Page 85 of Daughter of Garnet

The look of awe on her face makes it clear I'm missing something. "What does that mean?"

"All priests have columns, and they gain them based on divine favor and education. Most priests wear three or four."

"If it's divine favor, what's to stop them from putting the columns on themselves?"

"To do so would be to spit in the face of the Gods. The Hierophant is the one who tests them on the educational portion, and the Arcanist evaluates their connection to the divine." She sits up a little straighter and folds her hands over her lap. "I suppose it would make sense that he would have more columns than any other in the land." She put on a floor-length floral dress before we came here, and that, combined with the awe in which she speaks about Cameron, makes it obvious that she wants to impress him.

It's funny to think of my stalker as a holy man.

"Wow, we've got a full house tonight." Cameron's voice fills every corner of the chapel and sends a shiver down my spine. I know that he is dangerous, but I can't seem to tell my body that, because it wants him.

Or maybe I want him because of how dangerous he is.

I expected Cameron to see that we were the only ones in attendance, and that, since he asked me to come, we'd have a casual conversation, but that's not the case. He clears his throat and leans over the lectern.

"Thank you for coming to tonight's service in worship of the Goddess Ilota." He never shared the service schedule with me, but I'm not surprised he asked me to come to this particular one. I do worry what Ray is going to hear, though. "Our most elusive God, Ilota, has not Blessed any in recent memory. Which begs the question — How is she a known entity if there are no records of her Blessings?"

The four of us, Ray, Viv, me, and Cliff, sit in silence, waiting for Cameron's answer.

It never comes.

He points at Ray. "How do you think we came to know her without her having any Blessed to spread her word?"

Ray shifts awkwardly in his seat on the other side of Viv. "Records of other miracles? Or maybe accounts of things the other Gods told their Blessed?"

Cameron makes a noise of agreement. "That's one theory." When he turns to Cliff, his smile broadens. I can't tell if it's menacing or not. "You come from Pyxis. What is your theory?"

"I think records of her Blessed were destroyed."

I squeeze Cliff's hand. Even though I know Cameron would never sell him out, and I'm pretty sure Ray doesn't understand the implications of what he's saying, it still makes me nervous when Cliff implies that our government is up to something.

"But if she were to have Blessed some, and the records destroyed, would there not still be word of mouth? Would her Blessed not still whisper stories in their families?" It's odd to think of this priest as my Alpha, but when our eyes clash, there is no denying my body's reaction to Cameron's presence. "There should be something, shouldn't there?"

"Maybe not." I clear my throat and break the intense eye contact Cameron held me hostage with. "The dead don't speak."

Ray inhales through his teeth. "Shit, you think they all died?"

I doubt this is how normal sermons go. This feels more like a classroom, where the teacher is leading the group toward the answer without giving it outright.

"There is the story of Fetoria, in which Ilota was upset with her people for not worshipping her enough, and she set off a volcano to cleanse them." Cameron returns to the lectern and picks up a book. I expect to see Fate of the Fire, but this one looks much older. "But fables never tell us the full truth, do they? What kind of God would Bless people only to destroy them?"

"I'd never willingly harm my children."

Ilota's voice in my head startles me, and I jolt. Cameron looks at me like he knows she spoke to me.

"She wouldn't have," I reiterate her words for the four of them. "It would be akin to a mother killing her children."

Cameron hums happily and tucks the book under his arm. "So why is there a tale of the Blessed getting destroyed?"

"Because someone destroyed them." It shocks me that Ray is the one to answer. "Didn't they? Ilota's Blessed aren't gone because she abandoned us. They're gone because someone out there killed them all."

"What an interesting theory you have, Blessed of Oren." He sits on the edge of the pulpit, feet dangling like a child's, and opens the book on his lap. "As the Hierophant, I am given access to tomes that otherwise would be considered lost, if anyone even knew they existed. It's one of the many benefits of my position. Like this one here. It's the diary of Hierophant Caius Day. He was an Omega, Blessed by Kashmyre."

"I thought only Alphas could hold leadership roles in the church?" Cliff leans forward and rests his elbows on his knees. "I've never heard of an Omega in leadership."

Cameron smiles, but it holds no humor. "Yes, that is one of the modern requirements, but it did not used to be that way."

That there was a time when Omegas could hold leadership positions is news to me. One of the reasons I dreaded being an Omega was that I didn't want to be 'kept'. That that was not always the case blows my mind.