Interlude 1
The rays of the sun shone brightly through the stained glass window of the church. It's ceilings were high and flanked by golden archways, supported by marble pillars. Two long rows of wooden pews stretched from the back wall near the large oak doors to the raised platform at the front of the worship hall. On the raised platform stood an altar, a stone podium, engraved with a golden circle, and a giant stone statue of a man on his knees holding a golden ball in his outstretched hands.
The stained glass window rose up above the silhouette of a man, ringed in light and clothed in shadow. The man loved looking at the window. He loved the image in the glass of the one god gifting a golden sphere of knowledge to the first pope king. The One God's gift to man. The window, the man thought, commanded attention. He knew that when the partitioners came every week to worship the one god, the window would be a humbling reminder of their place in the grand creation.
He came out of his office every morning to meditate on that window because it reminded him of his duty, love and commitment to the One God. The one he dedicated his life to serve.
He was so enthralled by its splendor that he didn't even notice the pounding of footsteps behind him.
"Father bishop!" The man turned around to see a priest prostrating himself at his feet.
"Rise my son," the Bishop instructed the priest. The parish had taught the bishop that he should speak with a humbling authority, so he tried to remain as emotionless as he possibly could. "To what do I owe this visit?"
"The priest did as he was told and brushed the dirt from the floor off his grey tunic. He grabbed his head dress, and fumbled with it in his hands. "Father Bishop, my spies have told me of another boy with dreams that has been found!"
"A boy with dreams, you say?" This interested the bishop. The last boy with dreams had been found before he entered into service of the one god by the Bishop of Milancia. The bishop had received quite a hefty prize , winning favor with the head of the new religion, the mouthpiece of the One God, the Pope King himself. And to be in favor with the Pope King, every one knew, was to be in God's favor.
"Yes father bishop, word has it that a small party of the Brotherhood of Old are taking the boy to Negathor as we speak!"
"How old is this intel?"
"Half a day!"
This was not good news. Half a day, the bishop knew, was enough time to leave the city. Inside he lamented missing the opportunity to catch the boy with dreams within the city walls. In that moment he cursed the heavens in his mind for the small size of Grenlov city. But all was not lost, the boy would still be found. If not by him, then by his brother in the faith, the bishop of Negathor.
"Niandratha!" The bishop called out.
A small woman appeared from a room to his left. "Yes Father Bishop?"
"Send doves to the Pope King and bishop of Negathor. Inform them of the boy with dreams and where he's headed. I want wanted fliers posted on every wall, in every shop and in every corner of this city. I want increased patrols on the streets in case they haven't managed to leave, and I want a small squad of kingsmen sent to Negathor to intercept the boy with dreams before he gets a chance to enter their emerald gates!"
"As you wish Father Bishop!" The woman returned to the room in the back to carry out her orders.
"You may go my son." The bishop dismissed the priest. "May the one gods will be done!"
"May the one gods will be done," the priest repeated before turning on his heels and exiting out the oak doors, disappearing into the crowded streets of Grenlov.