Four for a Boy

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Sweet perfume wafted briefly from drifts of rose petals strewn on the marble floor of the Great Church as a procession paced majestically into the sacred building.

The lengthy contingent of court dignitaries and guards passed through a wide doorway constructed of wood the faithful believed to be from Noah’s Ark, and came to a halt in front of the Patriarch and a flock of lesser clergy waiting to greet them.

Following a few paces behind the emperor and empress, John glanced rapidly around. Hundreds of lamps filled the vast space with lambent illumination. His gaze skimmed over the huge church’s countless columns of green, pink, and white marble topped with lacy carvings and adorned with imperial monograms, the silver, gold, and glittering gems decorating the altar and sacred vessels, and the equally colorful ranks of courtiers dressed in their finest silks and embroidered robes.

It was difficult to believe that this soaring edifice had been completed less than a handful of years before, replacing the former Great Church destroyed by rioting mobs. This glorious, light-filled building seemed more a creation of angels than men.

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