Little Angie was smiling as she talked to the older human nun. The quiet classroom allowed even their low voices to carry, letting me here them even from a distance.

  Angie was asking the nun about the children’s meals. More interested in the food than the school we were in. Food was more important than lessons, after all.

  Other than Angie and the nun, it was just me and Randle right now in this classroom. The kids had already been given their morning lecture and were now doing chores elsewhere. They’d return later for one last class and then head off to prepare and have dinner together.

  It was honestly a very good system, and highly beneficial for everyone who went through it. This era did have schools, but it was mostly for the upper echelon of society. Rarely did a commoner’s child get any proper education except from what little their parents could give them.

  I knew that, thanks to it being run by the Church of Songs, they likely also somewhat indoctrinated them into their religion in the process… but there was little I could do about that. After all the alternative was far worse for these kids. A little biased learning was a small price to pay for the rest of the stuff they received alongside it.

  “She seems determined. I believe she’s full well made up her mind,” Randle said quietly.

  I nodded. “She had done so the moment she heard about what you’re doing here, I think. Klamma had been rather motherly too, must just be a trait of theirs,” I said.

  “Nothing wrong with that,” Randle said.

  No. There wasn’t.

  Renn was like that too. It was why she had not really wanted to join us here, and why I gave her a way out of having to do so. She cared too much for children in a way, if such a thing was even possible.

  Glancing around the classroom, I noted the stone floor. It was old and weathered. In fact it seemed… familiar…

  “Don’t recognize it, do you?” Randle asked.

  “Hm?” I frowned as I shook my head.

  “This is the old church, Vim. The first one. The one Celine made.”

  Ah…

  I took a small breath as I nodded. Right. This was indeed where she had originally given her sermons. Before the Cathedral had been properly built, and Telmik around it. It was likely the oldest section of this whole city.

  “Celine gave me permission to use the old buildings as the orphanages. I’ve up-kept them, as I’m sure you’d expect, but I’ve also tried to keep them the same all the while,” Randle explained.

  “I see…” I mumbled. Was that out of reverence for their humble beginnings, or his pious nature speaking?

  The two of us became quiet again as Angie and the old nun headed for one of the doors. One on the other side of the room, a smaller side-door not the main double doors Randle and I were near. They were talking about going to the nearby kitchens they used for the orphanage.

  “Nancy and all the rest here are the best of the best, Vim. I’ve taken great care to ensure all of those involved are suitable for this type of task. You need not worry over Angie here,” Randle said calmly.

  “I always worry, Randle. That’s my problem,” I said.

  He shifted next to me as we watched the old nun, Nancy, open the door for Angie and let her through. The nun gave us a tiny glance and a smaller nod as she followed Angie out of the classroom, closing the door behind her.

  I sighed as we were left alone. “Does she know?” I asked.

  “Nancy and two others do, yes. The rest don’t as of now, but there are a few I plan on telling shortly. I try to always keep a few in the loop, in case moments like this occur,” Randle explained.

  Made sense. Especially if he carefully chooses who works here and whatnot. He’d have to explain to a young woman why she would not notice him aging throughout the decades as she grew older and he still kept being the same.

  Stepping deeper into the classroom, I studied the small desks and tables littered around. They weren’t in rows, but seemed to be centered around the room in a circle instead. So that the teacher could stand in the center. I wasn’t sure if each and every chair would be filled during their lessons, but if they would be then there were quite a few students. At least thirty.

  “We teach the humans simple lessons. As they grow older we begin to figure out who is efficient at what, and send them down those paths. Those good with numbers work with them, those who’d rather work physical jobs sent to where they’d be happy and so forth,” Randle explained.

  I nodded. I figured. It wasn’t like they could outright teach any type of higher education, unless to specific individuals. Not so much out of ability, but need and purpose. It was dangerous to teach humans advanced things. It was hard to trust them, or those who they’d teach later in life themselves.

  Stopping in the center of the room, surrounded by the tables and desks, I felt odd.

  How long had it been since I’d given a proper lecture?

