Thief (46 page)

He was also wiser than before, but not because of anything that had been done to him. It was simply the gift of having the resources of two minds and two understandings to fall back on. He saw things one way, Sherial another, and together they could come closer to the truth.

He was perhaps a little stronger physically too, the combination of Sherial’s own strength flowing through him, Abrax’s training, and his own awakening as he no longer fought against himself. But more importantly he knew that if he ever truly needed more, all he had to do was ask. For he had the best possible partner beside him and the Lord behind him.

He felt unbelievably healthy, vitality coursing through his veins as he had never guessed possible. Yet that vitality he was told, was only that which all the Lord’s children should know. He had just been slow to learn it. With luck and guidance, one day he speculated, all humans would be the same as him. For that he guessed, was the intention.

As Sherial told him of the conditions that had been placed upon him, he found himself willingly accepting every one without reservation. In fact he found himself wondering whether they were truly conditions at all, or merely that he had finally understood the way things were always supposed to be.

He couldn’t eat meat. It was as nothing to him. He’d willingly eat concrete all the days of his life to be with Sherial, and told her so.

No more profit. He almost laughed as wondered what was the big deal. So what? He had more than enough money to live out his days. He could even give a fair chunk of it away. All of it. The more he thought about it the less he understood the very concept. Soon he realised that all he needed was some shelter and food, and above all Sherial.

The very thought of money and wealth seemed to have lost much if not all of its meaning. Only what it could do for those who had far too little, meant anything at all. And that after all, was what he’d been fighting for all those years. For others to have enough. He just hadn’t understood that, wrapped up as it was in his own anger and pain.

Violence in all its forms was also wrong. But that was something he’d always known, and something that deep within he knew he’d always had to fight. Anger, the rage that had lived for so long inside him was gone for now, although it could perhaps come back if he was stupid enough to let it. He had to make sure he didn’t. Sherial would have to help him.

He wasn’t allowed to speak untruths. Even as she told him he knew it was so. He felt a terrible aversion to lying, and an awareness that it was inherently wrong. Lies kept people apart. Lies deceive and betray. Lies were sins, places where people fell short of the mark. More importantly, lies were not truth and truth was all that could ever be.

Oddly it didn’t bother him. He welcomed the truth to him. The chance to put all those years of lying behind him was more than wonderful. The reality that he had no secrets - would never again have any secrets - was a pleasure he’d never even imagined. And the knowledge that that truthfulness was what allowed him to communicate with Sherial was all the reason he could ever have asked for in itself. But it was going to be a problem.

He’d lied for years. Perhaps it was his greatest talent as a thief.  Deception. But somehow he knew he’d find a way around it to carry out his work. And in his astonishment he realized the Lord hadn’t prevented him from his work. For it was as he suddenly realized, a form of gardening, albeit on a microscopic scale, and he was, despite his new found understanding, still a youngster and therefore permitted the freedom. In time as he grew up he guessed it might change, but not yet. He had some time, and oddly enough, so did Sherial. For her too this much was permitted, although it would have to be done very differently.

Sherial had this vision of wandering up to the bad guys and simply asking them to hand over their money to the needy, turn themselves in and give their praise to the Lord, and while Mikel could see problems with her approach, he wouldn’t deny her its possibility. Besides he had an idea or two curling somewhere in the back of his mind as to how they could do almost exactly that. Sooner or later he knew those thoughts would work their way to the surface. For no sooner had the idea been raised then the thief began working on solutions to the problem of being a totally open and honest crook, and the challenge beckoned.

He had to help Sherial in her duties. Mikel didn’t see that as a condition so much as a reward. He was more than willing to help her in everything he could, though exactly how he wasn’t sure. Give him time he’d think of something, or Sherial would. Sherial too he learned would be helping him in his, and that knowledge filled him with the greatest joy. It wasn’t just that Sherial would be with him, would know what he did. It was that no longer would he be alone in his life or his work. No longer would he have to hide what he did from everyone. No longer would he work in secret. Never alone again.

The list went on, and he ignored it as trivial compare to being with Sherial. He had more than he could ever need or want in his arms, and he’d never let her go.

Silently, he gave thanks for his wondrous gifts, and apologized for his actions and more importantly, his doubts. Though he heard no answer, he now knew that he was heard. He always had been.

His mind finally released of fear, wandered freely, thinking of all the things he’d never considered, and which he suddenly realized he should have.

“Married to an angel, huh?” For he suddenly understood that they were married, wedded in heaven no less, and he liked that thought. He’d liked kissing the bride even more as he recalled. Yet the word was woefully inaccurate. Marriage was a human concept, good but only went so far. It allowed for the possibility of divorce. That wasn’t a possibility for them. Nor could they even want that possibility.

What they were was better described as united, their souls, minds and bodies somehow fused together irreversibly, their essences mingling and in time becoming closer, perhaps even becoming one. And that closeness was their very own piece of heaven.

The logic of their wedding ceremony made itself known to him, and he couldn’t help but gasp in sudden wonder. So incredibly simple, so entirely logical and so perfectly right. In the garden they had been separated for one final time, though he, and he knew Sherial, had not understood that. Being apart they had not been able to understand, as he guessed, was expected. That was the point, neither was complete alone. They couldn’t think, they couldn’t function apart.

