AUTHOR'S POV
"I'd like to speak with the King", Celeste hardened her jaw as she stand against the four royal guards blocking her way.
"The King doesn't wish to be disturbed tonight", the royal guard refused passage to the young priestess.
"But this is important! I'm sure he would like to hear what I have to say", she plead. In over a day, her powers seemed to have unaffectedly lost its control all over the palace, except for Helena's bedchambers. She felt a stronger force breaking her aura, making her weaker and exposed. Something that Galen must know. However, the guards won't let her in.
As they argue, loud erotic screams were suddenly heard. A few more vociferous explicit words exchanged inadvertently. "Who's inside? Is it the princess?", she asked as she run towards to the door.
"That is none of your business, priestess", the royal guard caught her by the waist before she could slam the door.
"Let me go!!", she yelled, struggling in the strong arms of the guard.
"Please, we do not wish to infringe the King's wishes. We both know how he would be like if we disobey him. So stand back and walk away", he insisted.
Defeated and left with no choice, Celeste huffed furiously as she glare at the guards. They are right. Galen would be in an outrage if she persists. As she continously hear the moans and coquettish chuckles of some women, Celeste decided to retreat back to her chambers until she could meet once again with Galen with the hope that the Wiccan who's trying to breach her magic would be under her control.
THE NEXT MORNING
High Priest Bertram closes an old book with a leather cover and embelishments of vines and hummingbirds in ivory entitled Soul Travelers. He furrowed his brows and held the book in his hands. There were so many pages that entails bad omen for the kingdom and yet, there's a certain line in the book which he reads over and over again.
[…claim its throne to save humanity. Led by the heart, and by tragedy, the healer soul traveler will come back with a staff on the hand and clear evil that have claimed the land]
His cup of coffee have turned cold. He didn't know what time he went in his chancery. However, it was long enough for him to witness how the night changed to day. As he sit on his chair, many times he wondered what if he had done things differently.
Be a little braver.
Or maybe, a lot more stronger.
For now, he sees himself as just another man in a cassock. A chess piece on a stone slate who plays a part that's always in favor of the King. Ever since he became the high priest, he was forced to do things he never liked, and say words that he never meant. All in exchange for his one precious life.
Under the orders of the new monarch, he had to spread the good word about how great King Galen is. He encouraged the foolproof people of Nether to obey the commands of Galen, convinced every man of God that the service of the church will always be for the benefit of the King. Bertram punished everyone who disobeyed the order. Anyone who swerved from the royal directives were punished, sometimes by his hands. Never did he saved anyone. He just watched in vain.
From then on, he started to question his existence. How did he ended up with a regrettable choice which constantly tested his profound being?
Bertram gulped a lump in his throat as a memory of Umbriel, which have always haunted his days and nights, flashed before his eyes. That night, he watched his old friend die from afar. Screaming his outpouring loyalty and displaying his courage with his bound hands. Bertram admired Umbriel's boldness at that time. Something he never had. How come Umbriel always had it in him, Bertram thought.
He turned to the far side of his table, and took his plotted lunar calendar. Tomorrow, the sun will be devoured by the moon at exactly noon. The same exact time that Galen and Helena will exchange vows.
High Priest Bertram sighed audibly as he rest his back on his chair. The cold breeze of the early morn blew from the open window of his chancery, giving him a fresh breath of air. He opened his drawer and revealed a small serpent dagger which has been there for a while. He took it and held it pointing to his heart. Closing his eyes as he prepare himself, he was startled to hear a knock on the door that he drop the dagger to the floor.
"The coachman has arrived, High Priest", a scholar called. He will be taken to the palace today for the blessing of the monarch.
"Ahh.. yes. Let me just get my things", Bertram picked up the dagger and returned it back to the drawer. This is third time that he was interrupted as he attempt to perform such ordeal. He always sees it as a sign from the heavens. Then again, he thinks that he'll just attend to his unfinished business some other time. Like always.
As soon as the scholar left behind the closed door, he carefully plucked a plank of floor board at the far end of the chancery and dug his fingers in the dirt. It took him a while to find what he kept in there. Finally, he pulled out a small box, the fixed the wood plank back on the floor. He then grabbed his long coat, and eventually headed out.
Father Bertram, accompanied with two younger priests, rode the carriage to the palace. They had a long talk before he was able to convince his curates to join him on blessing the monarchs. On their way, they met two children being punished by archers in black hooded cloaks. The high priest would usually turn a blind eye, but today, he chose to be different.
"What is it?", Bertram asked as the window carriage came across the poor children. A couple of lash wounds marked their skinny legs and arms that was not a new sight to him.
"These two brats mocked the name of the King", one archer said as he held a whip in his hand.
"We are on the 12th lash. They are to get 20 lashes each, right High Priest?", the other archer said.
Bertram looked at the fearful children who could only find comfort in each others arms. "No", he opposed.
"Then, thirty?", the archer was confused. The high priest personally ordered 20 lashes for every person, even pregnant and children, to get a minimum of 20 lashes if caught talking foolishly against the King.
"Stop hurting them, take them to the closest almshouse to treat their wounds, and go back to your stations", Father Bertram shocked the archers as their brows meet looking at the high priest.
"Are you mistaken, High Priest?", the archer asked.
"You clearly heard me. If anyone asked, say my name", Father Bertram closed the window and nodded at the coachman to proceed to the palace.
"You are walking on thin ice there, High Priest", the priest beside Bertram nervously warned.
"That felt good.", Betram whispered as he stare out the window. "That felt really good".
High Priest Bertram along with two priests in a white cassock lined with gold trimming arrived at the palace at exactly eight in the morning. Guided by a couple of royal guards, they headed to the chambers of Princess Helena. They are to perform a religious service and send the blessing from God prior to the royal matrimony of Galen and Helena.
As they come across the chambers of the King, two bodies winded in a white silk were being carried out. Father Bertram's eyes widened in shock, before lowering them down in an instant like an impulse. The other two priests hid behind Bertram, clasping their hands together tightly wishing they were never there at this very inconvenient time. They all made the sign of the cross, and mumbled a prayer until the bodies were out of sight.