Black Crystal Part 1 - The Origin

Chapter Six ~ Lenora's Prayer

 Garen snuck out of headquarters by climbing out the window (and confusing a lot of bystanders who witnessed it; seriously, imagine how strange it would be to randomly see a twelve year-old kid climbing out of the second floor window of a pub he shouldn't be in anyways) and he landed on the cobblestone street. Fortunately, not many people pay much attention to children on the streets, so it was easy for Garen to move about the village without drawing attention to himself.

He walked across town towards the temple again, where people slowly began to enter the chapel within. I hope I'm not too late, Garen thought to himself. He regained a decent composure and walked among the large crowd as if he was preparing to go to the church service as well. At the door, Lucius was shaking hands with people and greeting them, but Garen avoided contact with him as he snuck towards the main sleeping quarters Lucius brought Lenora to. There was a slight anxiousness within Garen. He felt nervous for some reason, like he was doing something he knew he shouldn't be doing, but at the same time, he was excited to see Lenora once more. The main sleeping quarters were in a hallway behind the chapel, so no one would be able to see him. Garen started to walk more quietly through the hallway, but much to his surprise, as he was was walking, he managed to bump into someone. "Oh, I-I'm sorry," he said, but his heart seemed to skip a beat when he realized it was Lenora that he ran into. She smiled at him, and her smile seemed to shine brighter than the sun.

"No worries," she said. "You're... Garen, right? One of the children of the church?" Garen nodded in response. "What are you doing over here?"

"Oh!" Suddenly, Garen felt a bit embarrassed. "Well, I, uh... I was coming to see if you'd like to accompany me to church?" Lenora smiled and chuckled a little.

"I would love to," she said. "I was just heading over there myself."

"You were?"

"Of course!" Lenora replied with a smile. "My parents and I attend church every Sunday morning."

"At least you only have to go on Sundays," Garen scoffed. "The Bishop makes us go every morning here. I suppose that makes sense since he's, you know, taking care of all of us kids, but still. I'm not exactly the most religious of people, and I'm not too fond of waking up early."

"Oh yeah," Lenora chuckled a bit. "That cleric was telling me about that. His name is Lucius, right?"

"That sure is his name, alright." Garen put his hands on his pockets and scoffed as he and Lenora walked back to the lobby of the temple. "He's always on us about following the rules and whatnot. It gets annoying after a while, but he's not a bad guy."

"He seems kind." Lenora looked around at the beautiful architecture of the temple. "While waking up in an underground chamber wasn't exactly the best way to start the day, this seems like a nice place." Garen couldn't help but laugh.

"Having them put you in an underground room seemed a little odd," he said. "When Peter showed me that the only way to access that room was using some brick in the wall, I was a little worried about that." Garen looked at Lenora with a shrug. "It was like they put you in a dungeon or something like that; I didn't think that was the best of ideas."

"At least the intention was kind," Lenora laughed. "Lucius said it was for my own safety." Garen nodded in response.

"Though the people here are kind," he began, "there are a lot of people outside, and even within this village, who would do awful things to get you because of your royal blood."

"I thought it might be something like that," Lenora replied. Both of them went silent for a moment before they finally approached the entrance to the chapel where Lucius stood. The doors were closed, and Lucius looked at both of them with a suspicious expression, especially at Garen.

"I didn't think you'd willingly come to church," he said to Garen. "And I see you brought the Princess along as well?"

"My parents and I go to church each Sunday," Lenora said with a kind smile. "I figured I might as well come to this service as long as I'm here in the village." Lucius smiled at Lenora.

"I see..." he said, then his smile faded as he turned towards Garen. "And what about you? Usually, you'd find any opportunity to skip the Bishop's morning service."

"Well," Garen chuckled nervously. "I-I thought I'd accompany Princess Lenora to church this morning. Maybe the Word of God is finally moving my heart?" Lucius gave Garen a suspicious glare, and after a moment, he rolled his eyes and grabbed one of the golden handlebars on the doors to the chapel.

"Very well," he sighed. "Though you're both late. We already have a congregation gathered in there, so please be quiet when you enter."

"Of course," Lenora said with a respectful and courteous bow. "Thank you." Lucius bowed in return, opening the door to the chapel for the two children. The chapel was a bit darker since curtains were draped over the windows, but a chandelier hung from above and illuminated the large room with a warm and gentle light. The congregation sang worship music along with the Bishop as he played the piano. Lenora smiled at Garen as they snuck through the congregation to find two empty spots to sit at. They both sat down right on time as the song ended.

"You may all take your seats," said the Bishop.

* * *

Lenora and Garen sat in during the Bishop's entire sermon. It made Garen happy to see Lenora so eager to listen; while he didn't pay as much attention to the Bishop's words, he kept glancing at Lenora, seeing her beautiful smile. Just seeing her was enough to make Garen want to go to the services more often, preferably with her. After the closing prayer, Lenora got up and placed a hand on Garen's shoulder. "Wait here for a moment," she said before walking up to the altar. Garen smiled and nodded, remaining in his seat. He saw Lenora approach the Bishop and say something to him. The Bishop nodded, and the two of them knelt down in front of the wooden cross at the back of the altar, praying. Garen couldn't hear what they were saying, or what they were praying about, but his heart felt heavy all of a sudden. He began to worry about Lenora.