Having seen the first Judgement, William grew anxious. –What will the Ruler of this realm decide my fate to be? If I am here…I know my son was too good to end up here. I need to make peace with the fact that I failed; I will never see Samuel and my wife again. I just hope he and his mother are happy in the Forever.–
Ravenna anxiously waited for the next Judgement to begin. William had been a good man, and although her time with Samuel was short, he had been a gentleman. Samuel's mannerisms must have been taught by his father; she was curious to find out what had caused William to stray so far from his path of kindness and end up in the UnderKingdom with the rest of the Lost.
Ravenna stepped toward the miller, unable to contain her curiosity any longer. She had to know what had happened back home, and she needed to find out before Lucifer cast his Judgement, possibly sending William to the sprawling UnderKingdom.
"Mr Reed, please, what happened while I was gone? Grandmother…and Samuel…gone…"
"I can tell you that after. What happened to you? The whole village was in such an upset with your disappearance. Things were not the same without you. It was noticeable. My son told me about the one day, how she waited on your front bench in the rain, just watching, waiting. He picked her up and brought her inside while she shouted at him. We had a small laugh about it when he told me, it was funny after the fact. She was so angry in his arms, and he just kept walking. Teresa watched the scene as she cooked; she had some time while her daughter slept."
"Teresa had a baby girl?" Ravenna sniffled. "And that does sound like Grandmother, she would be so fiery about being told to take care of herself. I'm glad someone was there to make her do so, if I could not. Your son was a good man, Mr Reed."
William placed his hand on Ravenna's shoulder. "Thank you, dear. That means a lot to me. My son meant everything to me. Now tell me, where did you go? What happened?"
"I suppose I can tell you everything, you know of the UnderKingdom and Lucifer now. Peter Jones stole me from my home during Teresa's labor. He knocked on the door, I excused myself from Grandmother and my friend, and he just…he grabbed me and threw me in his carriage. He tried to take me to Nerium; he said he knew a priest that would marry us against my will. But he stopped on the outside of Nerium, he wanted to…consummate our marriage early. Luckily, before he could, one of the Seraphim from the Kingdom saved me and killed Peter. That angel is now imprisoned in the Kingdom waiting for his Fall."
William looked at the young healer, astonished. "Peter Jones really did such a thing? We all heard the rumors about what we suspected happened to his first wife…I am so sorry the village was not more able to protect you from such a man. But the rest of your story…the angel, the Kingdom…it's all true, isn't it? So much of Canden had become Unbelievers after the Sickness, and now only after my death do I see it is all real. Why did the Ruler let such things happen to you? To your grandmother?...to my son…?"
Ravenna placed her hand on William's, still on her shoulder. "The Seraphim that saved me, Michael, he told me about how the Ruler became apathetic to Creation, and things that happen are our own problems and responsibilities. Michael wants things to change, but we don't know how to make things change for the better."
William opened his mouth to say more, but before he could, Edward returned from taking Henry to the UnderKingdom. William looked at the demon, stress apparent in his face. Ravenna sympathized with him; she could not imagine awaiting Lucifer's judgement after seeing one performed mere minutes ago.
Lucifer, having been lounging on his throne, stood once he noticed the demon's return. "William Reed. Are you ready for your Judgement?"
William's eyes grew wide, and a slight tremble coursed through his body. Edward escorted him toward the throne, Ravenna in tow.
Lucifer held his hand out, and having seen Henry's Judgement, William knew that Lucifer was wanting him to surrender his wrist to be cut. The miller sighed, and placed his hand palm-up in his new master's hand. Lucifer quickly made the incision, and gathered the silver essence that would determine William's fate. Edward took the dagger, and prepared to pierce his master's fingers.
"Wait!"
Ravenna's cry rang out through the Great Hall. Lucifer turned his head, his hand in Edward's grasp, both men arching their brows. The Fallen man took his hand back from the demon, and stepped toward the woman. "What is it, my dear?"
"Please, don't curse him with the life of a Lost man! I know William. He was good! He raised a good man. He had a lapse in judgement, he had one bad day that caused him to do wrong. Please, Lucifer. For me. Don't give him the horrible life of the Lost."
"Interesting. You want me to spare him, but you also said you could not cast a fair judgement on the other Lost man?" Amusement danced in Lucifer's eyes.
"Yes, but that was because he had done wrong to me. If I had chosen to punish him, you would have told me it was only revenge for the things he had done to me. William has never done anything wrong to me, in fact, he has been nothing but kind to my entire village. He just had one bad day. Please, Lucifer." Ravenna continued to plead William's case, if not for the man himself, for Samuel.
"Smart girl. We will still watch his Essence Fire, but I will give consideration to your words, my dear." Lucifer gave his hand back to Edward, who pierced his fingers to complete the ritual for the Judgement. Lucifer stepped toward the nearest fire, and poured the pearlescent red mixture over the flames.
Seeing that William's murder of Henry was simply grief-induced psychosis, and having seen Henry's deeds beforehand, Lucifer thought deeply about what to do with the Lost man before him. He could not send the man to the Forever; he lacked that ability, and the Forever would not accept the man who had committed a murder, regardless of the reason. Ravenna had pleaded with him not to curse him with the life of the Lost. Lucifer returned to his throne, drumming his fingers on the arm of the chair.
"William Reed. I am going to make a judgement I have not made since Hellena, 200 years ago. You are to be my fifth demon. I base my judgement not solely on your Essence Fire, but on young Miss Hawthorne's testimony as well. She insists you were a good man in life, and do not deserve the punishment of the Lost. We will start your conversion tomorrow. It grows late. Edward, give this man a guest room. Ravenna, dear, I will return you to your home in the morning."