The click of high heels echoed across the empty chapel floor. The woman’s one uncovered eye scanned the frescoes lining the walls, scenes depicting the countless bloody battles that had taken place over the past few hundred years. Years of suffering and torture, frozen in instants of time. The painted soldiers watched as Madame Kovarian walked purposefully past them, headed for the altar at the other end of the chapel. Reaching it, she knelt in front of it, and stared up at the gaping fissure in the wall. The crack smiled back at her, light spilling out into the room.
Madame Kovarian closed her eyes, and spoke out loud, even though there was no one around to hear.
“I pray for the Order of the Silence, to which I am utterly devoted.”
She bowed her head solemnly, and lifted it back up again.
“I pray for the safety of the Universe, which I shall do my utmost to ensure.”
She bowed her head again.
“I pray for Astoria, who was taken too young.”
One more bow, then she opened her eyes and stood up. Still facing the crack in the wall, she proclaimed loudly, as if addressing whoever was trapped within it:
“Silence will fall. Silence must fall.”
She turned away from the wall, and, clenching her fists, started to walk back out again.
“And it starts with Sarah Jane Smith.”
Madame Kovarian closed her eyes, and spoke out loud, even though there was no one around to hear.
“I pray for the Order of the Silence, to which I am utterly devoted.”
She bowed her head solemnly, and lifted it back up again.
“I pray for the safety of the Universe, which I shall do my utmost to ensure.”
She bowed her head again.
“I pray for Astoria, who was taken too young.”
One more bow, then she opened her eyes and stood up. Still facing the crack in the wall, she proclaimed loudly, as if addressing whoever was trapped within it:
“Silence will fall. Silence must fall.”
She turned away from the wall, and, clenching her fists, started to walk back out again.
“And it starts with Sarah Jane Smith.”