Chapter CLXIV – Then shall the lame man leap as an hart.

5th of Summer 5860
Ancoire, Hallow Duchy of Ancoire

An old man, with a magnificent white beard and a fur coat flowing down to his ankles, decked to the brim with jewelry: a few rings on his fingers, a golden necklace, even a tiara… clearly somebody important, especially since he’s accompanied by somebody in a priest’s uniform, or so thought the customs guard who was manning the gate into Ancoire. Better let them pay the toll and pass without a fuss.

“Good morning, sir.” The guard extended an empty palm forward, to receive payment.

“Good morning?” replied the old man, clearly confused.

“Oh, the toll, the toll.” A coin, from the priest accompanying the old man. “My apologies, he can be a bit forgetful sometimes.”

“You may pass.” The customs guard stepped aside, and the pair were let in to the grand city of Ancoire.

Passing through the gate was like passing into whole another dimension – a sudden change, from the faint scattering of small buildings outside the walls accompanied by vast empty steppe, to the grand sprawling city contained within. Certainly nothing compared to a modern city on Earth, but still. It was impressive by its own standards.

“It has certainly been a while since I last visited here. How are you holding up, captain?”

Brown, in his gaudy disguise, was fiddling around with the rings stuck to his fingers. He really wanted to take them off. “If I looked in the mirror, I’m afraid I might not be able to refrain from punching myself.”

“I believe that means we did a good job, captain. You look the part.” Impressive as the cityscape was, and as much as Vaiz wished he could spend at least a week resting here, he moved with haste to their goal. The streets were packed in the morning, filled with people heading to work or doing a round of morning shopping.

Brown noticed that there were a whole lot more priests passing by them on the street, which was as to be expected from the so-called “Divine capital”. What was new to him was men in black gambeson, wearing steel helmets and carrying muskets. Muskets that looked way out of place considering he had only seen hand-cannons in Gemeinplatz. “Who are these people?”

“I… don’t know captain.” Vaiz and Brown quietly whispered to each other while passing by the oddly-armed soldier. “By the Divine… it must be an otherworlder supplying them with advanced hand cannons.”

“That’d certainly explain it.” Brown did his best not to stare too much at the odd soldiers as they passed by a few more patrolling the city. “Their uniforms are odd as well. Nothing like I’ve seen here, certainly nothing like what I saw back on Earth.”

“Goodness gracious…” Vaiz could only go silent and watch as another oddly-armed soldier passed him by. Otherworlders were always scary to him and the rest of Gemeinplatz. Forces of nature, brought down from worlds unthinkably afar, with knowledge beyond even the wisest men of Gemeinplatz… so much had changed just due to the otherworlder that he was accompanying.

“Focus, Mister Vaiz. We’re close, right?”

“Ah, yes, yes.” Vaiz was suddenly dragged back into the moment. “The Beige Palace is just up ahead.”

Slowly, the chaos of the city gave way for divine order. Neatly trimmed hedges surrounding mansions and residences housing clergymen and their servants. A whole lot of clergymen, with a whole lot more servants. It seemed that the personal servants of the clergyman hadn’t been taken away by the Chancellor’s decree yet. Brown scoffed at the extravagance. “So much for humility and godliness.”

“That’s how it’s been in the Temple for… as far as I can remember. It’s far from scripture, far from anything taught to us, far from common decency even. It’s why I joined up with General Tubman – she made me realize how ungodly the Temple is. We are of different scriptures, captain, but it’s clear that you are among the righteous and the Temple is not.” They stopped in front of a road, the road leading up to the Beige Palace, patrolled by a pair of the oddly-uniformed soldiers. “The only road to salvation is for the Temple to be stripped of its excess, that I believe we agree on.”

“Indeed. For now, however, we should focus on the road right ahead of us.” Brown stepped to the side, to let the priest do his thing.

