The golden rays of the morning sun outlined the clouds with a warm glow, and the smudged streaks of pinks and oranges still stained the pale blue layout of the sky. The air was cool on her skin, and the sweet scent of him, warmed her nose. Her cherry tinted lips curled into a smile as he brushed the rouge strands of golden hair out of her face, exposing her sleepy cobalt blue eyes. His face was close to hers, his jade green eyes sparkling. They both remained silent, content with each other's company, each other's warmth, and the knowledge of their wedding fast approaching.
"Hello there" He whispered, stroking her cheek with the back of his fingers, before entwining them in her golden waves.
"Good morning" She smiled, looping her arms around his neck and burrowing her face in his chest. His arms enveloped around her bare back, and the tips of his fingers delicately traced a figure of eight over her shoulder blades.
"Did you dream last night?" His lips so close to her ear, she slackened her body at the hum of his voice. Feeling the gentle brush of his hair on her forehead, she turned her face into his neck and kissed it softly.
"I did" Her voice took on a lighter tone, as she gradually drew from tiredness. He pulled her closer, so their bare chests were touching. The warmth from his skin radiated through her rib cage and pulsed through her chest, the tingling, the sudden sense of returning home, the same feelings she always experienced whenever they touched.
"That's good" He exhaled, almost sounding relieved. Her arms tightened around his neck, as he wrapped their bodies tighter in the silk that covered them both. Falling from his embrace and back onto the feathered pillows, she opened her eyes to see him propped up on one elbow, his red lips curled slightly at their corners.
"Oh Essie," He murmured, leaning down and carefully pressing his lips against hers. Before she could return it, he pulled away again, his palm cushioning the back of her neck. She couldn't refrain from beaming at his pet name for her- no one else had one for her, she was Estrella to everyone else.
"Luce" She smiled, pushing back a tuft of blonde from his forehead, the sun shone down onto him from above them, casting shadows from his cheekbones and highlighting the perfect curvature of his lips. She was the only one he would ever allow to call him by Luce; she was the only one who deserved to. He smiled, closing his eyes and dropping his head into the awaiting pillow. A lone songbird danced around the open window, alerting the couple that it was time, and dove out of sight and earshot once again. Estrella planted a careful peck on Luce's cheek, before rolling over, and taking the silk with her as she got to her feet and danced across the room on the balls of her feet towards the towering ivory wardrobe.
"I would recommend this one" He was stood directly behind her, his right arm wrapped around her stomach and his head dipped down to hers as he lifted the flowing white fabric down from the hanger and folding it into her arms.
"I would recommend some clothes" She pushed him away with her hips, grinning as she gestured to a pearly tunic draped across the seat of the cream lounger. His lips grazed her neck gently and she let her head fall back onto his shoulder. Her arm floated upwards, and she raked her fingers through the side of his wavy mass of golden hair.
"I can't imagine what your father was thinking when he introduced us." He murmured into her ear, his hands tracing the flawless curve of her hips and waist, "You deserve the best," his voice tickled her ear as he whispered. Estrella's brow merged together in annoyance, but her smiled remained, he always downplayed himself, but she knew he was so much more than she could ever dream of.
"You are the best. You're Father's most trusted, what's better than that?" She turned to face him, raising her eyebrows as she watched his emerald orbs shine down on her. Without a word, he pressed his lips against her forehead gently, before leaving her and the dress and striding over to the lounger, his bronzed skin virtually glowing as he strode. She smiled after him, before slipping into her garment, and moving over to the mirror. Her hair was flawless, like she hadn't just woken up, cascading in golden flows all the way down her back, only ending at her waist. Her eyes fell upon the golden band that never left her upper arm. Every angel had one, it was considered disrespectful if you ever took it off. Stroking its smooth surface, her fingertips rode over the spirals that had been carved into hers for decoration – her father would only have the best for his only daughter. Soon enough, his arms were slipping around her waist again, and his gentle breaths warming her neck once more.
"Shall we make a grand entrance?" He chuckled, entwining his fingers with hers and leading her to the door.
"I don't see why we shouldn't, we're getting married after all" Estrella grinned up at Luce's face, and he beamed down at hers as he opened the door for them both, letting the sun stream onto their bodies, and the adoring sighs of the angels around them fill their ears. Oozing authority, they both stepped down the shallow flight of marble stairs in synchronization. Estrella only looked back at the impressive marble structure that was built for them as a gift, to see if the songbird from earlier had stayed.
"Lucifer!" Estrella could only recognize that voice as her father's. It boomed, as he strode over with v formation of arch angels at his flanks. She still couldn't get used to hearing Luce's full name, it didn't seem like it was her Luce they were talking to. Gabriel, to her father's left, eyed Estrella a little to intensely – even though he was considered one of the most beautiful angels to ever exist, Estrella had never taken to him. Sensing her unease, Lucifer subtly took a step forward to block Gabriel's view of his bride when he shook the awaiting hand of his future father in law.
