Prologue

00 -- Prologue

15 of Julius, year 3250 of Light.



"The bitterest tears shed over graves are for words left unsaid and deeds left undone."
- Harriet Beecher Stowe

"There are few things I regret in this life, and having kept that wild bird caged all her life is one of them. I can only hope she forgives me." His voice was shallow, raspy, drawn out in long, delayed staccato tones punctuated with the foreshadowing of death. He didn't have to hear the doctors' final declaration, as he could feal Death breathing down his back, silently urging him on to tie the loose ends that had been left undone for too long. Monsignor Joseph Knowells' clouded eyes shifted toward his left, where his fellow brother, Monsignor David Prieston sat at his bedside.
"Her judgment and forgiveness is not the one you should seek, Brother Joseph. You've done His will. You've done no wrong."
"The Devil's biggest accomplishment," the infirm man whispered, "is to make the masses believe he does not exist. His second biggest feat was to fool those who work for our Lord to do his bidding."
Monsignor David squeezed his friend's wrinkled hand and leaned over to whisper words of encouragement when the latter closed his eyes and let out a final sigh. Brother David released Brother Joseph's hands and bowed his head in prayer, his voice resonant with not only sorrow, but distress. The last months of Monsiegnor Joseph's life had been troublesome, mysterious and sorrowful. Brother David could not even begin to fathom as to what could have been troubling his friend.

La Dulce Vita de Maria Convent


Sister Mary Josephine stared at the small trunk that had appeared at her doorstep nigh a minute ago in sheer confusion. Her eyes darted from the left to the right as to glance at both extremes of the old corridor in hopes of finding the culprit behind the nuisance joke-- but where could she have gone? More importantly, how could she, herself, not heard the footsteps  of the girls echo down the tile floor?
"Once I catch you, I will make you clean these floors with toothbrushes!" The black-robed woman then sighed and grasped the metal handles of the box in an attempt to move it aside. To her surprise, it was heavy and refused to budge. Sister Mary Josephine then knelt, fingertips carefully tugging at the latch that kept the lid closed, only to find it firmly shut. She frowned, and brushed her hands along the wooden surface, successfully removing the layers of filth in one motion.
The woman frowned, immediately running her hands along the front of her habit before reaching behind the heavy plait to remove a hankerchief as to clean the chest even further. At this point, curiosity had gotten the best of her; she needed to know what was in that chest.
With a loud gasp and a cry to the heavens, Sister Mary Joseph stumbled back, her eyes wide in surprise, her cheeks drained of blood. The abrupt clamor set the otherwise serene convent into chaos; women clad in black and some donned in white veils came running to Sister Mary Josephine's room as children of all ages dressed in blue watched from a distance. An elder nun made her way from the back of the crowd, followed the shocked sister's gaze and promptly shooed away onlookers.
"Get our Mother Superior, " she instructed to a young novice that stood nearest to the chaos and whose eyes were glued on the intricate gold emblem that rested in the center of the old lid. "Lord have mercy on your soul if you don't move now!"
The novice snapped out of her trance, nodded and ran down the corridor only to be lost in the shadows of La Dulce Vita.