The First Blood Mass

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On the first day of his rule, Knyaz Brencis gathered all his subjects at Svartrau Cathedral and said to them: ‘Henceforth you shall join my Covenant of Blood. I shall drink your blood and you shall drink mine.’ And many people feared those words as, in their simple minds, they deemed them blasphemous.

But then a wise man named Leonard emerged from the crowd and said: ‘Fear not, good people, for this is no different from what we have always been taught to do. To eat our Lord’s body and drink His blood. And should not our earthly kingdom be governed in the likeness of the Kingdom of God? We ought to treat our liege like our Lord in Heaven.’

And so, Leonard persuaded the people of Vale Sangora. They drank the knyaz’s blood and were soon cured of the plague and every other illness. And the very next day the knyaz made Leonard one of his most trusted advisors. He was rewarded for showing us all that to be saved by the knyaz, we must first open our hearts to his grace.