"Almighty Lord," He nodded his head towards the bearded man, narrowing his eyes at the golden haired, blue eyed boy by his side, but the Lord didn't seem to notice. Estrella held onto Lucifer's arm, looking up into his eyes as her father watched in adoration.
"You wouldn't even guess I was the one who introduced you two." He beamed at his daughter, nodding for Lucifer to detach from her side and join his. Without a word, Lucifer kissed the top of her head, and left her and glided to the right of her Father, his lips curling slightly as he and Estrella held onto each other's gaze.
"Let us leave this place and find somewhere more suitable to discuss the current issue." Her Father lead Lucifer and the other arch angels past Estrella and toward the Golden Hall, where angels retreated to unload their problems and pray for them to be answered. Estrella watched after them, as they headed up the steps and towards the tall doors. Just before he entered, Lucifer turned and blew her a kiss, she caught it and held it to her heart as he followed the others inside. Through the thin golden shoes she wore, she curled her toes and the cloud beneath her molded with them like dough, returning to its regular shape when she relaxed her feet. Estrella took a moment to observe the community around her, the familiar faces, with the same golden hair and the same bronzed skin as her, as any angel you'd find. They all wore different variations of white silk, draping over their flawless bodies and exposing their shoulder blades for the ease of their wings; that only ever revealed themselves from under the skin at their master's command. When she met eyes with an individual, they stopped and politely bowed to her, before carrying on. Before, she found it strange that everyone paid her so much respect for no reason what so ever, but as she grew, she understood that it was their job to treat the daughter of the Almighty with a great deal more respect than they would any other angel. She was their princess after all. Princess of Heaven, soon to be Queen.
"My dear daughter," a voice came from beside her. Estrella knew, and beamed at her mother with the same cobalt blue eyes that she had. Her mother's hair was a lighter blonde than the younger angels, but her cheeks and forehead had stayed completely smooth. She had a silver fabric draped over her elbows and the dress she wore swished around her feet, emphasizing that every step she took was inhumanly elegant and breathtaking. She pulled her lips back into a smile, taking in her daughter's radiant beauty as she stood before her.
"Such beauty, only few men would be worthy of." Cupping her palms around Estrella's face, her big blue eyes still youthful as they looked down into hers. Estrella covered her mother's hands with her own and took them away from her face.
"Yet only one man holds the key to this heart of mine." She covered her heart with her own hand, almost lost in the thought of Luce's body before hers, perfect, beckoning her forwards.
"I hope he should be the only ever man to do so." Her mother's tone was stern, but her expression was as calm as a vast ocean, miles beneath their feet.
"So do I" Estrella's voice was much quieter now, Luce would not leave her thoughts, and she could not concentrate on her mother's conversation.
"Did you dream last night?" His voice echoing her thoughts, the curve of her lips returning at the thought of his hair hiding his eyes like it had done, and the playful flick of his lips when she had awoken.
"I should think you have prepared for the celebration tonight?" Her mother led her in a slow walk away from the steps she had descended down. Estrella abruptly shattered from her mind as she recalled the traditional celebration which takes place the night before a wedding, her wedding to be exact. She imagined the night clouds alive with jubilant music and the laughter of many happy angels, lit up with the golden lanterns that hovered above her head every day.
"Oh, erm, yes, I have." She stuttered, knowing her hesitant voice would spark suspicion in her mother's brain. Sure enough, she stopped her daughter, and turned her shoulders so that she was staring her in the face.
"Are you sure about that?" No matter what the occasion, her mother was a perfectionist. In her eyes, everything must be planned, practiced and perfect. And her expectations would only rise even higher for her only daughter's wedding party.
"Of course…" Estrella trailed off, avoiding eye contact with her mother as she glared down at her.
"Well it's a very good job I have, isn't it?" She smiled and began walking again, only steering Estrella towards a smaller marble structure, its columns decorated with golden fabric spiraling like ivy up them. Estrella cringed at what she knew as the home of Heaven's best dress fitter, Larina. Her golden hair was always plaited intricately across the top of her head and swinging down her back, and her emerald eyes were almost greener than Luce's. Her mother must've organized for a dress to be made especially for tonight, she didn't know whether to be anxious, or relieved that it wasn't left to her to. Her mother seemed more excited than she did, her hands squeezing her shoulders and a pearly beam frozen on her lips, and her pale blue eyes shone. One angel stood by the door bowed at the royals before him, and pushed the door open for them to proceed inside. Estrella nodded a 'thank you' knowing that her mother would be too caught up in her visions of the dress to do it herself. Inside, every inch of the pale cream walls was strewn with embroided silks, and half-finished dresses hung up by a circular mirror. Pots of diamonds and other precious jewels dotted the floor and work tops, and few angels dotted the large room either measuring fabric or sweeping up rags that could never be used for anything again. In the far corner of the room, a woman stood on a podium and turned slowly for her audience of dress makers to access the finished piece she modeled. Stood by the base of the podium was Larina, she pointed at each feature of the dress as she explained the thinking and planning behind its beauty.
