Between Heaven and Hell

by David Burnett

  “Well—” Adryel began.

  “Of course we do.” Ami interrupted, finally taking her eyes off Lord Lucifer and speaking up. “Who else could make the case as well as you? You must debate, Lord Lucifer.” The others nodded.

  Lucifer smiled. “Very well then. Let us compose the challenge.”

  ***

  “Adonai has presented a plan to the Council of Archangels proposing the creation of various heavenly bodies and a variety of creatures which will inhabit one of those bodies, a so-called planet. One of these creatures, to be called human, will be endowed with reason, emotion, and free will, like the angels of heaven. The plan proposes that these creatures be completely free to choose between good and evil, with no predisposition to do what is right. The proposal is flawed in this regard. It is ill conceived and dangerous to the humans themselves, to the creation that is being planned, and to the very heavens and all who live in them.”

  Lucifer paused as he reached for a pen. His hand hovered above the sheet of paper for a moment, then he shook his head and mumbled, “No, it’s good. It’s good.”

  He continued to read from the page.

  “I, Lucifer, challenge any angel or archangel to publicly debate the advisability of the proposal with regard to the nature of the humans. I propose the debate to take place four days from now, at ten o’clock in the morning in Palace Square. Anyone willing to accept my challenge should call on me at the Institute to agree on the particulars.”

  He nodded approvingly. “Good. Very good.” He looked up, glancing at each of the others.

  “Excuse me, Lord Lucifer.” Adryel raised her hand. “Instead of saying like the angels of heaven, would it not be better to say like the host of heaven? And do you not want to challenge any member of the heavenly host, not only angels and archangels?”

  Beliel snorted. “No one really cares—”

  “No, she is correct,” Lucifer interrupted. He crossed out the offending words and replaced them. “We are all affected by this plan. We should all oppose it. . .Anything else?”

  No one spoke.

  “Excellent. I have parchment in my bag. Who can make the official copy to post? Who has a good hand?”

  Adryel covered her mouth to hide her smile. Who carried parchment around in a bag? To a tavern? Only someone who planned to pen an official document, that’s who. More confirmation that Lord Lucifer planned this all along.

  It wasn’t a bad strategy, and her idea about linking the debate and the council meeting guaranteed it would receive a lot of attention. And since he clearly had good intentions. . .

  After Ami made the final copy on Lucifer’s parchment, he scanned it for errors and then signed at the bottom.

  “There.” He looked around, meeting each one’s eye. “I’ve given it today’s date, so it should be posted tonight. Adryel, can you help me with that?”

  “I’ll help you, Lord Lucifer.” Ami jumped to her feet, speaking before Adryel could even open her mouth.

  “Both of you can come with me to the palace.” He chuckled as he turned to the others. “I’ll see you later tonight. Spread the word. With only four days until the debate, posting might not be sufficient.”

  ***

  It was already dark, and Adryel felt sure Ramael would reach home long before she would. He would be worried about her.

  She questioned what to tell him about the meeting. While she knew staging a debate was not wrong, she was taking Lord Lucifer’s side, and Ramael would support Lord Michael. He might question Lord Lucifer’s motives more than she. . .but she was there, she saw Lucifer’s reaction to her mention of them calling for Uriel’s blood.

  Still, her stomach felt woozy. She and Ramael had never been at odds before.

  The three walked toward the palace without speaking, Lucifer striding ahead of Ami and Adryel. Lost in her thoughts, Adryel spied the entrance to the garden off to her left, and she smiled, recalling her picnic with Ramael earlier in the week. A group of students passed them now, moving in the opposite direction, and Adryel greeted them, stopping to talk for a moment while Lucifer and Ami continued toward the palace.

  She caught up and found them standing at one of the public entrances, preparing to nail the challenge on a door that was already covered with posts.

  “No one will see it if you post it there,” she said as she walked up behind them. “They will think it’s simply another notice of pairing. They’ll see your name, Lord Lucifer, and—”

  “And what?” he snapped. “Conclude I’ve taken a pair?”

