Soul Sanctuary - 2. Raymond

The young priest has been walking for some time and is not very sure which is the right way to Obsidian’s Cathedral. He’s asked a couple of people, but with the festival starting the following morning, the whole place is just crazy.

All the streets of Obsidian have been adorned with colorful motifs regarding the festival. There are posters announcing the carnival attractions. The priest places his attention on a young man dressed as a buffoon giving away flyers for the Festival Play. His sight wanders around, until it stops on a young woman dancing around. The outfit and the kind of dance allow him to know immediately she’s a gypsy from the Orion Nebula. There’s a young man dancing with her, the cadence of his movements invite sinful thoughts, so the cleric quickly looks away.

He opens his holomap once again to try and figure out where he’s standing. He was told Archdeacon Brogan is not a patient man and he’s now completely sure he’s going to be seriously reprimanded. His father’s reputation is also on the line.

Just when he’s about to give up, he sees a man from the Lyst, a tall blond and built man walking by followed by two more. It strikes him as a person of rank and he decides to approach him.

“Excuse me … umm … Captain?”

“Yes, father,” the man replies with a kind voice, “What can I do for you?”

Raymond takes the holomap and shows it to the captain as he speaks.

“I’m supposed to meet Archdeacon Brogan, but I’m utterly lost. Could you point me in the right direction to the Cathedral?”

The Captain nods.

“Sure thing, Father. You’re actually very close now. If you follow this street on that direction, you’ll reach the Main Square. The Cathedral can be seen from there.”

“You are most kind, Captain ….” The young priest says and places the holomap back in his leather backpack.

“Apollo.”

“Nice to make your acquaintance, Captain. I’m Father Raymond Emerald.”

Raymond shakes hands with the Captain.

“I’ll be on my way, then,” he says.

“You do that, Father. Have a good day.”

And having said so, Captain Apollo goes his way followed by his two soldiers. Father Raymond resumes his walking on his way to the Cathedral.

***************

“I thought I made myself clear, Father,” the Archdeacon says pacing back and forth in his office, “that the one thing I value most is discipline. Not showing on time ….”

“But, Archdeacon,” Raymond says.

“There’s no buts, Father. From now on, I expect you to fulfill your duties with the utmost discipline. I am not going to waste my time in someone who cannot bring himself to adhere to a strict code of conduct.”

“Yes, Archdeacon,” Raymond says sheepishly.

“Do remember that I agreed to take you in my tutelage as a special favor to your father, who happens to be a very dear friend of mine. But I will not tolerate indiscipline. Are we clear, father?”

“Yes, Eminence.”

“Good. Do you have any luggage with you?”

“Just this one bag, my lord.”

“Fine. I’ll have someone take you to your accommodations. It’s almost time for dinner, and I’ll be expecting you to join me in the dining room at 1900 hours.”

Having said so, the Archdeacon pushes a button in an electronic pad on his desk. Raymond can’t help but notice the pad. Electronic devices pre-date the great catastrophe and are not a regular household item. He imagines the cost of keeping such an artifact running must be prohibitive.

A few minutes later, a rather young man comes through the door to the Archdeacon’s office. He’s wearing a cleric’s robe, alright, but he barely looks sixteen. Dark hair, gray eyes.

“Harold,” The Archdeacon says, “Please, conduct Father Emerald to the room that has been prepared for him.

“Yes, Eminence.” The boy says and gestures for the young priest to follow him.

As they walk, the newly arrived notices how beautiful the interior of the Cathedral is. What photographs he’s seen do the church no justice. The artificial lighting makes the place even more beautiful. He imagines the Cathedral of Obsidian is probably one of the very few buildings in the North Continent which have the luxury of electricity.

“Is the Archdeacon always that … strict?” Raymond asks Harold.

“He is,” the boy says, “you don’t wanna disobey him, believe me.”

Raymond finds himself puzzled by the boy’s answer, but he doesn’t want to dig deeper. After having walked for what he imagines must be like ten minutes, Harold stops before what looks like a rather heavy wooden door.

The place is an almost empty room. There’s a bed, which does not seem very comfortable. There’s also a wooden desk and a chair. On the back there’s an aluminum tub behind a pliable separation. The word that comes to mind is austere.

Harold places Raymond’s bag on the bed and walks towards the door.

“Harold?” the young priest asks.

The black-haired boy turns around facing Raymond.

“Yes father?”

“When we were on our way here, you said I did not wanna disobey Archdeacon Brogan … why is that?”

Harold does not respond. In reply, he turns around and pulls up his shirt. The image before Raymond’s eyes is not a nice one. The boy’s back is scarred at different angles and Raymond feels an immediate surge of rage within.

“Did he … did he do that?” he asks in astonishment.

Harold pulls his shirt down and, without turning only replies as he goes out.

“Yes.”

Raymond feels disgruntled. He can’t believe the Archdeacon would go as far as physical punishment. But then again, he is the master in his town. He wonders if he’s made the right choice coming to Obsidian. He had never consider being a cleric, but the strange feelings and appetites he’d started feeling as he was coming of age convinced him of doing so. So, before he committed a sinful act, he had opted for taking the habits and serve in church. That was precisely why, every time he found a man appealing, like the gypsy, he would look away and distract himself with anything at hand.

