Phil in SF quoted The Collapsing Empire by John Scalzi (The Interdependency, #1)
The first novel of a new space-opera sequence set in an all-new universe by the …
She had processed down the nave of X'ian cathedral in a relatively simple imperial green suit, stopped at the transept, and waited for Korbijn to offer her opening prayer and homily, and her invitation for Cardenia — for Grayland II, rather — to join her on the chancel.
— The Collapsing Empire by John Scalzi (The Interdependency, #1) (Page 273)
new vocabulary: chancel
the part of a church near the altar, reserved for the clergy and choir, and typically separated from the nave by steps or a screen.