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AZRAEL hadn’t heard again from the Queen, and it was only by Gabriel’s insistence did she agree to head to bed. Azrael was afraid to leave the chambers. What if the Queen expected her to stay and apologize to the enraged owners?
But Gabriel laughed when she said as much. She was a Princess and allowed to go to bed when she wanted to. It was a strange feeling... Choice.
When she entered her glowing chambers, she expected her only company to be the cold statues that watched every step she took. Instead, Meretta was sitting on her bed doing embroidery. Thread stringed from her lap.
At Azrael’s footsteps Meretta smiled. “There you are. How did it go? I heard about the interviews,” Meretta said.
Azrael shuffled to the bedside and pulled herself up into the empty space beside her friend. “Does her Majesty know you’re here?”
Meretta scoffed. “I suppose. I’ve been taking care of you, remember? And it was the Queen who agreed to that in the first place. Why?”
Azrael shrugged. “I’ve just caused enough trouble for one day, didn’t want to get you in trouble too.”
Azrael took the embroidery from Meretta’s hands and smirked. Long white plumes arched out in cottony puffs from a tall man. “It’s Gabriel.”
Meretta blushed and snatched it out of her hands. “I didn’t say you could comment.”
Azrael folded her hands and swayed back and forth. “He’s not like the other Windborn boys. He’s different... Nice.”
She laughed. “Of course he’s different. He didn’t grow up here. He grew up... Well... Up there.” She pointed a needle to the ceiling. “And he’s no boy.”
Azrael looked up at the ceiling, her neck still stiff from staring at the moon. Silvered arches wound through the pillars of the roof and met together in a curved dome. A window would have been prettier.
“Gabriel says he’s going to bring more angels to the Manor,” Azrael said.
Meretta latched onto Azrael’s elbow. “Others?”
Her green eyes glittered at Azrael with wonder and awe. Azrael giggled. “Don’t be so obvious! I don’t think angels can be suitors, you know.”
Meretta blushed. “That’s not—”
“Hey, Meretta,” Azrael said frowning, turning her tone serious. “Girls have been going missing, once they leave the Manor, I mean. And the stories I heard today... It’s truly unbearable.”
Meretta’s face softened. “What’d they say?”
“Terrible things. And I don’t think there’s much I can do about it. It’s hard to explain... But there isn’t much choice.” Her eyes misted. “Oh Meretta, it’s so terrible. What am I supposed to do?”
Meretta embraced Azrael and the scent of lavender pushed her sadness away like the Queen’s magic. “You do what you feel is right. And I’ll be here to support you every step of the way.”
Azrael sniffed and wrapped her arms around her loyal friend. “I knew you would be. Thank you.”
They held each other for a long time until Azrael finally pushed her away. Her brow knitted in concern.
“I think the other angels aren’t coming here because of the missing women,” Azrael said.
“What makes you think that?”
Azrael thought back to sitting alone in the audience chamber with Gabriel. A blush rose to her cheeks. “Gabriel said I have the power to bring about changes he couldn’t. But then he said I would have to meet the others that have come to protect me. Protect me from what?”
Meretta slammed her balled fist into her hand. “Probably the Queen!”
Azrael huffed a short laugh. “This isn’t the time to joke.”
Meretta slumped. “I know, but what else is there to do at a time like this.” She thought to herself for a moment, and then nodded in decision. “We’ll meet with these angels of his, and together we’ll decide what to do.”
#
THE next day, Meretta generously applied her skills in hiding the dark circles under Azrael’s eyes whilst Leanne stood in the doorway, bouncing both of her wrists with sharp yanks.
“No, Leanne. I’m taking care of this. Go away!” Meretta waved both hands as if she were dismissing an unwanted cat.
Leanne frowned and threw her hands up in the air. She jerked her chin in a nod before taking her leave.
“I swear, I don’t know how you’ll survive being Queen with servants like that,” Meretta mused as she dabbed a flesh-colored liquid on Azrael’s face. Meretta giggled and pushed her finger up under Azrael’s chin. “Keep looking up. I don’t want to get this stuff in your eyes.”
Azrael suffered through Meretta’s primping, which was a million times faster than Leanne’s would have been. She didn’t have silver chains woven through her hair, or gems clasped to braids. Regarding herself in the mirror, she looked refreshed, and more importantly, herself. Even as she was garbed in an emerald dress that shimmered as she turned, Azrael appreciated the simplicity of her straight black hair and charcoal-free eyes, even mismatched as they were.
Queen Ceres swept into the room and held up a parchment. “Azrael have you—Meretta! What’re you doing here?”
Meretta shrunk into herself and Azrael stepped between her and the Queen. “I asked her to be here. She knows the other angels are coming. I’ve decided she’ll be my advisor. If you have any qualms about it, well, you’ll have to go through me.”