  Nasba and Nann always wanted me to give one each time I visited. So in a sense you could say I had recently done so… but I had just told them a story. Not a true lecture. I also have been teaching Renn, slowly, piece by piece along our journey… but those conversations were mixed with flirting and somber emotions. It wasn’t the same either.

  Mother would be upset with me. She had wanted me to teach my fellow man.

  How I’ve failed her.

  “Vim…”

  I turned a little and found Randle nearby. I had left him near the double-door entrance and he was now standing in the center of the room with me. I hadn’t noticed his approach.

  “You’ve done well, Randle. You should be proud of yourself,” I told him.

  He blinked, and simply nodded. It seemed he was growing use to my sudden praise, stuff he’d not heard in centuries. That kind of annoyed me.

  “We try Vim. I try. Although humans, and fleeting, they are still children of our creators. We are all siblings in the end,” Randle said, being the priest he had moulded himself into over a millennium.

  I nodded at him as I glanced at one of the nearby tables. It was a larger one, where multiple kids sat at once during their lessons. It looked older, but not messy. I saw no scribbles, no marks from sharp points or knives, or any kind of graffiti or wear that kids usually did absentmindedly to such desks. Either the nuns who taught them were strict, or the kids were in general orderly. Likely both.

  Randle cleared his throat, and I looked back at him. He gave me the kind of smile that told me he wanted to say something. Likely something he’d been wanting to say for a long time.

  “Why not take a seat?” I offered. There was a chair in front of me, sitting alone and not near a table or desk. It wasn’t a full sized one, but it wasn’t so small he’d be unable to sit in it.

  Randle frowned, but then nodded and stepped over to it. He sat down in the mid-sized chair with ease, not bothered by its smaller size. He nodded at me again once seated, and took a small breath before speaking. “The Chronicler and her people are planning a coup,” he then said.

  I frowned at him. “They’ve been involved in many coups, Randle,” I said. Many I had helped with myself.

  Randle shook his head slowly. “A different type, Vim. One not of politics, or monarchies but instead of faith.”

  My frown deepened. “I don’t understand.”

  The priest took a breath and nodded. “She recently got one of her flock, an older woman named Telieve, into the seat of a cardinal. The first female cardinal in over a hundred years,” Randle said.

  “Some coup, to force gender equality,” I said.

  Randle smirked at me. “If that was all it was, I’d not even mention it Vim.”

  “I figured. So…? Is this what has bothered you?” I asked. Seemed not as important or dire as I had assumed. Maybe Randle was just too old. Too set in his ways. Maybe he was afraid of change, even simple ones.

  “Yes and no. It was the first step. Since then she and her people have begun to… remove individuals of importance. Archbishops, bishops, ministers… they’ve been quietly and swiftly replacing many for their own desires,” Randle said.

  I shrugged lightly. “Still a normal event, Randle. How many purges have we done over the years?” I asked. I knew of at least three myself, and knew they’d done more without me too.

  “These aren’t purges Vim. This is not her removing those who threaten, or could threaten, the Society. This is her taking over the church.”

  I kept my thoughts on that inside. Taking over the church? So what? We used to rule it with an iron first, back during Celine’s rule and the Chronicler’s sisters. Why would that be a bad thing now?

  I too didn’t outright trust, or like, the Chronicler… but when it came to the Society she could be trusted. For everything else I honestly didn’t care, not anymore.

  Randle must have noticed my indifference for he smiled at me. “I know. You let us do as we wish. Free will. But there’s a problem, one I don’t think even you can allow,” he said.

  I shrugged lightly, telling him to continue.

  “They’ve written a new bible,” the man finally revealed his true issue.

  Although a little stunned, my shock was more at how serious he had said it… and how stupid the true problem was.

  A new bible…? So what?

  “You don’t approve,” I said carefully, doing my best to not scoff at him.

  “I’d not be too bothered by it… if they hadn’t changed the teachings. But they’ve done more than just shift around stories, or passages,” Randle said as he stood from his chair. He began to pace, and I realized he was terribly bothered by this. His face was furrowed in stress as he shook his head. “They’re no longer preaching gospel, Vim, but laws. Rules. They plan to use the new gospel to create sheep, not believers!”

