"I can arrange for this to be yours for a week or two if you'd like," Lucifer told Oriel the next morning.
"It is lovely – although nothing will top the villa we stayed at near the Black Sea – but I'm going home," she answered as she looked out the patio doors. "I'm not up for being part of the devil's threesome, quad, or whatever else you may have in mind."
"I don't know why I bother asking; I knew that would be your answer," he said with a smile. "However, I do believe you're biased about the Black Sea; Amsterdam was nice."
"Could you possibly know me that well?" Oriel questioned as she turned to face him. "I think you ask because you're hoping that one day I surprise you with a different answer."
"Are you going to avoid me for the better part of a year again?" Lucifer asked seriously while looking at her intently.
"I wasn't avoiding you. As much as I miss hearing you play, sitting around Lux waiting for you to grant me five minutes of your time isn't my thing, and that answer won't change no matter how much you look at me. My answers never do," she told him directly.
"You have always been honest with me, since we first met," he admitted.
"You'd do well to remember that," Oriel answered now looking intently at him.
"I always do. And, in case you're wondering, you, my fae, would get at least ten minutes of my time," he said with an indulgent smile and a wink. "If I should wish to see you?"
"You know how to find me," Oriel answered. "But if the devil calls demon once too often in jest, one day the demon won't show up. Don't be the boy who cries wolf."
"Duly noted," he said.
"Lucifer, I have never asked anything of you, but please think about what we've talked about," she entreated him before leaving. "These are serious matters."
"You have my word that I will," he said as she disappeared.
Some months later …
Oriel was sitting under a tree on the vast grounds of the Glastonbury Abbey. She was playing with a grey cat that had been prowling about the ruins doing its best to avoid the people milling about. The cat dashed off in fright suddenly disinterested in the leaf at the end of a long twig that she had been teasing it with.
"There was no need to scare him off," she said aloud as she put the stick down.
"I'm sure the sidhe will find you again," Amenadiel assured her with a slight chuckle.
"The cat's neither a demon nor my familiar; it's a stray. We both just like it here," Oriel said pointedly as she glanced upwards at him. "If you came here to see if I get struck down for sitting on monastic grounds, you're going to be disappointed, Amenadiel. I'm here quite often without ill effect; in fact, I frequent churches, too, without a problem." As she was talking, she bent to look around the celestial being. The grey cat had returned and sat a few feet away watching the pair intently.
"Oriel, I wish you no harm," he told her.
"At least not while I still may be of some use to you," she retorted brusquely.
"You are kindred spirits it seems," Amenadiel stated as the cat bravely came to sit near her again.
"I'm partial to wolves; their fierce loyalty is admirable," Oriel explained as she scratched the cat's head gently.
"As is yours," the angel told her. "Especially where my brother is concerned."
"Ahhh, now we finally get to the point," she exclaimed.
"Lucifer hasn't returned to hell," Amenadiel said solemnly.
"Are you surprised by that?" she asked earnestly.
"I had hoped for more from you," the angel said honestly.
"You asked me to speak with him and I did. He promised me he would think about what we spoke of," Oriel answered as she looked up from where she sat.
"And you believe him?" he asked her slightly scoffing.
"Your brother may be a tad licentious but his word is good," she replied with a half-smile on her face.
"Oriel, the balance is shifting more each day, surely you feel it," the angel stated.
"I cannot make him leave no matter what I may feel. He does what he wants, when he wants," she protested. "I'm not sure what more you expect from me. Why don't you put the balance right, if it's such a concern?"
"Me?" Amenadiel asked surprised.
"Yes, you," Oriel shot back. "And Michael, Gabriel and the whole lot. Surely all of you could handle a legion of demons, imps, and generally pissed off souls determined to break onto the earthly plane to wreak havoc and wrangle your devilish brother back to hell while you're at it."
"That's not our job," the angel sternly replied.
"Well, it's certainly not mine," she said angrily. "Lucifer is not my responsibility."
"Really?" Amenadiel asked with more than a touch of sarcasm.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Oriel countered finally standing up to face him. The cat, now deserted by his companion, ran off again.
"You bound yourself to him. You do remember that?" he replied slowly.
"That's what has you so convinced I should be involved in this?" she laughed. "Do you even know what the binding is between us is or are you just spouting words and hoping to scare me into doing something?"
"I don't need to know the details, I can guess well enough," Amenadiel replied causing Oriel's eyes to flash brighter than usual.
"I see pride and arrogance are a family trait and not just your brother's shortcomings," Oriel boldly stated despite knowing that she was totally outmatched. If Amenadiel wanted to injure or even kill her it was within his power.
"You dare speak to me like this?" he asked her angrily. Amenadiel had never expected her to act so brazenly towards him despite their mutual dislike of each other.
"Yes, it's one of my shortcomings. I hold my tongue with no one," she answered as calmly as she could. "I am NOT Lucifer's protector; he already has one of those. I'm also not his babysitter, and I don't do his bidding. No oaths or promises entwine the two of us. If you had lowered yourself to actually speak to me, instead of listening to rumors from every angel, demon, and otherworldly being, you would know this."
"But you are bound to him in some way?" the angel asked trying to press her for an answer.
"That is common knowledge after centuries," Oriel replied matter-of-factly.
"In what way?" Amenadiel demanded.
"I don't think that's any of your business. Ask Lucifer if you want to know. Or, are you afraid he'll tell you to go to hell?" she retorted. "I'm sure your father is well aware of the particulars, so you do always have the option of asking him."
"My father would never get involved in Lucifer's exploits," he replied surely.
"Are you sure? Lucifer is the favorite. He does whatever he wants – blatantly ignores rules and willfully leaves his God-given duty with seemingly no repercussions, while you follow all the rules and do what you are told and are now left trying to clean up his mess. That's gotta sting." Oriel said and waited to hear Amenadiel's reply.
"He is no longer the favorite and there will be repercussions, Oriel, believe me," the angel told her as she looked on with wide eyes.
"I'm sure there will be; there always are," she declared, "In fact, I told Lucifer that sooner or later his little party would end, possibly by his father's invention. Will that make him go back to hell? Probably not."
"That doesn't bother you?" Amenadiel inquired.
"What bothers me, Amenadiel, is that you seem determined to start a war," Oriel countered harshly.
"I will do what is necessary to get Lucifer back where he belongs," he replied severely as he disappeared. "Be careful, Oriel or you may get caught in the crossfire and we wouldn't want that."
"Is that a threat?" she questioned aloud. The sound of flapping wings was her only reply.
After a minute or two, Oriel sat back down and pondered what to do next. As she sat leaning against the trunk of the tree the stray cat returned and crawled into her lap. She idly petted the animal while trying to predict what Amenadiel's next move would be to better determine her own. "Lucifer," she muttered to herself causing the cat to look up at her, "Why must you always take such delight in being obstinate?" A half hour later, she was still sitting in the exact same spot and had come to no decision of what she would do next.
