“Thank you,” I breathed. Then paused. “How’d you know I was?—”
“Starry lavender eyes?” she said playfully.
I frowned. These eyes of mine were starting to be a curse.
“And you are…”
“Raephim Zara.” She smiled prettily, inviting me into her mending chamber. “Let’s get you mended.”
I followed her into the chamber thankful to finally be healed. The moment I sat in the cloudchair, a loud, piercing scream erupted outside of Zara’s room.
Chapter 15
Ishot out of my seat, ready to fly back out. Zara waved her hand, grabbing me with invisible strands before yanking me back down to the cloudchair.
“Ignore it.” Zara waved her hand dismissively. “No one’s hurt. One of your Choir mates is just getting accustomed to their chambers. They’ll be fine.”
I narrowed my eyes at the Raephim. She was too calm about the screaming for me. “But how do you know? They sound like they could be hurt.”
Zara flicked up her brown eyes at me, her left brow rising to her hairline.
“I have been the Raephim to Incense Order for a full Age, youngling.” She smiled sweetly as if dealing with a newborn. “Over one thousand cycles of first reactions to the wingtower. Iknow.”
I bit my lip, keeping my mouth shut. I knew when I’d been humbled.
“Now, lay back, close your eyes, and allow me to work.”
Obeying her orders, I did exactly as she asked. A fruity scent slipped into my nostrils. Within moments, I’d tumbled into a deep sleep.
It wasn’t until I felt a sharp yank on my wings that I jerked awake. Blinking grogginess out of my eyes, I shot into the air, spinning around myself. All my pain was gone. I grinned wide. Zara was floating by her door, holding it open. A dismissal.
“Safah, hurry up! You’re not the only one who needs mending.”
I chuckled at Daelun’s impatience.
“Thank you, Raephim Zara.”
“Please,” she said, her shimmering skin glittering in the bright light of her chambers. She flapped her four sets of earthen brown wings and smiled in a way that made me feel deeply cared for. “Zara will do. And any time you need a bit of patching, now you know where to find me.”
“Yes, Rae…Zara.”
I bowed quickly then rushed out of the chamber as Daelun flew in, already topless, exposing old wounds not entirely healed even from Sifting.
Floating to the floor, I relished walking across the marble, barefoot. I looked around, thinking about my home, and how this wingtower would take its place for the foreseeable future. I lived on my own in a villa I purchased many cycles ago, but prior to Ascension, I’d returned to my childhood home so I could be with family before Ascending.
My chest tightened. I already missed Papi and my little sister Evanae. Gabriel, the youngest of us all, had gone to spend the sumyrin season with friends at their family beach villa. His summers were typically spent away from home. I hadn’t gotten to see him before Ascension. Not that he cared. He probably assumed he’d have another chance to see me.
I scoffed. I wished to see all of them. My sisters. Brothers. Papi. This temple was already weighing on my soul. Finding my chamber doors—labeledANATHELLE—I walked in. And grinned from ear to ear.
The chamber was lavish like the rest of the Temple. The expansive room had marble, ivory floors. Gilded banisters opened to the cloudy billows of the outdoors beyond the balcony. A short staircase led up a platform where my bedcloud perched. There was an intimate biblarien to the left, with endless scrolls to read. There was a dining corner with an accompanying cafe and cocoa bar, and gilded doors which led to a bathing chamber.
From the feathered drapes, to the crystal chandeliers hanging in multiple spaces, down to the plush rugs and golden tabletops, I couldn’t tell if I was still at Temple Efysis, or if I’d transported through a star gate to the palace of the Empràr.
I bounced on my feet, absorbing it all. I padded over to the oversized armoire and threw it open. There were flight robes, temple gowns, twigowns to sleep, and even swimming robes. Every single item inside was bright, shimmering gold. When in the stars would we have time to go swimming?
I raised a brow, pulling out a temple gown. I fished in the drawer for intimates which had all been provided in my exact size and closed the drawer with my foot. Headed for the washroom, I pulled the door open with a wing. The washroom was as opulent as the bedchamber itself.
Really, I could get used to this.
