Dawn bled through the high windows of the chapel, rose and gold slicing across the marble altar like judgment made visible. The monastery bells began to toll for Prime, slow and relentless, but no one moved toward the stalls. The brothers stood in a loose circle around the sanctuary instead, habits already discarded, c***s rising in the cool air like a silent hymn.
Elias was already on the altar.
They had come for him before the sky lightened. Luca first, unlocking the cell with a key that scraped like bone. Then the others, shadows behind him. No words. They simply lifted him from the cot, naked and sleep-warm, and carried him down the corridors while the bells began their warning.
Now he lay on his back across cold stone, wrists and ankles bound to the four brass candlesticks with cri
