Chapter 16
IN ONE HIT, Johanna finally understood the cause of all the problems. While Saardam had fallen under the Belaman Church, the church fathers had thought of the Shepherd Romulus as an eccentric. Now that it was no longer part of the Belaman Church, the Church of the Triune was a threat. The Shepherds were a threat. They helped common people who ended up liking the Shepherds for that reason. They won the respect of citizens that way. All the citizens, not just the nobles who could buy sympathy from the church. They did not insist on donations by the wealthy, who expected special services in return, and did not flaunt wealth. And that frightened the leadership of the Belaman Church, because there were so many more common people than there were nobles.
And with that thought, she be
