Bottom of the Bowl

The day of her trial, Martha again appeared to help her navigate her way through the day. Kopper’s fuzzy ball of hair was trimmed by Martha and then Martha helped her into a very simple dress, which Kopper could have done herself but found that she was unable to focus effectively on the tasks at hand. Kopper could only pick at her breakfast but Martha did convince her to swallow most of her orange juice and a couple of bites of oatmeal. Once in the hallway, they were greeted by a huge gathering of Father Matthew’s attendants and Father Matthew himself was wearing very ornate garb under his usual cloak (although based on the cleanliness of it, it was a new on just like his old one). He strode over to her, put a hand on her shoulder, “May God’s blessings be with you today, daughter. As a symbol of your devotion to Him,” he placed a little emphasis on the him that was noticeable to Kopper and Martha, but the attendants didn’t seem to be listening, “may you wear this cross.” He produced a large cross on a chain from a pocket somewhere on his torso and carefully spread the chain apart so it would fit over Kopper’s head. She ducked her head and felt the weight rest on her neck as if reminding her that she was to be in mindless submission today.

Father Matthew and most of his entourage led the way down the hall, then Kopper with Martha at her side and just barely behind her, then the rest of the herd of attendants. The strode down the stairs and outside, across the courtyard and into another gray stone building. In a sort of anit-chamber they waiting while some servants ran to and fro and eventually told one of Father Matthew’s attendants that they would now be admitted, the attendant then told Father Matthew who then strode toward the doors without looking at Kopper. It seemed to Kopper that he was enjoying all this and it put her in a bad mood. Martha gave Kopper’s elbow some nudging and steering and they too entered what Kopper presumed to be the court directly after Father Matthew with the attendants eager to spring in behind them. The court was a large rectangular room more fairly it would be called an amphitheater, Kopper guessed. Kopper’s attention was immediately drawn to the large amount of people here. Somehow she had thought that this council would be at least similar in size to the courts she was used to from childhood, but this was nothing close. A long desk or table dominated the room and she counted twelve very elaborately dressed men at its great height. When Kopper saw the crowd she instinctively put a hand on Martha’s help to steady herself. Martha seemed to have anticipated this and moved close to Kopper to give her support and lead her down the staircase while Kopper looked around in awe. Behind the twelve was a host of less elaborately, but still dazzlingly dressed men. The shallow bowl they were descending into the middle of was deformed by the tall twelve that sat just off center of the bowl and in front of the lowest section. The men behind the twelve were at a slightly lower level than the twelve but higher than the rest of the seating which was stuffed but most of Father Matthew’s attendants managed to find a space to sit just behind where Father Matthew, Kopper and Martha sat at the low point. It was painful to look directly up at the twelve and so Kopper was glad she had the excuse of being humble and penitent to tilt her head down and just study the floor, which was also quite stunning. A few attendants stood behind them while Kopper and her two companions sat on some very plain wooden chairs at a very plain and small table.

Once they were seated, the crowd quieted and one of the twelve with the pointy hats boomed, “Father Matthew, is the supplicant ready to present herself before the council?”

“Your Eminence, she has prayerfully submitted herself to correction under my guidance and now feels she is ready to face her judgement by God and the council that represents God here on earth,” Father Matthew replied using a tone that she had not heard before. He was respectful but somehow boastful at the same time. Kopper quickly lost track of things and tried to concentrate on understanding a few of the things Father Matthew, who she knew was doing his best for her, was saying. After some elaborate something that Kopper didn’t quite follow she realized one of the pointed hatted men was addressing her directly.
“...will you also accept the council’s decisions regarding your occupation for your remaining days?” Kopper guessed that it didn’t truly matter what the other questions that she hadn’t heard were, she was clearly to answer in the affirmative.
“Yes... uh Your Eminence,” she hoped she was using the right form of address and then a little of her memorization of the past couple weeks kicked in and she added, “the Lord, my Savior’s will for me shall be shown to me through this council and I shall obey.” Kopper wished she could look up to see what the reaction was to her stab at formality had been, but it was too far and she didn’t want to be obvious about it. Instead she managed a slight glance at Father Matthew and was gratified to see him give her a small wink. After that she paid more attention since she knew that the occasional probing would be directed at her.

For the rest of the morning there were endless questions for both her and Father Matthew to answer. Kopper could tell that Father Matthew’s answers were infinitely better crafted and more ingenious but he seemed to be quite happy with her responses which she only hoped translated to the pointy twelve being happy too. She wondered why Martha was here since she seemed to not be participating at all, but was happy enough to have her here for some emotional support that she didn’t wonder very long. Finally a lunch recess was announced and they all stood while the pointy twelve left and then those behind them, finally they were allowed to go before the larger observation crowd.

Kopper trailed along behind the attendants of Father Matthew, they took up position as soon as they had exited the council room, holding on to Martha’s arm. With every step Kopper hoped they would veer off to a small room, or her bedroom, or even Father Matthew’s chambers so they could eat lunch in relative aloneness, but there was no such luck. All too quickly they arrived at the dining hall and were seated at a table. Kopper was starving but had to eat with the dainty manners that she had observed other women eating with and so hardly got down as much as she wanted. Plus there was the obligatory conversation she had to keep up. Martha and Father Matthew did their best to keep Kopper out of the conversation since they could see that she was hungry and tired from the morning, but the rest of those seated at the table seemed to be either unaware of this or rude.