Meretta gasped while the Queen placed a hand on her hip. Instead of yelling with outrage, she waved her hand and a cluster of bangles swayed at her wrist. “If you wish Meretta as an advisor, even though she’s not old enough to even advise herself, that’s your decision. So be it.”
Meretta tugged at Azrael’s looped sleeve.
“What is it?” Azrael whispered.
“I think I hear something.”
Azrael cocked her head, tilting her ear to the doorway. Meretta was right. A tumbled beat vibrated in the air, as if a storm roiled on the horizon. Azrael widened her eyes, turning her gaze onto the Queen.
A wry smile twitched at the Queen’s mouth. “They’re here.”
Azrael went giddy with childish excitement. A flock of angels are coming to see me...or a gaggle? A herd? No, they aren’t animals. A legion... That’s the word.
Azrael took Meretta’s hand and flew through the halls, bursting through the garden’s doors and jerked to a halt. Both girls gawked at the sky with awe. The angels were coming. Tiny dots sprinkled through the clouds, sending a boom of wing beats like rolling waves of thunder.
“Won’t the other Windborn in the Manor hear them coming?” Meretta asked.
The Queen trailed behind them and groaned. Azrael tore her gaze from the sky to the Queen’s eyes emblazoned with Light. “No, they won’t,” the Queen murmured.
Azrael swallowed and turned back to the spectacle above them. Gabriel hadn’t specified how many were coming. She marveled as she counted the flying men... Ten... Twenty... Thirty... She lost count and held her breath.
When the first angel landed, Meretta stumbled and collapsed to the ground, touching her forehead in prayer.
While Azrael was too stunned to move, she stood her ground. The angel stared straight at her, immediately locking in on her presence. Azrael knew Gabriel had told them of the “hybrid,” but it still unnerved her that this mystical creature knew who she was, even if it was only by reputation.
One by one, the angels landed behind him and the ground shook with the weight of their arrival. The first thing Azrael noticed was the color of their eyes. Each angel had white eyelashes that encased bright, purple eyes. It made it look like a sea of amethysts encased in lace.
The first angel stepped forward until he was within arm’s reach. He was much taller than Gabriel and Azrael strained to match his gaze.
“Azrael, I presume?” His voice was unlike anything Azrael had ever heard. She’d thought that Gabriel was heavenly, but Uriel was a hundred times more otherworldly.
Azrael twitched her head in a nod, keeping her jaw clenched lest her mouth hang open.
He took Azrael’s hand in his and she went stiff. “Azrael, I am Uriel. I’m honored to meet you.”
“Y-yes. Honored,” she stammered.
To her relief, the Queen swept to their side. “Uriel, it’s so wonderful to see you again after all these years.”
Uriel narrowed his violet eyes at her. “I vowed I’d never return to this place. I vowed I’d never speak to you again. Luckily for you, vows don’t mean much to me anymore.”
The Queen fluttered her eyes and the Light dimmed from her gaze. “Come inside, everyone,” she said with a nervous chuckle.
The Queen led the way as the entourage of angels walked with them through the golden halls. Angel wings tickled Azrael’s arms in the narrow confines and she wondered, If I had dreamed this very scene long ago, would I have ever imagined it could be real?
She had expected that the Queen would lead them to the audience chamber. But Azrael realized that was a silly thought. These were angels, not suitors or politicians. As they wound through the halls the walls transformed with growing extravagance. The walls began to curl and wound about themselves, sending the ceiling into a wide cavern.
Azrael gripped Meretta’s hand to ground herself in reality. Chandeliers glittered, sending Light sprawling from the ceiling through clumps of diamonds and glass. Light splashed through the room as if Azrael had walked into an ocean of the gods. The marbled floor was a sea of fire, repelling Light from its surface like a cresting wave.
Azrael realized this was the true audience chamber. There was no single throne, but instead a wide circle of heavy chairs, most with curved, thin spines to accompany an angel with broad wings. Small tables sprinkled throughout boasted fruit, pastries, and wine.
“Please, sit. Eat. Drink. You must be exhausted from your travels,” the Queen offered.
Uriel’s nostrils flared, but he stepped to a chair and sat, reaching for a citrus.
As he peeled it, he watched Azrael with a stare that matched even the Queen’s intensity. Azrael looked to his side. Two small chairs with a wide back fit for one without wings sat next to each other, and it was unlikely Uriel would appreciate if the Queen sat next to him.
Azrael swallowed and stepped towards the adjacent chair, pulling Meretta behind her. Meretta struggled, but Azrael was not going to let her leave her side. She settled on the chair, the crimson cushion embracing her legs. Meretta folded her legs under her and sat at Azrael’s feet. Azrael hated for her to do that and cast the Queen a worried glance. Surely she could have a stool?
