The courtyard of the temple of lanterns had grown quieter as the afternoon wore on.
The food had been distributed, the blankets handed out and the water barrels nearly emptied.
Now, dozens of homeless men, women, and children sat gathered beneath rows of hanging lanterns as the weekly prayer meeting began.
At the center stood the holy Lord.
An elderly man draped in flowing ivory robes embroidered with silver geometric patterns.
Time had bent his back slightly, but his voice remained strong enough to carry across the entire courtyard.
Laliya stood a few steps behind him with several temple volunteers and other holy maidens from the sanctum.
Her hands were clasped neatly in front of her.
Her posture was perfect.
Her smile, however, was not.
She hadn’t cried again after Anaqielle left.
Years of discipline had seen to that.
A holy maiden learned early how to bury emotion.
They learnt how to smooth away cracks before anyone noticed them and how to keep balance even when hurting but the effort was exhausting and every now and then, Anaqielle’s words returned.
“You hand out kindness because you’ve never had to learn how expensive it is.”
Laliya swallowed.
Her fingers tightened slightly.
The Holy Lord’s voice drew her attention back.
“My friends,” The holy Lord called.
The crowd fell silent.
“Many of us arrive here carrying burdens.” His gaze swept over the gathered people.
“Some carry grief.”
A widow lowered her head.
Tears escaping from the corner of her eyes at the thought of her late husband.
“Some carry hunger.”
Several children shifted quietly feeling targeted by his words.
Before coming to the temple, they hadn’t eaten in days.
“Some carry loneliness.” The Holy Lord smiled gently.
“And some carry wounds no one else can see.”
Laliya’s eyes stung unexpectedly.
She quickly lowered her gaze.
The old man continued.
“But no burden is carried alone.” He raised one hand toward the sky.
“The Light guides us.”
The crowd answered together.
“The Light endures.”
“The Balance steadies us.”
“The Balance endures.”
“The Radiance watches over every soul.”
“The Radiance endures.”
The familiar words usually comforted Laliya.
Today they felt distant as though she were hearing them through water.
Her thoughts kept drifting elsewhere.
To silver hair, golden eyes, the cruel voice and the strange sadness she had glimpsed beneath the anger.
Why did it bother her so much?
She barely knew the woman yet her words lingered.
It tortured her on the inside and pooled tears in her eyes.
The Holy Lord began leading the final prayer.
Laliya did the same.
“From Light we awaken.”
“Through Balance we endure,” the crowd responded.
“Into Radiance we return.”
“The Light endures.”
The prayer should have brought peace.
Instead, Laliya felt a familiar pressure behind her eyes.
‘No…
Not now….
Pease not now,” she inhaled carefully then slowly released the breath.
She steadied her control over her emotions and balanced her Lumen with her composure.
Years of training held.
Barely.
Across the street, hidden beneath the shade of an old tree, Anaqielle watched the service with tired eyes.
Back when her wings were still white and she was in heaven, such a service would’ve lightened her heart and eternal light would’ve fallen on her through their faith as it did with most angels.
However, now as a fallen, watching the service was the same as a pagan entering a temple for the first time.
It didn’t affect her in any way.
Isa stood beside her carrying a paper bag of roasted nuts.
“This is getting concerning.”
Anaqielle didn’t look away.
“What is?”
“The staring.”
“I am observing.”
“You’ve been observing for twenty minutes.”
Anaqielle ignored her.
Her gaze remained fixed on Laliya.
To her, the holy maiden looked tired.
The exhaustion didn’t seem physical but emotional.
Subtle enough that most people wouldn’t notice but having been tired herself Anaqielle noticed.
The way her smile came a second too late, the way her eyes occasionally lost focus and the slight tension in her shoulders.
Guilt twisted unpleasantly inside her chest.
The signs of her struggling were there but the so-called saints around her didn’t notice.
Isa followed her gaze.
“Oh, is this what you call observing?”
Anaqielle immediately knew what that meant.
“What?”
“You really upset her.”
“I know.”
Isa looked surprised.
The immediate admission wasn’t like Anaqielle.
The fallen angel sighed.
“I didn’t mean…”
She stopped.
The words about to come out of her mouth felt strange and uncomfortable.
Isa’s expression softened.
“Then tell her so we can move passed you ‘observing’ and get to the mission.”
“No.”
“Anaqielle.”
“No.”
Anaqielle folded her arms.
Because she didn’t know how and apologizing meant admitting she cared about Laliya’s hurt feelings and because she had spent three centuries learning not to care.
The prayer meeting ended.
People slowly began standing.
Children ran toward the food tables again.
Conversations resumed, laughter returned in the temple and in the middle of it all, Laliya finally looked up.
For a moment her eyes scanned the crowd.
Then the street beyond, the tree and right there, their gazes met across the distance.
Laliya froze and Anaqielle stiffened but neither of them looked away.
The noise around them faded once more.
The holy maiden’s expression shifted.
Surprise and confusion enveloping her frame then a softer feeling settled within her.
Something Laliya couldn’t quite name.
The longer she stared, the deeper that softness melted into her.
Anaqielle, however, didn’t feel soft when looking at Laliya.
The disturbance that consumed her when their gazes were locked onto each other was why heaven chose Laliya.
What had the holy maiden done to force heaven to give her such a gruesome test of faith?
Or was it that she was being groomed to become an angel?
Isa looked between them and immediately groaned.
“Why do I see love fireworks going off around here?”
Anaqielle didn’t hear her.
Her brain tore Laliya apart bit by bit and the realization hit her.
Heaven hadn’t picked Laliya as a means to let her back in because they pitied her.
The mission was a test for both of them with only one of them securing a place in heaven at the end of it.
For Laliya, it was a test to see whether or not she can continue to keep her Lumen clean and pure under temptation when offered her deepest desire.
And for her, it was a test to see whether this time around she’ll chose heaven over sin.
Anaqielle tensed.
If that were truly the case, she knew she was in for a long ride.
Heaven custom picked them for each other, taking into account every single desire of theirs when making the choice.
Laliya’s pretty eyes, her fost beauty and her kindness, all these were her weakness.
Her mind went back to their first meeting.
The right reaction for Laliya should have been to call for Luminars and alert the sanctum wardens of her presence.
However, until now, no one knew that she had entered the sanctum or had a talk with Laliya.
It meant that Laliya had kept her a secret.
The holy maiden has been fascinated by her wings.
She was drawn to her eyes and was curious about her and the sins she committed.
Her interest was piqued.
Which meant that for whatever reason Heaven chose her, she was everything Laliya secretly desired and was the one person that could compell the holy maiden to sin.
Anaqielle swallowed the lump in her throat.
The urge to turn back and leave drummed close to her heart.
Because if her analysis was correct, that meant that chances of her or Laliya winning were extremely slim.
The test was rigged from the start with no way for either of them to win without losing.
“Heaven does know how to raise the stakes,” she said.
“What stakes?”
“Twisted stakes.”
She averted her eyes.
Those blue-grey eyes were going to be her doom, she just knew it.
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