"The Church isn't what I want it to be," she forced herself to admit. The Church wasn't pure or perfect. The people wielding its power were just as deeply flawed as ordinary men, but those flaws didn't seem to matter to the Holy Lord of Light.
"As long as a person believes," she realized. "The Holy Lord of Light will answer their prayers. The power itself is a test… a part of their struggle. He doesn't stop men like Percivus from misusing it, but He will surely judge him for what he's done as he heads toward the next life…"
It was a profound, horrifying revelation, and one that flew in the face of everything the Church had taught her so far, but as she examined everything that had happened so far, Eleanor couldn't think of any other answer that made sense.
After all, the alternative was that Percivus had been influenced by demons and was using their power in the middle of the Church, for years, decades even, without ever being caught.
