"I come on behalf of Lord Lucifer, the archangel."

"Lord Lucifer was afraid to come himself? Who would think that?" She felt as if Adonai laughed as he spoke.

"Not afraid, my Lord. He did not trust Michael. . ."

"I gave safe pa.s.sage. He should trust me, and yet he does not. And he asks me to trust him?" The light pulsed rapidly and the seraphim's chant paused at the anger in Adonai's voice.

"Why would he trust you?" She lifted her chin in defiance, then folded her arms across her chest and firmed her stance. Why should she trust Adonai either, for that matter? Ramael had trusted him, and he abandoned Ramael. Left him to die in the gutter.

Michael's head jerked up, his mouth open as if to object. Adryel tipped her head back, looking down her nose at Adonai. "I cannot speak to Lord Lucifer's feelings. I can only tell you he wants to return to the city. Over a thousand of your host have joined him, and they want-"

"I know what Lord Lucifer wants, my child. I fear it is you who does not truly understand him."

"He just wants to be heard. He wants-"

"He wants to be me."

"No. He. . .he. . ." She shrugged and dropped her arms to her sides. What purpose was there to arguing with Adonai?

"Creation has proceeded, Adryel. The sun, the moon, the planets, the plants and animals already live. . .They are all good."

From the tone of his voice, Adryel felt that Adonai was smiling.

She made one more attempt to reason with him. "No one objects to these, my Lord."

"The human, too, is ready. I have only to breathe life into him, and my creation will be complete. I want you to see him."

Adryel had no time to object. A creature suddenly appeared before her. He was her height, muscular, and handsome. He almost looked like an angel. Adryel's mouth dropped open.

"A fearsome creature?"

"No, Lord, not to see him. . ."

"His name is Adam. I have created nothing nearly so grand as he. He is the pinnacle of my creation. Nothing else rivals him. Do you know why?"

Adryel shook her head.

"He alone among all I have made has complete freedom. When he loves me, it will be because he chooses to love me. All of the angels in heaven bow before him and do him honor."

There was a moment of silence before Adonai spoke again.

"If Lucifer returns, he too will honor Adam."

"You know he will not do that," Adryel replied. "He abhors the human."

"He does not know the human. He will not return because I will not grant him the power he wants. I will not give my place to Lord Lucifer."

"He plans to do war against you if you breathe life into the human, if you do not give him authority over the city, if. . ." Adryel sensed that Adonai already knew what she was going to say, and she stopped. A long silence followed.

"Adryel, I want you to come home. I want Lord Lucifer to come home. I want all of my children to come home. But I will not give my place to Lord Lucifer. What I will do is to grant him, and you, and the entire host of heaven the power to choose. If he does not return, it will be his choice. If you do not, it will be yours."

The cloud began to rotate and it seemed to turn, first toward Michael, then toward Gadriel, and, finally, back to her.

"I love my children, Adryel. You will find that love never ends. . .I did not abandon Ramael as you believe. . ."

"Liar," Adryel shouted, cutting him short. "I'll hear no more from you."

The color drained from Michael's face as she spoke and he stepped forward, stopping as the sparkling lights dimmed and ceased to move. A deep stillness filled the room.

Adryel felt a chill come over her as she got the sense that Adonai wore a sad smile, the kind offered by a parent to a rebellious child. Then the cloud drifted across the room, followed by the seraphim and the cherubim, leaving through the door by which they had come. The white light grew dimmer and dimmer, until finally, it disappeared and the door closed.

She stood for several moments, staring at the crystal border around the throne. Adonai loved her, he had said. He loved them all.

But he'd lied to her.

She scowled. He had not loved Ramael. He had done nothing for Ramael.

She looked first at Gadriel, then at Michael. Neither moved, neither returned her gaze. They stood like the statues that decorated the garden, and she suddenly realized that Adonai considered her to be his enemy, just as she now thought of him as hers. They had been present to protect him from her.

Turning on her heel, she strode the length of the room and pounded on the door, summoning Dariel to escort her away.

Michael and Gadriel walked silently through the palace to Michael's office. As they entered, Michael removed his helmet.

"A liar? She called Adonai a liar?" Gadriel seemed barely able to speak.

Michael simply nodded.

"What do we do now, Michael?"

"We make plans for battle."

"What about Adryel?"

"What about her? She serves Lucifer now."

Michael summoned Dariel and Keruel, to join them. He spread a map of the city and the plain that surrounded it across the table, and the four of them stood around it.

"Where are the rebels now?" Michael asked Dariel.

"The bulk of Lord Lucifer's force is progressing along the road from the north. They have been on the move all day. They seem to be marching hard and they ought to reach here," he placed a stone on the map, "by tonight. From there, it will be but a couple of hours to the city."

He paused, as if expecting questions, but no one spoke, so he asked one of his own. "How many?"