  “Well, the guards are watching. They see you and Ami here together. . .”

  Adryel knew she shouldn’t tease him, but the look of shock and horror on Lord Lucifer’s face made any anger that might follow completely worthwhile.

  He glared at her. “I am not—”

  Adryel began to laugh. “I’m teasing, Lord Lucifer. I should know better. . .The challenge will be lost, though, if you nail it there. Other posts may even be placed over it.”

  “The other door is covered too.” He gestured farther down the wall. “Tell your pair he needs to clean the door so important information can be posted.”

  “I will certainly give him your request.” She smiled. “Although, I don’t think he’s responsible for the doors. . .Meanwhile, we need to find a place for your challenge. I was thinking we could nail it on that door.” She pointed up.

  “The Great Gates? No, we can’t. . .”

  “Certainly we can. No rule forbids it. The council posts notices there on occasion. Surely this debate is as important as the minutes of their meetings.”

  “But no one will see it.”

  “Everyone will see it. Up there. On those doors. Alone. They will climb the steps to read something so important. They will talk about what they read. Your challenge will be common knowledge by this time tomorrow, and the entire city will be speculating about who—which archangel—will accept your challenge.”

  “What a foolish idea,” Ami mumbled.

  “No. No. Adryel is right.” Lucifer handed a now sulking Ami the parchment. “You two post it. I’ll wait for you here.”

  Ami made a small huffing sound and took the notice. Then, leaving Lord Lucifer at the foot of the Grand Stairway, Adryel and Ami quickly mounted the steps. Even though it was already dark, the ten massive torches that lined the stairs cast a light almost as bright as that at midday. Reaching the gates, Adryel held the parchment while Ami drove a nail in each corner, the sound of the hammer echoing off the buildings surrounding the square.

  “What are you doing?”

  The guard shouted from the square below, and Ami jumped, her hammer slamming against Adryel’s finger, rather than the head of the nail.

  “Ow,” Adryel yelped. “Ow.” She grabbed her hand, squeezing it tightly to stop the pain. Tears stung her eyes. “That really hurt.”

  Ami started to apologize, but she was interrupted when the guard called again.

  “Did you hear me? What are you doing?”

  Adryel wiped her eyes and looked down the stairway, spying two guards standing on the bottom step. Lord Lucifer was nowhere to be seen.

  “You can’t post documents on the Great Gates.”

  “What do we do?” Ami’s voice shook.

  “We wait.”

  The guards began to climb the stairs. Halfway up, one of them was gasping for air, and Adryel shook her head. If he was a typical guard, perhaps Lord Michael’s army would not be able to repel a horde of humans.

  As they reached the top, Adryel stepped forward. “My name is Adryel. I’m a professor at the Institute. Lord Lucifer has issued a challenge to debate the Plan of Creation. We’ve posted the challenge.”

  “I’m the watch commander. You need my permission to even be on the Grand Stairway after dark, and you certainly need it before nailing an announcement on the Great Gates.” He grasped her arm. “You’ll have to come with me.”

  Adryel jerked away. “Permission is not required. Anyone m
ay post an announcement.”

  The guard laughed. “Not on the Great Gates.” He turned to the other guard. “Tear it down.” As the other guard reached out his hand, Adryel moved between him and the door. “On any door of the palace or any wall. . .The council decreed it.”

  “Did they indeed? Just anyone can post any notice here? In the space where the council posts notices of its actions?”

  “Ask Lord Uriel if you doubt me. Or Lord Michael.”

  “You know Lord Michael, do you?” The guard smirked, raising one eyebrow.

  “Yes, I know Lord Michael. I am paired with Ramael.” Adryel noted the confused expression on the guard’s face. “Your commander. . .” She smiled as the guard swallowed hard.

  “Ramael’s pair? I. . .”

  “He might be surprised to know his watch commander does not know his job.”

  “Well, I was only saying. . .I mean. . .”

  “And, I’m secretary to the council. I know the rule. ‘Once posted, a notice shall be undisturbed for a period of five days.’ If anyone removes Lord Lucifer’s challenge before that time,” she crossed her arms, “I’ll complain to your commander.”