“Okay, ahem-” Vaiz walked up to the soldiers and gave a humble priestly bow to them, before attempting to continue on his way down the road. He was immediately stopped by a soldier pointing a musket at him, complete with bayonet.

“What business do you have here?”

“You see, Sir… Roderick and I are pilgrims from Esmira. We wish to complete our pilgrimage by at least setting foot on the hallow ground of the Beige Palace.” Hearing Vaiz’s pleas, the soldiers didn’t budge an inch. “Erm… a donation! We also intend to make a donation to you fine gentlemen, since you work so hard for the Divine.” That seemed to work as the soldiers moved aside after Brown left a libra coin in their hands. “Have a blessed day, sirs.”

Vaiz waited he was a bit of a way away from the soldiers before he whispered to Brown again. “Normally there’d be guards of the Head Priest here, his personal guard. These men are… far, far from that. Their uniforms are not alike at all.”

“We came at the perfect time then, to rescue our prisoner.” Brown and Vaiz proceeded down the road, with the griffon statues and the enigmatic men and women statues watching over them. Priests rushing around, with the occasional steel-helmet passing by. Eventually, they were at the square overlooked by the throne room of the Head Priest. “Where to, Mister Vaiz?”

“The throne room here is where the Head Priest normally takes audience. However, outside of those times, he’s in his private office that’s close by, doing official priest business. He’ll definitely be there around this hour, to review petitions sent to the Temple. There are plenty every day.” Vaiz led him around the main temple building, around the side, where they entered through a door that was much less grand. It led to a corridor, which led to stairs, which led to another corridor, which… it certainly was not a path one could take unless they knew how beforehand. Brown was certain that he’d get lost if not for the guidance of this holy man. “Here we are.”

“There’s a guard at the door” whispered Brown. Another one of the black-gambesons. “I’ve seen way too many of these around.”

“I agree. This is not normal.” Vaiz had to step forward once more, giving a priestly bow to the soldier. “Greetings, blessed be your day. May we see His Upmost Eminence?”

The guard simply shook his head. “Of course not.”

“Why would that be, my good sir? Milord must urgently discuss matters with His Upmost Eminence.”

“Because the Chancellor says that His Upmost Eminence must not be disturbed. I’m just doing my job here.”

“Oh, I understand. We’re all doing our job in this Divine order. You’re doing an excellent job, as you might know, men who hold arms and defend the faith are especially blessed.”

“I’m sorry, I really can’t let you through.”

Vaiz paused, stuck in a pinch, right before getting an idea. “I see. That is most unfortunate… and also fortunate. I see that you are a hard-working and diligent man, to not have let us through no matter how high in rank we might seem.” Brown, especially, was looking like a count with how decked out he was.

“T-thank you.”

“I must simply repent for having tried to stray you from your path. ‘Lo, do priests falter, behold, does a prophet occasionally misstep’, so sayeth the Divine word. Come, let us kneel and make repentance.”

Perhaps enchanted by the priest’s lofty words, the guard knelt down alongside Vaiz and clasped his hands together. Facing the priest, he began copying Vaiz’s words. “O’ our Divine being in the Heavens, mayst thou forgive us for our daily sin, for you are the Most Merciful and wise-”

THUD! Then the guard fell down, struck by the butt of Brown’s rifle. He had been keeping an old gift, the M1 Garand, wrapped snugly beneath his rich fur cloak. The prayer had given him ample opportunity to walk behind the man and strike him, without letting the guard make a single noise.

“O’ please forgive me, please forgive me o’ our Divine being for our transgressions.” Vaiz concluded the prayer, quite desperately and with genuine intent behind it. “This was- this was terrible. It’s wrong, captain, to strike a man while he prays.”

“I’m sure he wouldn’t have extended the same courtesy to us, Mister Vaiz. Nor would he have extended it to any slave.” Brown stuck a bayonet to the end of the rifle, and undid the safety. “Now, are you ready?”

Taking a nervous gulp, Vaiz opened the door to the office…