Thankfully, back here in Obsidian, he would not have to deal with that many people, the Archdeacon liking his privacy and all. The Cathedrals is so big he wonders if he won’t feel lonely in such a building. Back home he was always surrounded by people, he’s father being a lawman and all. They were fairly wealthy and Raymond hadn’t lacked anything while growing up.

His father, Deylon Emerald, is a rather connected man, and he’s managed to get him to continue his religious career under the wing of Archdeacon Damien Brogan, one of the most powerful men in the North Continent. So here he is, ready to fulfill the path he’s chosen for himself and for the first time wondering if he has chosen correctly.

***************

The dining room feels cold, dark.

Archdeacon Damien Brogan is already sitting at the dining room. There are three more men at the table. One of them is plump and balding. The other, wiry. Neither of them must be younger than fifty. The third one is no other than Captain Apollo, whom he met on his way to the Cathedral.

“Father Raymond,” The Archdeacon says, “I’m glad you could join us.”

“It’s my pleasure, Eminence,” Raymond says and rushes to kiss the hand the Archdeacon has extended for such purpose.

“Allow me to do proper introductions,” pointing at the plump man he says, “Father Emerald, this is Sir Armin Arbogast, our Minister of Justice.”

“A pleasure, father,” the man says in a grave voice.

“Pleasure’s all mine, Minister,” Raymond says.

“Here we have Sir Ragul Massad, our Secretary of Internal affairs.”

“Nice to meet, you, Father,” the tall and wiry man says, a sinister grin on his face.

“Glad to meet you, sir,” Raymond replies.

Archdeacon smiles as introductions take place, and the turns his attention to Apollo.

“And, I believe you and Captain Apollo have already met,” the Archdeacon says.

“That is so, Archdeacon,” Apollo confirms.

“Captain Apollo is the Commander of the Lyst,” Damien Brogan adds.

“Glad to make your acquaintance once more, Captain,” the young priest says as he shakes hands with the blond Captain.

They all sit down and the Archdeacon claps his hands to indicate he and his guests are ready to be served. Harold and two more boys come inside the room to serve the soup, pour the wine and make sure the guests are comfortable.

As time passes by, the visitors and the Archdeacon exchange opinions and ideas about the festival, which is to take place the following morning. Raymond prefers not to interact, not knowing if he would be invited to participate. So he limits himself to observe, nod and grin every now and then as the men look his way.

From the long and boring conversation, he learns that Sir Arbogast is a widower and has three sons. He also learns that Sir Massad has been married thrice but has no children to speak of. To this, he adds, he’s been very unlucky to have chosen infertile women. Being the fact that it’s been three wives already, Raymond believes the one who cannot spawn children is Sir Massad himself, but he does not voice his opinion.

Captain Apollo is about to be married. He has now engaged to Lady Arla Brogan, a niece to the Archdeacon. Arla is the third of five children, all of them wealthy people in Obsidian. Raymond then finds himself wondering whether it is a coincidence he’s been appointed Commander of the Lyst, but once again, he doesn’t comment on his thoughts.

***************

At 2100 hours, Raymond is already in his room. He has a slight headache, probably because of all the chatter during dinner. He’s never been a man for diplomacy and he is really hoping the Archdeacon won’t have guests that often. It’s been close to torture hearing the cleric and his guests talking about society, society rules, law-enforcement, politics and other miscellaneous topics.

He undresses, placing his clothes aside. He’d like a bath, but it’s late for that, so he lies on his bed naked for a while in order to freshen up. As he rests, he thinks a bit of the gypsy man he saw on the street dancing with the girl.

With eyes closed, it’s as if he can see the man’s features before him, his dark blue hair and blue bushy eyebrows. Big round eyes of Blue with magenta undertones. His face with the shade of a recently shaved beard. But what he remembers the most is the guy’s movements as he danced. The sensuous motions of the toned and sweaty masculine body.

Before he knows it, one of his hands has fallen over his erect penis. Almost involuntarily, he’s started jerking the thing up and down with slow motions as he thinks of the Gypsy. As he does so, he imagines the man getting undressed as he dances with his sensuous cadence. He imagines the man to be perfectly beautiful in a rough masculine way. He doesn’t dare imagine the man’s cock, he is too afraid to do so, but as the Gypsy dances in his mind, Raymond climaxes.

When the euphoria of his orgasm has passed, Raymond immediately realizes he’s sinned. So he stands from the bed, cleans himself with a hand towel he takes from his backpack, and sits on the bed. It’s very wrong, he knows, devoting his life to church and having sinful thoughts and committing sinful acts.

He suddenly realizes he’s quietly crying. He feels so guilty about masturbating as he thought of the Gypsy. It’s so bad, so bad he finds men attractive and even worse that he’s masturbated thinking of one. If his father knew that’s the reason why he chose to be a priest he would be so ashamed of the son he had.

‘Why?’ Raymond asks himself, ‘Why do I have to feel these anti-natural feelings? Why can’t I be a normal man?’

He has asked himself the same questions once and again. And he knows he won’t find an answer. His only way out now will be penitence and prayer.