"Requiem Aeternum"

[Angels Sleeping]

REQUIEM AETERNUM

PROLOGUE

In the city of Vantorta, four weathly families made their homes. They were powerful, influential people who brought business to the city and therefore, helped it to grow and flourish. Within a century, the marketplace grew to consume over half of the city. Anything from books to jewelry to magical potions could be found amongst the stalls and slow-moving throngs of people. Merchants came from all over to sell their goods and most made a fortune doing so. It even aided the peasants because due to all of the activity, it became far easier for them to pluck whatever they could from pockets, change purses, and stands.

Vantorta flourished and turned into one of the most beautiful cities the world had seen at that point. The beauty did not come simply from the economic wealth but from the mountains and forests to the north, the beach and the ocean to the east and south, and the beautifully kept gardens and the sprawling plains to the west. There was a vision of scenic loveliness from all around.

For centuries, the families lived in peace. They helped each other through difficult times. Marriages were arranged and children of mixed blood were born. There were small squabbles but such things were always petty and usually forgotten within hours.

Until one day. If one were to ask any member of any of the families, not one of them would be able to tell the story of exactly what happened that day. They would only be able to tell of the hardships that followed. They could weave yarns about the blood that was spilt, and the ancestors that were killed. They could speak of agony, guilt, distrust, and hatred.

The Aesiers, the Bowers, the Hazels, and the Boscalettis felt they were all wronged in some way. Many thought that it was their job to continue the fighting until one family came out as the victor. Others thought quite differently -- why waste one’s energy on a war that no single, living soul could remember the cause of? Those were labeled as weak and pushed aside, their voices and opinions left unheard.

Thus, the fighting continued.

[Angels Sleeping]

CHAPTER 1

LUCIAN

The bar scene was a dull one but such was not unusual at any early hour. The markets were still bustling and that meant the regulars still had work to attend to. That left the Black Wraith Tavern housing only a small handful of merchants hoping to spend their coin on something worth while, townsfolk looking for a break from their own work or families, and one particular young woman who appeared to be rather out of place in such an establishment.

She was young, and a rare beauty in Lucian’s eyes. Lucian did have a powerful weakness for women. So many of them held some sort of loveliness but hers was the soft sort of natural beauty that only took claim to a lady once in a few lifetimes.

Locks of light brown framed her delicate face and trailed down to where her neck met her back. She was a petite woman but even Lucian Bower knew that her size was never to be taken advantage of. A warrior woman who had been trained by the best at the time -- her father. Lucifer Hazel knew his way around a sword and any other weapon he could think of, far better than Lucifer, himself, ever would.

His gaze met hers almost instantly and he could not help but drink up those dark brown eyes. If ever such a woman, in any other circumstance, were to catch his attention, he would sweep in, and whisk her away. This was, however, business and Madeleine Hazel was hardly the woman to try to attract -- the rather emotionless expression on her face told him that much.

“Lady Hazel. A pleasure it is to be called upon on such a lovely evening by such a lovely lady.” Futile as he knew it was, Lucian could not give up without trying.

“Mm. . . Surely something you are not used to, Master Bower.” She laced the sarcasm deep into her words and met his almost-shock with a bit of a smirk. “If this were any other meeting, I would gladly take kindly to compliments, however, it is nothing like that. I have things I would like to discuss with you. Please. . .” She withdrew a hand from her lap to gesture across the table at the second chair. “Sit.”

“Of course, Mistress Hazel.” Business it was then. He slid into the chair, and folded his hands together upon the table. His posture was perfect -- as if it were ever anything less. “What is it you would like to speak of?”

“An alliance.”

“As I suspected.” He offered her a smirk.

“Mm. . . Our families have been on good terms for some years now and with Baron Aesier now dead, I believe it is in our best interests to side with one another.”

“You offer a very interesting proposition, Madeleine.” He relaxed a bit, leaning against the back of the chair to the point where the front two legs were about to lift off the ground. “Something worth thinking over.”

“I hoped it would interest you.”

“It does but I cannot make such a decision so quickly. Mathias has returned, you see.”

“You cannot do anything without your little brother’s approval?” She arched a perfectly-plucked brow, her tone turning a bit sly. She knew the answer but it was hardly as mocking as she wished it to be.

“In this case, no, Madeleine, I cannot.”

[Angels Sleeping]

CHAPTER 2

COLIN

The past few days were a blur. Or was it a week? Had it been a week since Baron Aesier passed? Colin Aesier supposed that it was entirely possible that that sort of time could pass so quickly. After all, there was a funeral to plan, letters to friends and other family to write, and a mystery to solve.

The healers spent the past week examining his father’s body but they could find nothing to confirm Colin’s suspicions. Even the healers hired from outside the city determined that the cause was nothing more than starvation. Starvation! The mere idea brought his blood to a boil. How does a weathly, middle-aged man who had some of the best chefs in the world working in his kitchen die of starvation?

No, there was obviously something that they were all missing. Colin knew very little of the arts of white magic but his knowledge did extend to the point of knowing that starvation did not cause lesions to form all over the body or the blood to turn into a thick, black substance.