"We believe there are about a thousand of them. We understand that few of them were in the Inst.i.tute when it was taken. Others have been recruited beyond the mountains."

Michael toyed with several small stones as he looked at the map. "In theory, he could attack tomorrow then."

"But unlikely," Keruel said. "They will have been moving rapidly, marching hard all day. If Lord Lucifer knows what he is doing, he will want to send fresh troops into battle."

"Does he know what he's doing?" Gadriel scoffed.

"On the whole, no," Michael replied, "but I agree with Keruel. He'll wait a day. His troops will need the rest. He will see it as a way to induce panic in the city."

"Can he storm the walls?"

"I doubt it." Dariel shook his head. "My information is they have no equipment that would allow them to scale the walls, nothing to batter against the gates, just angels with swords and spears. He appears to be planning to lay siege, and likely believes he can force us to surrender."

"We won't let him do that." Michael shook his head. "We'll meet him on the plain." He placed one of his stones between Lucifer's main force and the city. "Gadriel will command the First Legion with a thousand powers. They will meet Lucifer here. You will take the second and third legions." He looked at Dariel and Keruel.

Then, he pointed at the map. "There are low hills on both sides of the plain. They are not high enough to hide a standing soldier, but at this season the gra.s.s is about a meter high. Tomorrow after dark, you will take positions here and here." He placed two more stones on the map, one northeast of the city, the other to the northwest. The stones represented the three legions and formed a triangle around Lucifer's position. "I believe Lord Lucifer will attack day after tomorrow."

Michael looked up at his three commanders. "Lucifer will attack Gadriel, believing his legion to be the entire army. The two of you will close in on him from the sides. He will be surrounded and outnumbered three to one. We will crush his army and obliterate it. Neither Lucifer, nor his soldiers will survive."

War in Heaven.

Upon leaving the palace, Adryel and her companions had ridden back to Lord Lucifer to report. The army had moved forward in their absence. Lucifer had seemed disappointed at the mission's failure, but he had insisted it had been his obligation to sue for peace. Since his overture had not been successful, war seemed to be the sole option.

Late the next afternoon, shortly before twilight, Adryel and Beliel, along with eight of the angels he had recruited in the west, arrived in the city, masquerading as a caravan from the northern provinces. The group aroused no suspicion, thanks to Lucifer, who, as he'd a.s.sembled his soldiers at the foot of the mountains and moved south, had strategically allowed several caravans traveling from the north to pa.s.s through his army. So, when Adryel's caravan arrived, the guards at the gate seemed to think theirs was no different from the others, seeing it as simply the most recent caravan to arrive.

Lucifer had confided to Adryel that he'd allowed the merchants and traders to pa.s.s through their lines for another reason as well. He believed they would carry tales to the inhabitants of the city, describing the ma.s.sive army that was preparing to descend on them, the fierce soldiers who would soon stream across their walls, and the destruction they would wreak. He'd antic.i.p.ated that the population of the city would panic and demand a peaceful resolution.

Perhaps tonight.

It was Adryel's second journey into the city in as many days. She had not enjoyed this trip as well as she had her first. She had been banished, and Beliel was known as one of Lucifer's aides-had either been seen entering the city, they would have been detained as Lucifer's agents. They might even have been imprisoned as spies. As a result, rather than arriving on horseback, as she had the day before, she had been smuggled past the guards, hidden under a small pile of cabbages in the back of a wagon as it jostled along, unable to avoid the huge rocks and the too-frequent pot holes that lay in the dirt road.

Once inside, the wagons stopped in a secluded spot near the market. As she climbed out of the wagon, Adryel gingerly rubbed her side where a particularly violent b.u.mp had left a tender bruise, jerking her hand away when she reached an especially sensitive spot. Such was the price she paid. Still, it was an easier cost to bear than that of Beliel.

Since the pile of cabbages had been too small to cover both Adryel and Beliel-the others were unknown to the guards and could ride freely-Beliel was forced to hide in one of the other wagons, which carried loads of fertilizer. He had been outraged, having no choice but to climb aboard.

Adryel chuckled now as she watched him dig his way out of the still-damp manure, snorting and spitting to clear his nose and throat, the cloak he had covered himself with having done little to shelter him. Even though he practically stripped himself as he shook the manure out of his clothes, he still smelled awful. The Inst.i.tute, now closed, was their immediate destination and, if for her own sake and those traveling with them, Adryel hoped Beliel could find a change of clothes, perhaps something that had been forgotten in one of the dormitories.

Each of the rebels donned a deep purple-colored cloak. Since the color was not commonly worn in the city, it served to identify them as anchorites-angels who spent their time in prayer and meditation. As an added bonus, Beliel's also served to delay the wafting odor of manure. The hoods would partially hide their faces, and, since anchorites took vows of silence, they could rightfully refuse to speak, even if a guard found a reason to interrogate them.

