Fall from Grace (Book 2: An Angelblood Novel) (12 page)

“Do you have anything to add?” Arthur asked
Meredith. Furious, she was about to stand up, when Richard
pulled her back.

“Perhaps its better this way,” he whispered to his
mother.

 

“You’ve heard his accusations? Am I to say
nothing?” she fumed.

 

“You’ll have your chance later,” he insisted.
Meredith
considered Richard’s words, “I have
nothing to add,” she said quietly.

The entire room gasped. They expected Meredith to
argue feverishly about the allegations and at least defend
herself. Perhaps Uriel’s presence changed her mind.

“If there is nothing else
we are prepared to render
our decision,” Arthur said. “It is the opinion of this
commission thatHenry Fairbourne’s request to have his
marriage annulled to Meredith Wycliffe shall be granted.”

Joshua stood up to congratulate his father; a gesture
thatdidn’t go unnoticed by his mother.

“It is further ordered Meredith Fairbourne shall
receive one thousand dollars a month for the duration of her
life.
From this day forward, she will resume her maiden
name of Wycliffe.
She is forbidden from using the title of
“First Lady of Utopia” and shall forfeit any and all
compensation previously afforded her in same position. Her
name shall be removed from all documents associated with
the office of the Governor.
If there is nothing more to add,
we can take a small recess before the next hearing.”

The entire room went silent.
They never expected
Meredith to be given such a severe sentence.

 

“I concur with the opinion of this commission,”
Uriel said. “You are a free man Henry Fairbourne.”
“How dare they insult me like this!
They will be
sorry. I swear it!” Meredith said through gritted teeth.

Rita and Jessica arrived at the hall a few minutes
later.
They walked over to the table where Richard and
Meredith were sitting.
They opened the bags and rolled the
creatures heads on the table in front of them.
Rita smiled.
“Their killing days are over.”

Meredith screamed and Richard fell out of his chair.
The girls walked over and sat next to Uriel,
who
was
grinning from ear to ear.

Richard was livid as he picked himself up.
He
didn’t dare go after the girls with Uriel in the room.
“Someone clean this up!” he screamed.
“What should we do with them?” one of the servants
asked nervously.

 

“Burn them!” he yelled.

Richard then condemned the actions of Rita and
Jessica. “Are you going to do nothing about this?” he
demanded of the Commission.

Many of the Utopians hid their faces to conceal their
laughter. Richard and Meredith were not amused.
Paul looked at Will and Joshua.“Are these the same
creatures that attacked you?”

 

“Yes, that’s them,” Joshua replied.

 

“Well, it seems these girls have done us all a great
favor today. Wouldn’t you agree Richard?” Paul chuckled.
Richard, who was covered in the creature’s blood,
said nothing.

Winifred Whitehall spoke. “It’s true
these creatures
are no longer a threat to us, but I’m not convinced they were
acting alone.” She looked at Richard and Meredith. “I
suggest
we
remain
at
the
sanctuary
until
the Guild’s
investigation is complete.
The children are content and no
harm can come to them there.”

One by one the others agreed. “It is our duty to
protect our children above all else.
We will remain at the
sanctuary until the Guild gives us further instructions,”
Arthur said.

Henry addressed the residents. “While I was
visiting Aeden it was brought to my attention, the children
were included in their meetings.
By keeping our children
ignorant, we are also keeping them in danger.
I would like
to
propose
that
our
children
be
allowed
to
attend
the
Commissionmeetings.”

“One day t
hey will assume the responsibility for the
well being of this colony.
During the Great War in Heaven
the children were not informed and as a result many lost
their lives.
I can assure you the little ones are capable of
handling information; perhaps better than most of us. They
have a voice, we should listen to it.”

“Most of the other colonies have already adopted
this policy.
I believe it would be a good practice for us to
follow. I’d like to set up a Children’s Council. They can
choose who they want to represent them. The children can
appoint a Governor, a captain of the Guard, and five other
delegates.
They should be allowed to bring matters of
importance to the meetings, just as we do.”

“I couldn’t agree more with Henry. The children are
the voice of our future and they should be included in all of
our decisions,” Arthur said.

