jovahs_heiress | yes, we believe in the wisdom of our god

Isabella is generally referred to as: promising.

Angels in general are a breed apart. Of course they've all got lovely voices, they've all got classical music training and know the masses and prayers, they're all blessed winged creatures -

But that doesn't mean they're all smart, or all good, even (Isabella was taken to see Windy Point, once, or what's left of it, and of course she sees the scars on Galo Mountain every year at the Gloria; there stood angels who were not good). And Isabella is smart and good.

Isabella is always the first to volunteer for an intercession. She likes them. She'll call down weather, plead for seeds, pray a shower of medicine to fall from the sky, and she will get what she asks for, and she loves nothing more than to dive from hours aloft in prayer and clasp the hands of the people she helped and go home to the Eyrie to take on her next assignment. When there are none - when there is the right amount of rain and sun in the province, when there is no plague and no famine - she studies. She studies a bit of everything, but she fancies herself particularly a historian, investigating the accounts of Archangels' reigns past. From books, mostly, although once she wrangled herself a year in Cedar Hills to assist the Archangel Linus, and when she is in the Eyrie she closely follows the leader of the host there, the former term-lapsed Archangel Delilah.

She tried to get in with the other living former Archangel, too, Alleluia the oracle who served as Delilah's interim while the latter's wing recovered from an injury, but after a few hours' conversation Alleluia said that she could not accept Isabella as even a temporary acolyte and sent her to Peninnah instead. Isabella learned a lot from Peninnah, but she's confused about why Alleluia turned her down personally only to send her to another oracle, after such a prolonged interview. Particularly since Sinai is in her own province; what was the point in sending her all the way to Gaza?

But the instruction came from an oracle, and oracles' words more often than not come from Jovah. She went to Gaza, learned from Peninnah, and went home.

Now she is back at the Eyrie, and the first thing she wants to do is let Delilah know that she's back. Her wings aren't so tired that she can't immediately fly to the Corinnis or the outskirts of Semorrah or anywhere and accomplish something. Failing that, she'd love to sign up for harmonies again now that she's home and wants to know what she ought to schedule around.

Delilah is with her husband Noah, and a visitor. He doesn't seem like a petitioner, and he doesn't look like an Edori, although the fact that he and Noah are talking in Edori suggests that he might be an adopted one. (There are hardly any Edori of either sort left; most of them live in Ysral, now.) Isabella waits patiently outside the door for the host leader's attention.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

pythbox

Nathaniel looks shocked.

Micaiah grins.

Nathaniel's look of shock turns to one of wistfulness.

From:

jovahs_heiress

"We don't throw those around when we don't need to," she says. "But I do know how."

From:

pythbox

"Okay," says Nathaniel, apparently deciding this is sufficient protection.

From:

jovahs_heiress

"Do you want to see if Delilah is available now," Isabella says, "or would you rather wait a day or two?"

From:

pythbox

Nathaniel wavers.

"I say now," says Micaiah.

From:

jovahs_heiress

"I'll go see if she has time now," suggests Isabella, "and leave you two to get to know each other a bit?"

From:

pythbox

The boys look at each other warily.

Nathaniel nods first.

Then Micaiah does too.

From:

jovahs_heiress

Isabella pecks Micaiah on the temple as she withdraws, and leaves them be while she strides through the halls in search of Delilah.

Delilah is busy, but Noah, who is not, says that she'll be available in another ten minutes. Isabella thanks the former angelico and heads back to fetch Micaiah and Nathaniel and see how they're doing.

From:

pythbox

They're sitting side by side on the edge of her bed; Micaiah has his shirt off to show Nathaniel some of his scars.

Nathaniel does not seem very surprised.

From:

jovahs_heiress

Isabella's seen Micaiah with his shirt off before and the sight isn't exactly new to her either, but she's never drawn her attention particularly to the scars - and she's been making a background assumption that scars are probably something Edori in general accumulate through harsh living conditions and that Micaiah in particular could have added to by pickpocketing violent people. But no. Of course at least some of them are from the sort of source that will leave Nathaniel utterly unsurprised.

"Delilah will be able to see us in a few minutes," she says.

From:

pythbox

"Okay," says Micaiah. He puts his shirt back on.

