behind the angel. Then the minion sank to her knees.

"I am here to beg your aid," she finally said, "for my Lord Zepar, and for your little friend." Sachael stared, her face expressionless, and that made it worse. Enepsigos drew up her courage to continue. "Something has happened between them, doubtless you already know, but something else happened last night. Lord Zepar did something, said something, and now he is a shell of what he was. Has Mihr not been acting strangely as of late? She loves him, and he her."

"Even if what you say is true," Sachael stated flatly, "why should I do anything to fix it? Theirs is an impossible union. You should know this. You are his minion, but you know the Covenant the same as all the rest. What good would come from putting this to rights? And why do you not speak to your Lord Zepar yourself?"

"He will not listen, my Lady," Enepsigos admitted. Her voice was shaking, so she took a moment to compose herself. Then she finally looked up and met Sachael's dark gaze.

"I am a minion, but even I know that Lord Zepar stands to inherit the throne of Hell when the Demon King dies. If I don't miss my guess, this Mihr is your own disciple, is she not? The next Queen of Heaven after you. Think on it: the Demon King and the Queen of Heaven, bound together by love. It's a story for the ages, indeed, but much more. They can bring the peace between us that the Demon King and the Archangel have strived for for centuries. I will not last long in a fight for the throne of Hell, my Lady, and you do not want to return to the days of high war, but that is where we head unless something can be done. Let them have their youth. If I cannot have him, at least let her heal his heart and keep him gentle. He is gentle, you see, in his own way, and he loves her. And I love him. I want this happiness for him, and so, I see, do you for her."

Sachael was silent a moment, then at last she sighed.

"I know of only one way to set to rights the damage they have done," she said musingly. "I do not like it, but you are right. These two can bring peace in a way Beleth and Sidriel never could. I want peace as much as you, and your intentions are pure, or the Gate would never have let you pass. So be it. I will do it. But in exchange you must make me a promise."

"What is it?" Enepsigos asked warily, but Sachael just gave her a small little smile.

"When in the Mirror Valley, you must watch over Mihr. The Demon King is moving, and the Valley is no longer the safe haven it was. Keep her safe, little minion, and I will keep them in love."

***

He had been unable to help himself. Before he knew what he was doing, his feet had led him from his door back to their spot to sit and gaze out across the lake of the Mirror Valley and dream of her again. She never left his mind, even for a moment, and the ache within him where she had lived was now a sharp pain. He had done it for her, but he had not realized the full cost to himself.

Demons should not moon over angels. Demons should not moon at all. He knew it. And yet there she was, in his mind's eye, with her smiles and her hair like sunshine and her bright blue eyes that were full of innocence and love, and finally at last pain. What had he done?

So caught up in his revere, he did not hear her until she was nearly atop him, and when he did he shot about, at a loss what he would say to her. How could he explain it away? How to say it was wrong, when he had done it because it was right?

But it was not Mihr he saw. Instead it was the Queen of Heaven herself, Sachael. She bent over him.

"A lovely night for stargazing in the Valley," she said softly, coming about the bushes and sinking into a seat on a rock beside him. "Mind if I sit?" He gave a disgruntled grunt, since she had already seated herself, and refused to look at her. "I hear you have injured my friend. That would be the angel Mihr, in case you were confused, the woman you love."

"I do not love her!" he spat, too vehement for it to be the truth. He tasted the lie on his tongue like bile and grimaced, turning his face away. She nodded.

"Yes, and she does not love you. Or so it would be best, am I right? If you had saved her earlier from your wicked ways and turned her away before, when you had the chance."

"I stole her innocence," he said suddenly in reply. "I took her, over there by that rock, and I did not think twice on it. I was so...so happy to see her after so long, and then I realized when we were done what we had done." He lowered his head. "How can I face her now? She is a fallen angel, and Heaven has no place for fallen angels."

Sachael gave a soft laugh.

"Oh is that all?" He glanced to her in surprise.

"Come now, you didn't think Heaven was full of untouched virgins? The Archangel himself is hardly virginal." Zepar blinked.

"But what of purity? What of innocence?" Sachael gave him a soft little smile, her gaze knowing.

"Purity and innocence? What can be more pure and more innocent than giving all of yourself in love and devotion? Pure love, the undying kind. That is what Heaven is made of."

He could hardly believe it. He shot to his feet, staring at her.

"How can that be true? I am the Demon of Lust and Seduction! I am the Prince of Hell? How can angels be so...so..."

"Mihr came to you as pure as purity gets, but she still remains pure. Her love for you is pure, however you hurt her. You sought to protect her, I think, and I understand why. Marchosias haunts these woods now at Lord Beleth's request, and these are demon-owned lands. But you broke her heart when you lied about sending her away. And she deserved the truth."

"What would you have me do?"

"Tell her, all of it. Tell her your fears and your worries. Tell her how much you love her. There is more to you and her than either of you can know, little Prince. Somehow and in someway the two of you were destined to meet. I see hands of fate at work here. She deserves to know the truth from you." He considered a moment, then slowly nodded.

"You're right. I acted without thinking. I did not understand what I had done. I need to see her again." He looked up then, his eyes bright and beseeching, hardly daring to hope. Sachael just smiled.

"I shall tell her to meet you here in one week when we can be sure Marchosias has gotten bored," she assured him. "Will you be here waiting?"

"Yes."

"So be it." She smiled her brilliant smile that reminded him a moment of his beloved Mihr and gave him a promise, "I will make sure she is here."

"Thank you, my Lady," he said softly, and she just smiled again before turning away.

"And this time, see that you keep her."

END CHAPTER