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Here's chapter 1 of Lucifer.
Chapter 1
Azrael was knelt before the altar in prayer.
His hands clasped and his eyes squeezed as tightly shut as they could possibly go, he whispered things that could scarcely be considered as words, in hopes of some form of forgiveness. For the last couple of nights he had been unable to sleep, and so he would lay awake whilst the darkness faded to light; then when it was time he would set off in search of that which he sought the most.
In a few hours his sister would come to this place to sweep at the dust and cobwebs, only to find that he had spent yet another sleepless night contemplating his life. He didn’t like to think that he would be letting her down by staying here. It was the last thing he wanted as he held her deep in his heart, but it wasn’t her that was living a nightmare. It was him.
Ever since the Prince had left, things had gone downhill. Azure was on the brink of war, the Emperor was dead and he had found himself stuck in a spider’s web of sin, desperately trying to wriggle free of the ties that held him captive. Alas, his attempts were to no avail and he feared that the Prince would never return. After all, what was there in Azure for him to return to?
Family?
No.
They had cast him out of their hearts and into exile.
Friends?
No.
They had left him to rot in bittersweet memories.
Love?
No.
It had strung him up with his own pride to bleed to death.
He had nothing left. Often Azrael would wonder about his old friend. He would think about where he was, what he was doing, who he was with. Then he would smile and remember that he was in safe hands, with his other sister, on Earth. The irony of it all suddenly made him laugh. A dry, brittle laugh that had long lost it’s humour. An angel Prince, walking the Earth in search of his soul. It would have made such a beautiful fairytale if it didn’t have such a sinister build up.
And then there was him. A humble squire, bound to serve his kingdom, chained by fate. Enough to break his heart. He began to laugh again, this time a sorrow lingering in the depths of his eyes. What heart?
All of the sudden, there was a crash behind him. His eyes shot open and he flung himself around, gripping the dagger tucked into his belt. Whoever it was, they were in for a surprise if they dared attack him.
They were laying in a heap on the ground, billowing black cloak, stretched over a floor of marble that had long since lost its lustre. Then slowly, almost like a shadow taking on a form, they rose and dropped their hood to stare around the room warily. “Whoa, for a second there I didn’t think I was going to make it.” running a slender, feminine hand back through their silvery tresses they sighed in relief. Then their eyes suddenly fixed on Azrael’s amethyst ones, which had gone as round as saucers in sheer, unabashed shock. “Hey there Azzy. Long time no see.”
Azrael couldn’t move, he was paralysed by a mixture of shock and fear. He stared at Lucifer with large eyes and moved his mouth in a useless effort to try to speak. Lucifer on the contrary was quite calm. He stood aloof and smiling, his attitude casual. He took a step forward and brushed off his cloak, his green eyes glittering in happiness. “You haven’t said anything. Didn’t you miss me?” He laughed nervously and bit his bottom lip. Azrael suddenly felt guilty, so breaking his silence he answered. “Lucifer, my Prince. I, just, um. I can’t believe you’re back. It’s been so long and, well- today of all days. It’s the anniversary of your mother’s death, isn’t it hard to stand before her resting place?” Azrael had lowered his gaze to the ground. The intensity of the concentration in those burning emerald eyes had been too much for him to handle. Still, though he could no longer see those luminescent green eyes, he could still feel them searching his averted face.
Then slowly almost painfully Lucifer sighed and spoke in a voice that was barely audible above the spring breeze that blew into the chapel. “Yes well , that was a long time ago now wasn’t it. We should not dwell on past events. They cannot be changed.” The bittersweet smile playing at his lips, and the melancholy tone of his voice made Azrael look to his friend in an awkward silence. Lucifer unconsciously touched a hand to the pendant at his neck, a dreamy film falling over his eyes, “You see Azzy, I just want to forget. Just blank everything out. Because I don’t think that I could handle remembering it all. Not mother’s death, not the ridicule, not when I was- ” Suddenly Lucifer’s breath hitched into a sob. He opened and closed his mouth as if to speak but nothing came out, just a quivering gasp. Tears misted in his eyes but he blinked them back indignantly and turned large angry eyes onto Azrael. “But all of that’s really none of your business. So I don’t know why I told you.” He laughed at his own words and was just about to speak again when a loud creak interrupted him. He looked towards the ancient stone masonry of the doorway and quickly hoisted his hood up as he saw the shifting movement that was the presence of an intruder.
Slowly the door slid open over the dusty marble floor, cutting the semblance of a conversation, to an abrupt halt. The cause, moving languidly from where they stood to lean against a pew, Azrael stared warily to the trespasser of their reunion. He was a tall man, strongly built yet slender and lithe, his face composed classically with chiselled, statuesque features. He had chillingly blue eyes that reflected the shimmering icy blue faucets of glaciers, unusually framed by long, thick black lashes. His sensual lips upturned into the subtle hint of an arrogant smirk, one that reeked of noblery. And he was noblery. It was in the rich silks and satins of his attire, the posture which was anything but slack, even in the tilt of his head. But mostly it was in the way he carried himself; with an air of poise and grace and superiority.
“Well, well, well, look what we have here. A turncoat and a strumpet. What a pretty little picture you two make, so feeble, so impertinent. Yes, a sweet, little charcoal sketch, hung in a shattered frame.” His voice rang out lazy and amused, a faint undercurrent of spite leaking through here and there as he laughed at Azrael‘s affronted expression. Lucifer lowered his hood and gently unclasped the cloak from around his neck allowing to fall it to the floor and billow around his feet, his steps echoed through the chapel as he walked towards the man. “ How dare you trespass upon my ancestral grounds, Zerachael.” His voice trembled as he spoke, lifting his head to stare the taller in the face. Zerachael merely blinked and resumed his arrogant smirk. His hand lifting from its place at his side to rest on Lucifer’s shoulder. “Well, the last time I checked dear Lucifer, I was your family’s most loyal confidant. Now, my poor boy are you feeling quite well? Because it sounds to me as if you need a rest. Maybe a nice slow death will help.” His smile was condescending as he looked upon the boy before him with faux concern. His caring expression pasted on with such expertise that any casual onlooker might think it sincere.
Azrael who was still rooted in place studied the situation carefully. There was a stagnant tension in the air that made him uneasy and the way that Zerachael’s gaze drifted between him and Lucifer only intensified that feeling. “With all due respect Zerachael, you may be a trusted ally to the rest of my family, but as for me, I don’t trust you as far as I can throw you. And after all of my past mistakes, if there will be anyone to die today, I assure you it will not be me. ” His voice lowered with the last few words as he shrugged away from the other‘s touch, Zerachael narrowing his eyes to look at the angered Prince.
“Well then I’ll keep that in mind for the future. Because it is quite apparent, that neither of us has any intention of yielding our ground,” He turned to face the door, his long satin cloak following him and then as he set his first foot outside onto the crisp green lawn, he uttered three simple words, “Come, my apprentice.” Lucifer spun to face his old friend in disbelief. “No. No, Azrael. Tell me it isn’t true, please.” Azrael turned his head away and picked his sword from the ground hurriedly. “I’m coming Master Zerachael.”
And then brushing past Lucifer, his gaze averted, Azrael followed his master obediently into the Palace gardens, leaving the Prince to try and piece together all that had just happened.