5th Summer, 511 A.V. The chapel was transformed. Heavy red wall hangings covered stone and window indiscriminately, and candles burned in sconces and candelabra everywhere, granting no respite from the accumulated heat of summer and the bodies of Denvali worshipers. The light, the heat, the carmine cast upon the skin of all, these things made the chapel like the inside of a womb, or a beating heart as breath and music made the lights flicker. Some chanted, others sang. Most rolled wooden or leather-covered mallets around the inside of bronze bowls of various sizes that pulled out overtones that sang along with the human, or humanoid, congregation. Musicians played, too. Some arhythmic, dissonant, others pulling everything forward with the inevitability of a heartbeat. The ritual was popular, and there was standing room only. Captain Astrid, Chaplain Zahari, and other notables were near the front. Those who felt most blessed by the God were present, and obviously a great deal of Denvali felt so blessed. Haimon turned to face the assembled crowd, hands raised in a benediction, but he was not calling for silence. In fact, the melodious cacophony grew in volume, and he smiled, flushed and sweating, then indicated that Veldrys, his acolyte should bring the bronze bowl before him. Veldrys, cupbearer to the God. The people began to file up toward the altar, first in line being flame-haired Astrid herself. |