The two of us remained quiet as he continued speaking.

"It is given that our other classmates, scions they are, to profess their absolute faith in the religion, or at least give a lip service to it. What I wanted to know is what the Crysalian Elemental Religion is for you Cady and Arcelon? Are you devout? A believer or non-believer?"

I blinked when I heard his last word, "Non-believer? Is that word even legal?"

"It isn't technically speaking. But it is a reality all the same. As much as the religious lay ministers around us want to hope, not all Crysalians are faithful to the church. That is what His Holiness has confided to me confidentially. The times, the people, the world are changing and we are slowly but surely losing sway over the people."

Cady took a small breath as she tried to tread carefully on the topic, "Are you sure you should be saying that to us? We just met, and we are commoners as well."

"The more reason I can trust you to understand where I, no, where we are coming