2 - The new world

Charles Novak liked to say that his family came from all over the world - and it was true, to some extent. Born an Irish man, he definitely had Eastern origins, given his patronym, and had traveled in Europe quite a lot in his youth before he met Sara, a lovely Spanish woman that finally tamed his wild heart. It didn't matter to her where he came from, or that his accent was absolutely terrible. They loved each other a lot - and it showed. They had no less than six children together. Although they joked about trying until they got a daughter, they probably would have had some more, if Sara hadn't tragically passed away when their youngest was barely ten.

Sara was of a wealthy family with noble ties. To be fair, her parents had never approved of her wedding an Irishman, no matter how well-off his travels had made him. They had never helped them while she lived, but for some reason, when Charles was left alone with five young, healthy sons, they offered to help.
Michael, Lucien, Raphael and Gabriel were old enough back then to be sent in the navy.
Two months later, Gabriel had been declared lost at sea.
One more, and Lucien had officially deserted. Word spread that he might have become a pirate roaming the seas, perpetrating some pagan rituals and sinking Marine ships.

Meanwhile, the two children Charles was keeping behind were slowly growing old enough to be married. For some reason, however, as soon as Sara's family told Charles that they had a potential bride ready for his son, Castiel told him that he'd like to join the Church.
After losing two sons to his in-laws' whims, Charles readily agreed. It's not like they truly minded, anyway. Having ties with the Church was good, too.

Charles's health began to decline a lot two years only after Castiel's departure, and he had to rely on his sweet daughter a lot for a while. Hoping to relieve her of this burden, and pressured by his in-laws, he decided to remarry, to one of Sara's cousins, so that it would guarantee his daughter stability in case he passed away.

As soon as he died, without shedding a single tear, Rachel sold his house, and moved back in with her family, bringing Eileen with her, where she would be barely looked at or talked to - after all, she was a deaf girl, so she was deemed devoid of any real interest by her stepmother, who just kept her on the side because she was pretty.

Two months later, she announced her with a wicked smile that she was to get married to a wealthy man - the lucky girl! Sure, he was well over his sixties, but that's what made the whole ordeal interesting.
Coincidentally, on that same night, Michael was badly wounded by one of his slaves, who fled with a second one on a boat that would lead them to El Dorado.

Eileen was a quiet girl.

That was something she had always been told - and to some extent, it was true. Being born almost completely deaf sure helped people to have that perception of her.
And the fact that she loathed her step-mother and the vultures that surrounded her and that she had to call family surely helped some more. To think that she had actually the fame of being quite brash and vocal among his brothers!

Her quietness, weirdly enough, had been something that Rachel had always seemed to appreciate. "Men hate a woman that chatters too much", she kept on telling her. "Let's thank the Lord, that made you so silent. That way we can hope that one day you might find a husband that might not mind your own lack of worth."

Her brothers weren't that much better. Michael had never even spared her a single look; Lucifer was too busy trying to cut his own space out of the cumbersome shadow of their older brother to even care that she existed - and when he did notice her, he was so malevolent she could barely keep herself from throwing something at him.
Raphael had considerably hardened his character when Gabriel had been declared missing, and had transformed from a quiet, rather nice boy to a harsh, cold and unyelding man. Eileen wondered if he had really changed that much or if he was just trying to fit in with their new relatives.

And Castiel, her dearest brother, had managed to escape the clutches of their father's in-laws, and as he got into the Church his visits grew scarce, and short.
And now, as she still mourned her father and brother, she was inesorably being pushed towards a wedding that she never had wanted nor asked for. She had tried to argue her points; she was much too young for this man, and she was deaf - maybe joining the Church like Castiel would have been acceptable for her, too. Rachel had glared at her, and sternly told her to be quiet and let the tailor take the measurements for her wedding dress. "If you can't hear, at least have the decency to be quiet."

Eileen was a quiet girl. Luckily - or maybe unluckily, her cries were quiet too when she hid under her pillows at night.

She was absently gazing outside the window that day, sitting close to the table, paying only half attention to her embroidery work - that laid unfinished on her knees. She had been told that Castiel would come to visit one of these days - but she couldn't really find it in herself to be joyous as usual about it.

Castiel had left the monastery a few weeks ago after receiving a letter from Raphael, who asked him to meet with him. During his stay, Raphael received a letter from their family - if such people could even be called family - who told them that Eileen was to be married soon.

Castiel paled as soon as he read the letter, for Eileen and he had barely any secrets from each other - Castiel's only secret to Eileen being the actual reason for which he became a priest - and he knew that she didn't have any sweetheart at the moment. Fearing that his sister was being trapped into an arranged marriage, he took a carriage and drove all the way to where Eileen now lived.

Maids didn't bother introducing guests to Eileen in this house. She wouldn't hear them knocking on the doors or calling for her anyway. So Castiel was lead all the way to Eileen's room, and he stood in the doorway awkwardly as he opened the door, after one heavy knock on it.

