Book 5 Conclave (The Kid Emperor of Occultoria

Chapter 2 - The Matriarchal Conclave Politicking Begins

St. Jebenoah's Basilica, Divine Island

The Camerlengo, the temporary occupant of the Divine Throne until a new one was elected, was a stout old man named Scion.

He stood at the head of the long table and raised his short arms. "Your Eminences, I thank you all for being here. Tomorrow, we shall begin the process of selecting a new Matriarch. May the Divine Graces of the Eternal Mother and Father guide you in this most important and sacred of duties. According to Jebenoah Chapter 3, Verse 2 of the holy Occult Bible, Blessed are they that are guided by the Almighties. May the most suitable candidate become the Supreme Pontiff of the Holy Universal Church."

Cardinal Deprevada Pecaminosa of Monstria smiled.

More like May the candidate who politicks the most wins, she thought.

When Cardinal Deprevada Pecaminosa first heard the news that she had been appointed a cardinal in pectore and that the Matriarch had died, her only reaction was pure joy. Now, because the Matriarch was dead, there was going to be a conclave to elect a new one and the best part was, since Pecaminosa was a woman, she was eligible to be a candidate. The only other woman in the College of Cardinals was Cardinal-Bishop Rebecca Glutton of Purgatorio and Pecaminosa was certain that she could beat her rival in the dangerous game of church politics.

Pecaminosa was only slightly surprised at her own elevation to the College of Cardinals. After all, she had been putting in the work at sucking up to the late Matriarch Eleanor XX, praising the late pontiff's taste in music and creation of church programs.

That said, the cardinal had nearly missed the cutoff point. Lucky for her, the Matriarch appointed the Bishop a cardinal in pectore right before she expired.

Pecaminosa's goal was within reach.

And now, after three days of mourning the Matriarch and her elaborate state funeral with all the pomp pageantry, all the cardinals of the Holy Universal Church had been summoned to Divine Island to begin the process of a Matriarchal Conclave.

Pecaminosa was in her mid-twenties, with smooth olive skin, clear green eyes, a tiny pointy nose, a radiant smile on a small curved mouth. She had flowing luscious ebony hair.

The most outstanding trait about her was a huge mole on her left cheek. It was the shape of a pitchfork.

She did not look like the typical Matriarch. If elected, she would be the youngest and most beautiful Matriarch in the history of the Holy Universal Church.

She stared across the table at her competition. Cardinal Glutton looked the exact opposite of her.

Morbidly obese with tuffs of short graying hair on her egg-shaped head and black beady eyes, Cardinal Rebecca Glutton was eating a drumstick of a dodo. She was always eating something.

The shape of her body combined with the scarlet red of a cardinal's clerical robe made her look like an overgrown tomato.

Cardinal Pecaminosa secretly scoffed at her opponent. She knew that Glutton had only been elevated to the College of Cardinals because of her adept skills at sucking up to the Matriarch. Of course, Pecaminosa had done the same thing, but she knew she had done it better and in a classier way than Glutton.

She sized up the rest of her colleagues. Securing their votes was critical to her election. Her plan was to find the weaknesses of her fellow cardinals and then apply pressure. It had always worked in the past. She needed a 2/3 majority vote in the conclave.

She started to examine her colleagues one by one.

On her right was Cardinal Kuvabe, the Matriarchal Ambassador to the Imperial Court. She made a mental note of allowing him to keep his ambassadorship in exchange for his vote in the conclave the next day.