  A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  His voice had grown in volume and his tone had deepened, he was growing very upset very quickly. A rather startling thing to see. Randle was usually a very calm man, even during stressful moments.

  Though this might likely be the first time he’s openly spoken of this, and his frustrations of it all, so it had likely been bottled up for a long time. Years likely, even.

  If that was the case I’ll be gentle with him and listen. Even if I found it ridiculous.

  “And she does not hear your complaints of it, does she?” I asked.

  “I’ve not brought it up with her yet,” he said as he stopped pacing.

  I blinked at that, and shifted a little. “Why not…?” That was strange. They were actually very close. Too close for such secrecy and bottled up emotions such as this.

  “Because that is just the beginning, Vim. They’ve done more. Something almost just as bad as changing the gospel,” Randle said as he looked at me.

  “Hm…?”

  The priest I’ve known for hundreds of years held my gaze with a haunted look. “She’s been communicating with Celine’s daughter, Vim.”

  Now I was worried too.

  Before I could say anything Randle stepped closer and shook his head, lowering his voice into a whisper. “She’s alive. She has been this whole time. She left with the rest, to the other continent, in secret,” Randle spoke quickly, revealing a secret I’d always assumed but never believed.

  “Randle…” I groaned as I was about to tell him not to lie to me. To not say what he was saying. To not do this.

  He didn’t care or even notice my threat. “I don’t know what they’re planning Vim, but it has to do with this vote. They have been waiting for this moment. Maybe even planted the seeds of doubt themselves,” he told me.

  It was my turn to take a seat, but I remained standing even as I closed my eyes and groaned at the sudden headache.

  “She’s alive…?” I asked.

  I heard his robes shuffle as he nodded. “Light’s alive. And they’re planning something, Vim. Something traitorous,” he said stiffly.

  Damn.

  A part of me was happy to hear it. I had always felt horrible about not being able to find and save her. Celine had so desperately begged me, even on her deathbed, to find her. To protect her. The daughter she had found that had never been in her prophecies. Only seen indirectly when involved with me, or others. Light had never been seen by Celine on her own in her dreams. Never on purpose. It had been why she had not been able to tell me where she had been, or how to actually save her.

  Yet this meant there were schemes. Terrible schemes. Ones I now needed to worry about.

  Ones that were hundreds of years in the making. Ones that had begun if not from Celine’s death, even before it.

  “Do you know what they’re doing?” I asked. He hadn’t outright said it, even during his moment of stressful panic so…

  “No,” Randle shook his head quickly. “I could probably find out if I inquired, but I’ve been afraid to. If I confront them about it Vim, and it’s something terrible, I’ll be forced to make a stand. To stand against them. I’d not survive. And I have people who rely on me. Many people,” Randle said with a gesture around him, at the empty classroom.

  Right.

  Not just the kids either. Those like Jelti and Henrietta were under his banner, not the Chronicler’s. Oplar too, in a way.

  “Don’t push it. What does she think of all this then? Everyone here knows you and her are having issues,” I said. The Chronicler was not the type to kill Randle, not outright, if they had a simple disagreement but she’d not hesitate to remove him from his position if she thought it was necessary. She’d not kill him or banish him, being a member of the Society, but shed not hesitate to banish him from both the church and this location. Excommunicated. He’d lose his political and religious power. It’d be nearly the same as death for him, since he’d then be unable to help those he needed to.

  “She thinks my current dissatisfaction is simply over the new bible. I’ve not revealed yet I even know about Light’s involvement,” Randle said.

  “How’d you find out?” I asked.

  “One of her followers. Was talking to Mapple and I overheard certain names and put one and two together with what I’d heard and known previously,” Randle said.

  I frowned at that. “Mapple…? Really?” I asked.

  “Strange isn’t it? It makes me wonder if the Chronicler wanted me or others, like you, to know. Mapple isn’t too good at keeping secrets,” he agreed.

