piece, but sections joined by an outer ribbing. I noticed this because I kept my gaze level, refusing to stare at the water-filled chasm below. I was unnerved enough without encouraging further dismay.
Gladly, I left the tunnel behind, and willed my heart to calm. I had never known myself to cower at heights, but that was before the awful crossing to this Necropolis on the Bridge-Between-Worlds. The experience had seared itself into my spirit.
The Keeper pointed to two rooms. “These are yours to use. Now, if you will excuse me, I must finish certain matters before we can take the descender to the levels below the lake.”
Descender? I registered the unfamiliar word. That had to be his name for the little moving room that we used to change floors. I wondered if it became an ascender when taken upward.
The Keeper waved from further down the hall. “Feel free to wander about. There is a library, rather technical I fear, down that way, a solarium, a music room, and various parlors. Enter any door that will open to you. Those that do not must stay locked to protect work in progress. I shall join you for dinner when the bell sounds.”
“But wait, I have no time for such —”
He ignored me, and Azrael laid a restraining hand on my arm. “He is not one you can rush,” the dark angel said. “ Now, things must move at their own pace.”
The Keeper acted as if he heard nothing said of him. “If you have needs or questions, ask any of the simulacra.”
Another word I did not know. I arched an eyebrow at the Keeper
He explained. “They are servants made of metal, living sculptures, if you will.” Our host smiled at some private jest. “You will find them amazingly lifelike.” He bowed in the distance, straightened, and clomped off about his business.
Two rooms. Angelique and I would take one and Azrael… I looked around. He had vanished yet again. I ought to be getting used to his disappearances by now. At least his absence gave me time to determine just how much of my heart I could afford to give him. I had no doubt that the dark angel loved me, or that I felt something for him. But could such feelings lead to anything other than pain? He was in this realm for a reason, perhaps tied to it forever. I was passing through, though not as quickly as I would like. What was I going to do when this was over? Drag him back to France, to my father’s country cottage, and have Azrael tend the rose gardens? Good lord! Whatever would the neighbors say?
True, I had been alone since Phillippe’s father died in some foreign adventure, before my son was born. Being without male attention for so long made me susceptible to it. Another problem; angels were neither male nor female, so the relationship could never be consummated . I would never have to be concerned about him forcing his attention on me— damn it!
“Which room is mine?”
Angelique’s question reminded me of business at hand. I smiled at her. “We will look at both and then move into the one we like the best.”
“I can stay with you?”
I caressed the side of her face. She made me wish I had a daughter as well as a son. “I really wish you would.”
The next thing I knew, she flung herself against me, wrapping arms around my waist with desperate strength that nearly toppled me. I held her a long while, feeling her need as well as my own.
Eventually we chose between bedrooms that were identical in everything but color. One was midnight blue with gilt highlights, and the other lavender and rose. We chose the second. I dropped my cloak and pouch on the bed and we went exploring, hand in hand.
I was curious about a solarium on a world without night or day. It turned out to be a protruding deck with wrap-around glass walls. Beyond, I saw a blue lake under an azure sky, and a golden sun that blazed a track of light across the water. I spotted a far off
Gladly, I left the tunnel behind, and willed my heart to calm. I had never known myself to cower at heights, but that was before the awful crossing to this Necropolis on the Bridge-Between-Worlds. The experience had seared itself into my spirit.
The Keeper pointed to two rooms. “These are yours to use. Now, if you will excuse me, I must finish certain matters before we can take the descender to the levels below the lake.”
Descender? I registered the unfamiliar word. That had to be his name for the little moving room that we used to change floors. I wondered if it became an ascender when taken upward.
The Keeper waved from further down the hall. “Feel free to wander about. There is a library, rather technical I fear, down that way, a solarium, a music room, and various parlors. Enter any door that will open to you. Those that do not must stay locked to protect work in progress. I shall join you for dinner when the bell sounds.”
“But wait, I have no time for such —”
He ignored me, and Azrael laid a restraining hand on my arm. “He is not one you can rush,” the dark angel said. “ Now, things must move at their own pace.”
The Keeper acted as if he heard nothing said of him. “If you have needs or questions, ask any of the simulacra.”
Another word I did not know. I arched an eyebrow at the Keeper
He explained. “They are servants made of metal, living sculptures, if you will.” Our host smiled at some private jest. “You will find them amazingly lifelike.” He bowed in the distance, straightened, and clomped off about his business.
Two rooms. Angelique and I would take one and Azrael… I looked around. He had vanished yet again. I ought to be getting used to his disappearances by now. At least his absence gave me time to determine just how much of my heart I could afford to give him. I had no doubt that the dark angel loved me, or that I felt something for him. But could such feelings lead to anything other than pain? He was in this realm for a reason, perhaps tied to it forever. I was passing through, though not as quickly as I would like. What was I going to do when this was over? Drag him back to France, to my father’s country cottage, and have Azrael tend the rose gardens? Good lord! Whatever would the neighbors say?
True, I had been alone since Phillippe’s father died in some foreign adventure, before my son was born. Being without male attention for so long made me susceptible to it. Another problem; angels were neither male nor female, so the relationship could never be consummated . I would never have to be concerned about him forcing his attention on me— damn it!
“Which room is mine?”
Angelique’s question reminded me of business at hand. I smiled at her. “We will look at both and then move into the one we like the best.”
“I can stay with you?”
I caressed the side of her face. She made me wish I had a daughter as well as a son. “I really wish you would.”
The next thing I knew, she flung herself against me, wrapping arms around my waist with desperate strength that nearly toppled me. I held her a long while, feeling her need as well as my own.
Eventually we chose between bedrooms that were identical in everything but color. One was midnight blue with gilt highlights, and the other lavender and rose. We chose the second. I dropped my cloak and pouch on the bed and we went exploring, hand in hand.
I was curious about a solarium on a world without night or day. It turned out to be a protruding deck with wrap-around glass walls. Beyond, I saw a blue lake under an azure sky, and a golden sun that blazed a track of light across the water. I spotted a far off
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