The instant Seirion saw Erian's eyes widen in surprise, brimming with tears, he felt himself break apart.
Erian's fragility, the tremor of his body, the way his chest seemed to break with a single heartbeat pierced Seirion deeper than any wound he had ever suffered on the battlefield.
He wanted to wrap Erian in his arms, to tell him his words had been a lie, that he loved him with such intensity that even he was afraid of the force of it.
He wanted to erase every trace of pain he had caused him.
But he couldn't.
Above them, high in the sky of the abyss, floated his true executioner: the Divine Eye.
That circular glow, gaping like a wound in the sky, stared unblinkingly at Seirion.
The Divine Eye was Maloren's gift, it saw everything. Not only what they did or said, but what they felt. It pierced the innermost self, dissected intentions, exposed what was hidden. Under its scrutiny, Seirion felt naked, stripped of any refuge.
A shiver ran through him.
