Cult of the Lamb : Rise of the Black Crown

Chapter 2: Submission

Narinder's prayer had been half-hearted. His devotion generation was slow, and rather pitiful in comparison to his neighbors. He had made a very meager contribution by the end of the day. Night had fallen once more, the Followers scattered throughout the ground began their trip back to the cabins. The cabins were in the southeastern corner of the grounds, illuminated by wooden posts carrying candle lit lanterns. Fireflies drifted into the air, emitting flashes of delicate light over the grounds. Narinder stood slowly and sighed, relieved that he could stop the ridiculous task. He looked back at Aym and Baal, ready to speak, but hesitated with the embarrassing realization that his servants surpassed his height by quite a margin. The two were nearly seven feet, and he stood at a measly five foot four. The forms that they had taken were hardly different than that they embodied in his Domain. Smaller, yes, but only just. Meanwhile, he had lost everything that made him formidable. Most regrettably, and more obvious now than ever, his height. He glared, causing worried expressions to appear on their faces as they obviously had no clue why he'd become irritated. Narinder shook his head.

"Never mind." Just as he was about to head towards the cabins with them, the jingling Narinder had grown to hate was heard approaching. Sure enough, the Lamb had left her temple to head them off.

"It is time everyone gets their rest." She announced. Narinder found this to be ridiculously unnecessary. He nearly smarted off over the comment, but she continued. "Your cabin is there." The Lamb pointed to the northeastern corner of the grounds. There stood a cabin, not unlike those the other Followers had retreated to. This one did appear to be larger though, red candles illuminated the windows, and a small porch was at the front, vines had wrapped along the railings, blooming with red and white flowers. "I've added two beds inside for your servants." She gestured towards Aym and Baal.

"Is that not your own cabin, Lamb?" Narinder asked, confused as to why it was larger and so far from the others. She shook her head.

"No, I sleep in the temple. That cabin was meant for my faith enforcer to use. Caxton was nonplussed when I informed him he'd be sleeping in his old cabin once more, but he put up no argument." She shrugged. "Go and rest now. I hold my sermons at the break of dawn." Narinder hadn't even considered joining in sermons and rituals. The thought made his stomach lurch in protest. But he didn't have the energy to argue with her. It was not the hill he would die on.

"Very well." He nodded and walked off towards the cabin, Aym and Baal at his heels. He turned the iron handle and it clicked as the door opened for them. The interior was surprisingly nice. The main room had a fireplace on the opposite wall to the entrance. A large bookshelf was against the eastern wall, filled with books the Lamb had collected on her crusades. In the corner, between the fireplace and bookshelf, sat a comfortable looking armchair with matching ottoman. To the right of the bookshelf was a small table with three wooden chairs, a vase sat at the center of this table, filled with Camellia flowers. Beside the vase was a water pitcher and an upside down cup. A doorway leading into a small kitchen was to the right of this table. A bed was on the western wall of the main room, dressed in hand sewn quilts. A wooden nightstand sat beside the bed, two more books sat on top. There were two more doors on the western wall. One led to a bathroom containing a compost toilet and a mirror, the second a small bedroom. The bedroom contained two beds, and a nightstand shared between them. Most surprising about this bedroom was the presence of two staves placed on either bed. One staff was red, wrapped in black leather and topped with a moon shaped blade, etched with red symbols. The other staff was also red wrapped in black leather, but it was topped with a red circle, small arrow-shaped blades sticking out along the radius giving it the appearance of the sun. These were Aym and Baal's weapons, and the three cats were shocked they had been included. It was expected that the Lamb would confiscate these weapons, maybe even destroy them.