7. Blessing Divulged

"CHURCH?" Castus sputtered out.

'Shit, I'm not used to being able to speak yet. Fortunately, I didn't say much. Hopefully they think I'm just repeating something.' Castus hastily thought.

Veronica snapped over towards Castus. Castus started to panic, but he held his emotions in check. "Oh, that's right Castus, the Church!" She lovingly smiled towards him. "We need to have you registered with government and have your blessing analyzed."

Castus tried to put his best happy baby face forward. Internally his mind was in turmoil. What would this church reveal? What would it cause? Would it expose what he was? He was nervous about what was coming after the originally exciting event. The time passed agonizingly slow as the party crawled on. Once it finally finished Castus was taken into a carriage pulled by large horses. He squirmed in his mothers arms worried. A nagging feeling creeped into his mind.

'Something is going to change. I can feel it' Castus uncomfortably shifted in his mothers arms that felt like jailers chains for the first time. They normally felt so soft and warm, but today, today they didn't feel loving.

The carriage traveled for around two hours. Travel in this world was slow. The roads were paved poorly and machines that could travel faster than animals were non-existent. The carriage bumped up and down roughly during the trip. The ups and downs upset Castus stomach that had been pumped full of sweet desserts. He stared through the window of the spacious carriage the whole journey. Small homes and building started to become more and more prevalent the longer the journey had taken. The carriage took a sharp turn at the end and a glorious cathedral came into view. The spires extended into the sky, far beyond what the angle of the window would allow. The entire building was unbelievably white. The only contrasting colors were the shadows cast by the sun, the trimmings of gold spattered on the building and finally thin blue lines that ran through the building in a patterned format. Castus didn't know what those were, but he had just enough time to observe that before he was dragged into the massive archway.

A man dressed in religious garbs met Castus, his mother and father at the door. He nodded and spoke.

"Lord Tyrus, how may we serve you today."

Tyrus strode forward with an air of authority. "Would you let archbishop Weis know that Lord Tyrus has arrived." Tyrus snidely replied.

"Yes Lord Tyrus." The bishop nodded his head and turned to the door. He walked inside momentarily then returned outside. "Lord Tyrus please follow me to the waiting room." He turned once again and paused for a second before striding inside. Tyrus turned his head slightly and nodded at Veronica signaling for what felt like a funeral procession to Castus.

It took fifteen minutes before the same bishop came back into the waiting room. "Lord Tyrus please follow me." The room stood and followed behind the bishop. It was a short walk from the waiting room to the archbishop's office, but it felt miles long to Castus as his fears manifested as beast's snapping jaws closing around him.

'I don't want this life to come to an end. I didn't have a chance to do anything about my death before and I'm not ready to go again.'

The office came into view. They entered as the bishop wordless left them, closing the door behind him as he left. The office was very simple. A bookshelf to the left, a simple wooden desk in the middle and to the right was a strange yellow disk on the ground that slightly protruded out of the ground. On the back wall of the room was a colored glass window. The light flooded in from the window turning what Castus could only assume as the archbishop into a shadow. His robed muffled his movements. The only way to tell he had moved was that the shadow was starting to become larger. A deep voice filled the ears of the three of them once that shadow had come close enough.

"Lord Tyrus, I'm glad you could make the appointment." The aura of superiority felt suffocating and imposing. "Please place your son on the pedestal and I can begin immediately."

Tyrus not skipping a beat nodded at Veronica. She moved in a respectful manner and slowly lowered Castus on to the pedestal. Castus started to squirm and moved uncomfortably. He didn't want this to happen. It was a risk. A chance of exposure. If this archbishop saw something his life, his plan might crash and burn. The pedestal glowed slightly for a moment. The light felt probing and invasive. It only lasted for a few seconds then it was gone. Castus stopped breathing as he looked over to the archbishop that emerged from the bright light. He walked over towards the pedestal with measured steps. Once he arrived he cast a magic much more complicated spell than he had ever seen. The symbols and formations were far more complex than what he had seen at home. The formation glowed for a second, connected with the pedestal then dissipated.

"Hmm. Never seen this before." The archbishop rubbed his chin.

"What is it archbishop?" Tyrus unable to suppress his curiosity asked.

"One second Lord Tyrus." The archbishop moved over to the bookcase and began fumbling with the books. He moved through the bookcases absentmindedly. Veronica moved over to Castus and picked him back up. The archbishop found the book he was looking for and opened it up, quickly skimming through it. He skimmed the entire book then shut it with a sigh. Pivoting on his heel he looked at Tyrus very seriously.

"This is not a major branch of the church. I have some records of common and rare blessings, but nothing on what your son has. The registration device was able to determine the name of the blessing and vague details of what it entails. In situations like this I am inclined to try to recruit people like this. Unheard of blessings are important to document to the church and I believe your son will be a valuable asset to the church if we can foster him. We also wish to continue observation of Castus to learn the full extent of his abilities." The archbishop cleverly worded his sentences, avoiding revealing the details of what he knew while also subtle suggesting the church wanted Castus to put pressure on Tyrus. His eyes darted from Castus back to Tyrus awaiting an answer.

Tyrus was floored for a moment. One had to understand the church was an independent organization that rarely interacted with royalty. They had a representative in the government, but they held not governing power. They were not weak by any means though. They held tremendous power. No one was certain how powerful they were, but considering the fact the Queen was respectful to the representative spoke volumes of their standing. Tyrus paused for a moment, his eyes down at the floor in silent contemplation. He looked up at the archbishop before stating.

"Tell me what you know before I consider this."