  No. She wasn’t. Not those types at least. “And you think this vote is the cause? Or the reason for it all?” I asked.

  “Likely, Vim. I don’t know if the Chronicler really started it but I have no doubt she’s furthered it along and aided it. She’s taking advantage of it, and the chaos it will bring,” Randle said.

  I sighed as I glanced around, to make sure we were still alone. I could hear the sound of children in the distance, but they were still not nearby. Likely a few rooms down or something. Or down a nearby hallway. We were still alone, and in fact more alone than one usually were here in the Cathedral.

  Thus why Randle was speaking of this now. He felt comfortable here. Safe. This was his domain, not the Chronicler’s.

  “What will you do, Vim?” Randle asked me.

  “Nothing. Not yet. The Society has a right to this vote. Even if the Chronicler and Light are scheming around it… that changes nothing. In fact their schemes are their own right too, unless it endangers the Society I can’t do anything about it,” I said.

  “Once again you stand by and fail us,” Randle said with scorn.

  I nodded. Yes. I would. I was.

  “Maybe I should go to your wife. She has more backbone than you,” Randle threatened.

  “You can if you’d like. Just as I’d not stop you or them, I’ll not stop her either,” I said. Even if it terrified me to do so.

  Randle sighed at me, exhaling the anger he had just been building up. “I told you this in hopes you’d offer insight Vim. To tell me why it was okay, and why it would be. Not so that I’d worry even more,” he said.

  I smiled at him. “You should know better.”

  “I should,” he agreed.

  Crossing my arms, I sighed again and wondered what to even think.

  Celine’s daughter was alive. And she was scheming with the Chronicler. Knowing that woman, maybe even giving her orders. And they wanted this vote…? To depose me?

  Celine’s daughter going against me was an odd thought. But it wasn’t an impossibility. Maybe she faulted me for her mother’s death…? For the wars? For not keeping the Society together…? There was plenty of possible reasons and those were just off the top of my head.

  “What are you thinking, Vim?” Randle asked.

  “Things that hurt. Tell me, I had assumed you’d vote against me during the vote… yet you speak as if you won’t be,” I noted.

  “You’d think I’d vote against you…? Really?” Randle tilted his head at me in shock, and then he smirked. “I hate you Vim, for not being the great man you should be, but I’m not stupid enough to claim you’re not the only reason our Society still stands. I do agree, to a point; with some of their complaints and worries… since I’ve had them myself all this time, but I’d rather have you as you are than lose you completely. And I fear this vote, if it goes badly, may just result in such a thing if we aren’t careful. Though no one else seems to even realize how detrimental that would be, I think,” Randle said.

  Huh… “And your letter for Lilly…?” I asked.

  He shifted, and I wondered if I had touched something he hadn’t wanted to speak of. But he took a small breath and nodded. “She’s one of the few who had known Celine. Like you. And thanks to what happened… and has happened… I can trust her to be honest with me about the Chronicler and Light. I can trust her if I need to take a side, one against them,” Randle explained.

  “You plan to wage war…?” I asked. That was the only reason to stand alongside Lilly against the Church.

  He quickly shook his head; to argue against it… but then hesitated. “I… I don’t know, Vim. I have a terrible suspicion that is what is coming. Light left with all the rest, without even letting you know all this time. Yet they return? Showing themselves now? Right during this vote…? Something terrible is about to happen, Vim, and although you need not worry over it… and may even support it even if it’s terrible thanks to your beliefs, the rest of us are not that strong. What of these children? Those like Angie? Or Link and Hands…? What of Henrietta and her family, Vim? Jelti? Those in Lumen, or throughout the rest of the Society…? Do you know how many are at ends with our church, Vim? Honestly?” he asked me.

  I shifted. “Hundreds,” I said.

  He nodded stiffly. “Nearly half. And of the half that aren’t, that doesn’t outright mean they are members of the cloth. They simply live amongst us. Alongside us. They may even wear our robes, but are pagans or something like them. Those like Sharp or Rapti. The Chronicler and Light would not be any kinder to them than they would those like Lilly,” he warned.