"Larina!" Her mother called, waving as they both weaved and swerved in between piles of material and clustered work places. The woman spun round and her lips pulled back into a broad grin.
"Faida!" She exclaimed, her arms open as she strode over, "I'm so glad you could make it." She folded her mother in a friendly hug, before doing the same to Estrella.
"My, you have grown into the most beautiful angel, Heaven will ever see." She shook her head in disbelief, still smiling as she looked Estrella up and down.
"Thank you" Her voice was quite, she never quite grew to like Larina, she was always rather eccentric and seemed frightening as Estrella had grown up.
"Lucifer is a very lucky man!" She chuckled, her hand ice cold on Estrella's shoulder. Awkwardly stepping back so her hand fell from her, she hummed half-heartedly as her mother joined in with Larina's laughter. She hated it when admirers described Lucifer being the lucky one, she couldn't imagine a more perfect angel than him! If anything, she was the lucky one, so many women would fall to his feet, he really was unnaturally beautiful. And his heart matched his beauty, much bigger than any angel's she could find.
"Do you have the dress ready?" Her mother chimed. Larina nodded excitedly and lead the pair past the woman on the podium and through a narrow corridor in the back corner of the hall. Light poured in on them from the rooms that lined the passage, but Larina lead them past all of them and to the very end, where she revealed a brass key to unlock the most detailed door on the corridor.
"I locked it away from any curious angels; I don't want anyone to see it until tonight!" She giggled, swinging the door open and allowing Estrella in first. The walls of the room had dresses hung up all around her, and a golden podium surrounded by mirrors stood alone in the center of the room, beckoning her forward. Estrella wandered along the rack of dresses, her fingers grazing the fabric as she brushed past them all, wondering if she'd past hers yet. The only thing running through her mind about this dress; was whether Luce would like it or not. He loved most of what she wore, but there had always been that niggling thought at the back of her brain that he could always not. She looked up, to see a small mirror set in an intricate golden frame level with her head. She stared deeply into her own eyes, trying to find the ray of sparkling light Luce claimed he always saw.
"Here it is!" Larina squealed, skipping out from a walk in cupboard with a flowing white dress flying out behind her. It was difficult to see the true beauty and detail of the dress as Larina held it up, but Estrella still had to try it on, her decision would be made after then. Larina ushered her through to behind a veil and leaving her mother behind. Helping her out of the dress she wore and slip into the one she had fashioned herself only took a minute.
"Faida? Your opinion?" She beamed, hopping out first and waving a hand for Estrella to follow. She stepped out, immediately feeling the soft silk swishing around her calves. Looking down, she saw the dipped hem of the skirt falling long down the back of her calves but exposing her knees down, showing off her perfectly toned and bronzed legs, and the pearly white fabric flawlessly falling in all the right places on her waist and hips, hanging perfectly off her shoulders. Her mother gasped in amazement as Estrella stepped carefully onto the podium, watching herself in the full length mirrors all around her and accessing each and every feature of the dress.
"Do you think he'll like it?" She found herself asking, slowly turning and watching the tail of the skirt follow in her wake.
"If he'll like it? What about you, my dear? Do you?" Her mother stepped forward, reaching up and brushing strands of hair from her daughter's face.
"Of course I do, I love it." She looked down at it again, only this time she found herself smiling, grinning even, as she did.
"Then I'm sure he will too." Her mother assured her, beaming into her daughter's eyes, "Now before you get it messy, go change back into the other one." Estrella nodded and hopped down from the podium and disappeared round the veil again. Folding up her new dress, she passed it to Lavina to wrap up for her to take home. Glancing outside, she saw the light shine of the morning had dimmed to a golden glow, and many angels had already begun to prepare for the celebration that night.
"Thank you Lavina, it's much appreciated." Her mother nodded at the successful dress maker before following Estrella back into the bustling court.
"Where are you going?" Faida questioned her daughter, as she powered as elegantly as she could towards the building she had last seen Luce disappear into.
"I'm going to show Luce my dress?" She naïvely answered, patting the folded dress in her hands.
"Oh no, dear! You can't see him until tonight! And do not call him 'Luce' with other ears about!" Her voice hushed and she watched the angels who could've heard anxiously. She grabbed Estrella's arm and hauled her away and back towards her own marble palace.