The funeral had been prolonged as long as possible. Cordelia was growing more and more frustrated with his stalling -- if it had been up to her, their father would have been buried the moment he passed. Cordelia was an ignorant whore, however, and she was unable to see exactly what was going on. She was no better than anyone else in the blasted family.

It was easier to please her than to listen to her whine. The funeral was to take place in two days. Colin had a flask filled with his father’s blood and that was all he needed. After the funeral was over and the remainder of her family returned to their homes, he would begin to worry about proving his suspicions. Once things had blown over, he would reveal the devious plot she unfolded.

Despite the man his father was, Colin decided that he was good enough to know that his murderer found the justice most deserved

[Angels Sleeping]

CHAPTER 3

AMELIA

“Only three days gone this time, Aidan?” Amelia watched her younger yet far larger brother wander into the living room. He was shirtless and his blonde hair was dripping wet. That was not what she paid particular attention to -- there were bite marks on his shoulders and scratches down his chest. She assumed the same was on his back. “Your women must be boring you.”

“They are, sadly.” Still, he grinned some sort of devilish grin that only two people in her family were capable of.

“That is because the women in this city are scum.” Adriana was the other. She strode into the room with her head and body held in a sort of dignified way. Her youngest sister’s pose was always in such a state -- her clothling, however, left a lot to be desired. The short, black leather dresses with the knee-high boots. It all made her resemble something along the lines of a whore rather than an upright noble. At least she carried herself in a proud matter.

Until, of course, she encountered her twin. Immediately, she flocked to him and laced her arms around his waist. Aidan welcomed her embrace with a kiss that was far more than Amelia would give any of her family. She knew there was passion there -- there always was with the two of them.

“They are indeed. . .” Aidan whispered to her before placing a brief peck on her lips.

Amelia felt a bit of impatience rising within her. The twins were disgusting but they were her blood and two people that she would protect with her own life if it ever came to that. This, however, set her off more than a bit. “Baron Aesier is dead.”

This news brought their attention away from one another and to their older sister. “Really?” Aidan questioned as he arched a brow. “What happened?”

“All I know is that he has passed.”

“Can we go after Colin? That will cripple the Aesiers. . .” Adriana asked, her tone preoccupied as she ran finger tips along the scratch marks of her brother’s bare chest. “It will be difficult but worth it in the end.”

“I thought the same, Adriana but. . .”

As Amelia made an effort to continue, another man stumbled into the room. His blonde hair and expensive clothing were ruffled and wrinkled, and his green eyes were hazed over. Julian was still drunk and that was a point he made more than obvious when he spoke, “Amelia. . . I will not! . . . I will not help you this time.”

“Julian, I am afraid, will not help us.”

Aidan began to speak but Adriana silenced him with a gentle squeeze to his waist. “There are other ways, Amelia. We do not need him.” She threw a look of disgust at Julian who was attempting to keep his balance on a chair off to the side.

Amelia spotted it as her brother shifted his weight. He clasped a bottle of wine tightly in his right hand. It was open and half empty. No doubt the final remains of his party from previous evening -- the party that her staff of servants were still cleaning up after. She focused heavily on that bottle for a few seconds, even glared at it before turning her attention back to the older of her two brothers. “You and all of your parties, Julian. How many women did you take on this time? Three, four? Or can you not remember because it was all hindered by your slightly greater love of wine?”

Adriana and Aidan chuckled a bit -- Amelia was well-aware that her scolding Julian amused them to no end, especially when she became particularly angered with him. This evening was certainly one of those times.

Julian, however, was not in any state of mind to recognize Amelia’s mood. “Come now, Amelia! One woman, a lot of wine. That is how all of my parties are. Perhaps if you came to one, you would know. You are invited. I would love to have you.” He lifted the bottle to his lips and took a deep swig from it. “And you two as well. I’m having another tonight and would love to have you.”

The twins both outwardly laughed. “Julian, you would dislike how we would act at your parties.” Adriana whispered slyly and as if to prove just how much their actions would displease their brother and his guests, Adriana pressed up against his brother. The two embraced in yet another passionate kiss.

The action almost shook Julian from his drunken state. His eyes widened slightly and as if to combat the feeling of utter disgust which Amelia knew and shared, he shook his head. “My parties are a bit more . . . controlled.”

“Controlled!? You call your parties controlled!?” Between the kissing of her twin siblings, the drunkness of her heir, and the mess left for her and her servants, Amelia felt herself tripping. The anger overcame her quickly and she rushed towards her brother, continuing to bellow, “With half of the whores in this city drunk and clinging to you, begging for you to bed them? With everyone drunk and a grand portion of our father’s wine collection wasted by the end of the evening!? With the house smelling of my wine, sex, and vomit that is left behind for my servants to clean up!? You call that controlled!?” In one swift movement, she grabbed the bottle from her brother’s hands and threw it against the far wall. The glass shattered and the expensive liquid splashed onto the stone.

There was silence for a long moment -- even the twins did not let a giggle slip. All three only stared at their sister who only returned it in the form of a glare towards Julian. The drunken man finally broke it all when he said with a frown, “Amelia. . . What a waste of a perfectly good bottle of wine.”