To the Church

The church of the Sunborn of once Gardius' dominant religion, though they've lost significant influence ever since the king's firstborn Jamis denounced the church publicly, claiming them to be fraudsters and charlatans. Despite this event, they've still got a decent number of supporters and devotees, even amongst the nobility and even in other nations, which means that Alice can't reasonably ignore them if she wanted to be queen.

Though, it wasn't as though she could really count on them for support. Katherine was right, the church was antiquated in their views, and their core tenets were incredibly misogynist, advocating that men were the first creations of the Sun God, and that women were created later to be servants to men, taking care of their needs in every way. Naturally, their dogma has changed throughout the years, but their core belief hasn't. If Alice had her way, the whole church would be abolished, but to do that, she must get rid of her brother Jamis, and to do that, she needed the church.

{if Finley Met = false}The cathedral was built incredibly close to the palace, so Alice was there within a simple five minutes of walk. Walking alongside her was the final person involved in her conspiracy, her personal knight Finley. Like all members of the royal family, Alice was assigned a knight at the age of sixteen, over two years ago, and in those two years she's grown to understand that while the young man was skilled with a blade, he had little else going for him. Still, he was loyal and absolutely smitten with her, so there was little reason not to make use of him. {endif}

High heels clacking, Alice and her knight arrive in front of the massive cathedral, a building so grand it rivaled the castle of the king himself. Standing in front were two paladins, one of whom ran inside to get the arch-bishop when they recognized Alice.

"Uh...is this wise, my princess?" Finley whispers nervously while the two of them stood waiting. "They may not know it now, but as soon as you make your intentions clear, they're going to be livid!"

Alice struggles to contain her frown before turning and whispering back: "and why am I revealing my intentions again, my dear knight?"

Finley blinked awkwardly, as though the concept of lying had never occurred to him. In fact, he was so naïve and honorable it probably didn't. Fortunately, Alice was saved from any more of his idiocy by the return of the paladin, who ushers the two of them inside.

The cathedral looks even more magnificent from the inside, though Alice shudders to think of the cost. What a monumental waste. Gold coated statues line the inside, and the marble walls are free from blemishes, no doubt from the daily scrubbings done by the servants. She was half tempted to deliver a kick to Finley's ass, as he was so absorbed in marveling the cathedral, he almost walked into a pillar. Alice decided against it, for the moment at least, since his wide eyed appreciation for the architecture might buy her some points. Led by the paladin, the two of them walk past the the audience chamber and into the back halls, where they meet the arch-bishop, a wrinkly old man named Currell.

"Good day to you, princess Alice. I apologize that you had to come all the way here, but these bones aren't quite what they used to be," he says, bowing deeply, but Alice wasn't fooled. Beneath that kindly old man façade was a dangerous theocrat who represents the most powerful faction in the kingdom. The holy paladins were a fighting that even the royal knights had to be weary about.

"No need for apologies, arch-bishop, a walk in the morning does me far more good than harm," Alice replies with a practiced smile on her face. Finley, being abnormally useful for once, pulls up a chair, and she sits down gracefully, meeting the arch-bishop's eyes evenly.

"Ah, that title is far too formal. Please, call me Currell, I insist," he says, pouring a cup of tea for Alice. "Please, enjoy. Fresh Taria leaves from the far east."

From the scent alone, Alice can tell that there was something mixed into it. Unlikely to be poison, considering she was hardly a threat, and that a royal on church grounds was liable to cause a civil war. But that begs the question, what exactly is mixed into it, and should she risk it?