"You shall be getting ready here." She lead her daughter through the palace Estrella had once grown up in, through the corridors she still knew like the back of her hand, and towards her old bedroom. Once she entered, it was a mad rush. Her mother's close angels had been anxiously awaiting her arrival, and as soon as she appeared, they took her dress from her and sat her down to work on her hair and make-up. What seemed like hours passed until she was allowed to stand up again. The sky had completely darkened and the stars dotted the midnight blue, sparkling down on them. The first voices and laughter began to fill the air.
"I expect you are rather excited, Princess Estrella?" One angel working on her hair asked. Estrella nodded, receiving a curse or two from hard at work angels as she undid a section of their work when she moved her head.
"Lucifer, he was here earlier. Before you came of course, he came with your father to discuss something privately." Another one said. Estrella felt her skin boil; she knew how her father could be. He was so protective of his daughter, and even though there couldn't be a shadow of a doubt in his mind of Lucifer, he still would warn him of the consequences if he ever harmed his new wife – Estrella.
"Fathers will be Fathers." Estrella sighed. But watching her reflection across from her, she saw the angels behind her head look at each other wearily, before continuing with her hair.
"What is it?" Estrella's brow merged together in confusion. The two angels fell over their words in a bid to explain to her, but before they could, her mother strode in, wearing a new dress and her hair woven in a beautiful plait over her shoulder.
"Haven't you finished yet?" She glared at the angels, and the immediately stepped back from Estrella, nodding vigorously at Faida.
"Let's have a look at you then" Beaming, she helped her daughter to her feet, turning her slowly to examine the plait that had been spun on top of a wave of her golden hair.
"Beautiful." She breathed, nodding at her angels, forgetting completely about the tension between them before, and lead her daughter away and down the corridors she had taken her only hours before. She couldn't hear the laughing and calling from here, which concerned her, since she was stood at her mother and father's door, waiting for it to open.
"Are you ready, angel?" Her mother whispered in her ear. Estrella stayed silent but nodded. Shifting from foot to foot in the moments leading up to the doors opening. The huge golden lock of the door snapped back, and the doors began to open slowly. Estrella held her breath as the golden glow poured in. She imagined a sea of her disciples stood at the foot of the steps applauding her as she stepped down, her father with his broad smile and open arms welcoming her, and most of all her beloved Luce, stood in front of all of these people with an outstretched arm for her to take. But as the doors opened, there was no sound, She couldn't make out the faces she knew so well from growing up there, she couldn't make out her father, and she couldn't find Lucifer. The light outside was too bright for her eyes to make anything out even. Holding a hand up to hide her face from the light, her heart stopped. Estrella's eyes widened in horror and her breathe caught in her throat. Her father, along with his close angels, had Lucifer at the edge of the cloud. He was seething, spitting his words at a horrified Lucifer, who kept looking over his shoulder to see the miles and miles of air between him and Earth. Estrella had seen this many times before, but never EVER dreamed that Lucifer would be trapped in this position. Her father was casting him to fall.
"Estrella! NO!" Her mother's voice was far behind her now, as she flew down the steps and sprinted as fast as her feet could carry her towards the crowd. But her feet wouldn't move fast enough. Like she was wading in thick tar towards them. Her speech had stopped, like she was screaming underwater but no one could hear. And it was like she was completely invisible, no matter how much she waved her arms, not her father, not Lucifer, not anyone could see her. She screamed at the top of her lungs, but only a wheezing sound would come out.
"Father NO!" She screamed, but she was too late. Almost as if the world had slowed, her father's fist pounded against Lucifer's chest, unbalancing him and sending him over the edge. But before he was completely gone, his frantic green eyes caught sight of Estrella, and he mouthed something she only understood as 'I'm so sorry'. She shot past her father and neared the edge, but strong arms found her waist and hauled her backwards. Lucifer's screams echoed across the sky, and Estrella's wails ached even her own ears.
"My daughter-"
"NO! What have you DONE?! He was an innocent man, Father! He loved me! How could you do this to your only daughter?! How COULD YOU!" Gabriel held her back as she screamed at her father, tears streaming down her face as she wailed. Soon her mother was in view, and she shook the arch angel's arms from her and raced towards Faida, flying into her arms and burrowing her face into her collarbone. Her mother held her protectively, and slapped away her father's arms as he attempted to comfort her.
"What have you done?" She seethed at her husband, holding the back of Estrella's head with her palm and hiding her face from the on lookers.
"He betrayed what he believed in, he had to be punished." Her father's voice was even and dull as he walked away, leaving his wife and daughter behind. I'm so sorry, had been Lucifer's last words to her before he was taken from her. Never to see her again. An aching throb tore at Estrella's heart as she screamed in her head, asking herself, sorry for what?