Jugement du Ciel

See disclaimer in Part 1

Ein came awake with a start, jolting upright with a yell.

"Oh, good… I was starting to wonder when you would come to."

He turned towards the source of the voice. It was Celina, seeming calm as ever as she sat at his side, hands placidly folded in her lap.

From there, Ein looked around slowly. Though he didn't immediately recognize the room he was in, he knew he must still be in Asgard; most of Riviera's villages weren't this culturally advanced, and didn't have stone-tiled floors with neatly woven rugs over them. He was sitting up in bed, wearing a loose white kimono-styled garment instead of his usual clothes. Running a hand along the cream-colored sheets, he found that they were fine linen, rather than cotton as his bedclothes were back in Elendia. The walls and floor were also white; the curtains in the side of the wall were pale green.

Frowning, he turned back to Celina. "Where…?"

"You're in one of the hospital bays of the infirmary," she replied gently. "You've been unconscious for the past two and a half days—seeing Ledah fight alone seems to have put a lot of stress on you, and your body's been sleeping it off so you could cope when you woke up."

Ein bit his lip and searched Celina's face. "Ledah… how is he doing?"

She smiled. "He's been recovering as best as can be expected—sleeping, mostly. He's going to be very sick for a long time, and after that he'll need a little therapy to get him back up, but… in the long run he'll be more or less okay."

"In the long run?" Ein repeated dully. "More or less?"

"Those injuries will pain him for quite some time," Celina replied seriously, "and in all honesty, some of the worse wounds—that hip, or his arm—may always be a little tender. He lost a lot of blood, and even though your Cup of Wishes replenished his supply for a while when we were back here, he lost a lot more while the healers were working on him. He's going to be weak for a while, and even after that he may suffer… but being Ledah, he'll try to do it in silence rather than worry you. He's a sweet boy, even if he is rather insane when it comes to you. He's always been such a good child."

Ein tried out a smile and nodded hesitantly. "Yeah…"

"I'm telling you because, of course, you're going to need to compensate for that weakness. Take care of him, Ein—he's done the best by you that he can, and you should be proud of him. And I don't think I need to remind you that you'll need to be a little gentler with him in bed for a while."

"Gods, of course." Ein scrubbed a hand over his eyes. "I don't want to hurt him any worse." He looked back at Celina, almost shy now. "Can I… may I see him?"

Celina's slight smile returned. "Once you eat something. Samael will have my head if I load him with another patient—he goes all responsible when he's working with the wounded, and being responsible isn't something he particularly enjoys." She stretched. "And after that, Ashcroft and Minerva will probably want to work with you to figure out that wing-calling spell. Ledah won't like it if you don't take advantage of the gift he fought so hard for you to gain." She paused for a moment. "What will it be—beef pies, pork pies, poultry pies, or butcher's choice?"

Ein couldn't help but laugh.

---

Samael was up and giving Celina a distasteful look the moment she and Ein got through the door. Another of the Six Magi, he was the high lord over darkness, swathed in black-violet with a slightly lighter psi inscribed on his hood. He had messy black hair beneath his hood, and cat's yellow eyes that were usually glinting with the giddy sense of being up to no good. Now, however, they were professional and detached except for that small glint of displeasure.

"Now what is it? Can't a man who's lived over a thousand years get a little rest once in a while? Don't tell me you've done something else to yourself, Ein Legendra—this is really all I need right now."

"Oh, shut up and stop complaining," Celina replied briskly, waving a hand at him dismissively. "Ein wants to see Ledah."

"As if that would do much good. He's soundly asleep, as he should be," the Magus directed to Ein. "Now, shoo. I'm busy."

Ein stayed where he was, his eyes pleading desperately as he stared into Samael's hooded face.

"Stop with the pity plea—busy means busy, and out means out."

Reminding himself easily of how piteous Ledah had seemed the last time he'd seen his lover, Ein let his eyes widen and start to fill with tears.

Samael twitched. "AGH! Stop looking at me like that! Alright, ALRIGHT already for Pete's sake! You can see him, just stop guilt tripping me!"

Celina hid laughter; Ein blinked away the tears, bowed to Samael, and headed past him to the bed he'd been shielding from view.

Unlike most hospital beds, the one in this otherwise empty ward was a double, with an upraised section in the center so that the occupant could lie on his or her back without damaging their delicate wings. Ledah was carefully propped there, looking pale and vulnerable and very sick indeed, swathed in bandages with both hands resting on the coverlet that had been drawn up just to breast level for him.

