Chương 156: CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY-SIX: ALARIC RETURNS

Alaric came back in October, as Torres had predicted. Not as the bishop's representative — as himself. He came without formal credentials, without the episcopal letter that had preceded every previous visit, and without assistants. He came as a priest traveling between clerical councils, stopping in Greyhold because he had a question. He stated it directly.

"The protocol of compatibility," he said, sitting across from Marcus.

"It covers the march's practical work as consistent with the Church's stated mission. What it doesn't cover is the question I believe is the actual question."

"What is the actual question?" Marcus said.

"Whether what you are doing here represents a claim about what governance should be — not just what the march's governance is, but what governance is for. Generally." He paused.

"The declaration makes that claim. The charter makes it. The bilateral framework with the kingdom makes it." He looked at Marcus directly.

"The Church makes a similar claim. We have made it for centuries. The specific content of our claim is different from yours, but the structure is the same: we believe we know what human life is for and we have built institutions to serve that belief."

"Yes," Marcus said.

"The protocol of compatibility doesn't address the relationship between two sets of institutions making similar structural claims about human life," Alaric said.

"I am asking whether you are willing to address it." If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

"What does addressing it look like?" Marcus said.

"A conversation," Alaric said.

"Not a negotiation. A genuine conversation between people who hold different beliefs about what human life is for and who are trying to understand how those different beliefs relate to each other in practice." He paused.

"I think you are making a real argument. I think the argument deserves to be engaged with honestly rather than condemned or accommodated." He paused again.

"I would like to engage with it honestly."

"Yes," Marcus said.

"We will have that conversation."

"When?" Alaric said.

"When I have someone to have it with," Marcus said.

"Not me — I'm a strategist and a builder, not a theologian. The person who can have this conversation honestly is writing a document that addresses exactly what you're asking about." He paused.

"He's fifteen. Is that a problem?" Alaric considered this.

"The age is unusual. Whether it matters depends on the quality of the engagement."

"He can hold the conversation," Marcus said.

"Then I will come back," Alaric said.

"When the document is far enough along that the conversation can be grounded in something." He paused.

"I am not in a hurry. I have been thinking about this for three years." He left the following morning. Marcus went to the school office and told Danny. Danny listened. He was quiet for a long time.

"He wants to engage with the foundational document's argument," Danny said.

"Yes," Marcus said.

"The third section covers exactly that," Danny said.

"What the institution does in the world when it's not building. How it relates to other institutions making similar claims about human life." He paused.

"I've been stuck on the third section for three months."

"And?" Marcus said.

"The conversation with Alaric might be what unsticks it," Danny said.

"The third section is abstract. The conversation would make it specific." He paused.

"When is he coming back?"

"When the document is far enough along," Marcus said.

"Then I need to be farther along," Danny said, and picked up the pen.