Aftiel was a quiet one. While others of our kind proclaimed their worship in trumpet calls and bursts of song, she would be out on one of Aerie’s many balconies, simply humming softly to herself and to our Lord.

To this day, I still am unsure what drew my attention to her.  She was not as beautiful as many of our kind.  Not exotic as fierce Ariel, nor so alluring as solemn Uriel. And, she was hardly as brilliantly shining as me.

She was merely Aftiel, angel of twilight.  

Perhaps, I merely desired to understand her.  What were her fondest wishes, her deepest desires… her darkest sins?  Yes, that likely caused my fascination.  After all, we were merely angelic in nature, not saintly, and each of us had our own personal sin.  Anael’s love was often overcome with lust; Michael’s righteous anger burned to dark wrath.  My own joy in my Lord’s regard soured into the pride that was my downfall.

But what sin did she claim?  As long as I knew and loved her, I never did discover that, and after my long fall, I believed I never would, that she was somehow free of sin, itself.

Yet, there she stands, a quiet beauty surrounded by her fellow fallen deep in Hell.  I have asked her many times what she has been sentenced for, but she never tells me truly.

She merely claims, “I asked to come.”  Then she smiles at me, and begins to softly hum that now familiar psalm, and I begin to do something quite dangerous here.

I begin to pray for her future.