Eileen couldn't indeed hear people calling for her - but that had made her quite observing. She noticed that someone was standing in front of her door, waiting for her to allow them in. She had to blink a couple of times to get out of her daze, and almost let out a sound of surprise when she finally turned and saw just who had come to her room! She discarded her work without much thought and raised to her feet, fretting towards her brother to greet him.
Actually- no one was around to glare at her for a less than ladylike demeanor, so she just threw her arms around Castiel's shoulders and hugged him tight.
It was true that he wasn't around a lot, but she loved him so much. Among all her brothers, he was the one she was the closest to.

Castiel was startled to see Eileen reacting so openly with him - but it only seemed to increase his worry for her. He hugged her close with one arm and quietly closed the door behind him with the other, before he could finally hold her fully. He gently caressed her hair and rocked her softly, before he slowly pulled back to finally smile at her. Over the years, and thanks to their parents, they had began to work on a small, simple sign-based language for them to communicate with Eileen for basic everyday talks.
The quiet "Hello" Castiel signed to her was among one of them.

Eileen smiled at him. She took a little step back, freeing her brother from her grip. "Hello", she signed back, followed by a welcoming gesture towards the chairs in a corner of the room. "I didn't think you'd arrive so early. I had been told to expect you in the evening, for dinnertime", she added as she walked back close to the window. She threw a brief glance at the sea before concentrating fully on her brother. "Was it a long way from your monastery?"

Castiel nodded. "It was. I arrived in the night, and I've slept at Raphael's place." Which was mostly a room in a military building near the harbour, in fact. "We- well. He just received word that you were to get married, and I- couldn't wait for tonight. I had to see you, to hear from you about it." He tried really hard not to let his worry show, but the fact that he hadn't been able to hold back before asking her about it betrayed just how odd it seemed to him.

Eileen lost her smile, like a candle getting snuffed out, when Castiel asked her about the marriage. Ah... of course. He had heard. That was why he had rushed home. "I don't have much to say about it", she signed, a little curtly. "I didn't get much of a say. If you want the details, you should be asking Rachel."

Castiel's heart broke when he saw just how resigned Eileen was about the whole ordeal. He took her in his arms again, and finally sat down with her on a couch. "I'm so sorry." He was actually at loss for words for a while, and probably offered to hug her some more, before he offered her a small smile. "I'll pray for you. You're a pure, bright soul- I'm sure the Lord will help you out."

The Lord always helped those in need, didn't he? He had to hold on some hope, or else how could he expect the same from his sister?

Eileen's mouth tightened into a thin line. "Will he? Can He be bothered to step down from his throne for a deaf woman who gets no choice in her life, when there are so many more important things requiring His attention?", she answered, clearly bitter. "I have tried to flee in that direction, but they didn't allow me. They didn't allow me to cover my head with a veil and take the vows. I asked." She shuffled out of her brother's embrace. "I was hoping- I thought you had come to take me away."

Castiel pressed his lips together. He perfectly understood what Eileen must feel in that moment. In a way, he had already been there before - except there had still been his father to support him when he said he wanted to join the Church. Granted, there had been long talks regarding the reasons why he wouldn't enter the Inquisition, like his uncle had, but at least he had never been forced into marriage.

It was, however, very likely to happen to Eileen. And what would she say, when he would tell her that her last bit of support, her last blood family who cared about her was going away at sea in a matter of days -

Castiel took a sharp breath in. Oh no. No. No, no, no. That was a mad plan, and his reason was telling him that it was a bad idea. But Eileen knew him just enough to understand from just looking at him that there could be a way for him to rescue her, given how he lowered his gaze awkwardly all of a sudden.

Eileen caught the guilty light in Castiel's eyes before he could manage to hide it by lowering his head. For a brief second she thought he was simply feeling bad about not actually helping her out of their step-mother's claws - but she knew better than that. No, there was something that he knew that could save her from her misery, but it was probably something that he didn't wish to say. She squinted at him. "Cas", she called, out loud to get his attention. "If you have something in mind, even the smallest thing, I'll take it. And it would be greatly better than my plan, anyway. I'm sure."

Castiel hald lifted his head to look back at Eileen, and ended up sighing. "I suppose you're right. Choosing the same path I did probably wouldn't save you from that marriage, if it has been decided by our-" He made a face, for he clearly didn't like the word he was about to use. "-family."

He hesitated for a bit. "I also came to talk to you about an offer Raphael has made for me. If I agreed - and if I took you with me, we might have to never meet with Rachel and the others ever again." He pressed his lips together. "Raphael is sailing towards the New World. He thinks that he could find Gabriel."

Eileen's eyes followed Castiel's signing very closely - and his last words made her eyes widen. She looked back up at him quickly, looking conflicted. "Find Gabriel?", she repeated slowly. "After all these years? He thinks- you think he could still be alive?" But if he was, wouldn't he have contacted them? Why hadn't he come back to fetch her, like he had once promised he would when he would have had his own place and riches? She seemed thoughtful, for some long seconds. Then, her expression changed. "I will go with you." Even if their quest ended up not being successful, she could have been able to start a new life in the colonies - away from the controlling hands of her relatives, away from Rachel. If Castiel would stay with her, maybe she could end up helping him in the Church. It wasn't certainly her dream, but it was something she could live in peace with.