But the Queen shook her head in warning. Meretta wasn’t even supposed to be here. She would sit on the floor.
As the other angels found their seats Azrael admired each face. It was like a hall of gods, all sitting and staring with eyes of plum-colored glass.
“What a life it must be, to never know the Council,” Uriel’s voice kissed her ears. It was caressing in a way that Gabriel’s had never been. She matched his violet gaze and was entranced, not snatched in the web like she had been with Gabriel, but seduced in a fog where she could hardly remember her name. Meretta’s hand was still in hers and Azrael squeezed it against her thigh for reassurance.
“The Council?” Azrael asked.
He smiled and Azrael’s heart thundered through her chest. “Let me introduce this legion. We are the only remaining force that opposes the Council.” He swept his hand with fingers bound in silver rings. “These are my men. I once had thousands. Now...only seventy-seven remain.”
Azrael considered them as they gravely bowed their heads. All of them, rebels?
He let his heavy hand fall to his chest in a clenched fist of salute. “The Council knows of our mind. They permit us to live, only because they need us.” His purple eyes darted to find hers. “We protect the Manor. We’re the only thing between you, and the demons out there.” His long finger pointed north to a mysterious “them” of which he warned.
Azrael straightened, not appreciating Uriel’s scare tactics. “I’ve never seen a demon,” she said.
The Queen stiffened just before Uriel’s cruel laugh boomed. “You’re welcome.”
Bristled, Azrael squirmed in her seat. “And if you didn’t protect the Manor, the Council would have no use of you?”
He boomed another laugh and Meretta shrank closer to her knee. “I like this one, Ceres.” He offered a sly smile. Azrael sought the Queen’s face for reassurance. He may be an angel, but such audacity to exclude her Divine-given title?
Queen Ceres didn’t reply. Instead, she seemed oblivious of the insult and nodded for Uriel to proceed.
“The Council wants the Manor to survive. They also don’t like me or my men. Two angels with one stone. Why sacrifice loyal soldiers when disloyal ones will do?”
“I see.”
His smile dimmed as the room went silent. “Why don’t you ask what you really want to know, young Aedium?”
Azrael’s eyes narrowed as she willed the courage to do just that. “What does the Council get out of this other than ridding themselves of your men?”
His perfect face went grim. “Do you know what you are? You’re a broken angel. You needed the Manor to wean you from the Light, and only a Princess will be reintroduced to the drug. The rest?” Darkness clouded his features. “They serve their own purpose.”
Azrael ignored Meretta’s warming palm on her leg. “And what purpose would that be?”
“You see, young one, the Council has a secret. They think they can outwit the gods. They believe that Aedium hold the key to the secrets of our creation. They want to be gods themselves.”
Azrael digested the words. Such corruption from angels. They were kidnappers, slave traders, and ultimately, her true masters. “They’re experimenting on us,” Azrael said, and pushed the rage around in her chest, not sure what she should do with it. “Has anyone ever called their bluff? If they need us for experimentation, the Queen could break her deal. The Council wouldn’t stop sending the Aedium to Terra, or they’d let their chance at becoming gods die with us.”
Uriel shrugged, seemingly unimpressed with Azrael’s growing anger and confidence. “Are you willing to call that bluff? No Queen before you has been. And perhaps the Council would find a way to keep a few alive for their own needs. I wouldn’t underestimate them. For now, this is the easiest arrangement that benefits them the most.”
Meretta peered up at Azrael with a knitted brow. Azrael nodded. “Please speak, Advisor.” Azrael made sure to enunciate the title loud enough for all seventy-seven angels to hear. She was met with a wave of fidgeting wings that rattled and vibrated the air.
Meretta’s soft voice sang through the chamber with ease. “The missing Windborn are the fodder for these experiments. This is unacceptable.”
Uriel’s smile went so wide it dimpled his cheeks. “Very fine choice in Advisor, Azrael. Very fine.”
Azrael’s attraction to Uriel was fading. She snapped an angry glare to his porcelain face. “If you claim to protect us, what is the meaning of allowing these abductions?”
“It’s part of the bargain made long ago. A few Aedium returned to Celestia is not as terrible as you’re making it out to be.”
Azrael’s eyes narrowed. “Even if it’s against their will?”
Uriel shrugged. “Would you rather them die at birth? The Council permits the Hallowed in Celestia to perform the ritual that will bring Aedium to the Manor and keep them alive. In exchange, the Manors provide tax in the form of Divine Material. It’s the Council’s ultimatum. If the Manors don’t follow their terms, then there will be no children to save. The children will die in their celestial eggs.”
