Everything Is Eternal (Book Two)

XV

When Will reached the top of the spiral staircase, he found another closed door. He took a deep breath as he opened it. Brighter light assaulted his eyes, and he squinted. As he pushed the door further open, he found himself in a private Chamber of Worship.

He stepped forward in a daze. As with all private worship rooms, there was an unnatural silence to it. But it wasn't a Chamber of Worship for prisoners such as Will; there was a cleaner, nicer feel to it.

It was all superficial. The vivid white walls still had an overwhelming, oppressive quality, hiding every hint of an outside world.

So lightheaded from his escape and the ceaseless light, Will almost walked straight into the prayer pool. The flimsy railing around the pool wouldn't prevent him from tumbling face first into the water.

"Watch out!" a voice squeaked out, right before Will caught himself.

The delayed shock to hearing the voice that almost made him lose his balance. He turned and saw a girl in her school uniform. Despite his exhaustion, he took one quick look at the girl and surmised the situation. A young girl, likely upper-class based on her uniform. Too young to have gone through with a dedication. Still an innocent girl, likely doing a penance of prayers for the grave transgression of being an adolescent girl.

Something struck Will as off about her presence, but his mind was too scattered to put the pieces together. The only coherent thought that resounded was that he needed to get out of there.

"T-Thank you," he said. "Um... my child."

"Oh... you needn't thank me! I'm awful clumsy too! And I wasn't sleeping! Honest! It just looked like I was sleeping!" the girl babbled.

She was like Will as a child. Punished for trivial offenses and not bothering to do her penance when no one was watching. Any other time, he would have assured the girl her lack of devotion was fine. But he couldn't risk it.

The girl frowned. "Um... Son of the Eternal? Are you well?"

Will knew his disguise barely concealed his condition, but he must have looked even worse than he estimated. It didn't help that this girl was corrupted by curiosity.

"I'm fine," Will lied quickly, his voice so rough that it almost made him wince. "I... um... fell asleep and took a tumble."

"That must've been some tumble," she remarked. "Did you fall asleep while walking downstairs?"

Perfect. A future Kate.

"I've been doing vigil for a long time, fasting and such," Will said quickly. "I lost track of time and must get somewhere quick. If anyone comes looking for me, I'd appreciate if you did me a kindness and said nothing."

"You want me to lie, Son of the Eternal?"

He cringed. Why did the bad ones have to be so quick?

"Of course not. Lying leads to corruption," he lied. "But saying nothing... that is no lie. After all, nothing is eternal and everything is eternal."

The girl did not look persuaded by Will's misappropriation of the sacred texts.

Will struggled to find a more convincing argument. "What of you? If someone had kept silent on your transgressions, would that have been wrong? You've likely made those mistakes many times with no great consequence. Someone was just trying to get you into trouble. That's worse than any of your transgressions."

He was taking a gamble. But he knew from experience that kids would tell on him for minor offenses, often exaggerating so a spark was turned into a wildfire.