From heaven and hell, a new world will come, On the fated day when two become one, The angel without wings will have no fear, For she will be saving all those she holds dear. Aziel's family are born of angels, bound to protect their realm and everything within it. A millennia of war between the angels and the demons is close to boiling point, and soon the heirs to the realms will need to decide their course of action. The only issue being, they're destined to be bound to each other, heaven and hell as one.
From heaven and hell, a new world will come,
On the fated day when two become one,
The angel without wings will have no fear,
For she will be saving all those she holds dear.
Five years, that's how long the prophecy had taunted me every night at the end of my dreams. In a world that was so filled with light, my mind had always been plagued by corners of darkness.
Looking out of the window, the sun was just starting to rise, its golden hues lighting up the hills and rivers of Deltora. I watched as every home in the city began waking up, slowly lights turned on and the cogs of another day started to turn. Every second of life here was designed to be perfect - almost as if the Goddess herself had designed it. He hadn't though, my father had. King of the Angels, and every bit the man you'd think him to be.
My door began to creep open "Is my little angel awake?" my mother called, sailing through the room gracefully in her floor length, gold trimmed dress. She was always the picture of grace and beauty, I just hoped I'd look half as good as she did when I finally turned of age and took my true angel form in a few days time. "We have much to discuss, Princess." She continued to coo "Like about the ball, where we'll find out who your true fated soulmate will be."
The ball of anxiety that choked my throat every time she mentioned me finding my soulmate, I had never told her about the prophecy. My grandmother was the only one who knew, and everyone already thought she was too crazy to believe her if she did tell anyone.
"Mum, we don't know that I will find my soulmate straight away yet, I haven't even seen my true angel form yet..." I sighed. In our realm, as soon as an angel turned of age, they would undergo a form of a transformation. In our day to day forms we still appeared like humans, but we would gain the ability to shift into our angels. The purer the angel, the purer their angel would appear.
Everyone in my family had golden angels, their skin shone like armour and they acted every bit as heavenly. Non royal angels could appear as any colour they liked, there was only one forbidden colour. Red. Red angels were seen as having the devil entwined with their souls, and so they were cast out as demons, walking the path to the fallen realm alone.
The war between the fallen realm and ours had gone on for longer than a millennium. Dark angels, or "demons" as my father called them, only wanted to be known as equal to us. They didn't want to do harm, but when you force an entire race of our species underground... it doesn't take a magician to tell you it was never going to end well.
"Shanara, stop terrorising our poor daughter, she has her dress fitting for the ceremony in an hour." My father bellowed down the marbled hallway of our home.
"The man lives in a castle and I still can't find a way to escape him." Mother grumbled beneath her breath. My parents had always loved each other dearly, but marrying the King of the Angels certainly had its drawbacks. She was never alone, and never allowed to do as she pleased. There was always some kind of an agenda for the day, and always someone that needed her help, normally more than me. "Get washed and put on a clean dressing gown Aziel darling, meet me in the dressing room in half an hour." With that, my mother kissed my forehead and left the room. No doubt to chase her manic husband down for her list of tasks for the day.
Slipping out of my silk sheets, I walked into the en-suite and stepped into the cold shower that definitely needed a few more minutes to warm up. The cold blast was welcome, finally bringing me to understand the reality of what was planned for the day.
A dress fitting for an angel ceremony didn't happen very often. Girls were seldom born to the angel royal families anymore. The last female that had been born into my family turned out to be a dark angel. My aunt, Naeth. I was only six when her ceremony took place.
She stood at the angel's altar, looking as equally royal as my grandmother. Twenty five suited her, and we all knew her looks would carry her for the hundreds of years that angels could live. But then, without warning, she began to scream as she shifted. Her skin grew dark and tight, bursting into flames of scales and her hair turning black as night.
"RED ANGEL!" the crowd shouted angrily, and I hid behind my fathers hand. His other hand covered his face, and I felt him tremble. He knew what was coming next. Naeth shifted back into her human form, blackened tears running down her cheeks. Without a word, she took off the family crest ring, down the aisle, and onto the road that connected our realm to the one below it.
