There must be men to pray for everyone else's souls. That is what priests do. Having a priest in the family is specially valuable, as his prayers are better heard by the heavenly court than anyone else's; and they atone for yours sins. Kent was a pious man. But he valued power over piety, and when piety could be turned into power, there wasn't anything more satisfying. The earl was behind his desk, in the Tower, sun lighting the wooden surface. Parchments were scattered all over it. The seal and the quill rested near his right hand. Holland was humming as he read the report. The bishop of Exeter had died, unfortunately, the year past. God preseve his pious soul. Thomas de Bratingham had served the crown well, and he would serve it well after his own death. A vacant see meant an opportunity, of course, it would have been better to wait some years, but the canons could elect another man and considering the record, that man, as frail as he would look like, could live years and years. Thomas, thus, waited for the priests to arrive, he had propositions to make and deals to struck. Exeter wasn't a bad prize. Not at all.