For three months the work went forward in the great Cathedral of the Holy Crystal Church. Each morning the people gathered in ever-growing numbers. What had begun as a trickle of the curious and the desperate soon became a flood. After the daily Mass, when the ancient stones still rang with the words of the liturgy and coloured light streamed through the crystal windows, the little prince would stand beside the Bishop at the high altar. In his hands he held the crystal vial, which seemed to shine with a purer light amid the greater crystals that formed the house of God.
"Draw near," the Bishop would proclaim in his deep, steady voice, full of the authority given to him by long years of faithful service. "This is no invention of man, but the last mercy of Heaven. As the angel once shed his blood for our fathers that these crystals might grow, so now through this vessel he offers life to those who will receive it in repentance."
Then the little prince would speak, simply and from the heart. He told again the story of the beggar beneath the bridge and the angel's appearing. He spoke of the coming plague that would fall without warning because of mankind's selfishness, cruelty, and love of empty pleasures. Most of all he urged them to drink, not out of fear alone, but out of a turning of the soul toward what was good and true. One by one they came forward, rich and poor together, and drank directly from the vial.
Many were healed in body as well as in hope. A woman long given up for death by the physicians rose from her pallet and walked unaided. A blind beggar received his sight and wept for joy. Even certain nobles, heavy with secret sins, came by night and left with lighter hearts. Each miracle, each changed life, was like a spark cast into dry tinder. Word ran through the city and beyond like wildfire. The Cathedral of the Holy Crystal Church became known far and wide as a sanctuary of hope in a world grown dark.
In those months the little prince tasted a joy deeper than any he had known before. To see the sick made whole, the despairing given courage, and the proud brought low in true repentance filled his heart almost to bursting. Here, he thought, is proof that the angel spoke truly. When faith and the ordered life of the Church are joined together, men can still be saved. There is yet goodness in humanity, small lights shining even in the midst of so much shadow. For the first time he dared to believe that the whole kingdom might turn and be healed.
The Bishop stood by him like a rock, preaching with growing power and guiding the growing crowds with wisdom and kindness. Between the two of them there grew a deep and fatherly friendship. In the quiet hours after the people had gone, they would speak together of the things of God and of the heavy burden that rested upon the little prince's shoulders.
Yet even in the midst of this bright season, a shadow began to lengthen. The little prince noticed how certain courtiers watched the cathedral with narrowed eyes. Messengers from the palace came and went with questions that were not quite questions. Whispers reached him that the King and his elder sons were displeased. The power of the Holy Crystal Church had always been a check upon the worst excesses of the court, and now this new work, drawing multitudes to the little prince, stirred old jealousies and fears.
Still the joy outweighed the unease. Each day the vial was offered, each day more souls were saved, and the crystal walls of the cathedral seemed to glow with a light not made by human hands.
But three months passed as swiftly as a dream. On the last evening of that season, as the crowds departed and the great doors closed, the Bishop laid a hand upon the little prince's shoulder. His face was grave.
"The work has been good, my son," he said, "but I sense the darkness gathering. The powers of this world do not love the light when it shines too brightly in their midst. We must be watchful."
The little prince nodded, his heart still warm with the memory of all he had seen. Yet far away, in the palace of Caesar, other counsels were being taken, and the shadow of the royal court drew steadily nearer.
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