The Tribunal of Ash

The bells rang three times as the verdict was read — three for the charges, three for the oaths she would not keep. Aria stood unmoved, her hand resting on the rail, her gaze fixed on the magister — a man whose name had been burning quietly through the city for a year. The hall smelled of cold wax and old iron. Somewhere in the rafters, a bird beat against a closed window, and could not find its way out.