Chapter 8 - Santimieda Chapel

"Your Highness, will you go to the chapel with me?" Sangfroid said two days after the Bloodlust incident.

"The chapel?" Prince Leron was reading the daily reports since he couldn't join in person for important matters. He finished signing mandates and handed it to a servant. "You mean the Santimieda Chapel?"

"Yes." Sangfroid nodded. He was polishing his arrows with a base mixed with holy water. "I wanted to talk to the Bishop about the Vampire Lord's power of body manipulation."

Prince Leron's eyes lit up. "Does he know how to avoid it?"

"I'm not too sure. If he did, he would have mentioned it earlier." Sangfroid answered honestly, not giving him false hope. "But there is this book in the chapel that might help us find a way to sever your ties from Vladstin. It was the Book of Xendros, the journal of the first Bishop who successfully brought Vampire Lords to extinction."

"Such a book exists after many centuries, that's amazing." Prince Leron said.

"It is well kept in the Chapel's underground archives. But the paper must stay in the cold temperature in order to avoid further damage and it was written in the Old Ilvedian." Sangfroid said.

"Do you understand Old Ilvedian?"

"The Bishop does, though he thought us a small amount of it."

Prince Leron rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "The Bishop is bed sick, right? Can he manage to go to the archives to read it for us?"

"I don't know. We will see when we get there. I'm hoping that he doesn't have to go to the archives and knows something already."

Prince Leron nodded. "Alright, let us prepare to give the chapel a visit."

They prepared to travel from the palace to the chapel. The chapel was within Ilvedia's Capitol, and saw it was only about three miles from the palace. They took a carriage there and stopped by the front steps.

The Chapel of Santimieda is the official chapel of the royal family, and the oldest in Ilvedia. However, it is much more modest than one would initially expect. To keep the sanctity of the place, the Bishop denied any request for renovation and reconstruction. The only thing they allow is the restoration of the statues, mosaic windows, and furniture. It stood out like a small dandelion among a field of roses; it was the least lavish building in the Capitol.

That does not mean that the Chapel doesn't have its beauty. There is an ancient feel to it, something that is much more attached to the roots of human civilization and religion. The stone walls are made from actual boulders that were not shaped or polished, each of them chosen carefully to fit with each other and put together by cement. It looks more like a pagan temple than a chapel if not for the glass windowpanes and statues of angels and saints. This weird mix gives an earthy yet at the same time divine atmosphere to the place.

"It's been a long time since I came here. It never changed." Prince Leron smiled fondly. "Somehow, that calms me down. Things kept changing too soon, too fast. I feel anchored by this place."

"An anchor...." Sangfroid repeated to himself. Since he was young, this chapel and the convent facing it was his home. Whenever he was outside of it, he was always tense and alert.

Now that he has returned, he felt a sense of safety and tethering that warms his heart. To hear the prince say it was an anchor made him felt that they share the same feelings about this place, and he felt glad.

"Though, I feel uncomfortable by all these statues and holy relics." Prince Leron grabbed his coat closer to himself.

"Why?" Sangfroid was suddenly puzzled, his thoughts of the prince relating to him bursting into pieces.

"I don't share the same belief as strongly as I have now." Prince Leron motioned to one of the fountains of a holy maiden pouring water. "Crescentian people do not worship statues. They believe that the Creator is everywhere, but so is the Destruction, and so everything can be sacred and wicked at the same time. And so, everything must be treated the same. You may hold special value on the things you like, but you must accept when a day comes that you no longer like it."

"You believe more in the Crescentian religion than the Ilvedian?" Sangfroid asked.

"Not per se. What I'm saying is my view has widened when I experienced other cultures and beliefs." Prince Leron said. "We value traditions and objects too much. In Crescentia, they place more value on morality and equality. If someone has done well to you, you must do well to them. If someone has wronged you, you must wrong them also on a similar level so that they may recognize their faults. Their 'heaven' is when Creation and Destruction are in perfect balance."

"But..." Sangfroid felt uneasy, looking to the ground. "The Ilvedian belief was right about vampires, and our blessed arrows work on Vampire Lords..... Therefore, isn't our religion more correct?"

Prince Leron suddenly laughed.

"What's so funny? I'm saying the truth, aren't I?" Sangfroid frowned.

"Ilvedia isn't the only one who believes in vampires." Prince Leron said. "There are many versions of vampires in the Thirteen Kingdoms. Stabbing a vampire with a stake in the heart actually originated from the Kingdom of Solscere, because they think wood has magical capabilities to defeat undead monsters."

Sangfroid was surprised by this new information. Ilvedia was the only place he knew in this life, and his knowledge of the other Kingdoms was only relating to Ilvedia too like past feuds, imported goods, some adapted culture, and politics. He was like a bird who only stayed on its nest while the prince flew farther away from the forest and into a world he doesn't know.

"It may not even be related to religion at all." Prince Leron theorized." It's more plausible that magic is magic, regardless of people's beliefs. There is magic that works and magic that doesn't work. It's better to have a neutral view about it, don't you think?"

Sangfroid nodded, suddenly having a lot think about as they walk through aisles of pews into the Bishop's quarters.

A middle-aged man with blonde hair had just got out of the Bishop's quarters holding a tray of teas and biscuits. He turned and was stunned that there were people approaching him. "Sangfroid? Your Highness?"

"Hello, Vicar Garien." Sangfroid greeted.

Prince Leron's eyes widened at the name. "Garien? The Garien who used to throw beets at the priest during mass?"

Vicar Garien cheeks reddened. "Yes, it is me, Your Highness. I have changed my former ways and found the right path to the Father."

Despite the Chapel itself not changing, its people had, Prince Leron figured. Sangfroid used to be a frail and bony kid but now he is a strong and large man. This Vicar Garien used to be a snotty teenager who pulled pranks and never washed his hand when receiving the divine host, and now he was a holy man.

"Good for you, haha! It's great to see you again." Prince Leron smiled. "We're here to talk to the Bishop. Is he awake?"

"Ah, you're here for the Bishop! Yes, he's awake, I just brought him some food earlier." Vicar Garien said. "He'll be delighted to see you both. Would you like me to give you food and drinks as well?"

"No need, thank you." Prince Leron and Sangfroid opened the door.

The Bishop's quarter was even more modest than the Chapel itself. It's quite small and cozy, with only a single-person bed, a small shelf of holy books, and a desk with the Ilvedian crucifix. The Ilvedians believe that a man had died through crucifixion and on the third day he rose, he turned into a blue dragon that rose to the skies to join the Father. That has become the symbol of the country's flag and their state religion was Draconian.

The divine host was a chip made of fish scales. The one that an ordained person would take are dragon scales themselves, which are difficult to find. Dragon scales are as big as an adult-sized head, so they divided them into bits and only eat a coin-sized part of it on every communion.

The Bishop was praying when they entered. He was holding a bead necklace called the Holy Mothers Eyes. The Azul Dragon was born from many mothers all at once, the virgin women holding hands into a circle and staring at a dragon egg for hours. Eventually, a human child was born from the egg. To acknowledge their ritual, a bead necklace representing the 59 mothers who joined hands to bring the Child of the Draconian Father to the world.

"A blessed day to you, Sangfroid and Your Highness." The Bishop greeted.

He opened his eyes. It was completely white.. He was blind.