The rank of archpriest is obtainable to members of both the sect of cloth and the sect of steel. Rather than being a symbol of the highest rank, it is moreso used as a status symbol to denote figures within the church that are trusted by the leaders of their respective sect. This does not grant them much actual authority, but does convey a sense of freedom for their actions in pursuit of objectives for the church.

The room was dark but for the smallest rays of golden light filtering through the few windows, more giving an impression of the time than making it easier to see. Despite this, Gwindon sat relaxed in his seat, staring forward at the spot he knew Daylon would enter from. He had been stripped of his armor and weapons voluntarily, and they laid off to the side in a pile.

He had captured the knight in the market and brought him to the city church. It had surprised him that it was located away from the center of the city and closer to the entrance. Daylon had explained that the church was left behind as the heart grew outward. Koshchei convinced the priests it was for the better, but he had never turned the archpriest’s opinion. When the figure finally emerged from the darkness, Gwindon tugged on the chains around his wrists.

“An apothecary will arrive shortly to perform a blood trial on you. If you’d like to confess anything before then, my ears are open.”

“You want me to incriminate myself? Definitely not making it a very appealing offer to do so. I already told you I have nothing to do with the people you’re looking for.”

Daylon moved closer, his warhammer still strapped to his back. “Fine then. I’m not particularly interested in forcing words out of your mouth yet. The blood trial will prove my suspicions or not, and if it fails, then we can move to interrogation.”

“What’re you here for then?”

“The same reason we wanted to capture Lilith. The country of the Desert Rose... the name was even a bad omen from the start. The neighboring city-states knew that it wouldn’t last long, but the fact the city fell in just one night is particularly bizarre, isn’t it? If you’re a knight from there, you’ll know what happened.”

Gwindon stared down at the floor with half-lidded eyes. The light continued to drain from the room in the silence. Daylon stared at the crestfallen warrior, a frown swallowing his calm expression with each passing second. Eventually he strode forward and forced him to look up.

“We’re talking about a monster here, possibly a demon! Don’t you care if it’s still running free?!”

“I know it is. Don’t try and preach to me about the greater safety of humankind, or the good of the church. The fact is our kingdom fell by its own hand, something we did to ourselves that destroyed everything.”

“So is that what you’ll confess then? I’m surprised the information we have on your kingdom is so small. An expanding power branching out from the desert that lasted a mere three generations before it fell. Even after an investigation from the church, albeit distracted at the time, turned little back from within the city itself. Have anything we could add, knight?”

Gwindon closed his eyes completely and let out a deep sigh. The posture of his body relaxed as he went into thought, but was still too stiff for rest. Daylon cocked an eyebrow at the move and stepped forward again, pushing on the man’s shoulder to force his head upward. The knight’s eyes opened completely and he glared back at the paladin.

“What are you after, exactly?” Gwindon asked him.

“This kingdom has been a hub of activity as of late, and I’m growing suspicious of it all. First Koshchei moves the church as he expands the town, and now we’re getting less and less political power in the areas he governs. Can’t even make a fuss about it with how he’s absorbing the warring states and putting them to peace, either...” Daylon said, folding his arms over his chest. “Of course we have to bear the burden of this damned eternal crusade as well. Might as well put it to use and try and find out how Koshchei is gaining so much traction so soon, and why he’d take a secular path in doing so.”

“Is it really hard to believe anyone would want to distance themselves from the church in this day and age? The collapse that started the crusade tore the fields apart and broke us back down into city state aside from a few kingdoms. If Koshchei’s been able to do it himself, I can see why he’d not want a flimsy alliance like that again...” Gwindon muttered in response.

“What, and become another desert rose? If I remember correctly, separation from the church alliance was what formed that place as well.”

Daylon glared down at the knight as he spoke, but Gwindon merely looked to the side. A shower of dust particles moved through the light from the window. It was faint but enough to make him reminisce. Little memories flittered through his head, but failed to shift the expression on his face. After a number of them had passed, he looked back to Daylon.

“Without confessing anything on my own behalf... I suppose I could rectify some of the information you’re lacking. Not like I’ve got much longer to live anyway.”

“I’ll wonder what could take you down later. First, tell me whether or not it was a demon that killed all those people.”

Gwindon closed his eyes and shook his head. “Not exactly. The truth is that the knights of the queen had killed the royal guard, slaughtering most of the royalty as well as a decent portion of the servants. Only I survived the onslaught to my knowledge...”

“You and your wife, you mean.”

Once more, the knight paused, turning from the light. “The cause of that slaughter was the after effects of a deal with a demon. Unbeknownst to the guard, the queen had been approached by a demon and arranged to fuse the creature into her knights to give them unnatural strength and power. I can’t imagine how she enticed the demon to do it, but the number of knights was obviously too much for it. While the creature was able to infuse some of us, the strain on its spirit caused it to snap back into the bodies of all the knights, lashing into their minds and driving them into a primal fury. In their rage and enhanced physical prowess, they managed to do the damage you had found...”

“A likely story, but it leaves something out. Considering what you said, all of the knights would have been made into mindless killing machines, so you should be foaming at the mouth right now... unless you were lying about your rank.”

