Reflections Of Angels

Broken Pieces

"This is terrible." Nyx broke the weighty silence, fingers in her hair, pulling at the roots as she paced anxiously foot-to-foot across the kitchen floor. "This is... Why can't we... I mean... what happened?" Her legs buckled and she caught herself against the counter, holding herself there with white-tight knuckles.

"How did you not know that wasn't me?" Nyx flinched at his biting words. For the first time, he lowered his hand from his face to slam it against the table.

She gestured in disbelief. "It was dark! I didn't really get to see!"

"Oh, so he turned the lights off."

"...Is that really the most important thing right now?" Nyx exclaimed. "Neither of us remember what happened!"

Her words struck a chord, and immediately he rose to comfort her. She leant into him, burying her face in his chest and gently he put his arms around her, stroking his fingers through her hair.

She jolted sharply- "Ouch!"- hissing through her teeth.

"Are you hurt?" Immediately he was concerned, drawing back from their embrace. His eyes flicked all over her, inspecting, his hand doing a cursory run up her side in exploration as she gestured to her neck. Lifting her hair, he looked at the skin above her collarbone, to find a series of deep, purpling bruises developing up the column of her throat.

"I don't know what caused that." Nyx winced.

"I do." He murmured softly, fitting his own fingertips to the marks. "That's why you blacked out." He straightened up. "You have to go."

"What?"

His fingers gripped her wrist in urgency and he tugged her almost unconsciously towards the door. "You have to leave. Take the baby and go."

She wrenched her arm away from him, stopping them in their tracks. "I'm not going anywhere! Are you nuts? Take the baby- she'll kill me in my sleep!"

"The baby is the least of your worries. She's a baby."

"She's not just a baby!" Nyx was shouting now, she realised; but it seemed the only way to get through. "You can't think I'm in danger and then not believe me about this! You know. You know."

They could hear nothing but the rise and fall of breath; Nyx's wide eyes holding his, her finger jabbed towards him. He saw, for the briefest moment, something red slide across her irises.

Then a thought occurred. Trembling, Nyx turned her finger towards the stairs, pointing up. "And she knows. Last night... I hadn't realised... It started with her. She knew."

"...Nyx, are you sure?"

As if on cue, upstairs Grizelda began to cry.

It was as if a spell had been broken; letting out a strangled noise, Nyx put her head in her hands and shook it, before closing her fists and turning to the stairs. "Come on then, let's go see what her majesty wants."