The Cardinal's Prime Mover

Chapter 6: Body

Well Terzo is giving one of his theatrical sermons this morning, Lia thought as she sat in the pews towards the back. More impassioned than normal. He keeps looking at me. Her discomfort grew but she tried not to dwell on it. He knew that she and the Cardinal were together and that today, along with his official Ghost announcement, would also be theirs. She spent the sermon facing down at her lap, only glancing up to see the back of the Cardinal's head. She was waiting patiently for it to be over, feeling a bit guilty for wanting their lord's worship to be cut short so she could be ravaged by one of the clergymen. She blushed and swallowed hard.

She still had a gnawing feeling that things would not last. Always worried that it would fall apart. She was too happy now. Papa Nihil and Sister Imperator were confident that the Cardinal would be able to handle his new position and so was Lia even if it meant that things might be rough for them. Her heart pained at the thought.

As the sermon began to die down, Lia was suddenly hit with a wave of dizziness. Her head seemed fuzzy, her vision distorted. She got up quietly and left the hall. As she started to move from the entryway, she felt worse and worse. Now, a tinge of nausea set in...just as it had with Terzo's dinner the other day. She was afraid she'd vomit in front of the entire congregation. She tried to hold it together long enough to make it to the side doors, desperate to reach the fresh air.

What the hell is wrong with me? she thought. Am I doing this to myself? I am getting myself so upset that I am making myself sick. Damn it Lia, you need to be strong. Things will be tough but you and Copia can work it out. The thoughts kept coming. Will he still want to be with me even after all those people begin to throw themselves at him? This would have been so much simpler had he not had to be involved with Ghost... Fuck I know he doesn't have a choice. Terzo has had enough. Copia of course feels like he must and he'll do it without question, the church means so much to him.

She took some slow deep breaths just outside the doors. Her eyes slowly re-opening to the world around her. She felt slightly better with the light breeze hitting her face. When she opened them fully, her sight caught a couple of ghouls hanging out along the ledge of the cloister to her right . Both seemed to be enjoying the day. It was warmer than it had any right to be for this time of year, but it was nice for a change. The ghouls were both imposingly tall, not uncommon for them. The first ghoul was more built and broad-shouldered than the other. The second more slender one seemed to be reading something...nothing Lia could make out from that distance. She realized as her vision cleared, the bigger ghoul was Mountain.

He was one of the members of the Ghost, their drummer to be exact. Mountain happened to catch Lia looking over and waved. He was a very down to earth ghoul and easy to talk to. Lia and him had spent a lot of time together back when she used to hang out during Ghost rehearsals with the other sisters of sin, back during the beginning of Terzo's reign. They had become pretty good friends, with everything going on lately she hadn't seen him in a long while. Mostly keeping with Bea and Gianna. She thought now, since the Cardinal was going to be involved with Ghost, they might see each other more which made her smile.

Mountain got down off the ledge and walked over to her with the other ghoul following slowly behind, his eyes still fixed in whatever book that it was he was reading. As Mountain walked over to say hi. He smiled wide and Lia as she smiled back at him. Suddenly, when he went in to give Lia a big hug, he stopped suddenly and took a few sniffs of the air.

"There's something different about your smell." he said confusedly. Lia's face must have shown her confusion as well, because Mountain shrugged to suggest he wasn't sure why. "I mean its-It's not a bad smell...heh... I just haven't smelled this before. Are you alright?" He asked.