“I was, and still am, a knight of the rose court!” Gwindon proudly declared. “All I did was my duty to the kingdom, I went against my oath to protect the people from the monsters of the court. There would have been countless deaths had I not intervened when I did!”

“How were you even able to do it then? You’re just telling me that nonsense to distract me from whatever the truth is. I’m sure once we capture and bring in that mercenary woman, we’ll get a solid—”

“You’ll get even less out of her. She doesn’t know anything about what happened, so leave her alone,” Gwindon warned him, his voice softening from the last outburst. “I don’t want to... no, I can’t incriminate myself. At least not until I’ve had the blood test, I need to see something about this for myself. Been putting it off for ages now and I suppose this is the will of Berkahn that I get it now...”

Daylon cocked an eyebrow at the night. With a heavy sigh, the armored archpriest paced the room and crossed the beams of fading sunlight. The golden rays illuminated the engravings of his gear in a near holy sheen. Only when the paladin was directly behind Gwindon did he start to speak again, both hands clasped behind his back.

“Fine, we’ll leave the question of the desert rose till then. In the meantime, I want to know more about Icara, that girl you were with.”

“I hardly know anything about her. As far as I can tell she’s just some wandering vagabond that’s accrued a bad reputation. No surprise someone so narrow-minded could get a bounty on her head, but I’m shocked the church has taken an interest in her at all.”

“Then you don’t know about the incident ten years ago? It was fairly large news, but never spread much because Alastair was only a trifling city-state back then. Supposedly, a demon had somehow snuck inside of the city and attempted to kill the king and queen in a bid to replace them or their child at the time. Something happened and the demon was thought to be destroyed.... Along with the entirety of the royal family at the time.”

Gwindon only half listened until the end, his ears twitching at the information. A slew of things moved through his head, but he couldn’t focus on any thoughts. Both men within the chamber were silent, and the sun outside gently faded into moonlight. When the knight did find his voice again, it was cold and foreign.

“Icara told me her parents were murdered by... someone in power. Have you done any blood trials amongst the royals in—”

“Every time someone is sworn in we perform one. The successor to the throne especially passed for someone of his stature. We thought for a long time that the demon was merely in hiding, after all it doesn’t make sense for them to try something so dangerous without a guarantee that they’ll succeed, right?”

“So you think my story, if true, corroborates that theory?”

“The king, queen, and princess Icara were all reported as dead, killed in the explosion where the demon died. How else do you explain someone that’s supposed to be dead wandering back here from some distant desert? If she was just a princess, explain how she survived. Explain how she managed to find her way here all on her own. Explain the body count!” Daylon shouted, moving quickly in front of the stunned knight. “Can you even answer one of those?!”

He shut his eyes and thought over the information. Something was off, but it took a moment for his mind to catch it. When he finally did, Gwindon lifted his head and subdued a grin in his confident realization.

“Don’t you think it’s odd how they died in an explosion? Tell me, when the famous eternal crusade you’re on started, how did the false prophet die?”

“He rotted in an instant before the holy gardens after Jacob crushed his head with a single blow from his hammer. It’s what secured undoubtable proof for the other church leaders of what he was. The fact the demon died in an explosion is not proof otherwise, however, considering a demon unhidden or undisguised can wreck havoc. Obviously, this one was discovered and died soon after being revealed.”

“Then how did the demon get into the court itself? Shouldn’t someone have noticed it, or at least felt the unnatural presence? From what I can recall, demons don’t tread very lightly in their natural forms.”

Daylon hesitated, revealing the hole in one breath of silence. Both of the men glared at each other intensely before the paladin moved for the door again. Slowly opening it, he turned back towards the knight. The chamber was now wholly illuminated by moonlight, casting deep shadows over the bound figure of Gwindon. His eyes, normally very bright and distinct, were all but consumed by the darkness around him. The archpriest shook his head and left, closing the door behind him before rubbing the bridge of his nose with one gauntleted hand.

The priest from before approached him, a hand with the beads of his rank clasped in them. Daylon took them back and silently slid them over his neck, shaking a bit so that he could comfortably rest them beneath his armor. Once resting on his skin again, he looked at the younger man with a cocked eyebrow, finding him staring up at him.

“What is it, brother?”

“Forgive me, brother Daylon, but I was curious as to why you discarded the beads midway through the confession. Did you think you might do something unfit for the rank...?”

Daylon shook his head and pulled the beads on the back of his neck so that the brother could see them. Through the dim torchlight, he could clearly see every one had a detailed iconography upon its surface, a different legend from the church’s stories.

“I thought he might be more comfortable or off-center if I was to return with only the signifiers of my combat capabilities. Men like him often see combat as something to bond over, as if perchance for violence is a brotherly trait. He’s got a look on his face like he’s on death row either way, it’s almost harrowing...”

“Ah, I’m relieved, brother Daylon. We will send out for the apothecary to arrive and perform the blood trial in the morning. There’s only one currently in town with the skills required, a man by the name of Cherno.”

The archpriest nodded and sent the younger man away, looking to the door once more. His logic had been sound, and Daylon knew it, but there was too much information he was lacking to see the truth. His fists balled at his side, irritation burning inside him at the thought of having another demon interfering with humans. He slammed his hand into the brick to his side and stormed off for the pews, hoping the air of the church’s center would calm his mind.