From:

jovahs_heiress

Isabella leads them at a sedate pace to the offices where Delilah is - she's catching up with one of her daughters, who'd been to Cedar Hills for a month. Once the angel Bethany sweeps grandly away, her black-edged white feathers spread like sails behind her and looking identical to her mother's, the trio can go in.

"Hi, Isabella, Micaiah - who's this?" Delilah asks.

"This is Nathaniel. It turns out," Isabella says carefully, "that he's Micaiah's brother."

From:

pythbox

Nathaniel looks nervous. But then, Nathaniel frequently does.

From:

jovahs_heiress

"You know Micaiah was adopted by the Manderras, but I don't think he told you why. You can guess from Nathaniel's age that their parents were in fact still alive at the time; he's not the orphaned angelica Rachel -"

"Isabella, the historical references aren't actually helpful."

"Sorry. But, Micaiah ran away. And he had reasons. And it occurred to me just the other day that he might have siblings - and I found that he did. I've put Nathaniel in Baruch's children's choir for now but that will only hold until the Gloria, and it doesn't give me an excuse to bar visitation if they take it into their heads to visit."

Delilah glances gravely between Micaiah and Nathaniel, clearly expecting elaboration.

From:

pythbox

"Our father," Micaiah says quietly, clearly having trouble with the phrase, "likes to hurt his kids. He used to beat me, and then he used to burn me."

From:

jovahs_heiress

Isabella reaches for his hand and squeezes firmly. (Not too firmly. She doesn't want to break anything. Just wants to be warm and solid and present for him.)

"And he wasn't... reformed by the disappearance of his firstborn, or by time," Delilah asks, looking at Nathaniel.

"Nathaniel grew up thinking that his father had killed Micaiah," Isabella puts in. "That seemed plausible to him."

"Nathaniel?" Delilah says.

From:

pythbox

"He told me I used to have a brother who was very, very bad," Nathaniel whispers. "But he never said what happened to him. Just that he got punished a lot, and I should be glad I'm so good because my brother had it worse."

From:

jovahs_heiress

Delilah regards Nathaniel silently for a few moments, then returns her attention to Isabella.

"Where are you going to put him?" she asks.

"There's options. If nothing else, the Gabriel School in Velora, maybe one of the oracles when he's older, but there's only one of him and I think there will be room somewhere in the Eyrie for one little boy if I look," says Isabella gratefully. "What are you going to do?"

"Well," says Delilah. "You can tell your father what this man looks like and have him barred from entry; if he has legitimate petitions I can send someone unrelated to this situation to meet him in Velora and hear them, but he won't be in my Eyrie. If he escalates - then we can also escalate. What about your mother?" she asks, addressing the boys. "Is she also at fault? Is she safe herself?"

From:

pythbox

Micaiah shrugs.

Nathaniel hesitates, then says, "Mother was very glad to send me to join the choir."

From:

jovahs_heiress

"She was," confirms Isabella. "I didn't have to talk her into it at all. She didn't even ask for my name. She packed him a sandwich and shooed him away."

"That's only half an answer to the question I was asking. Does she, too, need protection? If she does, we can whisk her away instead of checking with Alleya a couple of times a year to see if a new child has been dedicated as the son or daughter of Canaan."

From:

pythbox

"I don't know," says Micaiah.

Nathaniel looks at him for a moment, and then shakes his head: he doesn't know either.

"I never saw him do anything to her, anyway," says Micaiah. Nathaniel nods, but looks troubled.

From:

jovahs_heiress

Delilah considers this. Ultimately, she says, "In the event that they come here to visit or attempt to retrieve Nathaniel, someone can take her aside and inquire then. Failing that, Isabella, I am assigning you to check with Alleya as frequently as your conscience requires, is that understood?"

"Yes, Delilah," says Isabella.

From:

pythbox

Micaiah and Nathaniel exchange a look of relief.

Then, spontaneously, Nathaniel hugs him.

From:

jovahs_heiress

"Now," says Delilah, making a shooing motion, "I believe you have some long-term plans for Nathaniel to hammer out, and procrastinating until the Gloria will never do. Go on now."

"Yes, Delilah," repeats Isabella, smiling and getting up to usher the hugging boys out of the room.