Rebirth of a Dynasty

Chapter 16 - The Faith That Moves Us

City of Tismator, Cathedral of Saint Alexia

"Canoness Karamora, will you allow that man to treat you with such disrespect?" A battle sister asked, quickening her pace to keep up with the Canoness who was leading the group.

"Palantina Ania, how long were you appointed to my commend exactly?" Canoness Karamora asked as they both passed through the main entrance of the cathedral, receiving admiring looks from all the faithful present.

Ania was silent for a few seconds, with a look of doubt and hesitation on her face, before slowly replying, "Less than a year."

"Hm... That means you recently became a Palatine." Canoness Karamora responded.

"Yes ma'am." Palatine Ania responded with a nod.

Moving away from the altar where the priests continued their religious ceremony, the group of Sisters of Battle climbed the stairs towards the upper floors of the cathedral.

There the group divided, the Sisters took up positions on the balconies on the upper floors, overlooking the ceremony taking place below, while Karamora and Ania continued climbing the floors of the cathedral.

"I understand, the teachings of our order dictate that we must use the fury in our hearts as a weapon against the Emperor's enemies, but you must understand, we will not allow that fury to consume us. A small misunderstanding like the one that occurred in the courtyard is no reason to get angry and start trouble." Karamora replied as she continued on her way.

"Thank you very much; I think I understand what you meant. I'm sorry if my previous words were hasty, but I've had doubts on my mind lately." Ania replied, looking away at the architecture of the cathedral.

The Palatine noticed that the cathedral became more decorated as they advanced through its interior, leaving the stone and metal corridors behind and approaching a white marble staircase with scriptures on each step.

"Let me guess. You're nervous about your new rank, you're not sure you deserve this position and you're unsure if you'll do a good job, you're worried about disappointing your sisters and that you won't be able to meet the expectations placed on you. I got it right?" Karamora asked with a small smile.

Ania remained silent, opening and closing her mouth in surprise, but taking a deep breath to compose herself, the Palatine spoke "Yes, exactly! How do you know?"

"I know this because I felt the same way when I received the position of Canoness Commander. Although it was never said directly, I knew my sisters had high expectations for me, and I had my doubts whether I would live long enough to meet them."

"Seriously? And how did you deal with it?"

The sisters finished climbing the staircase and at the end of it, they found a large metal door. Canoness Karamora took out a medallion with the symbol of her order from her armor.

Bringing this medallion closer to a scanner next to the door, a red light came out of the device, scanning the object in front of it. With a beep of confirmation, the large door opened to the sides with the click of mechanisms and squeaks of metal.

"Each of us deals with pressure differently, some seek answers in scrolls and tomes, others seek advice from those who have been through similar experiences, and while others seek to numb their minds in the hope their problems will disappear. In your case, I can offer some advice. Would you like to hear it?"

"Yes please!" Ania responded eagerly, following the Canoness into the extremely decorated hallway.

Ania looked in awe at the colored light that entered through the stained glass windows, reflecting on the extremely polished floor, and on that same floor, Ania saw the reflection of the paintings on the ceiling.