  Without waiting for a reply, she reached out and took Ami’s arm. “Come on, Ami, let’s go.”

  As they descended the steps, she glanced back over her shoulder to see the guards studying the challenge. The two reached the square, and Lucifer appeared, gliding out of the shadows.

  “Everything is all right? The guards. . .”

  Adryel began to laugh. “You hid when the guards approached.”

  “I did not hide,” Lucifer snapped. “I simply stepped away. It would have been inappropriate for me to be involved in. . .to be detained. . .that is, I. . .”

  “Oh. Of course,” Ami exclaimed. “You did exactly the right thing.”

  Adryel smirked. “Most inappropriate.” She looked up at the gates. The small square of parchment glistened in the torches’ light, contrasting with the dark wood. As she spoke, the two guards hurried down the steps. A group of angels were talking nearby and one waved to attract the guards’ attention.

  “What is the notice? What has the council done?”

  “It’s a debate. Lord Lucifer wants to debate the Plan of Creation,” one guard exclaimed.

  The angel turned to the others. “Did you hear? It’s a debate about the Plan of Creation.”

  Then they all began talking at once.

  “What is that? The Plan of Creation?”

  “When will it be?”

  “Who will he debate?”

  Adryel turned to Lucifer and swept her hand toward the chattering group. “See, you’ll have your audience.”

  ***

  The house was dark when Adryel reached home, and she found no sign Ramael had been there. She went to the kitchen to prepare their evening meal. Ramael was always ravenous when he came in late, and she wanted to have food ready for him if possible.

  As she put a pot of water on the fire and stirred meal into it to make a porridge, it occurred to her that since he was not at home, Ramael would not know she had arrived late, and there would be no need for her to mention where she had been and what she had been doing.

  “I’ve done nothing wrong,” she reminded herself. “It’s not wrong to be concerned about the plan, not wrong to discuss what might happen should it be implemented, not wrong to stage a debate to discuss it.”

  Still, she felt uneasy.

  Was it because she sensed the debate had been Lord Lucifer’s idea all along. Or, deep down, did she wonder why, if his motives were pure, as she believed, he would arrange for Uzi to make the suggestion instead of simply stating it himself? Maybe it was because Lord Michael feared Lord Lucifer’s opposition would, unintentionally, certainly, turn violent. Or because Lord Michael seemed to have few concerns of his own about the human creatures? Or was it simply because she and Ramael would find themselves on different sides at the debate?

  She took a deep breath and forced herself to exhale slowly. As long as the issue remained an academic debate, it should not matter that they took different sides. If it went beyond a simple debate though. . .

  She heard the door open, and Ramael called to her. “Adryel, are you home?”

  “I’m here. I. . .came in late myself. I’ve started porridge.”

  Ramael smiled as he entered the kitchen, placing his arm around her, hugging her tightly and kissing her, as he did every evening.

  “So, Lord Lucifer wants a debate.”

  Her head jerked up. “Why. . .yes. How did you know?”

  “Notices posted on the Great Gates attract a lot of attention, even after dark. I’ll have to post guards there tomorrow morning to control the crowds.”

  He sat down and took the goblet of wine that she offered him. “Thank you. Two of my guards tried to interfere with you, I hear.”

  “I was going to tell you I posted the challenge.”

  “I know.” He sipped the wine. “They should have known the rules. I’m sorry they bothered you.”

  “Are you angry?”

  “At my guards? A little. They should have known better.”

  “No, at me. For helping Lord Lucifer.”

  Ramael looked at her for a long moment. “Not at all. You should do what you believe is right. Remember, though, Lord Michael fears your protest will get out of your control. . .Be careful.”

  “I will.” She kissed him. “It’s just a debate. . .I didn’t sign on for anything else.”

  The porridge thickened and Adryel ladled it into bowls, adding butter and sugar. She told Ramael about their meeting.

  “Who attended?” he asked as he stirred his porridge to cool it.

  “Maliel was there. He was with Lord Lucifer at the council meeting.”

