"Did he touch you?" Imperius asked.
"No. Gurzick stayed in his path," Anaurael sighed.
"Good. I would have killed him, if he did."
"I know."
"I should put up an angelic imprint in this room to keep non-angelic beings out."
"You would block out Gurzick."
"That is also the idea," he snorted.
"He did help me, you know. Yes, he is a demon, but he has been protecting me in your absence."
"A demon is always a demon. A filthy, disgusting..."
"Protector of me and your offspring," she finished with a soft chuckle. He grumbled, but she did hold merit. "Although, I would appreciate it if the treasure was stored elsewhere."
"I can agree with that," he muttered and kicked aside a gold cup that fell in front of him. "I need to speak with the Council. I want you to join me."
"For what reason?"
"You will see," he nodded. She frowned softly, but nodded back. Izarius and his fellow brethren were cleaning up the room and trying to keep the piles of wealth under control for movement. On hearing this, they made ready to follow them.
"I'll need to bathe later," she said.
"That is fine. Go ahead and change into something more presentable," he said. As much as he liked her current gown, he knew she needed something else to wear. At the sight of a long, sky-blue gown that was long enough to trail over the floor behind her, it was agreed on. She changed into it, and he led her to the main Council chamber. Auriel and Itherael were already there.
"Hello, sister," Auriel greeted warmly and clasped hands with her.
"To what purpose are we called?" Itherael asked after he greeted Anaurael next.
"We need stricter security measures," Imperius grounded out.
"There is no need," Itherael said.
"Then how did a human manage to breach my Halls?!" he asked.
"He did no harm. He took nothing," Auriel said.
"He went to try and wake her!" Imperius argued.
"What?" Auriel asked.
"It is true. Gurzick stopped him from approaching me. Then Izarius appeared to knock him down. Izarius would have been there, but I needed more food," Anaurael frowned.
"And you knew about it," Imperius glared at Itherael.
"I did. And there was no harm done. If there was, I would have stopped the human," he said. "All can come here. As much as demons are not welcome, we tolerate the Greed Goblins. To a point, that is. It is rare for mortals to come and go as they please."
"My parents are subject to this?" Anaurael smiled.
"Of course," Itherael nodded. "As is Tyrael. The Nephalem is required to aid us only if the need is too great. If there is no need, then all is well."
"I am still going to have more warriors in my Halls," Imperius growled. "I refuse to allow any more of this blasphemy to happen!"
He glanced down at Anaurael when she suddenly clung to his arm from a bought of dizziness. He knelt down to her carefully to ensure that she was well. After a couple deep breaths, she nodded to show that she was fine. "I was a touch dizzy for a moment. It passed."
"Are you sure?" he asked carefully.
"Yes. I just need to remain calm," she smiled. He nodded and stood up again to regard his brethren. He did let her lean into him a bit. At the sight of her turning green, Itherael pointed to an open window. Imperius carried her over quickly to let her body purge itself.
"This may happen quite a bit?" Auriel asked.
"It will, I am afraid. It may take some time for it to leave. Or it could last throughout. It can vary," Itherael sighed. Izarius was there with a glass of water for her. After she rinsed out her mouth, she rested a touch against the ledge until Imperius pulled her into his arms to cradle her.
"I will place a few more warriors throughout my Halls, and they will not let any through that are not invited. If they do not have an audience with me, then there is no need for any to roam my Halls," Imperius stated. This was readily agreed to. There would be questions later, but he had to tend to Anaurael. They understood this. He carried her back to his inner sanctum. He could have teleported with her, but he knew that walking like this seemed to calm her. She was already in a deep sleep when he reached his throne to sit down with her in his lap.
When Gurzick appeared and got glared at, the goblin only asked, "She okay?"
"For now. She got ill. What do you want?" he growled.
"Human. No like," Gurzick sighed. "Hurts much."
"It's how humans tend to be."
"Yes. Most."
"What did that human want with Anaurael? What exactly happened?"
