Book of Aniela: Sins of Amphaesia

Chapter 3

Alora followed Beth out of the room she had woken up in, down a narrow, long hallway into a small and cozy kitchen. There, at a small table, already sat two women dressed similarly to Beth. One was dressed identical to Beth, all black garments but without the beaded necklace, and the other had similar garments, but instead of all black, they were a dark grey. Alora took a seat beside them, however neither of them took notice of her, instead they smiled and lowered their heads in greetings to the head priestess.

"Would you ladies like me to warm up something for you to eat as well?"

The one closer to Alora, the one in black, responded, "No, thank you, Sybeth. We were about to head to the chapel."

"Of course," Sybeth smiled, "I'll see you there once I prepare something for Alora here."

Now the women turned to look at her, as if they just noticed her. She smiled. They smiled, before standing up to leave.

"Angel's bless you, ladies."

They responded in unison, "Thank you, mother."

Once they had left, Alora tentatively asked, "How many priestesses live here?" Thinking back to how many doors Alora saw in the hall they came from.

"Those were not priestesses, dear. They were some of my students."

"Students?"

"Yes. They're studying the ways of angelic magic. First they learn with me, then, if they chose to become instructors or priests, they go off on a sort of, meditative-study period like I did. Usually somewhere in the mountains."

Alora processed this information. Angelic magic. "What if they don't want to?"

"They go back to their lives. They're not required to live here either, they all have families and oftentimes spouses who they can see whenever, but some, like the women you met here, prefer to stay and focus all their energy into learning."

Beth turned away from her and poured the contents of what must have been leftover soup into a pot, heating it up on the stove. Once it was warm she poured some into a bowl for Alora.

"Thank you, Beth."

"Of course, dear. Now, I must excuse myself. I am going to the chapel to meditate with the ladies. Feel free to look around, our church is open to all, except for these chambers, of course."

Alora nodded. "I will be done in the chapel in an hour or two. When I'm done I'll find you and we'll discuss. Us finding you outside in unholy hours of morning tells me you might need a place to stay for a little, and I'm more than happy to help you, Alora."

Alora smiled and thanked the women, leaving Alora on her own to eat.

Once she was finished, she washed her bowl in the sink and got up to take a look around. She wandered back down the hall she came from, at the end of which she found a set of stairs. Going down and through the door at the bottom, she came out into a small room, holding a couch and a loveseat, along with some hooks on the walls holding a couple light jackets. There was a large window letting in the daylight. A clock on the wall showed that it was 2:34 in the afternoon.

She exited the room, which opened up to the back wall of a grand room full of pews facing the front.. In the center was a bare stone altar, and a few throne-like chairs set off to the back.

Alora looked around in awe. The design of the place was impressive. The high ceilings loomed above her, displaying arcs and artworks of angels. One of the paintings in particular caught her eye. It was the largest one, directly in the center of the ceiling. It was a full body painting of an angel in a white robe. His heterochromatic eyes stood out to her. His white hair was excentuated because of his tan skin.