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He slowed and approached the Meadow of the Throne It was just as he reme up toward the center of everything The Throne itself, dazzlingly bright, radiating the warel, it was iet close to seeing the Creator, who sat upon the Throne clothed in brightness, so the custo the whole entity the Throne--was apt

Daniel's gaze drifted to the arc of rippled silver ledges circling the Throne Each one was el This used to be their headquarters, a place to worship, to attend, to call on and deliver es for the Throne

There was the lustrous altar that had been his seat, near the top right corner of the Throne It had been there for as long as the Throne had been in existence

But there were only seven altars now Once there had been eight

Wait--

Daniel winced He knew he'd coht about precisely when It mattered The Throne had only been imbalanced like that for a very short period: the sliver of tiht after Lucifer stated his plans to defect but before the rest of them had been called upon to choose sides

He arrived in that blink of a moment after Lucifer's betrayal but before the Fall

The great rift was co which some would side with Heaven and some would side with Hell, when Lucifer would turn into Satan before their eyes, and the Great Arions of the

He drew nearer to the Meadow The harels The Meadoas gloith the gathering of all the brightest souls His past self would be down there; all of theht Daniel couldn't see clearly, but his memory told him that Lucifer had been permitted to hold court from his repositioned silver altar at the far end of the Meadow, in direct opposition to--though not nearly as high as--the Throne The other angels were assembled before the Throne, in the middle of the Meadow

This was the roll call, the last moment of unity before Heaven lost half its souls At the time Daniel had wondered why the Throne ever permitted the roll call to occur Did he who had doels would end in sheer hu?

Gabbe still spoke of the roll call with startling clarity Daniel could rele wing reaching out to him in solidarity The brush that told him: You are not alone

Could he dare to look upon that wing now?

Perhaps there was a way to go about the roll call differently, so that the curse that befell them afterward did not strike so hard With a shiver that reached his very core, Daniel realized that he could turn this trap into an opportunity

Of course! Someone had reworked the curse so that there was a way out for Lucinda The whole ti after her, Daniel had assumed it must have been Lucinda herself That soh time, she'd opened up a loophole ButHe was here now He could do it In so its iet here What he did here, now, at the very beginning, would ripple forward into every one of her lives Finally, things were beginning to make sense

He would be the one to soften the curse, to allow Lucinda to live and travel into her past--it had to have begun here And it had to have begun with Daniel

He descended to the plain of cloudsoil, edging along the glowing border There were hundreds of angels there, thousands, filling it up with lustrous anxiety The light was astonishing as he slipped in a the crowd No one perceived his Anachronisht

The time has come, Lucifer, his Voice called froiven Daniel immortality, and all that came with it This is truly what you desire?

Not just for us, but for our fellow angels, Lucifer was saying Free will is deserved by everyone, not just the mortal men and woels, burning brighter than thestar The line has been drawn in the cloudsoil of the Meado you are all free to choose

The first heavenly scribe stood at the base of the Throne in shian to call out the nael, the seven thousand eight hundred and twelfth son of Heaven:

Geliel, the scribe called, last of the twenty-eight angels who govern the an

The scribe kept a running tally in the opalescent sky as Chabril, the angel of the second hour of the night, chose Lucifer, and Tiel, the angel of the north wind, chose Heaven, along with Padiel, one of the guardians of childbeds, and Gadal, an angel involved with thy appeals, some of them scarcely said a word; Daniel kept little track of the tally He was on a quest to find himself, and besides, he already kne this ended

He waded through the field of angels, grateful for the tinize his own self before he rose up out of thefor ever since

There was corumble of low thunder Daniel hadn't heard the nael float up to declare his choice He shoved through the souls in front of hiet a better view

Roland He bowed before the Throne With respect, I aestured at Lucifer You are losing a son today, and all of us are losing a brother Many htly into this dark decision Do not force our family to splinter apart

Daniel teared up at the sight of Roland's soul--the angel of poetry andin the white sky

You are wrong, Roland, the Throne boo me, you have made your choice Welcome him to your side, Lucifer

No! Arriane shrieked, and flew up out of the center of brightness to hover beside Roland Please, only give him time to understand what his decision means! The decision has been made was all the Throne said in reply I can tell what is in his soul, despite his words--he has already chosen