Ein knelt beside the bed and placed both of his hands over Ledah's right, folding one beneath it to give it a gentle squeeze. "Hi," he said softly. "Thank you so much, beloved. You didn't have to do this for me… and now you're suffering so much for it. I'm sorry… and with the grace of the gods, you'll recover quickly." Leaning down, he kissed his lover's forehead. "I'm glad you're going to be alright."

As Ein pulled away, Ledah moaned softly and shivered, his carmine eyes slowly half-opening. The brunet caught his breath as his lover's gaze slowly settled on him, and felt his chest constrict as the blonde gave him a pained, weary smile.

"I… won for you…" he said softly, sleepily.

"I know you did," Ein replied, almost crooning as he moved one hand to gently caress Ledah's tousled hair. "You did good, Ledah." Leaning back down, he tenderly kissed the seraph's cheek. "You did so good, and I am so proud of you."

Ledah struggled to ease himself up on his elbows, wincing as the action jarred his still-healing ribs. "I… love you, Ecthel…"

"I love you, too." Carefully settling his lover back onto the mattress, Ein gave him a very soft kiss on the lips. "Take it easy, now… you were hurt pretty badly, and I don't want you to get any worse. Get some more sleep, okay?"

Ledah sighed and gave only the tiniest nod in response, closing his eyes again.

Ein smiled, fighting tears again. "That's my Ledah."

---

"So Ledah sleeps, and Ein waits."

"That pretty much sums it up. He's with Minerva right now, and Ashcroft's got Einherjar. The last time I saw them, Minerva was getting a little angry because Ein's head is everywhere but the wing spell now, even though he wanted this so badly."

Celina was sitting across a shôgi board from Agrias, the Magus presiding over light, with her cheek propped on her fist, waiting for her fellow to move a piece.

Agrias didn't seem to want to. "He's learned a good lesson about how important Ledah really is to him. Ein is still a naïve man—he tends to take things for granted, and that's as much of a curse as it's ever been a blessing. Perhaps it's a good thing that he's starting to wake up about his and his lover's mortality."

Celina shook her head. "Ledah's condition is a lot more serious than even he realizes. He would've died if not for that Cup of Wishes—should have died anyway. The next time something like this happens, not even a healer of Samael's ability may be able to save him."

"If Asgard can't depend on its Grim Angels anymore, what can it rely on?"

Celina sighed exaggeratedly. "You know what I mean, Agrias. We can't forget that they're just fragile mortals, either. Sometimes it slips with us about how fleeting life is for them…"

"You're getting sentimental in your old age." Agrias' golden-hazel eyes flicked up from the shôgi board to Celina's face. "Ledah knows very well that he's only an angel, and that he's getting older. And so long as his pride doesn't interfere, he'll remember that he can't take something like this again."

The red-haired Magus scowled and fidgeted. "Will you just do something already?"

A slow smile crept across Agrias' features. "It's patience, my dear, that wins wars, no matter how your headlong courage serves you in the short run." Pausing a moment longer, she delicately picked up one of the tiles on the board and moved it a few squares. "And I'm sorry to announce it, but I have you boxed in."

Celina headslumped. "You are impossible."

"Thank you."

---

The weeks passed in quick succession.

For the first ten days, Ledah's injuries bound him to his bed as he slowly rebuilt his blood supply. He spent most of that time asleep, his vital signs flickering all over Samael's charts. The Magi murmured worriedly over him when he wasn't conscious to be frightened by their concern, but he never fell below the critical point again.

At that same time, Ein gathered his nerves again and tried to buckle down to helping the Six Magi's spell-weavers, Minerva and Ashcroft, work out the constructs of his new pact with Einherjar. It was tough going, as Ein had never exactly been good with magic, but he tried as best he could even with a part of his mind always focused on how Ledah was doing at the moment.

On the eleventh day, when Samael announced that Ledah's broken ribs were finally knitting properly, the blonde seraph managed to sit up in bed, and adamantly refused to be given anything less than decent solid food.

That day, the rudimentary groundings of the spell were finally set.

Over the next week, Ledah's ribs and wing finished their healing process, and with his broken arm up in a sling and his injured hip tightly wrapped, he worked diligently on dragging himself across his room, clinging to various furnishings in order to make it without leaning on anyone. When he finally did, Ein cheered and applauded, cradling his lover in his arms, rewarding him with kisses and praising him as the bravest of all angels. But Samael and the other doctors and nurses who had watched over Ledah's repeated attempts knew from the sweat on the seraph's face and his expression of relief how painful it had been.