Uriel stood.
“It appears you have a great deal of
work to do. Therefore, I suggest we postpone the hearing in
regards to the Enchantors death for at least one week.”

Rita was about to argue, but when her grandfather
gave her a stern look, she thought better of it.
At least
Richard knew he would no longer have the aide of the
creatures.
He also knew the Guild would not tolerate his
arrogance any longer. It wasn’t a total wash. Henry and
Jayden both had their marriages annulled. That in itself was
worth celebrating.

The Commission adjourned and planned to meet in
another week. By then the Children’s Council would be
formed.

Paul said goodbye to his father as the Guild prepared
to leave. Jayden would notify Jane of his good news.

Joshua and Will still intended to go to shopping in
New York with Rita and Jessica. But Rita felt Will was
upset about something.
She thought he would be happy the
creatures were dead, but he didn’t act like it. Outside he
pulled Rita to the side.

Will wasn’t just unhappy; he was furious. “What
the hell were you thinking going after them without help?
You and Jessica could have been killed.”

“We had to stop them. Do you think they wouldn’t
kill again?”

 

“You’re not untouchable Rita. You may think you
are, but I promise you’re not,” Will ranted.

 

“We weren’t in any danger. You should be happy
they’re dead.”

 

“Did they give you any information?” Will asked.
“No, they weren’t in the talking mood,” Rita
laughed.

“You think this is funny? You didn’t see what they
did to my parents,” Will screamed. “Joshua and I were
nearly killed. Do you evenunderstand that?”

“This isn’t about you and Joshua. This is about
protecting all of the angel-blood.”

 

“I suppose we aren’t as strong as you and Jessica?”
Will scoffed.

“It’s not about strength Will. Jess and I have angel
-
fire at our disposal.
No
one would
ever
question
your
strength or your courage.”

“Yeah-right,” Will said, as he turned to walk away.

Rita stood there frozen.
Had she somehow hurt
Will’s feelings?
Then she became angry.
She looked at
Jessica.“I’ve changed my mind. I’m going home. You can
go with them, but I won’t be joining you.” She was almost
running when she walked away.

Jessica looked unhappily at Joshua.“I’m afraid I’ll
have to go home too. I’m so sorry.”

“Will and I were planning to enroll in the Academy
after the New Year. He’ll probably want to move in now.
Maybe we can get together in a few days,” he said hopefully.

“Rita won’t break a promise she made to Willow.
I’m sure she’ll bring her to see Matthew.”

 

“I understand,” Joshua smiled. He waved goodbye
and hurried to catch up to Will.

 

As soon as Jessica caught up to Rita, the old hag
appeared again.

 

“What do you want old woman?” Rita yelled.
“You are not out of danger little pretty’s. Death is
coming. It has followed you.”

 

“Don’t you have somewhere to be?” Rita asked.

The old hag started laughing.
She started to sing
that same damn dirge again. Neither of the girls could make
out the words, but they watched as the old hag turned and
limped down the road.

“I don’t know why she always seems to show up.
What do you think she wants?”Rita asked.

 

“She lives in one of those old houses where we
found Virgil. Maybe she’s an Enchantor too,” Jessica said.

“I don’t know what she is, but she’s certainly
strange enough. I wish she would stay away from us. She
gives me the creeps.”

“Why don’t we go home? I think I’ve had enough
of Utopia for one day.”

 

The girls held hands and were soon transported back
to the valley.

 

After they were gone, Richard looked at his mother.
“I need to get Natalie now. She’ll wonder what happened.”
“I can’t believe they’ve postponed your trial.
Will
you be prepared in a week?”

 

“I doubt I have a choice. I’ll know more after I’ve
taken care of this business with Natalie.”

“How did they find those creatures?”
“Perhaps Rita’s gift is stronger than we thought.”

“Are
you
sure
you
can
trust
that
Enchantor,
Richard?”

“She stands to lose a great deal if she betrays me.
I’ll be in contact with you in a day or two. You should
consider a vacation.
No one would blame you, considering
your marriage has beenannulled.”

“The nerve of them granting me a thousand dollars
a month for support,” she hissed.

