Excerpt: Heretic

...he woke to the sound of footsteps approaching – two pair – and he sat up. Elder Lai entered the room with Bronyin following closely behind him. He went immediately to his desk and sat down, folding his hands together in front of tightly-pressed lips.

“Can you tell me why,” he said, each word quiet and careful, “your dedicant wishes to leave the priesthood?”

Bronyin’s eyes widened, and he looked sharply at Kale. “He's said nothing about this,” he said, his brow furrowed with concern.

Elder Lai nodded slowly. “Perhaps, then, you can tell me why he says he has come to believe that what we are doing is wrong?”

Bronyin said nothing to that, and his eyes did not leave Kale, though his face blanched and all concern vanished from his expression.

Blasphemy.