Another Hoax

A new day had arrived. The sun had risen to reveal the light layer of snow which covered the grounds. Despite the bitter chill in the air, a senseless euphoria was taking place.

An enticing announcement from the central church was taking the empire by storm. At first, the Pope had sent a missive to the local printing press requesting them to publish an article stating that the Garden of Promise had been fully repaired from the effects of the earthquake and was once again ready for worshippers to visit. Now this was certainly good news.

But it wasn't earth shattering good news. It wasn't so impressive as to whip up the citizens of Elysium into an excited frenzy.

The shocking revelation came in the following paragraph.

It was about the Holy Sword.

Goddess Kartara's relic! Which she had wielded to slay demons thousands of years ago. After which the sword had been plunged into the earth and nobody had been able to pull it out.

Not the once blessed Cromwell family. Nor the previous Popes. Nor any of the previous Saintesses.

Until now.

Pope Matthew had sent a private letter to the imperial palace filled with a bit more detail than what had been printed and released out to the public. Still, the core of the message was the same.

Saintess Helene Sweetzel Del Montague had pulled the Holy Sword out from the stone! The Pope had received a vision from the Goddess, after which he had promptly summoned the Saintess to the church and ordered her to fulfill her destiny. 

Which she had!

The Holy Father had witnessed Saintess Helena do what no other mortal blessed by the Goddess had been able to do since Goddess Kartara's ascension back to the heavenly realms.

This was an unprecedented moment of victory for the people of Elysium! The Goddess had granted Saintess Helena such a powerful relic! She was blessed exponentially more than her predecessors. As such, she would go on to do more for the empire than the others had. She was undoubtedly, the Saintess who would carry Elysium into a new era and bless the land and its people with more prosperity, peace and fertility for centuries to come!

Naturally, such a historical moment had to be celebrated! The Day of Prayer was moved three days back. All of nobility, royalty and the working class were invited to the church for the commemoration. It was to be expected that other citizens from the outskirts of Elysium would also make the journey in the following months to witness the Saintess holding Goddess Kartara's blade.

A pilgrimage would start. One that would certainly intrigue the northern empire of Imperium. Perhaps, Empress Matilda would send her only son and heir Prince Alistair to confirm this event was real. Or, maybe she already knew. It was said that the bloodthirsty older sister of Emperor Robert Cromwell had a powerful Oracle at her service.

The night before....

Back at the Del Montague manor, seated inside the Emerald Room, Alex and Felicia were frozen with a stoic rage. Their blank expressions masked the enormous fury they felt.

Hildegarde looked nervously between the two of them.

Helena had already packed a bag and left for the church an hour ago. The Pope had sent her a carriage with three of his priests and five Temple Knights to escort the so called Saintess to the cathedral. Alongside some extra knights sent by the Duke.

Tyren was overjoyed. She acted as if her daughter had just been crowned empress of the whole world. 

The servants and guards were also abuzz with gossip.

Felicia clenched her teeth so hard her gums began to ache.

Alex thought about sending a letter to Liam and Constantine, but knew it was pointless. They would all meet tomorrow. During the celebration that would be held to honor Helena's enormous achievement.

The siblings couldn't think of a single thing to say to each other. Even Hildegarde's occasional remarks went unanswered. One thing was clear, they needed to hasten their plans even more. 

The Pope was about to concoct the most blasphemous hoax that had ever taken place in the holy empire. On top of the two lies which he had already propagated to the public.

Obviously, the demon worshipping Matthew had forged a sword to replicate the Holy Sword. And he was going to simply give it to Helena to parade around. The nerve! How dare he make a joke out of one of Goddess Kartara's sacred relics!

Alex's head was beginning to hurt from how hard he was thinking. "Well, we already know what we need to do tomorrow. Get some sleep, Felicia. You'll need to be fully alert for what's to come." He got up and kissed the top of her head before leaving the room.

Hildegarde bowed and left as well. "Do not fret so much, my lady. Whatever it is, I know you will be able to handle it. I believe in you."

As Alex lay in bed, the mark on his wrist kept burning. But, no sword appeared. He tried to rub away the burn while wondering what the infinity was trying to tell him.

Likewise, Felicia's eyes glowed a solid white and her fingertips felt hot. But no lightning appeared. She wondered what her magic was trying to tell her. Why was it stirring while she wasn't trying to do anything with it? 

Both waited for their respective powers to settle before succumbing to sleep.