In order to reach the seat of the Holy See, Norris had to take the girl through a mountain range. The church didn’t belong to any one country; its headquarters were located in a basin ringed by mountains.
The city in the basin was teeming with people: faithful who resided there and travelers on pilgrimage to the grand cathedral. At present, the girl and Norris were traveling by carriage along a well-maintained road leading to the cathedral. She glimpsed many buildings through the window, all of them boxy and white. There was so little individuality or color that everything looked covered in snow.
“The church’s knights exist to maintain public safety, much like the city guard in other countries,” explained Norris.
These knights wielded staves instead of swords and wore acorn-shaped helmets on their heads. It made them easy to pick out.
The church didn’t possess its own army, as there was no need for one. The mountains around them provided natural defenses. Anyone who tried to launch an assault would be blocked by the neighboring countries around the Holy See.
No one would ever be insolent enough to try that, though. The only hostile nation that might pull such a move was the United Kingdom of Arakaner, and even that wasn’t realistic with the current state of the world.
“It’s a winding path up the mountain. If you experience any nausea, let me know,” said Norris.
The cathedral was partway up one of the mountains. The journey could be made in a carriage, but the path snaked around, taking wide loops to keep the incline manageable. Many people suffered motion sickness from all the jostling along the way. Thankfully, the girl was perfectly fine.
This was her first time seeing (or visiting) a grand cathedral, though she had caught glimpses of it through the window during their long trip.
She wore her veil, which she had grown accustomed to by this point. Norris alighted first and then held out a hand to help her down.
“You’re nervous, aren’t you?”
Her fingers stiffened around his hand. “Yes,” she admitted. “I still can’t believe this is happening—that I’m going to be the saint.”
Norris had never second-guessed her chances, but the girl hadn’t known enough about the church to share his confidence. It felt surreal from the moment news arrived that she’d been chosen, and it still hadn’t fully sunk in.
She hadn’t done anything special. All she’d done was what she thought was right. Honestly, she thought that Norris’s efforts had a lot to do with the church selecting her; she wasn’t personally privy to the church’s internal affairs. Norris had promoted her and laid the groundwork for her ascension.
He’s incredible. Truly, he is.
She glanced up at the shrewd, black-haired man. Norris was the same as she remembered from their first meeting on the island. Everything she knew about church politics, she’d heard from him—but she could imagine how challenging it must have been to temper the cardinals’ opposition to her appointment. His ability to fulfill all the promises he’d made was astounding.
When the girl climbed out, she found the knights had formed a wall for her. She would be presented to the public during the official ceremony. In the meantime, they wanted to keep her identity under wraps. She hadn’t realized how much security she had until that moment.
She tilted her head back to look at the sky, but her breath was taken away by something else. The grand cathedral was more massive than she had expected; she had to crane her neck to follow the humongous white pillars to the top. They were as thick as about ten men, and there were rows of them along the central corridor.
The cathedral wasn’t gaudy, but it didn’t need to be. The sheer size was overwhelming enough. The entrance itself was like the mouth of a titan. Fear had her rooted to the spot before she could make it inside.
I can’t believe I’m afraid. The emotion was so unfitting for a place as holy as a grand cathedral. She was here to become the saint, yet an immense pressure akin to the hand of a giant was pressed down on her.
Sensing her trepidation, Norris gently patted her shoulder. “Yes, this is how a saint should react. You can already feel the breath of the Capricious God filtering through the cathedral.”
Fear was one of the most basic human emotions, especially when dealing with the unknown. She’d learned about that when she was younger.
“It’s all right,” Norris whispered to soothe her. “The Capricious God welcomes all his children. Now, breathe in deep…and exhale slowly.”
She closed her eyes. The air up here was so much clearer than it had been in the city; it filled her lungs as she followed Norris’s instructions. By the time she opened her eyes, the fear had mostly subsided. She was ready to continue.
When the girl stepped inside, the atmosphere around her changed. The pressure she’d felt while drinking in the full size of the cathedral had fully abated, and her steps felt lighter.
I wonder if this means the Capricious God has accepted me.
Her gaze dropped to the beautifully polished marble beneath her feet. Instead of a shadow, her own reflection stared back at her. It nearly stole her breath away again.
I’m here. I’m actually in the middle of the Holy See’s grand cathedral.
And she was headed to a restricted area, open only to the clergy. How surreal that she was about to venture where ordinary pilgrims could not. She had been granted this special permission the moment she became a sister, but it hadn’t felt special until now.
There wasn’t much difference between a regular person and those at the bottom rung of the clergy. But not even a king could enter the area where she was going. The girl couldn’t even begin to describe how emotional this moment was for her. Sentimentality welled in her chest, and heat built behind her eyes.
They arrived at the entrance to their destination, knights guarding it on either side. It was three times their size.
“This is the boundary between the mundane and the divine,” said Norris. With his signal, the knights opened the massive, heavy doors. It took significant strength to move them; as the opening grew ever wider, the other side slowly came into view.
What first hit her eyes was the light. She was startled by how it fell around the pedestal at the center, as if representing a great power in the room. There should have been nothing particularly noteworthy about it. The light was a natural facet of the space, pouring through a glass window on the ceiling. But it was so concentrated that it gave the illusion of being tangible.
“Go ahead. Touch it,” encouraged Norris.
She stepped forward and inserted her hand into the light. Nothing happened, of course.
“This is a monument meant to represent the Capricious God,” he explained. “Being as fickle as he is, our God doesn’t take any specific form. Rather, he can change his form to accommodate his believers. There are times when he takes the shape of light and others where he takes the shape of darkness. This place looks entirely different at night, which makes it even more interesting.”
Since they would be staying at the grand cathedral for a little while, he suggested she find the time to visit the monument after sunset.
The monument room was like a second entrance to the cathedral. It had other corridors branching off it. If one kept going straight back, they would find themselves in the pope’s office.
“Tomorrow’s Canonization Ceremony will be carried out in the chapel. Attendees are limited to only the faithful, which means the cardinals and any clergy serving at the grand cathedral. Once the ceremony is over, you will move to the front of the cathedral to address the common folk. There is nothing else on your schedule for today, so return to your guest room and rest. You need to regain your energy for tomorrow.”
“Yes, Father,” the girl answered with a nod. She had been reticent since arriving at the grand cathedral. The austere atmosphere had robbed her of the ability to express herself adequately.
“Once the Canonization Ceremony is over, you will be granted permission to take residence in the saint’s room. You will only need to stay in the guest room for tonight.”
Startled, she clarified, “I’ll have my own room?”
“But of course,” he said. “All high-ranking members have their own quarters here, from the pope to the cardinals. That includes those who spend time abroad. And, needless to say, the same goes for the saint.”
Norris escorted her to her room, where they parted ways. He promised he would come to see her tomorrow before the ceremony.
Who knew there would ever be a day in my life when I would find it difficult to relax? the girl thought.
Almost all the rooms at the cathedral had high ceilings and ample space. The furnishings looked smaller than they actually were. There was so much unoccupied, undecorated space in the room that it felt inordinately empty. But it was the fact that she was in the Holy See’s cathedral that so disrupted her composure. When she considered how she would be meeting the pope face-to-face tomorrow, her stomach roiled with anxiety. Until very recently, she had been on the bottom rung of the church’s hierarchy. Meeting the pope was as staggering for her as it would be for a commoner meeting their king. It was an astronomically huge jump.
The girl had learned proper etiquette when she was younger, so it wasn’t terribly hard to adjust—at least in that respect. The bigger question was whether she’d trip up in the moment.
Ugh, I’m not confident at all.
This was going to be a very long night.