"I can answer that," Greed said. "Like he told you. He was bored. And, he poked his nose in places that it didn't belong."
"Much like you."
"I only poke my nose in places where others have forgotten to put things."
"You still do. Regardless of the situation."
"Anyways," Greed said with a touch of annoyance. "the human wants to show her how pleasure works. In his way. He thought he could try to attempt it while she was asleep in her bed."
"He is no longer allowed within my Halls!" Imperius glowered.
"What?" Anaurael jolted awake. "Oh..."
"We were talking about the human that invaded my treasury and your space," Greed smirked.
"He means well, but he puts too much effort into something that isn't needed," she yawned and reclined heavily against Imperius. "He appears to be one of those humans that thinks that all females worship the ground he walks on. I would be the one to put a few shards of glass under his feet."
"Maybe a spear or two," Imperius muttered.
"Spike traps?" Greed giggled. Anaurael chuckled and yawned again. When Imperius began to breathe deeply and evenly for her, she was soon sleeping again. Greed chuckled softly and said, "There is an old jeweler by the name of Covetous Shen. I've known him for a rather long time. He is gifting me with gems, as I gift him with food."
"For what reason?" Imperius asked now. He was actually curious.
"I can never have too many gems," he chuckled. "But, I think I may be stockpiling them for her, too. I'm still not sure these days."
"That brings up something I wish to discuss," Imperius growled. "There is too much clutter in her chamber. I understand why you do such, but she cannot move now."
"I saw no problems with it," Greed snorted. "But, fine. This is Heaven. I can invest in treasure chests. I'm sure my minions can find plenty."
"Just do what you can."
"Maybe another chamber could be made. One right before her chamber. A form of bait to stump the ones getting in. We can hide her true chamber behind this one."
"I can see where you are going with this."
"Humans are easily distracted with wealth. I know this all too well. So, I could make a tricky pathway through the room. Each dead end could hold something nice and sparkly. If it is touched, it can summon something nasty to defend it," Greed seemed to chuckle wickedly.
"And, if her door is found?" Imperius asked. "And how would we open it without springing the trap? She would not wish to teleport all the time."
"Oh, I know that. Special stones can be used to bypass this treasure chamber completely. But, I do like her being able to see what I bring. Hmm. Ah! She could...well...hmm...no..."
"I will make one suggestion," Imperius said carefully. "Make the chamber before her room. Fill it with the traps you suggested. We may even be able to have a trick stair that can teleport the intruder to this chamber in another part of Heaven. If they manage to get through, they will find themselves at Anaurael's door. Maybe even at the main entrance of Heaven. As for my suggestion, angelic imprints will be immune to open the doors. Leave some wealth in her chamber, but place it in the chests, as you suggested. As much as I despise you for being a demon, I understand that you are attempting to safeguard her, too. I want to know why."
"She never hurt my minions. She gave them things, instead. It caught my attention. I will also tell you this. Should something befall you, or if she comes to intense harm, I can spirit her away to my realm. I will give you access to it to retrieve her. My realm is exceptionally hard to breach. I can protect her until you are ready to collect her."
"On a condition."
"And that is?"
"She is to have at least one of her angelic warrior guards with her. She will feel awkward, if that were not the case," he said. He hated making deals with demons, but there was a fine line between knowing something that could happen and feeling that something was about to happen. The extra safety measure would be a last resort.
"I accept," Greed said in a rather serious tone. "I do like the stairwell idea. Maybe we can do that. She can go into my treasury as often as she likes without fear of traveling too far from your chamber. It may work best. We can do a block of stairs to keep intruders from trying to jump over them. Angelic signatures, or guests, will be immune. If you work on the room, I can put in the teleportation trap. I also think I know what to do to make me feel even better. I'm going to go pick on that human."
"Fine," Imperius nodded. Gurzick came to and teleported away. Now that he was alone with her, he began to relax. He rested a hand on her belly and enjoyed the shimmering her mark did for him.