On the eighteenth day, the basic workings of the spell were laid, and all that remained were the finer details—and, of course, the testing to follow…

---

Ledah slumped back against one side of the low parallel bars, breathing hard, his face shining with sweat and his shirtfront stained wet. His chest was heaving, and each deep fitful gasp for air came in a painful wheeze.

"Come on, Ledah—you don't have much farther until you can lie back down and rest," the nurse at the end of the bars coaxed, looking worried. "Just hold on to the bars and keep going…"

"I… I can't…" The words came in a low, pained sob.

"I know how tired you are, and believe me, I don't want to force you into pushing yourself too hard," the nurse continued. "But you must do this if you want to go back to Elendia within the month when Ein is done training. Please, Ledah… just keep moving…"

"It's… not that," Ledah managed. He tried to take another half step, but was halted, his face contorted in agony, when he tried to move his right leg. "Gods, this pain…"

The nurse turned to look at Celina and Samael, who were staring at each other with serious expressions.

"Are you sure you reset that dislocation correctly?" Samael asked slowly.

Celina glowered at him. "Of course I'm sure. I've taken care of more than enough field wounds to know how. And his range of movement would be severely limited if it was off."

Samael shook his head. "Ledah, can you lift yourself over the bars? I'd like to take a look at that hip, if you please."

The blonde nodded and spread his wings to their full span, flapping tentatively as he gripped the bar closest to his observers before beating them heavily enough to lift his body mostly over the bars as he levered himself across with both arms. To Celina's observing eyes, he gave only a small grimace when having to rest his weight on his mostly-healed but still-wrapped arm.

As he touched down, he let out a short cry at the pain of moving his injured hip even slightly; Samael shook his head seriously and headed over to the shaking Grim Angel.

"Easy… I'm going to test it a little. It might hurt a bit, but if you shy away from me it'll hurt a lot worse, so stay still, alright?"

Ledah nodded, turned away, and closed his eyes, bracing himself for pain.

Very gently, Samael laid his hands along Ledah's hip; the blonde shivered and winced slightly at his touch. Celina watched as his grip on the bars tensed and eased with the Magus' gentle probing and knew that Ledah was going through worlds of agony, though he never gave more than a whimper.

At last, Samael pulled back, shaking his head. "The joint's a little inflamed, and it's the swelling of the tissues that's making it hurt so badly. You need to rest and not strain it any more for a while—it'll be stiff then, but it won't hurt so much. Stupid. I've been telling you to take it easy."

Ledah nodded, still breathing heavily, his eyes yet closed. "I know… I'll rest. But Ein's last test is later today… I'd like to be able to go there."

"Then you're going in a wheelchair," the nurse told him, her tone brooking no argument. "The same way you're going back to your room. You mustn't injure yourself further when things are finally starting to improve."

Ledah opened his eyes and gazed levelly at her. "No. I won't resist your judgment about going back in a chair, but when I go out to the field I'm going on my own two legs. Ein shouldn't have to see me like this. I won't shame him by taking the easy path. This is only damage to my limbs—and Ein once went through the loss of two of his. That whole time, he did his best not to complain and he only wept from the pain and the despair in the night, when I was the only one to hear him. It was hard for him, but he did it—he walked, slept on his back, trained, everything that caused him pain. I can do nothing less."

"It's a beautiful sentiment, but we also need to think of your health, Ledah," Celina said frankly. "If you're well enough, go ahead and push yourself. But if that inflammation hasn't subsided, either you're going with some kind of support or you're going nowhere at all. And I will not take backtalk about it. We've come close enough to losing you already without you and your honorable masculine stupidity pushing you back to the brink."

Ledah sighed and nodded slowly. "…Alright…"

"That's a good soldier," Celina said softly, the sharpness leaving her eyes and voice. "Now, let's get you back to bed."

---

"You know the drill, Ein—stand in the center of the glyph and run over the incantation in your mind," Ashcroft directed. "Hold Einherjar out before you as you do so. Concentrate on your power and then ignite the seal."

Ein let out an exaggeratedly long sigh and closed his eyes, nettled. He'd been working the same spell for almost six hours now with very little success; Ashcroft and Minerva told him that they'd basically got the spell workings down now and were simply fine-tuning it so that they could inscribe their glyph into Einherjar's core and give Ein some easier way to make use of his new ability.

They were out in the central courtyard of the Magi's citadel, with Ashcroft and Minerva's glyph drawn in charcoal on the ground. Ein didn't even recognize half the magical characters used in it, and his understanding of the others was pretty brittle. But both Magi assured him that he only needed to find the trigger within himself in order to give his spiritual wings substance.

