Chapter 4 #2
“As you can see, we prepared a luxurious suite for you, Herald, sir.” Elder White gestured for Castiel to go through.
Castiel paused, inspecting the threshold.
“Ah. Hmm.” Elder White flushed as he realized the problem. “I, uh, I suppose we made this without considering your size.” He glanced back at me, glaring. As if it was my fault.
“Who took these measurements?” he hissed as Castiel eyed the frame.
I shrugged helplessly. I don’t think anyone had considered measurements at all. A bar lock had been installed on the outside of the door. That hadn’t been there before, had it? We hadn’t needed a lock on the storeroom before. Would Castiel have an opinion on that?
He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “The height and width? You can see the problem, can’t you?”
As if I was the one at fault. But I nodded. “Yes, sir.”
Castiel dropped his wings, letting the primary feathers trail the ground and tightened them to his back.
Then he ducked his head and, well, wiggled through.
For lack of a better word. I blinked, delighted to see such a graceless move from a normally graceful creature.
He’d been perfectly frightening when I first met him.
He turned to look at Elder White and me, surprise crossing his face as he saw how I reacted to White’s scolding. “All is well,” he assured. “Though you may want to bring some craftsmen.”
“Right away,” White hastily agreed. “In the morning, perhaps? So we do not disturb your sleep? Or—do Heralds sleep?”
Castiel’s eyes narrowed for a split second. I didn’t think White saw it. “We do rest, but do not require the same hours as humans.”
“Of course.” White nodded sagely, as if this wasn’t new information for him. “Let us continue.”
I followed a few steps behind, entering a lavish room.
The men had been hard at work renovating the storeroom.
Now, plaster covered the bare stone walls and had been painted: blue and green fleur de lis over cream with heavy draperies to add color.
A massive bed was in one part of the room with the canopy drawn back to show the featherbed and fluffy eiderdown cover.
Scant furniture lined the room—a stool, a small table, a bench.
All backless. A heavy armoire sat in one corner of the room beside two large trunks.
It had no windows, being for storage, and despite the stove tucked in a corner for warmth and gaslamps on the table, it looked dim and overpowering.
Much like how Reverend Grimshaw’s sermons made me feel.
I curled inward, feeling crowded.
Castiel surveyed the room, fists on his hips again. The pose didn’t look very holy. It looked…like a warrior.
Questions buzzed in the back of my mind.
Not now, I told myself. Elder White will be angry with me if I say anything now.
He usually gave a good tongue-lashing and speech about women needing to know their place, even pretty ones.
Especially lackwitted ones. Though, I’d once asked him, “You’ve pointed out many lackwitted women to me. Can you show me an intelligent one?”
He had blustered, saying if the church didn’t have any, that was well and good. Women didn’t need intelligence to follow Lord Erlik’s commands, and wasn’t that a blessing, because men had so much harder a time to live up to his precepts?
“What an honor,” Castiel said gravely. He cocked his head. “I believe your reverend mentioned something about space for the sun?”
“Yes.” White bobbed his head. “You need it to nourish you. How odd—though who am I to question Lord Erlik’s ways?”
I watched Castiel.
“Well.” White turned stiffly, as if not quite sure how to share space or authority with the mighty winged Herald, who was clearly his superior in every way. “We added this.” He stepped backward and opened the last door. It used to go to the herb garden, though we rarely used it.
But once Eve had sent confirmation through Absalom and myself that she’d found the Herald, the reverend had ordered many of the men to create a sort of glass-paneled enclosure to give the Herald a chance at light.
It didn’t quite make sense to me. We weren’t keeping chickens. We were hosting the servant of a god. But I knew better than to ask questions.
White’s chest puffed up as he led Castiel into the warm glass room.
“Hmm.” Castiel crossed his arms, which made his biceps bulge. Drat these seraphim and their obsession with bare chests. He glanced around at the bare dirt, then up at the ceiling.
I hadn’t seen it completed, so I also let my eyes roam.
Little weeds and leftover bits of herbs poked through the top, loose layer of dirt. Someone had artfully arranged a few rocks and one large boulder.
“It, ah.” White coughed. “It’s new. We created it fresh so we could build a garden to your specifications.”
Castiel looked at him, calm as you please. But I could hear the steel in his voice. “Why is there a roof?”
“Because of rain?”
I bit back a snort, but Castiel must’ve heard something because his eyes shot to me. “Lily?”
I dipped my face, letting my eyelashes fall like a curtain over my eyes. “Nothing, Herald.”
“You are suddenly quiet,” he said, and my heart sank. “What, no opinions and insults like before?”
I shook my head, clasping my hands together in my skirts. My breath turned shallow as I hoped he wouldn’t say anything else.
Elder White took a step toward me, putting a hand on my shoulder.
Through my eyelashes I saw a flash of something across Castiel’s face.
“Was she impertinent, Herald? She usually keeps a still tongue in her mouth, for years ago her father had to discipline the harsh words out of her.”
That was unfortunately true. I had been quite free with my opinions, particularly if I thought something was stupid.
But I learned what Lord Erlik required of grown women, and I made certain to be quiet, humble, and obedient as much as I could.
My beauty already attracted most men’s eyes; I didn’t want anything else.
That spark returned to Castiel’s eyes as he focused on White’s hand causally resting on my shoulder.
After a heartbeat, Castiel looked back at the ceiling. “It feels rather…enclosed.”
Elder White smiled.
“Is it to keep dangerous creatures out?” Castiel leveled him with a gaze.
“Anglia is a very safe land,” White hurried to assure him.
“Then perhaps it's to keep dangerous things in,” Castiel said softly. His features seemed sharper, and he crossed his arms, looming like a predator.
White cleared his throat and looked away.
“Don’t you know?” I muttered under my breath as I turned away from them. White’s hand slipped off my shoulder. “You’re to be a parrot in a zoo.” It was so obvious now, though I doubted the reverend had reckoned with the knowledge that these seraphim would be no man’s parrot.
“What’s a parrot?” Castiel’s voice rang out, echoing off the nearest glass panels.
My heart skipped a beat as alarm prickled across my skin. How did he hear me? My mouth twisted. Perhaps I, too, needed to reckon with the fact that Castiel was a force of nature.
White glanced between us. “A glorious bird, one of the most noble creatures the gods have blessed us with. They are full of vibrant colors and even speak human words.”
The trained ones do. I pressed my lips together. Because they’re pets for rich men.
“We’ll see how this goes.” Castiel gave White a toothy grin, and I knew he was going to be trouble.