Chapter 4 One Aeon Pre-Great War #3
Adrianna brought one cup to her own lips, then the other cup to Eva’s mouth.
Eva giggled when Adrianna tilted the goblet, but she opened her mouth and drank the wine down, still side-eyeing her eternal companion.
Her eyes gleamed with unspoken secrets and inside jokes, with the gratitude that must come from knowing she belonged to the one she loved.
Lila smiled at them, burying her jealousy with practiced calm. It didn’t help—everything stung more than usual on this occasion.
But when Castor asked her to pour wine into his mouth, she did so, that same smile smoothed on her lips. She imagined it was Luc’s face she was dabbing with her linen napkin and hoped Luc hadn’t seen.
After the banquet, Lila wanted to walk through the Great Hall and view the rest of it. She’d seen parts of it when she’d applied to the architect program, but their graduation was its inaugural use, and no one had toured the completed space yet except for the graduating architects from their class.
Castor, however, insisted they’d ‘see it all eventually.’ He and Beni rushed the group out of the Banquet Hall and into the crowd of graduates making their way to the West Edge of the Void for a graduation tradition involving a cannon and piles of old lesson scrolls.
The scrolls would be shot out into the black nothingness, to be snuffed out and forgotten.
In addition, some angels would offer up other memorabilia to be destroyed. Love letters and such.
Exiting through the brass doors at the hall’s entrance, they came out into the vast Inner Courtyard on the Lower Level of the Great Hall.
There, lilies and ferns proliferated along marble pathways that met in the center of the bright, open space at a teal ceramic fountain.
Cushioned marble benches had been set along these pathways, and Eva ran ahead to greet some of their classmates lounging there.
Meanwhile, two servers were still crossing the expanse to get to the banquet, the gold rolling cart between them laden with cakes and wine.
Lila knew the layout of the hall by heart.
The East Wing of the Great Hall’s Lower Level consisted of the Exhibition Hall and the Banquet Hall, while across the courtyard, the Kitchens occupied the West Wing.
Above Lila, frescoed ceilings detailed scenes from the angels’ work and recreation, and purple and white wisteria tumbled over the spiraling marble staircases leading to the Upper Level, where six multi-purpose meeting rooms were available for the angels’ discretionary use.
Higher still, on the Uppermost Level, and accessible only by the outer staircases that led to the watchtowers, there was an open aether theatre that took up the entirety of the building’s roof.
And everywhere, above all else, there was light.
Their group entered the antechamber at the front of the Great Hall, with Adrianna tugging Eva away from every possible conversation partner.
There were no doors to the outside, and they descended the marble stairs directly into the Outer Courtyard, which featured sculpted stone angels and tiered retaining walls where water spilled down into the tranquil lake separating the Great Hall from Heaven’s main thoroughfare.
They crossed the sole stone arch bridge traversing the water, and Lila briefly looked back at the enormous structure of creamy stone.
From the end of the bridge, she could see the two annexes joined to the Great Hall’s main building by enclosed passageways: the Artisanal Chamber to the right of the East Wing and the Ceremonial Chamber to the left of the West Wing.
Flying buttresses sloped downward from the highest level of the main building, and tiered spires rose from the watchtowers on the building’s four corners.
There were numerous geometric and organic carvings in the yellow limestone, but she couldn’t make out the details at her current distance.
Only that it was all so beautiful, she could cry. And Lila, on principle, never cried.
“Lila!” Rushing up to her, Eva linked their arms together and spun her around. “What are you looking at, silly? We’re not doing a report on the Great Hall.”
“Lila is. She’s already writing it in her head.” Adrianna caught Lila’s other arm so that she was sandwiched between the couple. They tugged her forward with the crowd while Beni and Castor sauntered ahead of them.
Lila rolled her eyes, though a smile tugged at her mouth.
“You think I’d rather be writing a report right now? Sweet aether, I’m not that dull,” she muttered.
“I know you’d rather be in the Library,” Eva complained.
“But you’re stuck with us,” Adrianna informed her. “And we’re not letting you out of our sight. Isn’t that right, Eva?” As she spoke, she reached across Lila and repositioned one of Eva’s numerous hair pins; the rose gold comb had been falling out, and Eva smiled in thanks, blushing.