It was finding the trigger that would be the hard part.

It wasn't enough that Ein had to concentrate or that they had to inscribe the glyph, he had to figure out what would make the wings work now anyway, as they would no longer be made of sinew and bone but his own will. He'd asked how he was supposed to get at this trigger, and from Ashcroft and Minerva's awkward silence, he could tell that they were just as in the dark about this part as he.

Ein gave himself a mental slap and wondered angrily how he could possibly go up to Ledah and tell his lover that the whole thing—his fight, his near death, their journey and the long struggle to recover, everything—had been for this failure to make it work in the end.

He had to keep trying.

But somehow, he just couldn't get his mind to stay on the subject of his tests today. Instead, his head was fixed on Ledah's uncertain condition.

Celina had just taken him aside before he'd come here and explained the details to him: Ledah's ribs and wing were completely healed now, and he could make some use of his broken arm, though he'd been given express orders to put it back in a sling if it started to cause him pain again; just less than three weeks had passed, and it usually took five or six for a break like Ledah's to fully recover.

It was his hip that kept the Magi worried.

Too much motion seemed to inflame the flesh around it; too little motion left it stiff. Celina had expressed grave worries that Ledah had torn something, but had told Ein more or less that if Ledah rested it for long enough, it should get better.

Should.

So was Ein to gain his wings—even that being uncertain—at the cost of Ledah's ability to walk?

Ein shook his head. He was being silly; even if the worst did happen, Ledah would still be able to fly, and would likely be able to walk with support. It probably wasn't that bad, anyway. But the Magi weren't sure what they were dealing with, and that made Ein nervous. The last time he'd seen Ledah, his lover had seemed just fine, assuring Ein that he was feeling alright. But he'd seemed a bit too pale, a bit too jittery, and he'd once again been sitting in bed when he'd attempted to chase off Ein's worrying.

You held me in your arms all those years ago and promised me that your wings would be mine for as long as I needed them, Ein thought to himself. I should've realized that your promise was good enough instead of being so greedy. Now we don't know what's wrong with you or even if my wings will work. I should've been more grateful for the blessings I had right in front of me.

And now…

If something is really wrong with you—if you won't recover—then I'll do everything I can to help you myself. I love you and even though you tell me not to blame myself, I know that the way you are right now is completely my fault. I should never have even taken Celina's offer when she told us about it.

I promise, Ledah. And I'll tell you as soon as I can, too…

Ein felt his chest lurch with the pain of his love, and squeezed Einherjar's hilt in his hand as the intensity of his emotions made him sway slightly where he stood. His heartbeat began to quicken as a strange rush of feeling ran over his chest, crawling along his scars…

"Ein!" he heard Ashcroft yell. "Ein, you've done it—look at yourself!"

Startled into attention, Ein blinked his eyes open and looked between the faces of the two Magi and the rest of his audience. Then, he realized and wheeled around, trying to see over his shoulders.

His wings were translucent, and the size they'd been when they were amputated during his Grim Angel trial at age seventeen. But even smaller than his current age should've allowed, they were wings—and they glittered so beautifully in the sunlight, almost as though they were made of liquid emerald.

"What was the trigger, then, Ein?" Ashcroft asked.

"I-I don't know," the brunet stammered, shaking his head. "I couldn't concentrate on the spell, anyway… I was thinking about Ledah." He kicked at the ground guiltily. "I couldn't help it."

Ashcroft smiled wryly and shook his head. "The trigger itself, then, must be your love."

Ein blushed and was silent for a moment until he'd gathered the courage to look back up. "Then… what now?" he asked almost shyly.

"Now? I should think that would be obvious," Minerva said mildly. "Fly."

Ein felt as though heavy chains and suddenly been removed from his body as a wave of giddiness rushed through his blood and he leaped up, the echoes of his wings responding more to his thoughts than his movements and spreading wide to keep him gliding.

A soft sound drew his attention, and he looked down at one of the courtyard's entrances. Painstakingly dressed back in the red priest's robes he so cherished, leaning on the stone doorframe for support, was Ledah himself, smiling wearily up at his lover.

Ein gently touched back down, running over to Ledah's side.

"You've done it," the blonde said softly, reaching out to touch Ein's cheek as the brunet started to smile. "Gods, Ecthel, I'm so proud of you…"

Looking around, Ein realized, and his smile grew. "You got here on your own?" Ledah didn't answer, though he began to smile back. "Well, good for you! Way to show all those hoverers—you're finally getting your strength back, and that's wonderful."

