THE ALTAR WE BURNED
They simply needed to see that she had survived—and that meant they could too.
Behind her, Arthur readied the ceremonial fire. As twilight fell, he raised a torch to the great iron brazier. The flames caught quickly, dancing like a song across the wind. Michael stepped forward.
“This fire does not burn to destroy,” he said, his voice carrying over the crowd. “It burns to warm. To light. To remind us that the truth, once ignited, will never sleep again.”
The villagers began placing tokens into the flames—letters of past sorrows, strips of cloth from old uniforms, torn remnants of church propaganda. The fire accepted all.
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