“That’s right, so come along!” Eva swept her arm out in a grand gesture. “To the Void!”
“To the Void!” Adrianna chorused, her smooth black hair whipping around her shoulders as they set off skipping.
When they arrived at the most heavily patrolled section of the Void—that place nearest the warriors’ Fortress where Heaven’s marble foundation and golden aether met with an abrupt wall of darkness—Lila saw that the violinists had set up again, though they were playing off-key and swaying to the tune of wine in their heads.
Around the perimeter, numerous protective warriors had been stationed, lest someone fall off the ledge and into the Void in their celebratory state, but per tradition, nary an instructor was in sight.
Beni had been chosen as the class orator—an unsurprising fact given his popularity.
Unfortunately, Castor bounded up on the makeshift wooden stage and offered to be his co-orator.
As a result, Lila was dragged away from Eva and Adrianna to stand awkwardly on the stage as well, as close to the edge as possible but still too visible.
She tried to leave, but Castor sulked and tugged her back.
Not wanting to make a scene, Lila remained there, stiff and way too sober.
She forced a smile at the unruly audience, then angled her body toward the two speakers, hoping to melt into the background.
Castor and Beni were quite drunk at this point in the celebration, but besides that, they’d been tasked with reading the juiciest bits of the love letters that had been submitted.
Beni held up his hands for silence, and a hush fell over the crowd, minus a few rebel conversations.
“To an unnamed—”
“To an—”
“You go ahead.” Beni threw his arm around Castor’s shoulders and shoved the letter in his face, his broad frame dwarfing Castor’s wiry one.
“No, no, you go a’ead,” Castor slurred, weakly fighting Beni off. “Is yourrr party.”
Beni belched, then took a deep breath.
“To an unnamed angel.” Beni’s voice, loud under normal circumstances, grated on Lila’s ears as she stood so close. He’d been sorted into masonry, but in Lila’s opinion, he should have been a thespian.
“From an admirer whose name starts with ‘C,’” he continued, surveying the crowd as if he might pick out the admirer in question. A few angels chuckled. None volunteered this information. “Is this yours?” He spun toward his co-host, earning himself a punch on the shoulder.
“Okay, okay.” Beni held up his hands. “From an admirer—”
“Youreaditalready.” Castor leaned into Beni’s space, and Beni shoved him off.
Lila fought the urge to cover her face.
“Play on my heart as you do the harp…There aren’t many harp players in our class!…Your voice is the sweet, sweet melody that floats on the aether to my undeserving ears. Spurn me—” Beni snorted and broke off, cracking up.
“Read it!” Castor egged him on. “Read it!”
Red-faced, Beni wiped tears from his eyes.
“Spurn me”—the words sputtered out of him, and he choked over the rest—“and my love will only grow firmer and steadier, like heated steel quenched in oil.”
“And that’s not the only firm part of ‘im,” Castor added.
Beni turned the page.
“I beg you to know I would allow you to toy with me at all times and from all angles. Fit me into the mold of your masterfully sculpted mouth, and I will flood your inner courtyard with secret delights.”
These last few sentences tickled the crowd, leaving a wave of laughter in their wake.
Lila raised her eyebrows. She found the letter to be quite absurd.
‘Lie with me’ was more to the point, and if the intended recipient did not plan on doing that anyway, she hardly saw what all this flowery language would accomplish.
Nonetheless, the recitation of such embarrassing sentiments continued for some time. Beni bounded from letter to letter, picking out his favorite lines with Castor’s help.
Lila stood there stoically, unsure if she should laugh so as not to be conspicuous or if she should not laugh on principle.
She didn’t find much of it comical, and even less so because she had to be in the thick of it, and she would have been relieved when Beni announced that the last letter had been read, except that Castor took that opportunity to haul her to the center of the stage, where Beni announced that the truest soulmates in their class were there to prove that romantic love existed.
Lila winced inwardly. She wouldn’t have called her relationship with Castor ‘romantic’ or ‘love.’ It was more like ‘forced’ and ‘proximity.’
At present, a drunk Castor leaned on her.
“Liiiila,” he beseeched her, “how come you’ve never written me a letter?”
