Chapter 208 - The Bishop Forces His Stand

Alexander sighed,

'You don't believe we're soulmates, do you?'

'I don't know exactly what you're talking about, Alexander…' Lex scratched his head. 'You mean we are siblings? Zilda talked about it, but I thought it was just her insane mind or just a way to anger your father...'

'It would be impossible, since I was born to Gisela and Gutard, and you, to Bryennios and Zoe ... I'm saying our souls are connected. Since our births, and maybe before that.'

Alexander spoke with conviction, and Alexa was also quite sure she wasn't a lost daughter to Gutard and Gisela.

She and her brothers looked alike, like family. Alexander had similarities with Gisela and Gutard too, except for the color of his eyes.

She would have to do an even more mind-boggling exercise with her mind to find an explanation of how babies separated by thousands of kilometers, and with such special births, could actually be twin siblings.

'It wouldn't be impossible, if our lives had already met, I think,' she mused. 'But that doesn't explain our physical resemblance, almost like siblings, actually... Or why you dreamed of me all your life. I don't know much, but I don't think it's common. Do you believe that we have taken some kind of oath to each other in some past life...?'

That wasn't a comfortable thought either, but Alexa didn't really know what else to think. She still didn't understand whether Alexander spoke of them as a couple, while he behaved more like a brother.

'I don't know. I just know that, when I saw those drawings in the wall, in the forbidden tower, I thought I had a sister... The girl I dreamed of. I tried to understand and read everything I found about soul bonds ... It wasn't much, I admit. Soul mates, that's what explained our bond... It was a disturbing thought. Especially knowing you were going through so many bad things, and I was living safely, protected by my father and my brother. Shouldn't it be the contrary? Why? But how could I explain it to my father, and ask him to let me go and get this person? Everyone thought that, because I was Gisela's son, I definitely had some connection with demons... And how to confess I was dreaming of a heretic and wanted to bring her home…?'

' That might have caused a lot of problems, ' Lex admitted.

That image in the hidden tower, which had now been erased or covered with wooden boards, had also impressed her. They were images showing Gisela delivering a small baby to a dark-handed monster in exchange for a yellow heart. An involuntary shiver took over Lex's body. What did that mean?

'Alexander, do you know what those images meant?'

'They meant, Alexa, that even Gisela has bigger commitments than we can see on the surface, in the same way as Letitia. With what my Uncle Kurt revealed to us yesterday, I can only think it refers to Orcaius, that immortal being who is or has been in Holstein in the past. The heart ... Maybe it's the heart in Magnus's chest?'

'Could this mean she made a pact with Orcaius?'

'It seems more likely, doesn't it?'

The pair couldn't keep the conversation going, as they heard footsteps. Alexa was expecting only Narses, as the Prince Regent had ordered, but had already realized that he was not alone.

And she wasn't wrong.

Prior Reuben was at her brother's side, and while the older man had a small smile on his lips, Narses kept a stony face.

'Why does this guy is always on my brother's tail?' Alexa complained.

'The Prior is an experienced man, or he wouldn't be a Leader of the Holy Office. He probably has a lot of different reasons to do so… Right now, even though he hunts demonists and people like Cordelia's mother, he can also become our enemy, 'said Alexander.

'I know that. But it will be difficult to get rid of him right now.'

Lex took the black bishop off the chessboard, which was the only place she could move it at that moment, after all, and got up.

"Narses! Prior Reuben!"

The newcomers greeted the Prince Regent according to etiquette, and Reuben commented, in a soft voice,

"Did your Highness feel unwell for morning Mass? I was told the Prince returned from the chapel door to this garden."

Alexa could have sworn that the Prior didn't like the Prince Regent. Small inflections of the voice and the way of looking, betraying a petulant condescension, hinted it. He was perhaps more dangerous than the mustachioed priest from Alençon, who at least had been straight to the point, skipping hypocrisy entirely.

"I received a message with bad news, and it broke my heart, Prior Reuben. Since you're here, could you tell me a little bit about how the Holy Office's investigation into my stepmother's entourage is going after the events in Ashgraufelsen."

"Forgive me, Your Highness, I have nothing conclusive yet. There are mixed reports, witnesses seem to portray you as a kind of miraculous hero ... Just like the reports about your wife. I'm astonished. Maybe we could talk about it..."

"Er… What can I say about it? I couldn't exalt myself using a situation like that. I don't know what people saw, but I do know what kind of miracle I saw."

"So did a miracle really happen, as many claim? A big ball of holy light, as shining as the sun itself, driving demons away?" insisted the Prior.

The Prince took a deep breath, and Narses suggested,

"Is Your Highness devoted to any particular saint? We can only say your faithful prayers have been answered!"

"Some people have reported that you wife works miracles. Wasn't she really there, as reported?" Reuben did not even have time for the Prince to respond, maintaining his interrogation and, even speaking softly, being rude to a Prince. He was being rude from the start, by coming without a proper invitation and daring to talk without permission, but Lex knew this type. They felt 'armored' by their ranks in the Church and their ability to disgrace a person's life only with a raised finger pointed at that person. That was not the Gospel the problem with the Catholic Church, but people using it to boost their egos. Of course, Lex doubted Prior Reuben would have the courage to do something like that to Prince Gutard, for instance. This type aimed for minor prey, like jackals.

"I don't know what are your reasons to hide your spouse, but the Church would like to have a word to her… as soon as possible. Is there any impediment to get to Her Highness, as of now?" Reuben questioned.