The meeting begins

The waiting was the worst part, Winlay decided as she stood impatiently in the great ante-chamber that led to High Priest Beldan's wing of the Holy Palace. The hall was much larger than it needed to be and great gilded mirrors made it seem even larger than it actually was. Although the purpose of the room was to provide a place for supplicants to wait for the High Priest, there were no couches or chairs anywhere in the room and so Winlay found herself wandering from mirror to mirror feeling smaller the longer she waited. The only furniture in the room were three marble lecterns that held open volumes of the Books of the Prophets under locked glass cases that protected the gold trimmed leather bound volumes from the elements, as well as careless treatment or even theft by the waiting occupants of the room. The books were old, probably first editions of the early writings that formed the structure of the church, Winlay had read each of the three selections several times already and by now was quite familiar with all three of the readings.

She had arrived early for her appointment and had seen three other initiates enter the High Priest's offices. One of the three, a awkward looking young man left with a smile on his face so broad that his otherwise plain face glowed with a charisma and confidence that added dignity that had been lacking when he timidly entered for his meeting with Beldan. The second initiate also left the chambers with a smile on her face.

"I've been assigned to be an aide to my village priest!" The slightly plump blonde woman announced happily as she saw her waiting companions. "Father Quinn told me he would write the Holy Palace and request me and he did - High Priest Beldan assured me that it would be the perfect placement for me." Winlay smiled at the woman, she was happy to be going home to stay with her family and take care of her neighbors and friends. Winlay hoped that she would be allowed to explore and learn as she served the church, working with Sister Margaret would be wonderful, but she was content to go anywhere that she could expand her understanding of the planet, and bring the goodness of Xelta to its population. Winlay could understand that for some a placement back where they were raised was the perfect choice but she hoped that she?d have a different assignment.

A tall slender blonde woman with high cheekbones and clear blue eyes was the next to be called by the sniffling brother who served as one of Beldan's secretaries, leaving Winlay alone in the great mirrored hall with one other brother-initiate. Winlay had immediately recognized him as Brother Jerome when she first entered the ante-chamber and wondered why he was still waiting to see the High Priest. Hadn't his been one of the earlier appointments? Jerome's face was somber, and Winlay decided that he would not welcome her nervous chatter just to pass the time, so she turned once again to the lectern by her side that was open to a passage stressing the need for humility in one's service to the Church.

"The needs of the Church are as varied as the needs of the people it serves, only the wisdom of the whole can determine how service is best rendered. Those who look for the Church to serve their own pleasures are not yet prepared to serve the needs of the people ...."

Winlay wondered if the book had been opened to this page as a reminder to the many initiates who would pass through this hall in the next few days. The other passages had referred to the benign guidance that the High Priest must exercise over the Church, and the holy spirit of Xelta that guides the High Priest and his office.

"The heavy doors to Beldan's chambers opened suddenly and Winlay saw the statuesque blonde woman squeeze through the gap as soon as her slender body could fit. The initiate was silent, but her determined march through the long hall gave Winlay plenty of time to see her already pale face was nearly white with shock and although she was able to just maintain her composure to Winlay it looked as though she might burst into tears at any moment.

"Winlay Grace?" Called the red-nosed brother and Winlay knew it was her turn to meet with His Holiness the High Priest of Xelta. She smiled shyly at the secretary and stepped past him into an office that was even larger than the waiting hall outside. Beldan was seated behind a gigantic table almost three meters in length and two meters wide. The top was made of polished black marble and the ornate legs were intricately carved with legs of some kind of scaled predatory animal whose long ivory talons gripped golden balls that rested on the floor.

"Come in, Come-in my dear!" Beldan's high pitched voice lacked the full baritone notes of her village priest Winlay noticed as she approached his table modestly and bowed deeply in the "X" of Xelta. "Charming, my dear, but there's no need for such formality." Beldan assured her "We are both just servants of Xelta's will." The high priest's words were modest and friendly and Winlay let her eyes rise to meet his as soon as she had stepped forward. Beldan might speak of them as being equals, but his robes were so richly embroidered in gold thread that the white fabric was nearly completely obscured. Also, while he sat on a throne-like chair that matched the table in size and grandeur, his secretary sat on a simple stool and there was no seat at all for the initiates brought before him.

The High Priest smiled at Winlay, but although his round cheeks lifted and his thick lips parted enough to reveal perfect white teeth, his small black eyes reminded Winlay of a raven's eyes as it inspected a fallen morsel. He might have once been a very good looking man Winlay realized, with his bright smile and curly brown hair, but his best years had passed him, his hair despite the best attempts of the city's finest hairdressers had receded high on his forehead, and rich foods and lack of exercise had added far too many kilos of weight to his body.

Beldan's hands reached for a stack of documents and slid two of them closer so he could inspect them. The man's fingers were adorned with multiple rings of office and were as thick as the sausages that her grandmother made every fall.

"Hummm, What shall I do with you?" The High Priest's words could be a harmless turn of phrase, but as nervous as Winlay was they sounded ominous and she cringed as she waited for his verdict.

Winlay waited nervously, what was the High Priest thinking as he sat on his great chair and decided her path?