An Angel’s Blessing

The blade of my knife slices and cuts in a smooth gesture. Enough for the lamb to bleed on my plate, its juice moistening the bunch of vegetables served with it.

    A meal which every gremlin is able to taste tonight. Something that wouldn’t have been possible without Armi- Ambrillia’s care.

    Taking a bite from my own plate, I cast her a side glance.

    Left without a choice to sit at a more comfortable distance from Ambrillia, I ended up sitting by her side.

“Don’t forget the plan.” I tell myself. “I have to learn more about her.”

    Tonight is the night I get to learn about the true Ambrillia, about her boring antics. Tonight is the night I shatter this illusion called love.

    Of course, this is the moment she chooses to glance at me.

“Does the food suit your taste?”

“Well, as for a meal served in an orphanage, I shall admit that the taste is pretty decent.” I attempt a smirk.

“I helped cooking it.”

    And fail to keep it. Barely avoiding to choke on my food, poisoned with the sweet care she put into preparing it.

“D-Does this place lack that many hands…”

“Ohh, It’s not like that. They probably could have handled it on their own. I just wanted to take part in the preparations. Anyway, I didn’t do much either.” She leans her cheek against the back of her hand, a move seemingly designed to torment me. “The biscuits, on the other hand, are entirely my own craft.”

“You’re a peculiar one. No noblewoman I know would ever do such a thing when a servant can instead.”

“Are you so close to another woman as to go to her place?” She frowns, yet her smile doesn’t fade.

    Gulp.

“No…”

    Her frowning dissipates.

“In any case,” I try to redirect the conversation to safer topics, “that’s quite the dedication. Is there any reason why you go so far for this orphanage?”

    Of course, she’ll say there isn’t. That it’s just out of pure goodness. HAAH. Dull.

    This will be faster than I thought. I’ll get bored in no time. For Ambrillia is no different from other good people.

“Mmm? You want to know the little story which goes along?” She tilts her head to the side.

“There… is one?” I feel the flame of my hopes falter ever so slightly.

    I can swear I just saw her let out a silent chuckle.

    Averting her closed eyes from me, she takes a sip of her hydromel. Most likely produced in Ambrosia.

    I glance down at her li- drink. A golden beverage, worthy of dampening the lips of such an ethereal creature.

“Nothing elaborate, though.” She resumes then. “I’m afraid there are no deaths nor conspiracies to entertain you. My interest in Orsephius Orphanage appeared a few years ago after Blathnat, my family’s banshee, ran away from our estate for some reason.”

“For some reason?” Blathnat suddenly appears, leaning forward between us briefly, only to express her disappointment. “This was when you began reading me these stories…”

“I decided to look for her throughout Ambrosia,” Ambrillia resumes without bothering about the banshee, already walking away, “and across my wanderings I stumbled upon this orphanage. The children didn’t have much to distract themselves, so I decided to read them some stories. And they truly liked it.” Her smile widens with discreet mischief. “Thus I thought that I could come here more regularly…”

“Did she just admit that the orphanage caught her attention because the gremlins became the new targets of her eccentricities? And what the hell are these stories about…”

    That’s not exactly what I expected to hear.

༻❦︎༺

    Orphans are all gathered around the angel’s statue in the middle of the room, some of them already have eyes filled with sparkles.

“What do they await like this?” I ask, raising an eyebrow as Ambrillia and I observe them a few steps behind.

“One of their favourite games, which we play each full moon.” She answers.

    Puzzled, I glance back at the children when one suddenly exclaims in a joyful voice.

“Ahh! There! There! The feathers!”

    Above our heads, where the angel’s wings curve to embrace its slender waist, a bunch of pastel feathers appears out of nowhere. Covering the stones ones with colours, as if freed from their stillness. Certainly one of Blathnat’s tricks.

“The ones among them who catch a feather have to choose someone and offer them a hug.” Ambrillia resumes.

“A-” I pause to wince. “What… Why…”

“It is one of the rare things one can offer even if poor. And yet it is a precious one. This is our way to honour Orsephius for his generosity.”

“Orsephius?”

