The ivory colored walls of the cathedral seemed to stretch on forever. A man walks through the empty halls. His duty-issued boots move deftly on the marble flooring, sparking no sound except the occasional squeak on the polished platform.
He feels like a ghost floating through these pristine walls. Sometimes he wonders if he's even alive.
The man stands as upright as humanely possible. His gaze is set straight forward, hands to the sides as if they'd been singed there. From the corner of his eyes, he notices two young priests walking and chatting with each other in hushed whispers. Their eyes flicker towards his figure as they get closer, whispers turning harsher when they pass by him.
The man does little to acknowledge this, choosing to continue ahead until the prolonged foyer eventually comes to an end, and he comes face-to-face with an intricately designed doorway.
Detestation momentarily coils in his abdomen, before his face turns blank and his left hand raps at the door. He hears the voices behind the door go still for a split instant. The door then opens, accompanied by the sight of the Duke of Ravenstall, whose striking blond hair does little to compensate for his smarmy smile.
"Captain Silverhood!" the Duke exclaims, clapping him on the shoulder. "Just on time as always."
Favar Silverhood simply nods, and mentally refrains himself from cuffing the man in front of him.
Inside the sizeable monumental room, five people sit surrounding an oval table, with the emperor of Varietin at its head. Favar greets him, but makes no move to acknowledge anyone else. The emperor stares at him eerily, permanent scowl in place. Favar holds his glare. The brief tension was cut off by the thinly veiled snickering of the Grand Duchess, which soon turned to full blown laughs joined in by the others.
The emperor sighed, and gestured him to sit down. Favar gave a slight pause, then walked towards the only empty seat available. Duchess Yuhire smirked and patted his shoulder when he sat down.
Giving the Duchess a tight smile, he made the mistake of averting his gaze elsewhere, as he made eye contact with Archduke Silverhood, who was intently glaring at him.
He hadn't seen his brother in almost three years. He had been away at war for almost two of them, but the last year he'd wrung out every possible opportunity to avoid him.
Now he couldn't anymore.
Favar was jolted out of his thoughts by the jarring voice of the Pope proclaiming something about 'the time that was to come'.
The Pope continued speaking, "And that is why we have all gathered here today. To discuss our strategies on how to move forward."
Emperor Vedoh finally spoke, his sombre voice resonating throughout the room.
"I wouldn't suppose there would be any need for discussion? The girl exhibited shows of Holy Power as soon as she had come. From here on, the hero should be housed at the Church of Agadis until she learns how to properly manifest her powers."
Everyone murmured in agreement; all except the Pope, whose face indicated the first signs of a grimace.
"But would it not be more preferable for the hero to sojourn in the Capital, instead of here or any other church?" The Pope's voice rose higher, desperation lacing his tone. "In fact, it would be even more recommended that the girl stayed at the Imperial Palace itself, if not the Capital! "
An uncomfortable silence enveloped the room. Suggesting the hero, or anyone at all, to be accommodated at the Imperial Palace was a rather bold, and quite disrespectful proposition.
Favar distantly wondered if he'd have to execute the Pope for insinuation, if the Emperor ordered him to.
Said Pope now seemed to have calmed down, after his sudden outburst. Now, he only seemed to nervously Unfortunately, the damage had been done. Archduke Silverhood was now wholly galring at the Pope; the look in his eyes would have made a weaker man shake in fear.
Undoubtedly, his brother was about to rebuke the leader of the Holy Kingdom for misspeaking about something amongst the likes of residence of the..... hero. To Favar, it seemed slightly unnecessary, though he truly had no concerns regarding this matter past the surface level. However, the implications were a bit unusual. The Pope's reluctance to house the hero he had, quite literally, worshipped for years before did come off as odd.
It would also hopefully shed light on why he of all people had been called to partake in this discussion. Favar was well aware of his social standing, or the lack thereof. Renouncing his noble title on the day of his brother's crowning had been an impulsive decision on his part, one he had yet to regret.
He subtly swept his eyes across the room, noticing his brother about to start speaking.
Just as Archduke Silverhood began his disquisition on how the Emperor was not to be insulted, Favar registered the thump of running footsteps towards the room from the hall. Just as he was about to mention it, the elaborate doors flung open with a loud bang. In the doorway, stood one of the priests he had seen earlier, with his hair strewn wildly across his face, clothes rumpled, and terror in his eyes.
Then the priest uttered the sentence Favar never thought he'd hear.
"The h-hero has set the High Priest on f-fire!"