“It is quite simple. Lithomancy is the foundation of the witches’ power. Take that away, and they will have no choice but to fall into line. We abolish the chapter houses and place them under the direct authority of the archangels, to be deployed as we see fit. They will be a tool to restore order.”
“Whose order? Our father’s? Or yours?”
“Ours, Gavriel.” Her tone grew honeyed again. “Would that be such a terrible thing?”
“What you’re suggesting is tyranny. I won’t be part of it.”
A flash of anger crossed her face. “You have no choice. The decision has been made.”
“By whom?” he snapped. “Have you spoken to the other archangels?”
“Some agree with me,” Haniel said. “Others have grown complacent, attached to their pet humans.” Her flat gaze suggested that Gavriel fell into this category.
“Like you’ve grown attached to fantasies of absolute power?”
Her hand moved like a striking snake. Gavriel caught her wrist, feeling the rage that trembled through her.
“You forget yourself, Light-Bringer,” she hissed.
“And you forget what we are,” he replied evenly. “We were created to serve, not rule.”
She wrenched her arm free. “Naïve, as always. Do you imagine that your vaunted reputation means anything? That your judgments matter? You’re a relic, Morningstar. Clinging to ideals that no longer serve us.”
“Is that Valoriel speaking?” he asked bitterly. “Or is this ambition your own?”
Something dangerous flashed in her eyes. She rose from the supper table, her wings unfurling. “Be careful, Gavriel,” she said softly. “Even those who stand highest among us can fall.”
The door to the solar burst open. “Is that a threat, Haniel?”
Suriel stood in the doorway, looking elegant in a flowing dashiki of blue-green silk. Six seraphim flanked her, hands resting on their sword hilts.
“Sister.” Haniel’s stare cast daggers. “I don’t recall inviting you.”
Suriel stepped into the room, her dark braids adorned with gold beads. “I left explicit instructions that I was to be informed the instant our brother woke up, yet someone countermanded them.”
Haniel scoffed. “I don’t know what you’re implying, but Morningstar is my guest, not my prisoner.”
“Is that so?” Suriel moved deeper into the solar, her seraphim standing guard at the door. “Then you will not object if he returns to Arjevica with me.”
“We were in the middle of a conversation,” Haniel replied coldly.
“It sounded more like an argument.” Suriel’s smile was sharp as a blade. “Or perhaps I misheard?”
Tension crackled. His sisters had never liked each other. “My business in Satu Jos is not finished,” Gavriel began.
“You have no say about what happens in my province,” Haniel snapped. “Your investigation is closed. If you cross my border again, I shall take it up with Valoriel.”
“We shall see,” he replied. “Thank you for the meal, sister.”
She glared as they left the solar, Suriel’s seraphim guards closing ranks around them.
“You have excellent timing,” he said wryly.
“And you have a talent for making dangerous enemies.” Suriel’s dark eyes were serious. “We need to talk, but not here.”
Something in her face made him stop. “What’s happened? Tell me now.”
She pulled him into a crossing corridor. “You were brought to me in the middle of the night, at death's door.”
