Cordelian stifled a yawn. The meeting of the Kolonai was dull, mostly occupied with talking about how all the empire keenly felt the loss of their great Milem. After some nearly inappropriate discussion of the Doukar's lack of action in taking revenge for their supposedly beloved princess, the discussion turned to who would be the new Milem. Cordelian had already prepared the ground with Fornulus.

"After discussing this matter with His Exaltedness, we have reached a decision," he said.

"It's a shame he couldn't put in an appearance for once," one of the younger patros said. A couple of his neighbors hissed at him, shocked by the impudence. Cordelian magnanimously ignored him.

"His Exaltedness and I believe that the position should go to the current Decim, our brother Prince Pelagius." He gestured over to his brother.

Cordelian noticed Pelagius didn't bother to feign surprise or humbleness, just looked challengingly at the rest of the council. The two of them had decided it, barely bothering to even notify Fornulus the Drunkard. Pelagius had requested the position, and Cordelian was happy to oblige, since it meant the Milem was now in his pocket.

Some of the generals looked put out, but there didn't seem to be any major objections. No doubt some of them had dreams of acquiring the position, but it was usually kept within the royal bloodline, so nobody had any real grounds for complaining. Most of them probably reasoned that Pelagius, with some experience as Decim, was about the best they could hope for. He didn't have any major enemies in the court, since he kept to himself and went along with whatever the majority opinion was. As such, the matter was quickly accepted. Pelagius nodded to Cordelian.

All the ground for his ascension was now prepared. He just had to wait for Fornulus to finish pickling himself, and the crowns would be his. Meronion's death had even given him reason to put off his own marriage arrangements for months, so it couldn't have worked out better for him.

Nikolonium always felt excited when meeting with the Patrianous, the head of the city of Dardano's church, and thus the leader of the entire faith. Although the Doukar was officially the head of the faith, the Doukar generally had better things to do than decide church matters, and so left it to the Patrianous. Nik would have been different type of Doukar, had Oma chosen him to rule. Still, he couldn't complain about the role Oma had chosen for him, a life of luxury and power few could even dream of. No noumens would ever get to meet Locanion, the Patrianous, for example, no matter how devout they were.

The Patrianous' private study was a masterpiece of tasteful luxury. On the walls, gilt carvings rendered various scenes from the life of the Nameless Prophet, and on short pedestals around the room, many relics were on display. The Patrianous, in contrast to public events where he stood amongst the rank and file priests, here sat on a throne far grander than the Stone of Doukar.

They'd met many times before, the Patrianous almost becoming his own personal priest, due to his royal status. Yet no matter how many times he came here, it never got any less exciting, or filled him with any less devotion for Oma.

After they'd gone through the usual greeting ceremonies, Nik expressed his honor at being here, only to have them returned by the Patrianous, also as usual. Locanion was an old man, thin and reedy, but with quiet dignity. He commanded attention wherever he went, and had hooded eyes that pierced your soul. He the exemplar of every virtue imaginable.

"Your Holiness, I wished to know if you had given the matter we discussed before any further thought?"

Nik had been talking with Locanion and several other priests of the supreme circle about formally censuring Cordelian. It would hurt the man in the eyes of the public, hurt his popularity, and thus his race for the crowns. Cordelian would have to go through public penance in order to remove the censure, which would prevent him from scheming for a while, and, as a nice bonus, humiliate the man.

The Patrianous nodded in response. "Yes, Your Highness. I and the supreme circle of fathers have discussed it and have come to a decision."

The man paused, and Nik found it hard not to push for the answer. He had few other ideas on how to stall Cordelian's rise and had pinned a lot of hopes on this. Finally, the holy man continued.

"We have known for a long time that Prince Cordelian is no friend of the faith, as much as it pains all of us to admit this. He has undermined the interests of the church in the Kolonai. He makes friends of patros we suspect to be heretics who still adhere to the old ways. He engages in obscene relationships. Even so, Oma calls on us to be forgiving."

Nik sagged slightly. This wasn't what he was hoping for, and after Meronion's death he needed some good news.

"However," the older man said, and Nik sat up straight again. "These accusations you bring to us now are so serious we cannot ignore them. We cannot move without evidence, because what we propose has not been done in more than a century, but if you can provide proof, then we have agreed on the proper course of action."

More than a century? The church had censured one of his father's brother's not more than twenty years ago.

The Patrianous continued. "If you, Your Highness, can provide proof that Prince Cordelian arranged the death of his own Empress, or that of his own sister, then we will have no choice but to declare him apostate and an enemy to the true faith."

Nik's jaw dropped. He had never even imagined they might go so far.

Apostate! The Doukar was the head of the true faith – how could an apostate head the faith? Therefore, how could an apostate become Doukar? It simply couldn't happen. The noumens would riot if an apostate dared to try and claim the crowns, and even many of the patros would reject an apostate. The military would never hear of one taking command. In other words, if Nik could provide proof to satisfy the church of Cordelian’s crimes, then all of them, all his scheming, would be for nothing. The man might not even be able to keep serving as Eukrates either. In one fell swoop Nik could ruin him!

At last he could see the will of Oma moving around him. He bent his head in a prayer of thankfulness for finally seeing a path out of the darkness surrounding him. Locanion gave him a blessing, praising him for his faith.

Soon Cordelian would understand that he couldn't cheat Oma. Soon, he would pay for his crimes. Not with death, but with humiliation and powerlessness he would hate even more than death.