Azrael and the Light Bringer by Eric Arvin

Author:Eric Arvin [Arvin, Eric]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fantasy: High Fantasy, Romance
ISBN: 978-1-63533-819-5
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Published: 2017-10-15T00:00:00+00:00

THE NEXT morning he had his breakfast of yogurt and toast in his room. There would never be a dining experience in an elegant dining hall. There wasn’t room in the hive for such a luxury other than the stage area, and that was kept clean of furnishings at all times. Madam Dragal used every inch of space she had for the business of other people’s pleasure. The only indulgence Uriel was allowed was the fine new clothes that were brought to him (the madam was an expert at guessing someone’s size without the bother of a tailor). The thin young man from the night before helped dress and groom Uriel, washing and combing his hair until it was tame and shining. His outfit was not as showy as some of the other employees, perhaps because Madam Dragal recognized that the boy’s natural beauty needed no affectation. She had chosen him a simple but finely woven suit of pink pinstripes and a matching bowler’s hat. Uriel felt like a new man. A different man. He walked onto the landing with pride and presented himself to Madam Dragal and her bees. The raucous whistling and vulgar calls ensued almost immediately as he descended to the stage.

“Look at that one!” Bonnie cooed. “I ain’t never seen anything as pretty in my life.” She and Lance circled him as he paraded in a playful cocky stride.

“Ladies!” Madam Dragal pounded her cane on the floor. It was her voice that startled the pigeons in the rafters, though. “Remember yourselves. And young man, I would ask that you not walk about so. You may look as pretty as a peacock, but it can be off-putting to the patrons. You’ll find that what’s accepted in one sex is not necessarily appreciated in another. A sad truth, and an expensive lesson to learn.”

Uriel found his place soon enough. Madam Dragal had him patrolling the best parts of town. He never did anything he was uncomfortable with and stayed away from those with menacing eyes. This was fine with Madam Dragal. Uriel had become quite a commodity for her, and she wanted to get as much profit from him as she could. What he didn’t know, he learned; the girls and boys in the hive were only too eager to teach him. He thought of Roman when he was with another, in the sweaty bonds of pressed flesh. He channeled Roman’s detachment and understood its place now. Every human being was a mirror of another, only chinked and refracted a little to let in what light they desired. Uriel practiced in dimming his light—the body and soul in a necessary separation. It was the most important of the lessons he learned. His own mother had not mastered the fine art of this separation and now look at her. She was an invalid.

The day was bright outside the city as Uriel took his usual promenade through Bruckley Park, a district known for its better-offs. Though not the wealthiest area

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