The cloak of night fell upon the Camp of Blessing, few rays of moonlight made it through the moving clouds. Tonight was especially quiet out here, the school almost seemed abandoned. No guards on the hallways or around the main courtyard. The dinner hall was empty, unused. Only a light flickered through the windows of a chapel. More precisely, the novice's chapel that Mother Grace formerly used to conduct her private masses. It was now lit by oil lamps and candles everywhere, a rather traditional approach, but setting the perfect mood. All of Mother Grace's novices were present in the chapel tonight, all except for Rebecca. They sat or knelt on the benches, praying in silence while waiting.
The chapel had a back room, used mainly to store all of the ritualistic supplies. Among other things wine, candles, oil for the lamps, communion bread. The relatively small room felt almost crowded with Kristanna, Sister Beth, and Sister Denise inside. All of them dressed in full nun regalia. "You sent them all home, right?" Kristanna asked Sister Beth with a whisper. This was the third time she confirmed it in the past ten minutes.
The nun patiently nodded in response. "Yes my angel, the guards have the weekend off, the students were all granted a home visit to their family and will be back only on Sunday. For the next two days, we have minimum staff, just a few guards by the gate, and a couple of people that I need to keep things in order." Kristanna was pacing around nervously and taking deep breaths. She had prepared so much for this. She did her best to deal with the weight of all the things that she had anticipated could go wrong, and all that she didn't even know could go wrong. Sister Denise was clasping her hands together, equally nervous. Next to her was Mother Grace, dressed in her complete Mother Superior outfit, with the fancy hat and all. Except she had her hands and feet restrained by ropes, as well as a ball gag and a blindfold.
"They are all here, we should begin, the more we delay the more impatient they get." Said Kristanna as she trembled slightly with anticipation. With a nod, Sister Beth followed Kristanna's command grabbing the door handle. She smiled and nodded at the redhead before opening the door into the main chamber of the chapel. When the nun walked out the door and onto the elevated ground on the back of the chapel, all the novices straightened themselves up and immediately became quiet, watching Beth move towards the stone altar at the center. The part she stood on was only a couple steps higher than the rest of the chapel, some sort of stage area at the back. At the center of this elevated area was a big, rectangular block of stone. White cloth with barbed golden edges rested on top of the stone altar. There was also a chalice and several candles.
Sister Beth began lighting the candles, preparing the altar for something. But surprising the most observing novices the nun also removed the white cloth, the golden chalice, all of the religious symbols. "Must be some kind of different rite" They assumed. Little did they know. Beth began to draw a few strange symbols on the stone of the altar with some kind of chalk. A few of the novices raised an eyebrow trying to read that strange language, mostly out of curiosity. None of them could make sense of the symbols. They also didn't seem to have found Beth's preparations odd enough to stand up or ask something. They were taught to respect authority, especially of senior nuns.
The door to the back room opened once more, this time Kristanna walked out. She stopped by a wooden pulpit which was off to the left side of the altar, almost in front of the door. It was placed there so that anyone conducting a mass wouldn't block the view of the cross and all the imagery on the back wall at the center of the chapel. However, it felt odd for Kristanna to stand there and speak from the side while Beth distracted the novices with her preparations. She needed all of the attention on herself.
Ignoring traditional protocol, Kristanna went down the two stone steps, getting to the same level as the rest of the chapel. She stood at the center aisle between both rows of benches, her tall amazonian frame obstructed part of the altar and the cross behind her. The novices seemed uneasy, this was sacrilegious and disrespectful, but the redhead didn't seem to care. One of the novices finally dared to say something. "I beg your pardon but... who are you, sister?" Kristanna smiled, she took a moment but finally replied, "Who I am is not important, what matter is what I know. And I know what Mother Grace has done to all of you at the mine dungeons."
There was a gasp of shock and surprise among the novices. It was a bold move, the blunt, honest, and direct attitude was something the novices were not used to. Some of them stayed quiet, trying to elbow their friends to do the same. It seemed like all of them were simply pretending not to have heard it. Kristanna repeated herself for clarity, "Yes, you heard it right. I was in the dungeon. I saw the instruments she used, the whips, the cages, the ropes. I know all of it."
Some of the novices covered their mouths with their hands. Kristanna found them so easy to read, barely trying to deny any of it. She just surveyed the crowd and waited for any of them to say something, "Are you with the police?" One of the novices asked from the back. Kristanna shrugged at the question, keeping her calm demeanor, "Why would you ask me that? Do you think I should call the police?"
The novice replied shyly, "Well... people could misunderstand the Mother Superior, what she has done for us." Kristanna nodded, acknowledging the honest response. "I don't have a problem with what she did to you at the dungeon. I only have a problem with why she did it." The redhead could see the confusion in the novices' eyes, they traded glances with each other, trying to understand what her angle was.