  “I remember,” Ramael sniffed.

  “And Uzi, a professor at the Institute, and Beliel, and Ami, one of Lord Lucifer’s students.”

  “Interesting group. . .Beliel. . .I didn’t know he was in the city. He was a student you know, a couple of years after we graduated. Managed to get himself expelled from the Institute.”

  Adryel looked up in surprise.

  “I know.” Ramael nodded. “One of the few I’ve ever heard of. Not a very nice angel. He attacked a professor who didn’t give him the grade he wanted.”

  “You must be joking.”

  Ramael shook his head. “Not at all. You know Iofiel, don’t you? Literature professor? It took almost six months for her to recover. . .Anyway, he moved away. I’ve no idea what he’s been up to. . .Who was the other one?”

  “Ami. She’s an academic groupie.” Adryel laughed. “She hangs on every word that tumbles from Lord Lucifer’s mouth. She got huffy when he asked me to go with him to post the challenge and insisted on tagging along. If Lord Lucifer were a power, I’d be certain something was going on.”

  Ramael laughed. “Who suggested the debate? Lord Lucifer?”

  Adryel shook her head. “It was rather strange. Uzi actually made the suggestion, but I had the feeling it was really Lord Lucifer’s idea.” She added more sugar to her porridge and stirred. “Do you think anyone will accept the challenge?”

  Ramael laughed. “Oh, you can count on it. Lord Michael and Lord Raphael were discussing that very question as I left the palace.”

  “Lord Michael, maybe?”

  “I doubt it.” Ramael shook his head. “He doesn’t see himself as a great speaker. Lord Jophiel’s name was suggested.”

  Adryel’s eyes sparkled. “Now that would be a debate. Lord Jophiel is smart and he’s funny, and easy to listen to. Lord Lucifer would have his work cut out for him.”

  “Wait now, you’re on Lord Lucifer’s side.” Ramael laughed. “You want some tongue-tied twit to accept the challenge so Lord Lucifer will be the undoubted, indisputable victor.”

  Adryel could tell he was teasing and she popped his arm. “I want what is best for all concerned. I’d be quite pleased if Lord Jophiel could convince me there is
no danger in the plan.”

  Later that night, Adryel lay beside Ramael, snuggling close against him, her arm across his chest. He was asleep, his breathing slow and so regular that she did not need a sandglass to mark the passage of time. She smiled. He always slept like this after making love to her. She caressed his face and kissed his cheek before closing her eyes.

  All of her worry had been for naught. He was not angry with her for helping Lord Lucifer, just concerned for her safety. His story about Beliel worried her though. She recalled he had been the one to suggest an armed attack on the palace as a way to deal with the plan. Why would Lord Lucifer have recruited someone like him to be a part of the group?

  The Debate

  Adryel was pleased when Jophiel accepted Lucifer’s challenge to debate. He was popular in Celestial City, he was known to be a fiery speaker, and his participation would attract a large audience.

  Public debates were not unusual in the city, but the prospect of two archangels arguing in Palace Square about a proposal put forth by Adonai was extraordinary. The fact that it would take place immediately before all of the archangels met to consider the proposal made it even more remarkable.

  As secretary to the council, Adryel had directed that a platform and two lecterns be erected in the middle of the square. She recruited Naniel, Governor of Celestial City, to moderate the debate, and she arranged for Lord Lucifer and Lord Jophiel to assemble with their aides in the Chancery, directly across from the palace, on the morning of the debate. Immediately following the archangels’ procession, they would make a grand entrance and take their places on the platform.

  That morning, Adryel arrived at the Chancery early, having skipped her morning meal. She knew she should have eaten, since her next opportunity would not come until after the meeting of the council—and who knew how long that meeting might last as they discussed the plan—but her stomach felt queasy, and the very thought of food made her want to be sick.

  Although she avoided the square, slipping in a rear door of the Chancery, Adryel could hear noise coming from there—voices and laughter, the squeal of children, the cries of vendors. The realization that a large number of spectators must have already arrived made her stomach flop over again.