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SARAKIEL
This was the first time I had taken a stroll through Helena on my own, and I had to admit, it was beautiful. It wasn’t just the marble walls, or the tall tower, or the beacon that beamed over the water like a lighthouse. There were flowers here; planters filled with roses, tulips, daisies, and other tropical types I couldn’t recognize.
The grounds smelled floral, the air was fresh, and vibrant, and the colors… I hadn’t seen this many colors in a single place since I’d fallen. The Tyrant’s—Abaddon’s—Bastion had been dark, and cold, and almost claustrophobic in its utilitarianism. Medrion’s, in contrast, had been bright and colorful, but the beauty of it was superficial, a lure for unsuspecting angels.
Here, it was clear that care had gone into the place to make it feel more like a home, like a sanctuary, than merely a Bastion. Aithen would’ve loved it here. My heart clenched at the thought of him, at the flash of his smiling face across the surface of my thoughts. I grimaced at the bloodied image that followed.
It took a long moment for me to regain my composure, and fight back the tears that threatened to spill, but when I did, I made my way into the main tower at Helena’s heart; the centralspire which housed its mighty beacon. There, in the grand hall on the ground floor, I would find Helena herself.
The Guardian posted by the door to the grand hall confirmed her presence and let me through. When I entered, I felt like I was walking into a jungle. In there was a large, rectangular table that ran across the length of the room. The table itself was ivory in color, and ornately carved, flanked on all sides by tall chairs that looked like they had been hand-made and decorated so no two had the same markings on them.
Hanging from the walls in the Tyrant’s Bastion had been flags, crests, weapons; here, though, there were flowers, and vines, andlife.Not only did I find colorful curtains of beautiful flowers running down the walls, but there were also birds in here, chirping as they raced from one side of the room to the other, and creatures moving in and around the vines themselves.
I found Helena standing next to Micah at the head of the room, in front of an artificial waterfall that fed into a pond. Walking up to it, I saw lily pads floating on the surface of the water, and even the plop of a frog quickly dipping under.
“Wow…” I said as I approached the pair.
“It’s something, isn’t it?” Helena asked, looking around fondly.
“It’s wonderful. I haven’t seen anything like this since…”
“Heaven,” Micah put in.
I nodded. “Yeah…” I trailed off.
“I’m doing my best to make this place feel like a home,” said Helena. “It’s not much, but it’s what we have.”
“I love it,” I said, dipping my fingertips into the water. A fat goldfish brushed up against my hand, and I yanked it out. “I don’t love that.”
“They’re harmless,” Helena said, “Unlike your Tyrant…”
“He’s notmyTyrant,” I said, a trickle of heat rushing into my face. I had liked the accusation even less than the fish brushing my hand.
“It wasn’t my intention to insinuate anything. I only mean, he came here looking for you.”
“I know. I didn’t think he would.”
“Are you in a position to discuss the reason for his being here?”
“You mean, will I tell you what he told me?”
“You don’t have to tell me anything… but if you wanted to, I would listen.”
I took her gaze and held it, then looked over at Micah. “There’s a lot of things I want to tell you,” I said. “I’m not trying to keep secrets.”
“No one would blame you if you did,” Micah said. “You have been through a lot since you Fell.”
“You’ve both been here far longer than I have.”
“Agreed,” Helena said, “But many of us had the advantage of Falling together. We were able to quickly find others, and those bonds afforded us some manner of protection against the rigors of this world. From what you have told us so far, you fell alone… it must have been brutal.”
I became instantly aware of the purple marks on my fingertips—the marks of the sinner. I could still see the face of the man I killed. ThemenI killed. I hadn’t meant to, but I hadn’t been able to control… any of it. If I was being honest with myself, I was lucky my marks weren’t deeper, or more pronounced.
Like Abaddon’s.
“Earth has been rough,” I said, “But it doesn’t compare to the treatment I suffered in Heaven.”
Helena frowned. “Heaven?” she asked, angling her head to the side, her delicate white curls bouncing. “What do you mean?”