“Since when have you known me to write letters?”
“Aw, come on, Lila, don’t be like that.”
Lila cracked a smile, partially from nerves and partially because they were in full view of the crowd. She forced herself to appear relaxed and touched Castor’s arm in feigned concern.
“Be like what? Myself? And keep you out of trouble?” she joked for the benefit of those watching. “Let’s get you off this stage before you fall off. Come on.” Gently leading him by the arm, she tugged him away from Beni, and he mercifully followed her.
As they exited the stage, Beni commented, “Ah, to lean on such firm shoulders.”
Lila wanted to inform him that her shoulders were only firm because their movement was restricted. Like those pretty flowers on the banquet tables, she was entirely encased in resin.
Out of duty, she escorted Castor over to Eva and Adrianna, and the rest of the event hurried along. Beni had far overrun his speaking time, so their classmates swiftly brought out the cannon and stuffed it with the graduates’ past projects.
Save for Luc’s projects, surely. He was too convinced of the brilliance of everything he did to give any of it up. Scanning the crowd, Lila didn’t even see him.
It figured. He was the youngest architect to ever join the highest Council. Straight from graduation. It was unheard of. He probably thought himself above the plebeian antics of this celebration.
How fortunate he was to have slipped away.
“You know, I resent that you and Castor got voted most romantic couple.” Eva nudged Lila, offering her a delicate pout.
“If there was a vote, you and Adrianna would win everything. I don’t have a romantic bone in my body,” Lila answered, glancing at Adrianna where she stood some distance away, chatting with another couple.
“Oh?” Eva replied. “I was going to say Castor must have rigged the election like he rigs everything else in his favor. I would lose to you at any time, darling friend, but Castor can eat my crumbs.”
Lila chuckled. She rarely laughed as much as she did around Eva, and she’d always been grateful to have someone who understood her connection to Castor on an intimate level, even if she didn’t understand Lila’s struggles with her role.
At least, Eva understood what a pain Castor could be, though that shouldn’t have been difficult for anyone who spent any time with him at all.
He’d wandered away from them and was currently the warriors’ problem, set on offering them wine despite their resolute posture. Lila watched him badger them until Beni tugged him away, and the crowd swallowed up the two friends.
By then, the cannon had been prepared to fire. New goblets had been served to all.
Lila, Eva, and Adrianna clinked their cups together and toasted to ‘never answering to an instructor ever again.’ They whooped and embraced each other.
The cannon fired overhead with a blast that reverberated throughout the aether.
A staccato beat, then a continuous crackle that growled into the blackness beyond.
Then came the rain of paper. Shreds flew into the darkness, past the translucent barrier that shimmered golden in their wake.
Then they were gone without sound or effect. Simply vanished.
The crowd laughed, and the Void laughed back. Mutely. Indifferently.
But those shreds that didn’t reach the Void fell into the crowd like confetti, scraps to be trampled under the victors’ feet. Angels laughed and cried and clutched the torn remnants of their lessons in their hands: it’s over; can you believe it?
Can you believe it?
Along with everyone, Lila threw up her hands and rejoiced.
She hugged Eva again, then circled around the ledge congratulating everyone.
For a time, she watched Eva and Adrianna spinning around in the middle of the crowd, dancing and laughing.
Then she edged her way outside the circle of revelers, grateful, for once, for her ability to be invisible. Forgotten.
Soon, she would move into her house with Castor, but right now, she could still disappear.
Slipping away, she traveled the path leading from the West Edge past the warrior’s compound, past the Great Hall, past the Library, past the dormitories and the Lessons Hall.
The graduation crowd gradually thinned, then disappeared altogether.
With every step, Lila’s muscles relaxed; her load lightened. When there was no one left to see, she allowed herself the frivolity of a smile.
Once she’d traveled as far east as she could go, she headed south to the most isolated spot in Heaven: the Southeast Edge of the Void. Few warriors patrolled there, and the only structural features were the marble platform and an alabaster obelisk inscribed with the words ex nihilo aliquid.
From nothing, something.
Luc was waiting there by the obelisk, just as he’d said he would be after the cannon shot, a streak of white against an endless black canvas. A proverb of a person. A sliver of something in the vast nothingness of her existence.