“Inquisitor Telias!”
Telias slowly opened his eyes as the enraged voice echoed out into the prayer chamber. Quietly rising to his feet, he turned to face the source of the voice. Across the room, standing between the pews of the corridor, was a man he had once called a brother in all but blood. One that had grown up beside him, and faced trials that neither of them would have withstood alone. One that now held a blade in his hands, aimed towards him.
Letting out a sigh, Telias shifted his robes and adjusted the thin chestplate beneath as he regarded the man. He was drenched in sweat and wearing nothing but a tunic and his sword belt. He must have just come from training, he thought to himself. There could only be one reason he had come so quickly…
“Marco,” he began. “I can only presume you’ve come to give prayer to the Goddess?”
Marco’s face twisted in fury. “You have the audacity to ask that of me? After what you’ve done?!”
It seems my hopes that he would understand were for naught, Telias thought, a frown coming to his face as he began to descend from the altar to the pews. “Marco. You must understand, what I did was for the protection of the village under the Goddess’ authority.” Stopping at the beginning of the stands, he continued. “It was for the best.”
“For the best? Murdering my sister was for the best?!” He screamed, body and voice shaking in rage.
Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.
“She was touched by the Wood, Marco,” he calmly responded, the initial vestiges of remorse beginning to paint his features. “It was only a matter of time before she was lost to it. And what then? Would you have her turn into a monster?”
“So that gives you the right to just murder her?!” He pointed the sword at Telias again, advancing forward with a determined march. “After everything the three of us had gone through? The feasts? The hunts? The afternoons wandering the wilds? She was as much of a sister to you as she was to me!”
His breath stuttered with each word Marco screamed, the pit in his stomach growing with every moment. “That is exactly why I had to do it, Marco,” he sighed, the remorse building on his face. “Had it been any other inquisitor, she would’ve burned. Had I known earlier, I could have potentially stopped the corruption before it went too far. By the time I came to know of it, she was too far gone for any ritual the church knows of.” He stopped a mere few feet from the man, Marco’s blade hovering in front of him. “I gave her a quick end, Marco. A blade to the heart, done quietly and without any to witness it. She was gone in seconds.”
Marco’s face twisted into a hateful scowl, yet Telias did not stop talking. With a quick flick of his wrist, a sword came into his hands and knocked Marco’s down to his side. The frown on his face grew cold.
“Marco. I will offer you this to you alone, for all we have ever gone through together.” He brought his sword up to a ready stance, eyes narrowing as he continued. “Drop your blade. Go home. We can pretend this never happened- the church, the town, none of them need know of what happened here. We can give Gayle an honorable burial.” His breath stuttered as he forced himself to continue. “But if you do not, Marco… I will not hesitate to defend myself. Do not make me lose another sibling today. Please.”
His plea was met with silence. Marco’s blade did not drop, but rather raised to a ready stance in turn. He could not stop the despair that reached his expression as he offered a silent prayer to his god. Let it be known I tried, my Goddess.
The clashing of blades could be heard for hours.