Chapter 24
The morning bell had not rung, and a thin layer of morning mist had already spread over the heavy doors of St. Michael’s Cathedral.
The copper bells on the eaves were covered with dew in the dampness, reflecting a touch of crab shell blue on the horizon.
Nolan knelt in The Sanctuary of Saint Gabriel, the dark golden cloud pattern on his robe rising and falling with his breath, like the unextinguished fire before Christ.
The dark golden cloud patterns swirled in the morning light, casting his face in an even colder light.
The Frankincense blessed ash fell softly into the cracks of the bricks, and his olive wood rosary suddenly broke on his wrist.
One hundred and eight round rosary beads slipped through the fingers. and fell to the ground, resembling a string of pearl flowers blooming on the lotus brick.
Twenty years ago, on the day of his ordination, the chaplain wore the rosary beads that had been passed down for a hundred years around his wrist.
“This pearl has been infused with twelve generations of holy relics, I hope you will cherish it like protecting your eyes.”
“When-”
The sound of handbells shattered the silence in the hall, also startling the dazed Nolan.
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The pastor stood holding a handbell under the prayer banner, with the cuffs of his chasuble stained with the blessed ash from the morning service.
Robe swept over the table covered with blessed ash, the pastor whispered softly, his voice echoing through the hall.
“Did you really want to abandon this rosary beads that accompanied your ordination?”
He gazed at the eyes of Christ in front of him, that touch of compassion seemed to penetrate the world.
Nolan slowly lifted his head and looked at the Christ Statue in front of him.
Last night, the sound of the dripping rain outside the window seemed to echo in his ears again. Alicia held his hand, curled up in the soft silk quilt. The warm light in the room reflected the contour of her slightly swollen belly on the white gauze canopy, like a blurred “The Birth of Venus“.
Her fingertips counted the rosary beads on his wrist, and when she reached the thirty–sixth bead, Alicia suddenly chuckled softly, “Nolan’s rosary beads are wound even tighter than St. Valentine’s divine match.”
“The disciple entered the chapel at the age of six, after twenty years of cultivating a contemplative heart, he still could not resist the gentle smile on her cheeks.”
The hand holding the handbell trembled slightly.
The lotus flower on the incense table suddenly bloomed new stamens, with honey oozing from the center, startling the early–rising worker bees to collide with the glass lampshade.
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Nolan kowtowed to the lotus seat, the vermilion mark on his forehead against the cracks in the blue bricks.
Outside the hall, a mountain sparrow suddenly flew up, causing the copper bells on the eaves to jingle, breaking the sacred chant and shattering the blessed ash that had accumulated in front of Christ for
years.
As the red silk wound its way up from the foot of the mountain, Alicia was walking towards the releasing pond, stepping on the dew.
ISH
The morning mist dampened her pale yellow skirt. Alicia gently touched her slightly bulging belly and, as she stepped onto the final stone step, she saw Nolan standing under the gingko tree, taking off his chasuble.
The morning light pierced through his thin undershirt, and the scar from the branding iron on his collarbone glowed with a faint golden
hue.
The autumn wind brushed past his gentle eyes, swirling up the golden and crisp leaves on the ground, as if a shower of autumn leaves was falling in the sky above the chapel.
“Ally, be careful of the rocks under your feet.”
Nolan saw her and hurried down the stone steps to help her.
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The warmth of Nolan’s palm seared through the pale yellow fabric, pressing against the curve of her arm.
Her fingers, which once tapped the meditation chime, were now measuring her waistline. Her pinky finger unconsciously traced circles along the round curve, as if still counting the rosary beads on her wrist.
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Alicia placed her palm on Nolan’s chest, feeling the faint warmth left by his robe.
“Nolan, your twenty years of contemplative heart, really have to be abandoned today…”
Unfinished words were swallowed into their lips, as Nolan kissed away the tears at the corner of her eyes to the sacred chant.
“Ally, the wedding we had back then was just a part of our deal; now, I want to give you a wedding that belongs only to the two of us.”
