Black Crystal Part 1 - The Origin

Chapter Three ~ Decision of the Bishop

 Lucius followed Garen and Peter up the staircase of the temple's tower toward the sound of the hollering children in the top. "I shouldn't have let them up there," Lucius sighed regretfully. "I hope they didn't destroy the bell with their antics."

"Have a bit more faith in your mercenaries," Peter chuckled as he led the way. "They may be loud and obnoxious, but they're not stupid."

"I have no idea what the Bishop was thinking..." Lucius looked up at the top door as they ascended the stairs. "You're all just children. You shouldn't have to take such responsibility."

"We do it voluntarily," said Garen. "We're all orphans. What good are we without the Bishop? If he didn't have us do these jobs, we'd be out on the streets without food and water, and if we didn't die from starvation, we'd be jailed or killed for vagrancy." Lucius smiled and shook his head.

"Sometimes, I feel like you're too sensible to be a child," he said.

The three of them remained silent for the rest of the climb, which wasn't long. They approached the door leading to the top of the tower and entered it, and to Lucius's surprise, the room was in perfect condition, despite there being about a dozen children between the ages of seven and fourteen running around, shouting and hollering. Lucius cleared his throat and stepped forward.

"Attention, children!" he exclaimed. But it was to no avail. He cleared his throat more and spoke louder. "Attention!" Still, none of the children paid attention to him.

"I've got this," said Peter, gently pulling Lucius back. Peter put the tips of his index finger and thumb together and placed them in his mouth, blowing an eardrum-shattering whistle through the gap between his fingers. All of the children stopped what they were doing and turned towards Peter. "Alright!" Peter smiled, crossing his arms. "We have alerted Garen of the situation, and now, let Sir Lucius speak."

"Thank you, Peter." Lucius smiled and stepped forward. "The Bishop has called for a council meeting, and he is summoning Garen, Peter, and Anne to be in the chapel for the meeting. So, Anne, where are you?"

"Right here, sir!" The quiet but energetic voice came from among the congregation of children, and a red-haired girl stepped out from the crowd. Freckles gently covered the bridge of her nose and cheeks, and she was about Garen's height, maybe a year older than he was. "The Bishop wants to see us for a meeting?"

"That is correct." Lucius looked at the group and nodded. "As for the rest of you, return to headquarters. I'll have these three return to you after the meeting to let you know of the situation." The remaining children nodded and started to leave the tower, some of them running excitedly, some of them trudging along and complaining about how tired they were.

"What's the meeting about?" the young girl, Anne, asked. "Is it about... you-know-who?"

"Precisely," Lucius began as he left the tower with Garen, Peter, and Anne. "The Bishop is considering having us escort her back to the Capitol, but we still have preparations to make."

"I can imagine so." Anne laughed a bit. "It would be a long trip to go to the Capitol from here. And in the roads between the villages, there aren't exactly friendly people there, either. We'd have to go with some sort of protection, don't you think so?"

"Are you proposing the idea of letting you use weapons?"

"Just a suggestion; we've done it before, after all."

"It's something we'll discuss with the Bishop," said Garen. "For now, let's save the talking for the meeting, okay?" Garen's words were acknowledged by a silent nod from both Lucius and Anne. The four of them left the tower, and Lucius was the one took the lead. Finally, the sun was out. The light illuminated the temple and brought a much nicer atmosphere to the entire building. As the four of them walked, Garen looked back at the dark corridor towards the hidden chamber Peter showed him. He was worried about Princess Lenora and felt almost a sense of protection over her. If he remembered to later, he would go to the chamber alone and make sure she was okay.

They stopped walking as Lucius grabbed the golden door handles leading to the chapel and pulled them open. The chapel was a large room with rows of wooden benches, all facing an altar draped in red curtain. Behind the altar was a wooden cross with a purple sash around the top. A man stood at the front of the altar, donning a black cloak. He turned around with a friendly smile, his old age showing through his wisdom-filled brown eyes. "Ah, there you all are," he said kindly. "I've been waiting. I see you managed to find Garen." Lucius looked around the chapel with a bit of confusion.

"If you'll pardon my questioning, sir," Lucius began, "where are the others on the church council?" The old man, the Bishop, chuckled and stepped down from the altar, his hands folded in front of him while he approached the small group.

"I thought it would be inappropriate to let the others know of the situation," the Bishop replied. "This is something that should only stay between the five of us, the Princess, and her parents." Lucius's eyes widened at the mention of Lenora's parents.

"Did they respond to your letter!?" he asked, but the Bishop shook his head.

"I sent that letter a day ago, Lucius. We cannot assume that the courier can make it to the Capitol and back within a single day, especially since the King or Queen, depending on who gets the letter first, will have to write another letter in response to mine. But on the main topic..." The Bishop turned towards Garen, Peter, and Anne. "I wanted to talk to you three about this matter."

"You want us on an escort job, right?" asked Anne. "To take the Princess back to the Capitol safely?" The Bishop chuckled and closed his eyes.

"We mustn't be hasty about this," he said. "Perhaps we should talk to the Princess herself when she wakes up, which shouldn't be long from now. We'll see what she would want, and then we can make our decision."

"This would be the most important escort job you have ever done," Lucius said to the children. "If the Princess is kidnapped or killed..."

"We understand," Peter replied with an acknowledging nod. "So, once we hear back from the King and Queen, we take up arms, ride a carriage, and protect Princess Lenora 'til we're at the Capitol? Seems simple enough."

"Um, excuse me..."

A different voice spoke from the entrance to the chapel. Everyone turned around and saw the lovely Princess Lenora standing there.

"If you wouldn't mind," Lenora began, "could you please fill me in as to where I am and what's going on?"