"Yes."
The single syllable fell from Avin's lips and struck the chamber like a stone hurled into still water. Ripples spread outward in silence, reverberating against marble walls and gold-lined pillars until it seemed the word itself lingered in the air, taunting, undeniable.
The priest doing the questioning froze for only a heartbeat before his lips curved upward. The smile grew wider and wider, grotesque in its victory, a grin that made the wrinkles of his face fold like serpents coiling. His eyes gleamed as though the heavens themselves had just delivered him this perfect outcome.
And across from Avin — Miranda shattered.