Nobody spoke a word about the day after, my grandfather had to abdicate and pass the throne onto my father. Siring a demon was frowned upon, and he knew he would no longer be seen as fit to sit on the Deltora throne. Days later he passed, and everyone blamed the grief of losing his only daughter to the realm of demons.
Shower finished, I pulled on the fluffy white dressing gown that hung from my door. This is the most comfortable I would be all day, I knew that the pulling, prodding, poking and squeezing was still ahead of me. We might be angels, but vanity still consumed us, even on the most important of days.
The walk along the hallway was surprisingly quiet. Normally you would find hordes of servants milling around, catering to my fathers every whim. Today there were none.
What on earth were they all doing?
Kaelyn devoted three years tending to her husband after a terrible accident. But once he was fully recovered, he cast her aside and brought his first love back from abroad. Devastated, Kaelyn decided on a divorce as people mocked her for being discarded. She went on to reinvent herself, becoming a highly sought-after doctor, a champion racer, and an internationally renowned architectural designer. Even then, the traitors sneered in disdain, believing Kaelyn would never find someone. But then the ex-husband’s uncle, a powerful warlord, returned with his army to ask for Kaelyn’s hand in marriage.
Rosalynn's marriage to Brian wasn't what she envisioned it to be. Her husband, Brian, barely came home. He avoided her like a plague. Worse still, he was always in the news for dating numerous celebrities. Rosalynn persevered until she couldn't take it anymore. She upped and left after filing for a divorce. Everything changed days later. Brian took interest in a designer that worked for his company anonymously. From her profile, he could tell that she was brilliant and dazzling. He pulled the stops to find out her true identity. Little did he know that he was going to receive the greatest shocker of his life. Brian bit his finger with regret when he recalled his past actions and the woman he foolishly let go.
"Please trust me, I didn't do anything." "I don't believe you. I am rejecting you as my Queen and giving you the punishment of death." Alina was living outside her pack for five years. Her parents didn't try to contact her and always ignored her. Her best friend convinced her to go back to their pack and she agreed. But she had never imagined what was waiting there for her. She never thought she would meet her mate and had to face betrayal from everywhere. She had to pay for the crime which she never committed. Aaron Robertson is the king of Lycans. He is a very dominant and powerful King who not only rules Lycans but also rules other ranks of werewolves. Everyone is afraid of Lycans and he is the king of them. But who knew that he would get a mate who was just a simple Omega with no powers and strengths? He called her weak all the time but little did he know that his weak Omega would give him the biggest betrayal of his life for which he had to give her the sentence of death.
Blinded in a crash, Cary was rejected by every socialite—except Evelina, who married him without hesitation. Three years later, he regained his sight and ended their marriage. "We’ve already lost so many years. I won’t let her waste another one on me." Evelina signed the divorce papers without a word. Everyone mocked her fall—until they discovered that the miracle doctor, jewelry mogul, stock genius, top hacker, and the President's true daughter… were all her. When Cary came crawling back, a ruthless tycoon had him kicked out. "She's my wife now. Get lost."
Rumors claimed that Fernanda, newly back with her family, was nothing more than a violent country bumpkin. Fernanda just flashed a casual, dismissive grin in response. Another rumor suggested that the usually rational Cristian had lost all sense, madly in love with Fernanda. This frustrated her. She could tolerate gossip about herself, but slander against her beloved crossed the line! Gradually, as Fernanda's multiple identities as a celebrated designer, a savvy gamer, an acclaimed painter, and a successful business magnate came to light, everyone realized they were the ones who had been fooled.
Kara Martin was known as Miss Perfect. She was a beauty with good personality and successful career. Unfortunately, her life changed at one night. She was accused of adultery, losing her job, and abandoned by her fiance. The arrogant man who slept with her did not want to take responsibility. He even threatened to kill her if they met again. What's worse, Kara was pregnant with twins and she chose to give birth to them. Four and a half years later, Kara returned to work at a large company. As the secretary, she would frequently face their notorious CEO. Kara thought it wouldn't be a problem, but as it turned out ... the CEO was the father of the twins!