RECONCILIATION

Written on October 16, 2021 (♎︎)

Author's Notes: Written for Whumptober 2021 for prompt No. 12: It'll Be Fun, They Said (Torture, Made to Watch).

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When Izlude was asked to question a penitent "without spillage of blood," he knew—academically—what that entailed. There were allowances for such things. Cardinals prayed over it. The aim was reconciliation: heat and pressure applied for fifteen recitations of the credo that a sinner might be spared the greater fire.

Izlude had known this, and he had faltered—had flinched at the goad he was to deliver.

His father had taken charge then, declaring he would be instructive to them both. Izlude could offer no apologies. He could only watch those harshest mercies—praying their recipient would end them.

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