“The angel this statue represents. The one at the origin of this orphanage. He once created the orphanage to protect lost children.”

    Peculiar words. If almost everyone believes in the existence of angels, a lifetime can pass by without any encounter with such creature happens. Their existence is beyond us, their apparitions as fleeting as a dream impossible to grasp.

“Isn’t it just a legend?”

    I glance back at Orsephius’ features, the softness in his gaze almost too authentic to ignore.

“Do you think so?” She glances at me, briefly. “As you know, it is said that angels allow their feathers to reach our lands to contribute to people’s happiness. They give us their benediction. Even if it’s rare, I believe that some do give more than their feathers. Their time.” Ambrillia pauses. “And so did Orsephius. Maybe on a whim, maybe on a stroll. Still, he found lost children and offered them shelter here. A few adults joined him and, together, they built the foundations of what became his orphanage.”

    At her words, an idea shapes in my mind.

    Grim. Unwanted. This can’t be true. Like a hand gripping my heart.

“What do you think it would mean then, if one of these feathers blackened?”

    I barely notice Ambrillia’s silent gaze, not sure if I even expect an answer.

    Slowly, as if they weighed nothing, the feathers begin falling. The light reflecting through the feathers casts iridescent glows all over the gremlins faces as they run all around, hoping to catch one.

“Are these… the candy feathers?” I ask.

“Mmhm,”Ambrillia nods, “these are the ones you sent. And, thanks to them, the party is even more wonderful than it usually is.”

“Ohh.”

    …

    Wait.

    What a disaster! My actions contributed to brighten the faces of poor orphans??? My actions, the evil Duke’s ones??

    My mind shatters at this horrid discovery and, stumbling back, I sit on a nearby wooden crate. Prey to a feeling of great disarray, I lean forward, elbows against my knees and hands pressed at the back of my head.

    This is a scheme, a conspiracy, a crime against my evilness to use my offering in such a way!! How naive of me. I lowered my guard but briefly when I told Keillweist to send these candy feathers to the orphanage… I simply wanted to get rid of the proof of a moment of weakness. And now I am the source of their hearty laughs? Treacherous! Scandalous!

    A tap against my knee.

    Frowning, I raise my head at the intrusion, only to notice one of these little orphans standing right in front of me. A pastel blue feather in his grasp. A single tooth missing from his smile.

    As I stare at him with a quizzical look, the gremlin extends his arms towards me.

“Ohh, no…”

“I caught a feather.” He proudly states.

    Sometimes, thoughts just vanish, as if by a primal instinct. A way to preserve your last remnants of sanity. Sometimes, it’s okay.

“Maybe all this time I was already dead. Maybe I’m in hell and this is all an illusion created by the devil to torture me.”

    With a sigh, I straighten on my seat, taking the child in my grasp.

    With a smile, the boy leans forward to wrap his arms around my waist. Taking advantage of his position to whisper next to my ear.

“I’m glad that Miss Armillia finally captured you.”

“Finally?”

    Frowning, I pull back the gremlin, enough to glare at him.

“Dare say this ag-”

“She always tells us something about you. It took us years before we convinced her to take a chance.” He pauses. “Did you both already kiss? Are you going to have bab-”

    Before I have the opportunity to throw the demon disguised as a child through the closest window, Ambrillia saves him from my evil grasp, capturing him in hers.

    Losing his candy feather in the process, I catch the latter in my hands.

“Now that you have given your hug, Colm, maybe you should join the others and devour these biscuits I made?”

    The question is a lie. The only possibility Colm has to continue breathing is to flee. And so he does, because Colm aspires to become a grand villain (probably) and he has to live to become one.

    As I glance at the trails of star-shaped biscuits assaulted by the orphans, I have no time to react before a hand pulls me up from my seat. I have no time to react before Ambrillia drags me with her, leading me away from the horde of gremlins.

“What are you doing?” I utter with a glance at her hand, covered with a long frilly glove stretching to her forearm.

“Shhh…” She glances back at me with a hint of mischief. “I shared you enough with them for tonight.”

    This wasn’t supposed to happen like this…