Then they had been brought together, giving both the chance to choose whether they should be as one, or as two. Both had chosen to be together automatically, and neither had even realized they were choosing, nor that there even was a choice possible. They had simply done what they had to. But now, together, they finally could see it was not and never had been a choice. And that was the only point of the entire ceremony. Each had accepted at their most fundamental level that there was nothing for them apart, and everything together, though it took them a long time to understand that.

Mikel and the thief both couldn’t help but admire the incredible simplicity of it. A creation of utter genius. Sherial worshipped the love behind it.

“Are we the first?” Had mortals and angels done this before? The thought intrigued him. The smile in her mind told him they were far from that, that many others had trodden the path they were on before them, and that many more would follow. It was all part of the Lord’s will. Mikel found happiness knowing that others had gone before them, for that meant they would have a guide to follow. He also felt great joy for anybody else who could be this happy.

The cold, hard, logical thief within him nudged him gently, pointing out that there were likely to be some problems with their passion. The main one being that neither of them could control it. Once one felt the hunger, the other had no choice but to respond, and from that point on, there was no turning back. Wherever, whenever, they would make love. That was likely to be embarrassing.

Yet even as he understood that much, Sherial laughed happily in his soul, telling him it was exactly so, and that it was exactly as it should be.

His mind rolled on down its track of absurd musings, seemingly with no one driving it.

How he wondered, would he drive his E type with Sherial in it? Her wings would stick out like sails. And he so wanted to take her for a ride in it. The Lotus was good for work, the boat for practicality on the island, but the Jaguar was for passion. A work of art as much as a vehicle. If ever there had been a car inspired by heaven, it was his Jaguar.

Yet even as he thought of taking her cruising in it, he realised it was wrong. The car was a great beauty, a human fantasy brought to reality, and he wanted her to enjoy it with him. But he didn’t want to own it any longer. Not only was ownership somehow wrong, but it was even more wrong to try and own beauty. Beauty is for everyone. Suddenly he knew he wanted to let so many others enjoy the car. It was a new thought, but one that he welcomed.

He needed to heighten the doors of the house for her. For if she was to stay here with him for any length of time she’d not want to crouch at every door frame. And he wanted her to stay with him, forever. What about the garden? Many more days with her fan club in attendance and he wouldn’t have one at all. Then again would they be staying here at all? Sherial didn’t need a house, and wherever she wanted to go, he would go with her. Sherial was his home.

Then he remembered the plane, the boat and his house, and how they had all seemed to change in her presence. Why, how, he still didn’t know, and neither he realised did Sherial, it was simply natural for her. But he did understand one thing. They had all changed to be with Sherial, adoring her, a bond she too had shared with them. A bond of family.

Sherial he discovered, loved his home.

Through her eyes he saw his home as something more than he had ever understood. It was a place where angels might sing and children play, where people might come together as friends, and where the birds and beasts of the field might find a refuge. All of them Sherial hoped, would come here, for a short time or a long one, and she looked forward to their arrival. He couldn’t wait to welcome them.

Mikel promised to show her every little worn nook and cranny, every tree, every beautiful inch of their home, and share his love of them with her. Though he suspected she might be able to show him a few more.

Then another thought stuck out in his mind like a sore thumb, as he considered what they’d just done, what they were going to do again, and again if either of them had any say in the matter. Or if they didn’t.

“Do we need to use protection?” Even as the words left his mouth he cringed, knowing instantly that Sherial would never want that. Not that it was in any way sinful or wrong, simply unwanted. He wondered why he had asked the question at all when he knew the answer.

Were children possible between them? He’d never considered it at all, lost as he had been in the power of the moment. But suddenly he had to. He quickly remembered Sherial had thought they were right from the first moment they had experienced their desire. Moreover, she had wanted children.

In that instant he understood that at the same moment Sherial had known she wanted to make love to him, she had decided to marry with him and have children with him. All of them were for her the same decision, inseparable.

If children were possible he wondered, what would they be, humans, angels or something else? And how long would they live? It was an important question given his suddenly extended lifespan. But ultimately it didn’t really matter because above all else they would be loved.

Sherial told him not to worry about it. For children would come as and when it was their time. There was no protection possible nor desired. That was a human thing. Sherial told him not to even think about it for at least a few more months.

“Why, what happens then?” Like an idiot he had to ask. He should have known.

“Our first is born.”

She was telling him the truth and it hit him like a bomb blast. Even if she could have lied, she couldn’t have lied to him. Sherial was pregnant with their child. Like any suddenly expectant father he found himself looking down at her belly wondering, but there was no sign. Or was there just the slightest hint of a bulge? He rubbed his hands gently down her belly, looking for any clue, and then when he found it there, found he couldn’t let go. That glorious thickness held his hands like glue.

Filled with happiness and wanting him to know it too, Sherial moved up the bed, allowing him a closer look at what his hands held. Gingerly, knowing it was what she wanted him to do yet scared of what he might find, he put his ear to her belly and listened. Sure enough there was more than just one heartbeat there. He was going to be a father. He kissed her belly button and told his unborn child that he would love him or her with all his heart and soul.