“No?” Lila frowned, applying the clear salve. It glowed where it touched the wound, signaling that the healing process had begun, that Braun’s skin was knitting itself back together. “Why are you here then?” she asked.
“Well, when I was younger, the instructors made it seem like this was the most important guild to join. Like the Council needed the most angels here. I didn’t know what else I wanted to do, so when they asked me, I picked this guild.”
“I see.” Lila wrapped his arm, then secured the dressing with a pin. “When I was in lessons, everyone wanted to be an architect. So much so that the requirements to get into the program were raised every lessons period. I guess times have changed.”
“Were you in lessons with Master Lucifer?”
“Master Lu…Why do you ask that?” Lila tensed.
Braun shrugged.
“I just thought you graduated at the same time as him.”
“Oh.” Her heart fell back into her chest. “Well, yes, I did have classes with him when I was younger.Muchyounger. Even younger than you are now.”
“What was that like? Did he know all the answers? Did the instructors get annoyed because he was smarter than them?”
Lila laughed.
“Yes, but how do you know that?”
“I’m his neighbor.”
“His…? Don’t the students live together?” Lila squinted at Braun, taking in his innocent eyes and messy appearance. Was he old enough to have his own house? She couldn’t believe it.
Braun shook his head.
“Not anymore. Since there are so few of us now, and all of us are oldenough to live by ourselves, we got to choose our houses early. They’re turning the old dormitories into a larger arsenal…Oh, but no one’s supposed to know that yet, so you didn’t hear it from me.”
“Why do we need a larger arsenal? Is Heaven expanding? Are there problems with the Void?”
Braun shrugged.
“Maybe Master Dimas knows, but he doesn’t tell us why, just what to do.”
“Are you Master Lila?” A stout, brown-haired messenger angel appeared out of nowhere next to the bench, startling Lila.
His way of addressing her was odd. She was a master of her craft, of course, but only the few remaining student angels addressed her that way. Everyone else simply called her ‘Lila.’
“I am,” she answered.
“I have a message from the council.” Extending a stiff arm, the messenger offered her a sealed scroll. A scholar pin gleamed on the collar of his white robes: a replica of the columned front face of the Library.
If talking to Braun had lifted her spirits, this message instantly deflated it. Sweet aether, what furniture order had Castor messed up this time?
“What does the woodworking council want?”
“Not woodworking.TheCouncil.”
Lila frowned.
“Oh.” She accepted the scroll from the messenger. “Thank you.”
The angel nodded and swiftly vanished, swooping up into the aether and out of sight.
“Hmm, that looks important,” Braun noted, and Lila glanced at him. She’d almost forgotten he was there.
“Uh, yes.” Lila fiddled with the scroll, hesitant to open it in front of Braun. Only one person on the Council would ever contact her, and she’d rather not read whatever he had to say with someone who clearly admired him peering over her shoulder.
