by Jo Hart <jhart @ btinternet.com>
I regret that I have not been able to return your letter sooner but we have been very busy here and although the seneschal assured me that he would make sure you received this, I do not think he considered urgency to be a high priority. I had suggested to our beloved master that the celestial song of tongues would be useful, but he looked through me and said that it would be inappropriate at this time -- but I'm getting ahead of myself a little.
Gregor, my concerns may be summed up in that I am not altogether happy about the depth of commitment of many angels who I have encountered on the corporeal plane and most of those are ours.
I have decided that the other two angels in the triad to which I have been assigned are hard-working and competent, although all their time spent on this plane of existance has definitely affected their judgement. It is a good thing that I am here to point this out to them! Kol is an Elohite and told me that he thinks there are times when inexperienced seraphim should be seen and not heard -- I asked him what reason he might have to be afraid of what I had to say, but he said that wasn't quite what he meant. I think that people, especially angels, should say what they mean!
No offence intended but Gerda the cherub is almost worse. She told me that she knows you and asked me to pass on her regards -- I think it is your responsibility as a friend to warn her about the possible consequences of her behaviour. When we were all introduced, she said that she was saddened that her previous triad had been broken up! I understand now why it is so important that we rotate celestials on a regular basis. Whilst it is desirable for triads to be able to learn to work as teams, it would be disasterous if members were to get so attached as to affect their judgement where it applies to each other. Naturally I told her this and she seemed properly chastened, but I am not convinced that she entirely agrees.
Gerda tells me that usually they try to arrange for one of the local Mercurians to work with Seraphim, but my arrival here has been at quite short notice and that hasn't been possible, so in the meantime I am staying with one of our soldiers. I had thought initially that she must be one of the rare failures, because how much use can a blind lawyer be in combatting infernal forces? Also she is quite rude, and seems to strongly believe that it is important to defend the guilty as well as the innocent. However, over the course of the week I have changed my opinion as she does seem very committed to our work, perhaps moreso than some of the angels I have met, and she is very good about trying to say what she means. I will try to tell you more about her next time I write, but it is helpful to have a level against which to measure other mortals.
I spoke to one of Jordi's angels who was most efficient in its job, and it said that it would be flattered if it was compared to a hyena because they are very efficient predators who work well in packs. I am not entirely sure how that was relevant.
We had been having a quiet week. The other two say that this is because they would like to give me time to settle in, but I wonder if they are just being lazy. I decided not to tell them my concerns until observations had borne this out, but instead made pains to volunteer our services for every investigation that came up on the roster which they keep at the tether.
I was concerned to see that when one name came up, all the angels of judgement who were around seemed to be trying to ignore it or avoid volunteering so of course I offered our assistance. The seneschal asked me if I was sure we wanted to go and investigate one of Michael's Ofanim so I told him that even the suggestion we might not be keen to do our master's work was heretical thinking and I didn't find it helpful. Kol was giving me one of his 'seraphim should be seen and not heard' looks but I ignored it.
Anyway, I will try to keep in touch and tell you how everything is going down here, and how this investigation works out. I had made my report to our master yesterday for the first time, and although I was very nervous I think that it went well. He said that I should try to work with my triad closely as they are very experienced angels who can teach me a lot of what I need to know, but of course one must be ever vigilant. He spoke to Rachel (my soldier) also which surprised me, and she seemed quite fond of him.
I do miss having you around to consult on a regular basis, but as you can see, I really am doing well on my own! You really had nothing to worry about.
Yael
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