CHAPTER FOUR: THIS WEDDING MUST STOP

Father Roland's parish cathedral unlike the hilltop cathedral of the Saints is at his own city entrance. This cathedral also was an architectural wonder! It was built in a dome like fashion and it is called sunlight cathedral.

No one needs to screen far to see the reason it was called cathedral of the sunlight. The roof was made of special transparent thick Viber glass; which make it possible for all who sits in the cathedral to see the sky above.

Seeing the sky was not the wonder about this roof, the wonder is the inate ability of this roof to make the people to look straight at the sun for a long length of period in it's full glory without it hurting the eyes. And when night comes you can look at the star studded night sky as if you are in adream world!

So many people like coming to this cathedral, not to worship, but to just sit and watch the beauty of the heavens!

This is where the wedding father Roland invited his old priest to come and supervise will take place and today is the wedding day. With all things set, the groom and his best man were ushered in to wait for his bride in front of the cathedral altar; while the cathedral choir were singing a very solemn wedding hymn.

Once the groom got to the two Priests standing in front, the wedding process began by them reading some portions of the Bible and some wedding rules meant to be read during the solemnisation.

When they finished the reading, it was time for the bridal train to walk in upon the red carpet. Many sylph like well dressed exotic ladies formed the bridal train, they and the little flower girl came in first. Behind the little flower girl was the bride and her father who will hand her over to the priests to be joined to the groom.

As the train got to the front, they moved one by one aside, forming a wall of guard of honour on the two sides of the aisles. Soon when they all moved off the front of the bride, the priests who could not see the bride"s face properly now see her charming face clearly.

Just then the unimaginable happened! The invited old priest shouted:

"No, this can't be!"

As he shouted, the young priest, the groom, the bride and all the people in the cathedral alarmingly looked at him! The young priest with a questioning glance looked at him and before he could asked the old priest the question on his tongue, the old priest added

"This wedding must stop!"

Hearing this, all the people in the cathedral stood up in shock and great uproar began in the place. The people began to protest that this old priest who came from a far city and knew not both the groom and the bride have no right to stop the wedding the whole city has been looking forward to see for a long time.

The young priest with a panicking heart, though he knew his old priest as a sound and sane man; yet looked at him for explanation. In the midst of all these, the couple to be joined were so calm as if it was not their wedding that is been shut down.

The mayor of this city too was in the cathedral at this moment, been a political figure and an authority in the land, he calmed the people down as he walked up to the old priest to demand for his reason to ask that the joining should not go on.

Rather than the old priest answering the mayor, he turned to father Roland and said, "When you came to me I told you of a lady who gave a man a paralytic blow in my cathedral by refusing to show up on her wedding day, what did you called the lady?" Father Roland answered, "I said she must be a Devil incarnate! But father, what concerns this innocent couple about that?"

The old priest pointed at the bride and said, "This assumed Innocent bride is that devil incarnate, her name is Folu, is it not?"

Hearing this, father Roland said, "Sir, you are mistaken her for another person, her own name is not Folu, her name is Funmibi and I have known her for the past two years, she is not a devil; may be that devil you are talking about look very much like her"

The mayor and all the people in the cathedral stood transfixed when they heard the old priest and they watched the exchange going on between him and their priest.

Just then the bride spoke up, she addressed father Roland

"Father, he is right, I am the person he is talking about" then she turned to the old priest and asked, "Sir, you are talking about the beast called Richie, right?"

"I do not know him to be a beast, you were the one who acted beastly to destroy him!"

The whole cathedral became very silent as they were greatly shocked by the ongoing conversation between the bride who actually is Folu and the priest.

With great disappointment the mayor turned to Folu and asked: "Funmibi, did you actually do what this old priest is talking about, you that the whole city sees as epitome of dignity and modest lady of value! Oh, you greatly disappoint the whole city and your man here!"

Hearing this outburst from the mayor, the groom stepped forward and said:

"Sir, please blame it on me, she is not guilty!"

"What! " Father Roland shockingly asked, "Are you saying you both planned and duped the innocent man?

" We did not duped him, he got what he deserved, he is the devil and not my sweetheart " the groom said.

To this Father Roland said, "She double dated, are you saying a woman who dated two men and promised the two of them a wedding simultaneously is not a devil?"

"Because you don't know what led to it you may judge it that way, but to us it is a payback! The groom said.

" Payback for what?" The old priest asked and added, "Your lady accused him of been lewd, if she felt he was unfaithful what she was permitted to do was to say no to him, but rather you both planned and dig a pit of emotional destruction for him"

At this period the mayor stepped in, he face the groom and said, "Ayo, I know you very well, I know you don't do evil and neither will you support evil; you must have a very genuine reason for this, tell us exactly what really happened"

"His explanation here is meaningless, to me there is nothing just enough for what they did and if they want to justify themselves, they will need to do that before the young man that they destroyed. So, this wedding can't go on, they must follow me back to my city to clear their names before they can be joined as husband and wife" the old priest said these with annoyance.

The mayor disagreed with the old priest, he begged him to allow them to finish the solemnisation, then he himself will follow them to the city. The old priest said that is not possible, then both Folu and and Ayo agreed with the old priest to suspend the wedding till they clear their names before Richie.