Azrael fidgeted. Eggs...
“And what are the terms?” Meretta asked, her voice a pitch higher than normal. Azrael knew her well enough to know she was frightened, but she was being brave for Azrael.
Uriel breathed out a sigh and snapped his fingers, rings clinking together at the motion. One of the angels rose, his white hair bound in a warrior’s tail. His feet slapped against the marble floor. As he grew closer, it was the face of not a man, but a boy. His white robes strained, bound tight to his muscular chest and thick brown straps crisscrossed in a large “X.” Azrael’s gaze lingered on the glowing dagger-shaped scabbards at his waist.
“The contract, boy,” Uriel said.
The angel unlatched the straps and pulled a long tube from behind his back. He popped it open and gently tugged a yellowed scroll. As he unfurled it he read, “Aedium are hereby under the protection of Uriel’s legion. Should his command endure, he will thereafter be permitted to accept any angel who wishes to join him. In return, each Manor will pay a fee of eighteen standard containers of Divine Material at maturity of each Aedium who has been given to the Manor. If said Aedium does not survive, or the Manor is unable to pay the fee, the body shall be returned to Celestia.”
Azrael’s eyes went wide as she found herself speechless.
Meretta shot to her feet and clenched her fists. “This is...how could you allow such creatures to command your people?”
Uriel’s amusement with Meretta’s bravery vanished and he shot to his feet, his wings fanning wide. The sight made Meretta and Azrael both shrink back in startled squeaks.
“Uriel,” the Queen shouted.
Uriel’s eyes were wide and dangerous as his chest heaved with labored breaths. “You would let an infant talk to me this way? I have given the lives of thousands to protect these ungrateful brats.”
The Queen’s face transformed into a calm smile, a trained façade Azrael had seen a hundred times when she was forced to deal with unruly suitors and merchants. “Let’s not get sidestepped on such matters. Let’s get to the matter of why you’ve come, Uriel.”
Uriel frowned and crossed his arms. “Why don’t you tell her about Anark, first?”
The Queen’s face went white. “I don’t think—”
An angel four seats down shot to his feet. “Sir.”
When Uriel nodded in approval, he approached the Queen. “Anark was my closest friend,” he began. “He died for you, not this Manor. His death is a shame to us all and the Princess must know of this if she is to replace you and not repeat your mistakes.”
The Queen shot Azrael a guilty glance before staring at her folded hands. Azrael had never seen anyone talk like that to the Queen. Angel or not, it was surprising that she not only allowed it, but looked shamed by his words.
“I took a lover among the angels. His name was Anark.” Meretta and Azrael both blushed hotly. The Queen raised her chin in defiance at Uriel. “The relationship was mutual. But the Council found out and—”
“They killed him,” Uriel finished.
“Just for... Why?” Azrael asked, even as her neck burned with embarrassment.
“Because a Queen has a connection to the Divine. If you are to become Queen, then your only concern is the Manor.” He shot a pointed finger at the Queen. “As she should have done, and Anark wouldn’t have had to die.”
Azrael pinched her lips and let her gaze stray to the floor. Her world had begun to revolve around Gabriel. Part of the reason she had even agreed to undergo the Acceptance was to be close to him... She shook her head. Uriel was right in one thing; the Manor should be her only concern. The Queen had called it a sacrifice. What kind of savior would she be if she wasn’t willing to sacrifice everything, even her love?
“So, the reason we have come,” Uriel nodded, seeming to be grateful to move onto another topic. “Your next session will commence soon. The second always incites a multitude of demons’ attention. We’ll be here to make sure they don’t harm anyone, especially you.”
Azrael swallowed. Gabriel said they were coming to help me undo the servitude of the Windborn... To enact change... Where is he?
Azrael searched the sea of faces. Only violet eyes returned her confused stare. “Where’s Gabriel?”
Uriel shifted his weight as if that were obvious. “We are here, so he doesn’t need to be. Why?”
“But, he’s my mentor.”
Uriel flashed her a knowing smile. “And he’ll return once your second session is over. Don’t get too close to him, little Azrael. But, if you did want to get another killed, Gabriel is as fine a choice as any.”
Azrael blinked at him.
Uriel bowed. “When the sun rises, you shall undergo your next session. We will be here to protect you. Focus only on your trial, and take comfort that you’re not alone.” He kept his hand clasped to his chest and his wings folded against his back. It was a bow of reverence.
At his dismissal, the other angels rose from their seats and headed to the back of the audience chamber. Along the wall rows of silvered armor hung in wide racks. Golden swords gleamed and long slender shields with beaten bronze stood erect among the display.
But as the angels gathered the armor and the weapons, Azrael realized it was not a display at all. It was an armory.