At the foot of his bed, in this strange hotel, Sir Richard Knierko, the Dragon 
Knight, knelt. His hands clasped in front of him, he bowed his head and closed 
his eyes. His lips silently formed the words of his simple prayer to the God who 
had given him comfort and strength all his adult life: 

"Forgive me." 

That said, he climbed upon the bed and lay down, looking up at the ceiling. His 
conscience grated heavily on him; he had failed to make confession for months, 
now, and had no prospect of it in the near future either. He hadn't attended 
church, he hadn't devoted almost any time at all to prayer... and, of course, 
there was the larger issue. 

Terasuko. 

That she was of a different religion didn't matter very much to him; the Church 
permitted intermarriage, however reluctantly. That she wasn't human likewise 
didn't matter to him. Richard was uncomfortably sure that he wasn't human 
anymore, either. As the Encyclopedia Necromantick had informed him, once, he was 
technically a 'pendragon' now, a human-dragon hybrid. Like Terasuko. And as the 
Bishop of Bath had informed him, Serothen didn't need a baptismal; non-humans, 
after all, never fell and thus didn't need the symbolic rebirth. 

What troubled Richard was that he had come to love her so completely that he was 
willing to flagrantly disregard some of the most strict demands of his faith... 
to ignore entirely the sacred sacrament of marriage. And for what? A blind, 
half-human woman, with powers he could never match.... no. Even in his own mind, 
even in defense of his own personal faith, he couldn't be unfair to her. She was 
beautiful... she was as long-lived, if not more, as he himself... she was the 
person he wanted to spend the rest of whatever significant fraction of eternity 
they had, together with. If a priest were available, he'd accept formal marriage, 
and willingly. Since there was none... 

After debating in this vein for some time, Richard closed his eyes. Shortly 
thereafter, he found himself looking at the ceiling, and feeling a strange sense 
of urgency. He rose swiftly from his bed and went downstairs, to the lobby. No 
one was there, but he looked about anyhow. It looked the same as it had since his 
arrival... but he was drawn to the outer doors. 

Moving like a zombie, Richard made his way through the tunnels, following that 
strong, incohate urging. Making one final left, he stood in the mouth of a large 
cavern and gasped. 

There, in an even more immense cave than the one holding the hotel itself, stood 
an indescribably beautiful cathedral. It seemed as though the entire front was 
made of a single sheet of glass, stained into wondrous works of art, and the 
entire thing glowed with an inner light that all but sang hosannahs as a sending 
of Heaven. 

Without quite realizing he had moved, Richard stood in front of the altar beside 
Terasuko, the lady looking more radiant than ever before. No one stood behind the 
altar, though he could see the Good Book lying open there. Turning, he saw on one 
side of the aisle a congregation of snapping, snarling, large dragons, looking 
much like Terasuko's draconic form, but... pettier. Some changed forms and became 
human, carrying large stacks of paper; with a start, he realized that these must 
be the superiors he never saw. On the other side of the aisle, most of the pews 
were empty, save one; there sat Serothen and Terasuko's dragon body, gazing into 
each others' eyes. 

The size differential between the English dragon and the Ryuzoku was significant; 
Serothen had his neck arched back, looking up, and Terasuko had to look sharply 
down, but neither seemed to notice, rapt in their mutual admiration and almost 
visible love. Slowly, Serothen turned his head and looked squarely at Richard, 
who watched uncomprehendingly. 

"You humans. Always worrying about customs and propriety. Go on... do what comes 
naturally. Dragons do, and dragons did... those of us who didn't decide to be 
humans, anyhow." 

"But... How can I? I can't give up God..." 

Serothen snorted, a superbly amused and irritated noise. "Give up God? Richard, 
we're the same person. We both believe in God. But maybe my little reptilian 
brain has a better grasp on the concept. Marrying her doesn't mean you give up 
God. *Not* marrying her doesn't mean it, either, or that God gives up on you. 
Think about it... you were sitting around, faced with living for nigh-forever 
without anyone you could dare to care about, and you find yourself somewhere 
else, with the most perfectly suited woman imaginable. God *wants* you to be with 
Terasuko! How else could it have happened?" 

Richard stammered, trying to think of an appropriate rebuttal, but floundered. 
Though unmoving, Serothen seemed to fill more and more of his field of view. "You 
know I'm right. Give up your worrying about the forms, and embrace the spirit of 
marriage! You love her... live with her! She wants you, you want her.... just 
admit it and start things going!" 

Richard gasped and sat up in bed, breathing hard. Placing his face in his hands, 
he muttered, "No.... no... no." He lay back down, whispering in the darkness. 
"I've let myself open... Satan sends me poisoned, honeyed words, that what I do 
is no sin... But his words ring false." Richard sighed softly and closed his 
eyes. "I love her... that is true. And that it may have been a miracle that I 
found her... that is true. But... nonetheless... what I have determined on is a 
sin, and I will not rationalize it away." He pulled the sheets about him tighter, 
then clasped his hands in prayer once more. "Though I sin, Lord God, and in full 
knowledge of my sin..... still, I ask forgiveness, for the sins of thought I 
commit, and the sins I will not be turned from. I love her, with all my being.... 
and God, forgive me, but I love her more than I love your word..." 

Burdened by guilt, yet still determined to proceed, for his love, Richard let 
himself return to sleep.