"Everyone stay together now." Adryel glanced around, counting to make sure everyone was present. She and Beliel were the only ones who knew their way around the city. "Beliel and I will guide you to the Inst.i.tute. It's not far, but we must be careful. We'll split into two groups. I'll take the first, and Beliel's will follow."

The most direct route to the Inst.i.tute ran through Palace Square. Adryel had decided that the danger of being recognized by someone after dark in the square was less than that of encountering a friend or acquaintance while she wandered through the city on a longer track.

"Stay in your group. Don't run, but keep moving. If you are questioned, do not speak. You are simply an anchorite, and you're on your way home. . .Questions?" She glanced at Beliel. "Got it? Hang back about a block so we attract less attention."

She pulled her hood close to her face and they set out.

As they reached the square, Adryel recognized Dariel as one of two guards patrolling the perimeter. She had not expected to see guards until they pa.s.sed the palace entrance, and they should have been standing at the doors, not in the square.

And why was Dariel on patrol? Was he not Michael's new lieutenant, having taken Ramael's position? Adryel's eyes began to tear as she thought of Ramael, but she wiped them hastily away. It didn't matter why Dariel was patrolling the square. He would be dead before morning.

She stared straight ahead as she pa.s.sed the two guards, but from the corner of her eye, she thought she saw a flicker of recognition cross Dariel's face. He raised his hand as if greeting her or, more likely, halting her. He opened his mouth to speak, but Michael interrupted him, beckoning Dariel from the Grand Stairway.

She tucked a stray lock of hair under her hood and ducked her head, but she did not break her stride. Then, as Dariel turned away, Adryel picked up her pace, heading toward the exit, and fretting that Dariel had indeed recognized her and was, at that very moment, identifying her to Michael.

As she scurried along, Adryel silently chastised herself. She should have walked in the middle of the group, rather than leading the way across the square. She should have taken the longer route. She should have been more careful. . .

Her group reached the corner, dashed into the shadows, and Adryel finally stopped to look back. Dariel was motioning in her direction, but, as Michael nodded and walked away, she took a deep breath. If Dariel had told Michael he had just seen her, guards would have been dispatched to bring her in, and none were heading in her direction.

"That was close," she whispered to herself.

She resumed leading her group through the city, approaching the Inst.i.tute. As she reached the corner, a block away, she stared down at the street. She was standing in the spot where Ramael had died, about to step over the gutter where Michael had thrown him.

Where Michael had discarded him, she reminded herself.

Tears sprang to her eyes and she crossed her arms tightly across her chest as she imagined Ramael lying beside the road, alone, friendless, his life draining from his body. Had he known it was her rock that had struck the blow to his head? He would have felt betrayed. He must have been in pain. Surely, he had been afraid.

She crossed the street and stood where Mia had said she had been when she saw Ramael die, imagining the sight Mia had seen, imagining what she, Adryel, would have done had she been in Mia's place. Would she have acted differently? Would she have tried to save Ramael, or, having been the one to cast the brick, would she have simply watched it take place, as Mia had?

"No," she whispered, not wanting the others to hear, "I should have been with him. Michael would not have cast him aside, he would not have died alone, if I had been here."

Adryel inhaled deeply, shaking her head. She no longer blamed herself for Ramael's death. She had acted impulsively and out of anger, yes, but Michael, he was responsible for killing Ramael. She had merely given him the opportunity, something she was convinced Michael would have found at some other point.

Fury and hatred coursed through her veins. Adryel vowed to make certain Lord Lucifer honored his promise and allowed her to be the one to dispatch Michael.

"We need to move on." Beliel and his group had caught up with hers. "We need to get under cover."

Adryel wiped her hand across her eyes, but Beliel had noticed her tears.

He smirked. "Is this the spot? Is this where he bit the dust?"

How dare he?

She wheeled around, pulling a long knife from beneath her robe. "Speak again and I'll slit your throat."

Beliel hesitated, then he stepped back, and Adryel stalked away.

As they reached the Inst.i.tute, they found the gates had been sealed, as she had expected. That was good. They needed a place to hide, and if the entrance was barred, it was less likely they would find anyone inside.

Adryel knew of an alternate entrance from a narrow alley that ran beside the wall. She and her friends had used it to leave the school and return after hours when she had been a student.

A teahouse was located across the alley, and generations of students had met there to discuss and to debate, to make friends and to flirt. She and Ramael had spent many evenings there. Tonight, loud music poured through the building's open door and voices were raised in an argument.

She smiled. Some things never changed.

She slipped between the wall and the teahouse, motioning for the others to follow. Little light penetrated the alley, and Adryel ran her hand along the wall, searching for the door, jerking it back, grimacing at the slime that coated the stones. She wiped her fingers on her robe and continued to creep along the pa.s.sage, checking every meter for the opening.