Igni stared at the person in the mirror and found himself rather confused.

They were a rather tall dark-skinned figure, seeing as they consumed most of the floor to ceiling mirror’s height. They were wrapped in a light blue suit accented by gold and trimmed in white. Igni lifted his hand and watched how the reflected clothes flowed across his skin.

Next, he rolled his wings. The suit didn’t tear, which was good he supposed, but it did strain, drawing tight against his skin. His wings protruded from his shoulders and easily spanned his height. Covering the reflections back with Pale brown and pale yellow feathers that rose above his head at his wing’s second joint and descended to the ground at his wing tip.

He found it to be a very awkward position. Normally he just cloaked himself with his wings, but it seemed impolite to do so after all the efforts their hosts had put into the suit. He lowered his wings slightly but stopped as he heard a faint rip.

Through the clothes could do with improvement.

Igni returned his wings to their previous position and glanced at his brother. They were presently twisting their body and lightly fluttering their wings as if the clothes were no trouble at all. A wide smile it his face.

Lux looked much like him, tall with brown skin and dark hair. Yet two things set them strikingly apart, Lux's blue on white on white suit and his white wings.

The tailors had clearly followed a theme.

Their smiles were the second thing that set them apart. Lux smiled at his reflection, when he completed his inspection he smiled at Igni. Then he turned and smiled at everything in the room. While Igni met their surroundings with curious eyes and only a faint curl to his lips.

It was the first time they were seeing most of it. They’d seen tables before, but nothing like the immaculately carved wooden piece that stood at the centre of the room. The gold filigree that capped and accented everything else in the room was entirely new to them.

It was all new and he wasn’t yet sure what he felt about it. Though Lux’s bright smile smoke of his opinion.

“Did you know these are made of silk?” Lux asked, swishing the sleeves of his suit.

“I was in that class too Lux, I do know. However, did you know they they kill to make it?” This however was familiar territory, Igni smiled.

Lux stopped from where he was about to fondle one of the cushions and turned to him with wide eyes. “I thought that was leather.”

Igni absently pawed at his suit, his silk suit, and stared at the luxurious room. “They do it for silk too, take silkworms and boil them alive.”

“Did you learn that in the archive? Those books are thousands of years out of date. I’m sure they’ve found better methods.”

Igni smiled, he supposed it was obvious. The days were he could wow his brother after meeting with dusty tomes were gone. “True,” Igni offered, “But those ancient books also said mortals love their bread and pastries.” He pointed at the centre table, whose appetisers notably included bread and varied pastries.

Lux opened his mouth but then thought better of it. The winged pair stared at the platter of food.

Lux turned to him, “Are you going to try-“ Then the door swung open, and Curio peered in, “Well it seems its time to get to it.” Lux’s grin returned in full force.

Igni sighed, “It seems so.”

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Lux threw him an encouraging smile, and nudged him with a wing as left the room. “Be positive Igni, we got this.”

Igni returned the smile and followed him out of the room. Curio, the third and final member of their delegation took up the rear.

They were covered head to toe in a sin bleached grey robe, that exposed not a scrap of skin. The only visible part of them were their wings, large things that glimmered with the muddled sheen of tarnished steel.

They navigated a series of hallways until the final one stood before them. The burble of a great many conversations leaked through it.

To the side, a mortal stood. Two long feathery antennae sprouted from her forehead. She bowed quickly upon seeing them. Both were of the many things he was trying to get used to.

She was small, but Igni had difficulty telling just how much she fell below the norm. It was hard to tell when most of them didn’t even reach his chest.

They waited in silence.

“Announcing the Angels emissaries! Igni Perdita and Lux Claritas along with Guardian Curiosa Somnia Historiae!”

The small attendant pushed the door open.

Igni walked through the door onto the indoor balcony that led down onto a massive ballroom via a set of equally grandiose staircases. Countess’s eyes stared up at them. People dressed in fancy clothes he hoped were more comfortable than he whispered amongst themselves. The air was filled with a tension he couldn’t identify.

His mind was abounded with curiosity but as he descended the stairs with his brother and Curio a single one rose to prominence.

How many tries did it take the announcer to get their names right? A second thought followed in its wake. Could he get this right on his first attempt?

Leandra Salen was a proud member of a ducal house. She was tasked with representing the clan and its interests in Spes Nova. A task that usually involved many stale functionaries and hosting clan members who came to visit. An important if dull task.

Despite its many beauties, Spes Nova did not have much to do for a woman of her station. Cultivation was all but impossible here and her tasks, however rote, consumed little time she might have had.

But today? Today was special.

Today three angels gathered on the balcony above. It was as if they had walked out of a storybook.

They were beautiful in a way that eclipsed mere physicality to sing directly to the heart and spirit. She could so easily imagine how her clan’s founding matriarch had lost her heart to one of their kind.

She traced a hand through the long black feathers that sprouted in place of her hair. Her heart went out to all the poor girls in the crowd who shared her avian descent, they didn’t stand a chance.

The trio descended

The young pair first in matching blue suits that accentuated- their differences with their secondary colours. One smiled widely, striking hearts with every turn of his gaze the other swept them with a slow curious stare.

The Guardian followed in their wake. He was an odd if unassuming presence in the material yet he towered in the realm beyond. Like an eye powering into the world from impossibly far away, something not seen but felt. A subtle sign left clear to all who would heed them. Even a non-cultivator would feel it.

It fascinated Leandra. To the point, she didn’t mind the hours she would have to spend chronicling this event. Nor the pointed questions on how the imperials arranged this without her or the clans knowing.

Most of all the title grabbed her. It wasn’t in any of the records.

Angels were like the spirits of wind and rain, coming and going as they pleased only far more elusive. For centuries there had sporadic sightings in the wilds had been all they had. Yet somehow the Imperials had brought them to the old capital.

Leandra would have been impressed by scheming house if it wasn’t her job yo find out how. She sighed, annoyed that work was intruding into the moment. Despite that fact she found her self content to enjoy the angel’s slow descent.

Her aides rushed to her side, and she reluctantly tore her gaze from the spectacle. He was anxious his hair and feathers all ruffled, and his face slick with sweat. Bad news then, very urgent bad news.

Mournfully she cast out any thought of evening.

She cast her essence around them to ward off impolite listeners. “What is it Anadrea?”

“It’s Deadra Ma’am, she’s been kidnapped.”

Panic and worry crashed into her, like a tide. Filling her head with every worst-case scenario, but before any theories could congeal, anger ripped through her.

Someone took her niece.

Twin duties took up arms within her. Ensure her family’s interest in this pivotal moment or, to chase the child and their takers. Both were important but only one required her, the other could be handled by the others.

The smile fell from her face. A polite neutral face took its place. Her voice remained calm and steady. “Anadrea I will be with you when I can until then gather all the information you can and organize a search.”

She let her essence drop as he ran off, and the crowd’s quiet bustle flooded back in. She returned her attention to the descending angels.

She couldn’t wait for this to end.