“Well…” Braun got up, apparently sensing the change in atmosphere. “I’ll see you at our next lesson, Master Lila.”
“Of course, I’ll see you then.”
“Maybe I’ll bandage you up instead,” he added with a cheeky grin.
“Maybe you will.” Lila smiled and waved him off. She waited untilhe’d walked a good distance away and checked to make sure no one else was around before breaking the gold wax seal and unrolling the message.
When she saw what the scroll contained—a flower blueprint she’d drawn over an aeon ago—she knew that her guess had been correct.
One Aeon Pre-Great War
The ceremony was a formality for Lila, as most things were.
Still, with all the other graduates of their class, she and Castor filed into the sweeping grandeur of the newly finished Great Hall where they waited their turn in a corridor tiled from top to bottom with stunning geometric mosaics. The greens, blues, and golds of the tiles glittered in the light filtering through the circular skylights between each pointed arch in the creamy yellow limestone arcade.
Someone coughed. Another graduate cleared their throat. Lila peered down at her embroidered gold slippers, unused to feeling cloth instead of stone under her bare feet.
Her graduating class had been issued shoes for the occasion, and soon they would be issued gold pins with the insignia of the artisan guild they would be joining. Though they’d been giggling in lines together since childhood, most everyone was hushed, too aware of the sanctity of what was happening in the next room, beyond the final lancet arch. Only thethudof the gold double doors closing and the footsteps of a graduate leaving the chamber could occasionally be heard.
It was just as well; Lila was in no mood to giggle.
Unfortunately, Castor was in the mood totalk.
“I don’t know why they insist on making us wait here like children,” he complained in Lila’s ear. “We could be enjoying the banquet already, butno. At the very least, they could offer refreshments. A goblet of wine, perhaps?”
“Castor…hush,” Lila snapped through clenched teeth.
Glancing around them, he remarked with a frown, “I don’t see who I’m bothering.”
“Some angels like to have a quiet moment of reflection before they dedicate the rest of theirexistenceto a particular field.”
“Well, it’s not like they haven’t known about the ceremony forever. What’s the big deal?”
Lila sighed. It was like talking to masonry.
Thankfully, the student before them exited—Cleo—with a sigh of relief and a wry grin to those still waiting.
Suddenly, it was Lila and Castor’s turn.
Lila hurried ahead of Castor and propped open the heavy gold door, with a nod to Cleo for holding it open. Scowling at Lila, Castor marched in—the bejeweled gold circlet atop his flowing black hair slightly askew—and Lila followed. The door thudded behind them.
Neither of them had seen the Artisanal Chamber of the Great Hall before, and Lila couldn’t help but gasp as she took it all in. The architect Mauritius had designed this room; he had specialized in glasswork, from what Lila knew of him, and the floor-to-ceiling stained-glass windows on both sides of the chamber were a testament to this fact. Colored light splashed across the beige marble floor as Lila and Castor crossed the length of the room with him in front and Lila trailing behind.
Though she couldn’t inspect the details too closely, Lila noticed that each window, set in its own lancet arch, featured an image of a different artisan craft being performed. One window per guild. Six windows on each side. Twelve windows in total.
There were carpenters, who crafted anything made out of wood, but nothing of particular interest to Lila.
Blacksmiths, who crafted anything made out of metal, including tools, jewelry, and structural supports for buildings.
Glassworkers, who produced all types of glass for use in decorations and in functional designs such as windows.
Stonemasons, who specialized in sculptures, ceramics, and the building blocks of all stone structures, including the marble floor beneath Lila’s feet and the limestone framingthe stained glass.
Weavers, who produced the angels’ robes as well as all the fabrics used throughout Heaven. Ornamental rugs and tapestries, event banners and tablecloths, that sort of thing.
Painters, who specialized in painting and drawing. They produced illustrations for manuscripts, murals for buildings, and backdrops for theatre scenes, along with other decorative artworks.
Botanists, who cared for and studied the plants used in decoration and cuisine.