Reaching out, the formerly wingless angel cupped Ledah's face in his hands, stroked his left cheek and temple with a light caress of his fingers, and leaned in to kiss him—softly at first, mindful of the blonde's lingering injuries, then increasingly desperate with the joy and relief at his success on the last permitted day of his practice.

And as the two of them held each other, a great part of all the worry and anxiety of the past weeks finally fell away, leaving them more of themselves.

---

It was midnight, and soft starlight spilled over the hospital bed.

Ein lay sprawled on his back amidst the scattered covers, his bangs tumbling over his forehead appealingly. He was relaxed, asleep; apparently warm enough though he was completely naked. Ledah lay partially curled upon his lover's body, his still-sensitive leg bent just slightly into a comfortable position. He, too, seemed perfectly at ease; with his wings spread over his and Ein's bodies and Ein's arm still loosely around his waist, he certainly wasn't suffering any cold despite his own lack of bedcovers and clothing. In contrast to Ein's slackened expression, Ledah was smiling softly in his sleep, either from his dreams or the echoes of the pleasure he had taken earlier in the night.

Both of them had worked hard during the day—Ein on controlling his new spell, Ledah on reclaiming the finer motor skills he had with his leg and hip. Ein had been frazzled, Ledah pained and exhausted—but they had loved each other twice as roughly as they'd already exerted themselves, and the aftereffects of sex had lulled them into a very deep and peaceful sleep.

Ledah could almost walk normally now without twinges of pain, though running (which required a greater range of hip movement) was still a little bit beyond him, as were several of the fighting techniques he'd developed for ground combat. In contrast, his arm had been paining him a lot, and an irate Samael had continually ordered him to stick it back in its sling or stop overworking it. At least his ribs, the wrenched shoulder, and most of his other minor injuries had healed completely.

Ein had been a bit doubtful about how soon he was climbing back into Ledah's bed, but the seraph had managed to convince him at last, stating baldly how boring it got at night without his lover, who was a lot more inventive at "self-stimulation", as he had put it, than he was himself. If he could walk from one end of the room to the other without flinching and could (and did) maintain masturbation without feeling pain, it was time for them to start having sex again.

Both of them were relieved to find that their passion was not inhibited by Ledah's remaining injuries. And so they'd taken advantage of each other completely—hence their strong resemblance to a pair of tuckered-out puppies at the moment.

Celina, observing from the noiselessly opened door, shook her head at them and smiled wryly. Even though it was a good way to see that things were almost back to normal, she still couldn't believe how willing they were to have it out in a hospital bed. Granted, they were better than the ground… but not by much. Surely it was more enjoyable to make love somewhere a little more comfortable…?

Either it was a matter of personal preference, or she was getting old.

Shaking her head, she closed the door again and went off. At least this decided the matter for her, so she needed to get going—Ashcroft, like many men, disliked waiting for certain things.

---

Of all the things Ein had expected when Celina and the other Magi had called him and Ledah before their council, this had certainly not been one of them.

"You mean…" he said slowly, wonderingly. "We're… we're free to go?"

Celina made a face. "We're not your jailers, Ein. And I thought I've already established with you that keeping the two of you on a leash does nothing for any of us, not when you clearly prefer to lead your own lives in Riviera."

Ledah shook his head. "I think what Ein meant is that it's surprising to be told we can leave when I'm still recovering," he volunteered softly. "After all, my arm and my hip are…"

Samael cut in. "Summer in Riviera is a lot warmer than here in Asgard, and the change in climate would probably be better for you. Besides, you'll be in a place where you can honestly relax and not have to be as tense as you are here—and you'll actually be in your home." He shrugged. "Well, as long as you make sure to travel slowly, I certainly see no problem with this. I just want you out of my hair anyway—I hate being responsible."

"Samael, would you cut the crap for just a minute here?" Celina snapped. The Magi's healer made a face and fell silent. "I apologize for him. You know he's always like this."

"No offense taken." Ein grinned, and Ledah covered his own smile.

"Don't forget the sling," Samael told Ledah, glowering a little. "I mean it—much more straining that arm and you're going to undo all the healing that's been laid into it. I'd actually be a lot happier if Ein used his new wings to carry you as far as he can."

Ein worked his arm around Ledah's shoulders and pressed their cheeks together affectionately. "Oh, don't worry about that. I've been meaning to, so I've got this all in hand."