  “You’re speaking of a cleansing, Randle,” I warned him. Something Celine herself had never even dared to whisper, even when it sometimes needed to happen.

  He went pale in the face but nodded, unafraid to argue with what I’d just said.

  I flinched and shook my head. “You fear the Chronicler and her ilk might actually try to split the Society. On purpose,” I said, understanding what he meant.

  He nodded again, but remained quiet.

  Great. Just great.

  Hopefully he was just panicking. Hopefully Randle was just…

  I groaned as I rubbed my eyes. Randle was not one to panic. Not like that. Not like this.

  If he firmly believed this could happen, to the point he’d tell me all this and even send a letter to Lilly… then…

  “I know Vim. I’m speaking aloud things that shouldn’t even be whispered let alone thought. But…” Randle whispered again, and not just because some of the distant voices had grown nearer and louder. He was scared of saying it aloud too.

  “Okay. Let’s just… handle it. We’ll speak more of this before I leave,” I said. Maybe I should deal with this before heading north to that saint. But how…?

  My statement, and Randle’s frustrations, weren’t incorrect.

  Even if they were scheming such things I couldn’t do anything. Not yet. Not over mere speculation or rumor. Not until they actually did something. Not until blood was genuinely spilled.

  Even if I believed Randle about this, I couldn’t just march into the Chronicler’s office and demand the truth. Not without causing more problems… not without breaking my own rules.

  “Light’s coming back?” I asked softly. I was still shocked over it.

  Celine’s daughter. Alive. Coming home.

  What would I say to her…?

  What could I say?

  “I believe so. I think she’s already here. Landi’s sister, Less, do you remember her? She’s coming here. Under the guise of opening a new church in Lumen. I believe some of those amongst her group are Light and her people. The Chronicler isn’t acting as if more subordinates are coming but instead someone important. Too important,” Randle said.

  Great. Just great. “We should let Landi know,” I said. If her sister still lived and was here, she had a right to know. Plus we might need her if that’s the case.

  “You sure…? And you found it odd that I’d call upon Lilly?” he asked.

  “Landi now owes me a favor. A big one. Plus…” I hesitated to say it aloud, but knew I had to all the same. “If they really are scheming something terrible, having a few strong allies nearby would be wise. I’m powerful Randle, but as you know I’m still just one man. I can’t be everywhere at once,” I said. Not to mention thanks to my own rules I may be hamstrung on certain things, and unable to act when needed.

  If Randle was this stressed, it wasn’t just because of the change of gospel and my being possibly banished or removed from position.

  He was worried about the weaker members. The humans. Those who the Chronicler and her people saw as threats.

  As he had mentioned. Hundreds of people.

  And they were scattered every which way. Too spread apart for me to protect all at once. Many of them, like he said, even lived amongst those of the cloth. Like at the Bell Church or the Keep.

  He nodded slowly. “Would Landi abandon her kingdom for this favor?”

  “Actually yes. Since that favor fulfilled that kingdom’s purpose in the first place,” I stated.

  “Huh…” Randle nodded, impressed, but didn’t press it or ask for the story behind it.

  I sighed as the sound of children’s voices grew louder. They were headed this way. Maybe not to this classroom, but they’d be passing by soon. Walking through the same hallway Angie and that old nun had just left through.

  “We’ll speak in depth later. Shall we speak in your office tonight? The one below?” I asked. I had more questions and concerns but for now I just needed to gather my thoughts.

  He nodded. “Bring your wife. I may need her insight,” he agreed.

  I groaned but begrudgingly nodded as I turned to leave. Insight. Sure. More like he just wanted another person to take his side and try to convince me.

  Leaving the classroom, and Randle behind, I felt my eye twitch as a whirlwind of thoughts came and went.

  Randle could watch over Angie… I now had a few things I needed to do.

  Things to ponder. People to see.

  Maybe even people to kill. But I’d put that aside for now.

  For now.

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