Colorless

9 - Violaceous Unease

[Picture of Nell]

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Organ music played from high above their heads, filling the grand cathedral and sending a shiver up Kin's spine. Next to him, Nell looked calm. The little grin on her lips was the only sign of her excitement, and her bright eyes looked around at everything like it was all brand new. Kin wished he had her optimism.

At the door, they were stopped. A man in dark robes with a long scroll in his hand looked at them expectantly. A strange pen rested in his hand. It was bronze with a nib at one end and a needle at the other like one used for engraving. Next to him sat two small bowls. One filled with ink and the other with a clear liquid. The monk dipped the nib into the ink. "Name?" he asked Nell.

She looked at Kin for permission or something. He shrugged. "Nell Fiala," she told the monk.

He scribbled a note on the scroll and dipped the needle in the clear liquid, wiping it clean on the cloth over his arm. "Hand."

Once again, Nell glanced at Kin before doing what the monk asked. He frowned at her bandaged fingers. "Other hand, miss." When Nell offered her hand again, the monk pressed the needle into one of her fingers. Nell gasped in pain and surprise, and Kin's hand jumped to his sword but saw no reason to draw his blade yet. The monk guided Nell's finger to the scroll where Kin could see hundreds of other names with colored smudges next to the ink.

Nell's blood only stained the parchment slightly darker. When the monk saw this, he gave her a kind smile, and placed his hand on her head. "May the Lord bless the colorless," he said.

Under his hand, Nell turned again to look at Kin, messing up her hair. The look of her face was so bewildered that Kin almost laughed.

The monk was not as friendly toward Kin. Before even asking his name, he pointed to the swords. "No weapons in the house of God."

Kin gripped the swords tight. Being used to having a hundred weapons on him, Kin wasn't about to settle for none. "I need them," he insisted. "I'm Miss Fiala's bodyguard."

"No one has weapons in the cathedral. You have no need for them."

"I'll leave them sheathed."

The monk held out a hand. "They'll be here when you return."

Kin refused to budge. "They'll be at my side."

"I cannot allow that."

"Then maybe we should leave." Kin turned to where he thought Nell was, but saw her much further in the church. "Shit," he said, earning himself a sharp glare from the monk. "Right, sorry. Take them." He pulled the swords from his belt, and shoved them into the monk's hands.

"Name?"

"Uh Kaden Dace," he said, giving Cyran's surname. He wasn't good at making up covers on the spot, but he was sure Cyran wouldn't mind too much. The name was common enough.

Kin tried to keep an eye on Nell, but a sharp prick to his finger made him turn back to the monk. The holy man stared at the yellow bead of blood forming on Kin's skin through dark eyes, reinforcing Kin's strong instinct to leave. "I'll be back for the swords," Kin promised.

Amongst the crowds and columns lit by a thousand flickering candles, Nell disappeared. He could no longer pick out her purple hair within the mass of colors. He swore again with a cautious glance to the large bronze cross at the front of the Cathedral. Once he was sure he wouldn't be smote, Kin continued his search.

People trickled into the Cathedral, circling to greet friends or taking their seats for the ceremony. Kin looked, but he could not find Nell among them. Even more alarming was the sight of the monk he'd just spoken to conversing with another. They nodded in Kin's direction, pointing to the paper where he'd spilled his blood. He had no doubt they knew who he was, and he wasn't going to find out anything with them keeping an eye on him. As he watched, the second monk left to whisper to a third. Kin didn't know what they would do about him, but he wasn't fond of finding out. With only a colorless girl as backup, going to the church had been a bad idea. If only he could find Nell.