Chapter 3

~Celestial Realm~

~Hall of Dreams~

Reqiel didn't flinch at the handheld carriage that was awaiting him at the last of the stairs that led down the castle entrance, his feet barely brushed the ground before he was bundled into the open carriage which had gold-colored velvet curtains on both sides to preserve his privacy.

He went on hidden walks like this, once every month, and it seemed rather unnecessary to him because he couldn't even see the scenery.

He would be carried to the gates of his castle where a horse-drawn carriage was waiting, the process to leave his castle was made incredibly complex.

The Council meetings were held in the Hall of Dreams which was far removed from his castle, almost everything was far removed from his castle for reasons he was never told.

He settled back on the plush cushions inside of the carriage and listened to the quiet clop of hooves, the steady movement of the carriage lulling him into a daydream. He went over his crudely made plans once more with a fine-toothed comb and noted that there were a lot of ways it could possibly go wrong and backfire.

Sooner than he predicted, the carriage slowed to a stop. He would have to put on his best behavior if he wanted to see the King because Sarell could very well decide that he wanted to make a request first and then he would never get what he wanted.

A private visit to the King.

"Your Grace," A butler greeted him as soon as he was helped out of the carriage. "The Lords and Archangels have been awaiting your presence." He bowed fastidiously, wings out.

Reqiel shrunk into himself, another thing to add to his list of dislikes. One had to have their wings out during the entirety of the Council meetings, it was horrible; wings were like armors, they hindered movements - even more than the ridiculous robes he had on - and were heavy, his back was going to ache after this.

He let his wings out, the magical appendages effortlessly materializing through his robes that even an ant would find difficulty escaping. All wings of Angels were white but High-Born Angels had a golden tint to theirs, it made his eyes hurt.

He followed the butler down the long wide hallway that was designed with indoor flight in mind, Reqiel shuddered imperceptibly. Flying inside a building was similar to wearing a woolen coat during a heat wave, claustrophobic.

The Council meeting was already in full swing when he arrived, the five Archangels sat at the head of the grand circular table and always presided over the meetings to give the reports back to the King.

His adoptive brothers were not around, they were on travels; something that would never happen to him, or maybe it would, if luck were to be on his side for the first time in his life.

Everyone looked up as the doors swung open and Reqiel shrunk harder into himself, he wasn't the shy type but the High-Borns had a way of stripping an Angel down to the bone with the coldness and aloofness present in their watery eyes.

He stood at the entrance of the hall, awaiting approval to come in, he was late after all and should normally pay a fine.

"Come on in, Prince Reqiel, it is good that you have decided to join us today," Araval announced grandly, the tall Archangel always treated him like a bumbling toddler and that exasperated him to no end but in this situation, it would work to his advantage because he wasn't going to get fined, hopefully.

He bowed as regally as his stiff robes and bothersome wings would allow but he was sure it just came off as a clumsy stumble - it wasn't his fault.

He hated materializing his wings indoors and he was never let out, his attendants didn't materialize their wings while serving or working so it didn't seem weird that he preferred to not bring out his flashy wings.

The walk to the only empty seat was a nightmare but he made it there in one piece this time, which was actually a record breaker. Usually, he always managed to trip on his robes or wings, sometimes both before finally crashing into his seat and struggling not to pant from exertion.

"Back to the issue at hand," Myril said in his booming voice, a slight glare on his hard face. Reqiel couldn't help but think that maybe the Archangel didn't like him.

"The Demons are definitely plotting something." Lord Garabond said and Reqiel kept a serious poker face like he was interested even though he had listened to this exact sequence of conversation multiple times.

"Lord Garabond has a point." Another Lord harrumphed importantly and Reqiel had to briefly close his eyes so he wouldn't roll it. "It has just been twenty-one years since the Fourth Holy War, they shouldn't be on Earth for at most another century."

Reqiel just placed his elbows on the large gold table in front of him and twiddled a wisp of fair hair that escaped its confinement high on his head around a finger, he would pick his prison of a bedroom over Council meetings any day.

In his opinion, the High-Borns were just making a lot of noise over the Demons' reappearances on Earth, it wasn't that he didn't care but he could understand Demons wanting to explore a bit.

Earth was neutral ground but after the Angels won the Holy War, they laid claim over it. What was previously a hunting ground for Demon Hunters turned into the Angels' jurisdiction.

He wished he could at least be allowed to train as a Demon Hunter like Prince Velia and Prince Cirion, his older brothers but as usual, he was chained up to his castle taking harmless classes that were thoroughly useless.

Sometimes he felt left out, like baggage no one wanted but wouldn't get rid of, it was so tiring.

"Exactly why we should make calculated actions to decipher what they might be up to…"

Reqiel just sighed inaudibly, this meeting was going to be especially long.