When Kopper recognized that they were to leave, she drug herself to her feet and then hoped against hope that a nap or at least a little down time was planned, but she knew better than to think that was an actual possibility. So they proceeded once again to the council room. This time they did not wait to be admitted officially, they just went in and took their seats. This time the important people were not there yet and the crowd was conversing loudly around them. A trumpet sounded and they all rose, well everyone except Kopper, Martha had to pull on her armpit to get her to stand up a half second later than everyone else. Then began the announcing of the people as they came in. Ughh. It went on forever. Fortunately it seemed some of it was shortened because a large group of people would be called the insert some title that Kopper didn’t recognize of some area Kopper didn’t recognize. She tried to sleep on her feet a couple of times and after the second time Martha shoved a small pill into Kopper’s hand. She discretely slid whatever it was into her mouth, crunched it twice to make it activate faster and then swallowed the bitter glob. A few minutes later Kopper felt a little more alert and found focusing a bit easier.

The questioning continued for another two hours. Toward the end her responses were close to being snippy, but only Father Matthew and Martha could tell. Everyone else was quite impressed. This was the followed by her reading her confession aloud. It took a half an hour for her to get through with the reading. She forced herself to read the words slowly and to add some emotion, fake but convincing, to the passages to make herself sound truly repentant. Once done with that she want to throw the pad across the room since it was filled with so many things she didn’t agree with, instead she quietly handed the pad back to Martha and sat down. Father Matthew and Kopper were then dismissed from the council room and Martha also left with them even though she had not been specifically named. Nobody stood when they exited except the hoard of attendants for Father Matthew, which seemed to do nothing but add bulk to make him look impressive here. The attendants separated Martha and Kopper from Father Matthew and so he was not there to hear Martha and Kopper’s conversation about the attendants.
“What in the world are they here for?” Kopper asked Martha.
“Ah, well mostly for importance. Father Matthew likes the importance this position is giving him and so he asks for all the attendants he can get.”
“But, uhh, what?” Kopper was very confused, “Do all the men of Father Matthew’s rank get attendants, because in the dining hall even those who have more colored embroidery on their cloaks don’t seem to have this number.”
“Oh yes, I am sorry. I suppose you don’t know about many things and I forget. You are right in using the embroidery to differentiate rank. You’ll notice that the Cardinals of the council have their clothes practically triple layered with the stuff. What I meant by ‘this position’ is the assignment he has been given to be your Confessor. It was quite startling around here when he was chosen since there were many others of higher rank, but not too high of a rank, than him who could have been given the job. You noticed these higher but not too much higher men in our dining hall, they are the ones who signal dinner is over by leaving and sit at the highest table. There is another dining hall where the really important eat which is positively packed with attendants. A third dining hall for the common people and the attendants who couldn’t fit in the high hall also exists. Rumor is that there is also a fourth hall where the Pope and those he selects eat, but people are not permitted to speak of the sacredness of it. It has been conjectured that if Father Matthew does well with you he could be promoted to a Bishop, that means he would skip right over Deacon. Then he’ll be able to have the hoard of attendants, although not quite this big, and the privilege of the other dining room.” Martha stopped her narration to look at Kopper’s face.

“I can see he has not told you of this. Don’t worry, there are those of us who do not help you for the benefits we will receive from the church. Honestly, I don’t think Father Matthew is doing it for the position either. He is a good man at heart and I see that he loves you as a priest should not love another. The whole thing has merely swept him up for a while, he’ll return to earth a month or so after he gets his new position. Do not speak of this matter to him, it is not your place.” Martha patted Kopper’s arm comfortingly. They were outdoors in the park and Father Matthew had found a bench to sit on.

As the attendants compressed to a halt with the two ladies behind them Kopper whispered to Martha, “I really would love a nap if there is time.”
Father Matthew looked at them when they arrived at the bench and said, “Kopper you have done well in speaking this morning, the Lord will watch over you as the council makes its final decision. We have about an hour before we are called back so we will rest in the garden and allow God to speak to us through nature. I feel that your study and work these last weeks has been successful. Rejoice that God has smiled on you this day child. Is there anything that you need that can be supplied during this hour?”
“Father, I believe Kopper needs a rest that would be better achieved while she lay. Let us rest upon the cool grass and I will sing to her as she rests her head in my lap,” Martha responded.
“Yes, of course Sister, your singing will likely serve us all. Perhaps I will join you if I may.”
“Of course Father, your harmony will be welcomed, it is rare that I sing with men.”

So Martha settled onto the grass in front of the bench. Kopper gratefully rested her head on Martha’s crossed ankles. Martha stroked Kopper’s hair and began to sing a quiet hymn. On the second verse, Father Matthew’s voice joined in quietly, and by the fourth verse Kopper had closed her eyes in a light sleep. After Martha was sure that Kopper was asleep she stopped singing and folded her hands quietly on either side of Kopper’s head.
“Careful Father, do not let your eyes show the love you hold for this dear Kopper. I can see it but I am guessing that other’s do not. Pack it away and do not let it come out, it will not be good for either you or Kopper,” Martha said in a whisper that Father Matthew leaned to hear.