The events that had occurred over the passed few days affected almost
everyone in Pomperaque and other parts of Phoride.
In Gothal, the Holy City, the nuns at the Abbey of Our Holy Saint
Mariot, performed a funeral service for Mercedes and most everyone from
Pomperaque, and Gothal itself, turned out to pay their respects.
The day before the funeral, Cassta and Ledo were married in Gothal by
the Abbey Mother and Brook presided over it. The ceremony was
performed in secret, in the name of the True Living God, and just a
small number of friends attended. Miel was there with Aria. Empal was
there with his family, and the greatest of Pomperaque's Prominants,
Brook and Dearborne, were there.
Everyone was happy at the wedding and somber at the funeral, as it was
normal to be.
There was anger in the eyes of some of the coenobites when they found
out that Ledo had married Cassta. They could now do nothing to her.
She was indeed above their rights of having her bare a Holy Child.
Cassta saved his darling Ledo, just in time.
To most, however, the saving of a life or a soul meant little when
compared to the loss of one such innocence as Mercedes. All that there
was to benefit from salvation was the relief that it brought to the
saved, and those close to them. Relief, by itself, had no real value.
Good and Evil each made their own laments.
While mourners and wailers cried for the death of an innocent young
woman, so did the monks at Halls, cry and mourn for the brutal death of
their best and most respected Cardinal Allen.
As it was; a customary show of respect to a dearly-departed coenobite,
a pure woman was chosen to be entombed with the body. This chosen
woman willingly accepted requests made to her to share her eternity
with the dead cleric, and carried with her the love and honour of each
individual member at Halls. The love and respect was given to her,
through physical sex, by each monk, before she was taken to the tomb
with the deceased brother. While the corpse lay in state, there was a
room set aside, adjacent the big hall in the chapel. The chosen women
lay unclad in soft beds and each was fornicated with by each individual
at Halls; from the lowest novice to the ArchBishop himself.
Prior to the monks looking upon the body of their dead brother, they
entered the room and gave their all to the woman. During the
copulation, the men repeatedly chanted: "Take this to our friend; a
sign that we love him!"
At the end of the day, when all the men had gone through with their
ritual respect, they took the limp, unconscious woman and set her on
top of Allen's dead body. Both were then carried to the grotto, in the
cliffs at the ocean's edge, and were sealed inside, forever. From the
moment of the bodies' entombment, all those that were in Halls
Cathedral abstained from any and all normal human functioning for three
days. During this three day period -- a further show of respect for
their dead -- no one ate or had sexual intercourse and during this time
they kept themselves from sleep, and prayed for the Cardinal's soul.
From the Cathedral spires the Rogjans called out to the countryside
some cantorial chants, announcing and honouring, and strangely, even
canonizing the Cardinal Allen.
On the evening of the third day, all those residing at Halls made
preparations for a day of feasting, and at sunrise the feeding began.
To enjoy this day to the fullest, the coenobites brought to Halls a
caravan of women from Iÿnondan and they caught up from their three day
celibacy.
Everyone was fulfilled, promising their living spirits to Allen's
resurrection as they reflected on his well-rounded life.
After their observations of praise, Manguino and Tohm repaired to the
office to speak of their friend. Of all the brothers at Halls, they
two knew him best and regarded him most highly.
"How he will be missed by all!" Tohm told Manguino. "Most everything
that I know, he showed me.
"Even the few, and greatest, amongst us falter. He made a mistake and
so paid for it." Manguino explained to Tohm that Allen's obsession to
inseminate Dearborne overtook him. The manner of his death, however,
greatly puzzled him.
"I would like to know how such a dainty woman as she could break the
neck of a man as physically powerful as Allen?" questioned Manguino.
"I don't believe that Brook had killed him."
"That is something we all ask, Your Grace. We must bring them both to
justice, regardless of guilt!" Tohm was speaking like his teacher. He
didn't care, now. He just wanted Allen's death avenged.
"I agree, but it's said that Allen was caught forcing her and Brook
himself admitted to the killing our friend. Yet, I know that he's
lying."
"Would you like to know my thoughts?" Tohm asked Manguino. "I believe
it was that northern man, that had disappeared, who was the man that
killed Allen. What perfect place to hide from us -- at the Blue
Mansion!"
The Archbishop's eyes glared for a moment but refused this idea. He
speculated that the dissident was long gone from Pomperaque by that
time.
Tohm, however, carried on until he began to convince Manguino of his
idea.
"We must bring the Lady Dearborne to trial then, if only trying her on
the basis of her refusal, as your subject, to bare his Holy Child. We
can try Brook on harbouring a dissident and charge him with heresy."
It didn't matter to Tohm about the deaths of more people. As far as he
was concerned the whole of Phoride could be sacrificed to avenge
Allen's murder.
Manguino wanted no more bloodshed. He couldn't trust Brook either, and
he had to decide. Brook's show of power, as of late, had made him seem
greater and more beloved, by the people. Then there was the letter
that he sent with Allen's body.