Castiel closed his eyes for a bit. Of course Eileen would hop onto the opportunity and want to go with him. He'd do the same in her shoes. When he looked at her again, he tried to see just how resolved she was, and couldn't help but sigh. Of course, she was prepared for anything it would bring to her. He fidgeted a bit. "I don't want to leave you there, especially not on our own. We can't exactly count on Michael to look after you," he began, with a bitter thought for his brother. "But- Eileen, you have to know that this will be extremely dangerous. Women aren't allowed on a ship, and the travel might take us several months." His brows furrowed with concern. "I could also stay there, and try to get you to a coven." But both of them knew that Rachel might have enough influence to pull her out of said coven, should she wish to.

"Michael can't even watch after himself, how is he supposed to keep an eye on anyone?", Eileen added. She hadn't heard about the slaves escapade nor of the 'incident' that had brought her older brother to barely survive the wounds he got during that night. Nobody had really bothered to tell her. She threw a glance at Castiel, frowning hard. "We both know that wouldn't be a solution", she protested. "And I don't care. I'll cut my hair, I'll dress like a man - I will do anything you ask of me. Just bring me away from here." She bit on her lower lip. "If you go away without me, I will throw myself into the sea." She seemed quite resolute about that. Was she serious about that? She hoped her brother would believe her threat, anyway.

Castiel ran a hand on his face, and sighed. He gave Eileen a sorry smile, and reached for a strand of her hair, to gently push it back behind her ear. "It would be a shame to cut your hair. But- I suppose it might be safer that way." He scoffed. "Raphael is going to kill me." He hesitated, and sighed again. "But- I could lend you some of my clothes, and have you pass as a fellow priest. If we pretend you're young, this might do the trick."

Eileen finally smiled, relieved and a little moved that Castiel was willing to help her despite the fact that it could impact him personally. "Raphael just has to try. I'll remind him that I have no qualms in biting his nose off if he touches you." It had happened when she was a little kid. "I could also just hide away in the pantry, if covering for me would be too dangerous for you. I have heard of women doing that", she reflected. "But I'll follow whatever you say." She smiled again. She finally felt hopeful about the days to come. "Thank you."

Castiel smiled a little more at Eileen, and shook his head. "Don't thank me yet. I'll offer Raphael to go with him, and bring a second priest with me. I'll come to visit you again tomorrow, so that we may discuss the details." He hesitated. "We'll cut your hair at the last minute, if we have to. We can't have Rachel know where you might be before we're far enough at sea."

Eileen nodded. She understood, of course. "Alright. In the meantime I will be as discreet as I can and start to prepare some things I want to bring with me. If everything goes according to plan, I won't leave the colonies for a good while." She would have finally been able to take the part of inheritance her father had left to her that she had hidden away and make good use of it! "I know that father would have wanted me to flee."

Castiel nodded softly, and couldn't help back a small smile. "No. Raphael might kill me for bringing you alone, but I know father would have disowned me for leaving you behind, at our family's mercy." He sighed yet again. "Would you mind if we talked about something else than endangering your life, until I am to leave?" He was always kicked out around dinnertime anyway. Rachel particularly loathed him and Raphael. They probably looked like their father a little too much to her tastes.

Eileen smiled apologetically to Castiel, and reached out to squeeze his hand into hers. "Alright", she agreed with a small nod. "I've seen cousin Hana, recently. He seems rather troubled - I think he isn't doing too well with uncle." That was definitely nothing new, but at least it was something else to talk about. "I don't think he enjoys being in the Inquisition that much. I'm glad you just decided to be a priest instead."

Castiel nodded awkwardly. "Uncle Zachariah has quite a reputation, especially within the Church." He pressed his lips together. "I don't know about the details, but I think Hana should be fine. They say Zachariah is getting... old. Quite old. He keeps getting sick." He sighed and crossed himself. "I shouldn't speak so ill of someone of our blood," he quickly excused himself. "Zachariah is quite an unholy man - I just hope he won't have our cousin stray from the right path before his time is due."

"It's alright. You know what I think about him and the Inquisition", Eileen answered, making a gesture for Castiel not to worry about his words. "Cousin Hana, he's... He's unhappy. He got into the Inquisition because his father was, and because it was expected of him to follow that path. But I don't think he is a bad person - I trust that he'll see the right way." She sighed. "We have a lot in common, me and him. Pressure, and expectations."

Castiel sighed softly, but forced a small smile, reaching for Eileen's hand. "Hopefully not for much longer. I'll pray for our success every night - come to think of it, we should probably work on your backstory, and teach you a bit of Latin, for whatever time we have before our departure."