Steel

Chapter 15

I felt Grey hovering over my shoulder as I knocked on Siena's door. My wing felt much better today and I'd asked if I could take the cast off, but he'd dismissed me with a firm shake of his head. So now, his hand rested on the small of my back, holding my balance steady.

The door slowly opened to reveal Ravenna, who looked exhausted.

"Come on in. While you're here, I'm going into the other room to take a nap. Come get me when you're done," she yawned. I chuckled and nodded, walking into the apartment. Ravenna's feet shuffled against the marble floors as she lumbered into a different room. I saw Siena sitting on her couch, staring out the massive windows at the city of Heaven. Her dark hair flowed down to her waist, glowing a little golden in the morning light. She slowly turned over her shoulder to look at us.

"You're here," she whispered, more of a croak. I pulled my lips into a thin line and walked over to her side, sitting next to her on the couch. Grey remained back, leaning against a far wall and watching me like a hawk.

Her mahogany eyes were bloodshot and swollen, her cheeks tear stained and blushed. Every now and again, bronze would flash in her molten eyes, then swirling away like a fire being smothered. I reached out and gingerly wrapped my arms around her, holding her tightly as she quietly sobbed into my shoulder. I didn't like being touched, but Siena had been there for me through some of the hardest days of my life, and I needed to be here for her.

"Do you wanna talk about it?" I murmured softly into her hair and she nodded against my shoulder.

"I don't know what to do and I need advice," she pulled back from my embrace, wiping her tears from her cheeks with the back of her hand.

"Do you-do you wanna start by telling me who he is?" I asked gently. She sucked in a shaky breath and nodded.

"I was born to an aristocratic family that ruled over the town of Siena in Italy. There was a lot of political unrest, so when I was younger, I'd always have to travel with several bodyguards if I left the castle. I had an older sister, but she had been married off to some man far away to forge an alliance when I was little, so I was alone for most of my life. Whenever I'd leave the castle, I'd sneak away from the bodyguards and get into all sorts of trouble. One day-," she paused, sucking in a deep breath.

"One day, I was walking through a market with those bodyguards when a ball fell at my feet. A boy followed the ball over to me, and asked for it back. I asked why I should give it back if it was now at my feet, essentially a more formal way of saying finders keepers. He said 'if you're going to keep it, at least come play with us so we can finish our game'. I asked if he knew who I was, motioning to the bodyguards around me. He said no, and I think that was the moment I decided we would be friends. I made the bodyguards let me go, threatening them with their jobs, and played with him for the rest of the day. I was absolutely covered in mud by the time I got home," she laughed, running her hands through her hair. "The boy's name was Francisco."

"And you fell in love?" I asked softly. She nodded.

"As I got older, my parents found out where I was sneaking off to every night, and were furious. They had wanted me to marry a prince or a nobleman or something, not a blacksmith's son. But I didn't care. And once he found out who I was, he didn't care either. He saved up all of his money in an effort to prove to my family he could take care of me- it was a different time then. My parents had been impressed with Cisco, and agreed to let me marry him. The-the day we were going to get married, my family- we were in the ballroom, and my mom was giving me an heirloom to pass on to my daughter- that was when they came in. A rival family from a neighboring town- they gunned us down. It was a bloodbath. Nobody survived. That was how I died."