Chapter 435: The Hierophant
Cassiel walked quickly through the halls of the Black Tower, government workers quickly stepping out of her way to avoid her the moment they noticed she was not in the standard uniform of the Executioners, but in the purple garb of Vinam’s personal guard.
She was still an Executioner, but in her new role, she enjoyed all the authority she’d ever wanted and more; courtesy of the new leader of all angelkind.
The newly appointed Arch Seraphim Vinam Victoriam. He stood in front of the largest chair in the room, six wings arrayed behind him like a crimson sunset. The blood red of his hair lightly tinged by its lone patch of white near the center of his forehead. His intense, blue gaze bored into the eyes those who met it, as if just by being in the same room as him, all of ones secrets were laid bare for his judgement.
As he listened to a captain of the Host sputter excuses about why their forces in Retha were refusing to withdraw to Armedon, Grand Arch Seraphim Victoriam gestured for Cassiel to assume her post at his back. She noticed that there were no Elevated at the table, or even in the room. Executioner Lieutenants occupied each corner of the octagonal meeting space, their gazes fixed.
She looked around the room, noting a clear division between "local" leaders - those from Araqlun - and new staff who were meant to handle Heaven’s newer, more direct roles in Ayther’s affairs, Vinam having wrested those roles from the Choirs through sheer political might. That wasn’t to say the major Choirs no longer had a place.
Those who proved loyal now served Heaven, instead of being served by it. By all appearances, any angel regardless of Choir, House, or previous employment, could now rise in Victoriam’s new Heaven as long as they were loyal to the Grand Arch Seraphim. It was almost all the reforms Cassiel had wanted and more...
So why did it feel hollow?
Despite being in such a vaunted position, she had almost nothing to report. Vinam was still High Executioner, though much of the day-to-day now fell to his direct subordinate, a horse-faced angel man named Neloel.
Her assigned role was consolidating information on threats to Victoriam’s new orthodoxy, which emphasized loyalty to Heaven and its Grand Arch Seraph above all. However, nobody was about to openly challenge the man who had saved Heaven from the scourge of Maledict and the indolence of the Choirs.
Cassiel kept her wavering thoughts from her face as she listened stoically for hours. After a while, she noticed some angels shifting uncomfortably in their seats, but no one was about to propose a break without the Arch Seraphim’s say-so.
So it came as a surprise when the Grand Arch Seraphim clapped his hands together. "Let us break for the hour. I have some matters to attend to before we discuss local affairs." He stood, and the room stood after him. No one else left their spots as he began to walk out. Cassiel followed behind him, and his honor guard proceeded in front.