 

“Soon you’ll have everything you ever dreamed of
Mother.”

 

“Right now I am dreaming of their deaths.”
“Perhaps you won’t be kept waiting too long,”
Richard laughed.

Meredith kissed her son goodbye and headed outside
where a carriage was waiting to take her home.
She would
inform the servants of her decision to take another trip to
Paris.

Chapter 13

Aura
and
the
others
returned
home
after
their
encounter with Mortriel. She decided to wait until her father
was back from Utopia before speaking to the Guild.
Aidan
wasn’t back yet. She wondered how he would respond to
the news.
Regardless of his distance towards her, he would
still remain as her guardian.

Perhaps
he
would
have
some
information
about
Jeziels whereabouts when he came back.
Aura suggested
the others remain at her house until she had a chance to meet
with the Guild.
She already notified her mother, who was
waiting for them when they came through the door.

“Where is Aidan?” Eve asked.
“Looking for Jeziel,” Aura said.

“He should never have abandoned you. You’re
certain it was Lucifer’s son Mortriel?” Angie asked.

“He didn’t abandon me,” A
ura said defensively.
“We were planning to shop most of the day. I saw no reason
that he shouldn’t look for her. We weren’t expecting to
meet Mortriel.”

“Something is happening.” Angie paced the floor.
“I can’t believe Lucifer would send his son here, unless they
were
planning
something
big.
He
would
never
risk
Mortriel’s life.”

“Perhaps Lucifer thinks he is impervious to any
danger here,” Aura said. “Alannah was upset when she saw
him. She started to cry and I’m sure Mortriel enjoyed that
immensely.”

“You didn’t do anything to him did you?”
her
mother asked.

Aura smiled.
“If you’re asking me if I showed him
angel-fire, the answer is no. He told Bren and Tracy he was
sure he killed them. I told him to stay away from them and I
used my shield to send him a message.
You should have
seen how angry he was when the shield knocked him to the
ground.”

Angie was still pacing the floor.
Aura had never
seen her so upset. What was she worried about? Eve’s
shield would keep them safe in the valley.
Aura couldn’t
help thinking that she was concerned about something or
someone else. “But Mortriel is still unaware of your other
gifts?” Angie asked.

“I’m not a fool. I know if Lucifer knew about my
gifts he would be relentless in his pursuit of me.
Alannah
sent a message to Alorrah warning her not to allow any of
them to get close to her or Alexis.
I swear if he tries to hurt
them,I’ll kill him,” Aura said.

“Are you sure he can’t cause them any harm?”
Aura
heard fear in her mother’s voice as well. What weren’t they
telling her?

“Alannah told me he can keep them trapped, but he
can’t cause them physical pain,” Aura said.

 

Angie looked sympathetically at Eve.“I’m sure he’ll
be fine.”

 

“Who will be fine?” Aura asked.

Eve looked mournfully
at her daughter. “I’m afraid
there is someone else that was captured by Lucifer many
years ago.”

“Who else is there? Is it someone we know?”

Eve sat down at the table.
“You remember Aidan
told you others have tried to rescue Alorrah and Alexis, but
they didn’t know how?”

“I remember. I assumed there were other angels
who tried and Lucifer killed them and returned their souls to
Heaven.”

Eve’s hands were shaking. Angie sat next to her and
held them to keep them still. “There was one who tried who
was not an angel,” Eve said.

“Who was it?”

 

“Sit down Aura, this is difficult for me to talk
about,” her mother said.

 

It wasn’t like Eve to be upset. Aura was afraid of
what her mother was about to reveal.

“Your father and I have spoken to you and the other
children often about our existence.
Your great-grandmother
Esra fell deeply in love with an Irishman named Fionn.
I
never met him, but I’m sure he had a pure heart or the Lord
Father would never have agreed to the union.
My mother
told me countless stories about her father, at least what she
remembered of him.”

Angie poured her friend a cup of tea and took the
seat beside her.

“After Esra and Fionn were married, your father told
me she was happy, but something was missing in her life.
Being a seer is a merciless job and you yourself know you
can’t everfilter the truth.”

“Esra told me the same thing. What are you trying
to tell me Mom?”