Her intervention diverted the conversation from my question and thereby saved the family of the eldest daughter from major troubles, such as fire, hurricane or earthquake, which I would not have failed to arrange for them.
– They are hyenas, not parents, – the novice declared with conviction, having previously admitted that living in the monastery is boring. – However, Barbara is no better.
She glanced sideways at her youngest daughter, who was handed over to a monastery for lack of a dowry.
– Barbara’s parents wanted what was good for her, tried to protect her, – objected the novice with a broken lock. – An unmarried woman has nothing but trouble in the world. So they sent her here to protect her from a difficult fate.
– How do you know, Agna? – snorted the one whose family my hands itched to punish. You might think you’ve lived a lot in the world.
Apparently, the brunette’s sermons and her inexhaustible faith in the good infuriated more than just me.
– I’m an orphan, – she explained calmly when I arched an eyebrow in question. “I have lived in the monastery since childhood. The nuns have replaced my family.
– And how did you get here? I asked the fourth novice impatiently. Did your parents send you too?
No, I came myself.
The girl fell silent, looking out the window, and Barbara soon added:
– She had an unhappy love. First he promised to marry, then he left.
It may seem strange that the girls were so willing to share with me, a complete stranger (and even not quite a person), their and other people’s secrets. On the other hand, such behavior is natural, given that they had no one to communicate with except each other. In addition, I gave free rein to my essence a little, so that the novices liberated themselves in my presence faster than would have happened in the normal course of events. She considered that it would not hurt them to throw off the raid of conventions for a while. Not completely reset, of course, but slightly lowered.
– So what? I was surprised. – Is this a reason to go to the monastery? She stabbed the groom with a knife, and went on.
The novices, including even the idealist with the strand, smiled restrainedly, from which I drew a sad conclusion: they are sure that this is a joke. Even though I was being completely serious.
– She’s right, – said the eldest daughter. True, I meant, of course, not a knife. It’s a pity. Such a man is not worthy of love.
– That’s right, – I agreed, settling into a comfortable position and stretching my legs. Apparently, such a pose was considered indecent, as the girls looked at each other in bewilderment. – For me, if you fall in love, then only in an ideal. Angel in the flesh.
– So what’s the deal? Fall in love with me!
No one but me heard this voice, nor did they see its owner – an impudent, handsome male with white wings and an incredibly self-satisfied smirk on his face.
I hissed. Silently, so to speak, mentally.
– So what? – the feathered one, freely located on the windowsill, continued to sneer. – I’m an angel, the most that neither is real. True, not in the flesh, but, as they say, everyone has their own shortcomings. Plus, it can be fixed if needed.
– I certainly won’t need you, Matariel, – I said. – Why did you even come here?
The communication was still telepathic, so the girls didn’t hear a word. True, they could notice that the expression on my face changed, and attention to the general conversation was reduced to zero. However, they might not have noticed if they were sufficiently carried away by the conversation.
Matariel threw back his head and laughed heartily.
– You can say that you came to the abode of the Light One – and you ask why I dragged myself here?
– Not to the monastery of the Light One, but to the convent, – I corrected. – Is it proper for angels to spy on novices?
– Why not? he replied carelessly, shaking his leg.
– Shut up, Matariel! It is not good to have conversations with the servant of the Prince of Darkness!
Wow! Yes, there are a whole bunch of them. I angrily turned my head to the second white-winged one, less handsome and less frivolous. He didn’t sit on the windowsill, but stood at the opposite end of the room, but considering its modest size, it wasn’t that far away.
I lifted my upper lip to show off my teeth.
– Come on, Puriel! Matariel waved him off without malice. Why not chat about this and that with a nice girl?
The second glared angrily at his brother, as if trying to incinerate him with a look. Trying hard. To incinerate is my prerogative.
– This “sweet girl” is a fiend of Darkness who descended to earth to lie, kill and lead mortals astray.
– You exaggerate, – Matariel replied carelessly and winked at me in his own way, which made my eye twitch.
– Not at all. Since her arrival on earth, she has already killed one person, seduced another, and destroyed a nascent family.
That is, he followed my every step. Wonderful. No, I didn’t growl, just smiled a little, but that was a much worse sign.
– Well, the deceased was a murderer and a rapist, so consider that she freed this world from him, – Matariel objected.
Wonderful. So this one was also following my every move.
– One of the women he had yet to take by force would give birth to a child. This child was supposed to bring a lot of good to the world, – Puriel bent his line. – We must not interfere with the life of mortals. A small thing that seems right to us can harm a great one. The prince’s ban was not in vain, and you are well aware of this. And even now she seduces these novices who have embarked on the right path and are ready to devote themselves to the Light.
– Don’t worry, – Matariel answered, not at all impressed by the heartfelt speech of his brother. – Even if one of them decides to leave the walls of the monastery, it doesn’t matter. What if one day she will have a child who will bring a lot of good into the world?
He seemed to take pleasure in making Puriel go wild. It must have been an old conflict, although the behavior is still not very angelic, however…
– I leave it to you to sort things out on your own, gentlemen. When you decide among yourself who I really am, a fiend or a sweet girl, you can send me a note.
As soon as I finished, or rather, thought of these words, I ran out the door after the novices – very loud voices could be heard from outside.
The spectacle opened up to us is very specific. Several nuns literally clung to Eitan, who, to his credit, stubbornly tried to escape from the grip. However, it did not turn out very well: firstly, there was a numerical inequality, and secondly, he was clearly afraid of harming women, and in general he tried to behave decently. The same cannot be said about his “opponents”, whose ranks threatened to be replenished at any moment, since many sisters gathered in the courtyard,