As Samael nodded, satisfied, Ledah turned in Ein's embrace to face Celina. "If I may ask… what brought this on?"

The red-clad Magus spread out her hands and shrugged, smiling wryly. "Well, I just figured if the two of you could manage to fuck almost continuously for two hours straight without wearing each other out or causing Ledah any real pain, it's safe to let you out of here without a nanny."

Both Grim Angels stared at her incredulously, red-faced.

Ashcroft, robed in fair blue with a paler sigma on his hood, coughed into his fist and said mildly, "Now, Celina… are you really sure you should be lecturing Samael, with the way you talk to them?"

She turned to him, apparently nonplussed, and pointed to Ein and Ledah. "Ahh, but… the looks on their faces are just so priceless! I couldn't resist."

As the other five Magi laughed up their sleeves, Celina waved a hand at her vassals. "Go on, get out of here! I don't think you need to stay around and get picked on any longer. Get yourselves home and have yourselves a real rest—you've done well by each other. I'll check up on you in a few months if I think you need it—take care, now."

Ein and Ledah wheeled around, heading back to their own quarters.

"After that I think I'm glad to get out of here," Ein muttered. "It's just plain creepy the way she knows stuff like that about us, don't you think?"

"I agree completely," Ledah replied, grimacing.

"Rose is gonna have our heads about your arm. She and the others probably trusted us not to get hurt again, and not even I really expected that you would have to fight alone. Still, I suppose it's best to get these things over with sooner than later."

"We'll just take our time," Ledah agreed soberly, turning to Ein as their walk slowed. "Lots of time, to help my hip and exercise your wings."

"Yeah…" Ein said slowly, breathlessly. They stared into each other's eyes for a few moments before the brunet leaned in and pressed his lips to his lover's.

"Things didn't go so bad, though, did they?" he said softly, wrapping his arms around Ledah's chest and very gently lifting the blonde seraph off the ground. "It worked, and before long you'll be okay again. Maybe wherever they are, the gods still have the power to bless us."

"Gods or no, Ecthel," Ledah replied, smiling, "I have you, and so I'm blessed all the same."

---

There certainly are limits to what our Grim Angels can handle, as I have always feared.

Yet, we were all lucky this time; in the face of love, Ledah Rozwelli will not admit to his limits. In the name of love, he will conquer the impossible.

Back when I was still only a spellcaster in the service of the gods, I was granted command of a troop of Grim Angels. When it became clear that my powers were needed in Asgard, I entrusted them to their post in Heaven's Gate, giving them my only Cup of Wishes for protection, should something happen. The demons hit—that was one of the worst sieges, for the demons had forged an alliance with the giants of the mountains, and the age-old enemies of the gods made the battle a hell for us. Hector and his soldiers and Grim Angels took the brunt of it in Granada, but my little force got the division of the army that made its way past his fortress.

They used guerilla tactics to hold the demons and giants off for a few weeks, as long as it took for me to get part of Asgard's home defenses out to save them. By that time, open battle had ensued. I hurried my men there, but it was too late—the last of our soldiers lay dying by the time we arrived.

His Diviner had been badly damaged, so as he and his comrades had waded into a battle that despite everything they knew they couldn't win, he had taken a fallen demon's simple longsword and fought with it instead. As I knelt beside him, he pressed it into my hands, his eyes shining with pride despite his physical pain and the horror of the injuries done to him—his wings had been torn off by demons, the fingers of his right hand crushed, his face badly maimed by the claws of one of his enemies—and whispered that it had been an honor to serve me.

By the time I found out that my Grim Angels had never even used their Cup of Wishes, it was too late to do anything for any of them.

I buried my dead and I sealed the cave that they'd been hiding in. I never fought with my hands again, using instead that soldier's nameless sword. It's become the symbol of my power and my fairness to others like him—Celina the Just, they call me. I don't deserve the title, but it's something that I try to bear the weight of nonetheless.

I don't know how Ein came into possession of that Cup of Wishes. But now I find myself horrifically glad that no Grim Angels used it in the war, for without it, Ledah would surely have died.

They're still children in my eyes, the gods protect and keep them. I hate placing them in danger, especially knowing that a lot of permanent damage has been done to Ledah during his battle with the Guardian. But doubtlessly, the time will come again when the two of them will be needed for our cause.

There has to be a better way.

I know I'll find it someday.

So that no more Grim Angels must suffer as these two have…

(Here end the accounts of Lady Celina of the Six Magi on the subject of Ledah's trial.)

To be continued in the epilogue