Book Two: Corruption's End
Chapter 79: Corruption's End
Part I
"In service to the Inquisition, it can be tempting to attempt burying your guilt in the fact that you do the Emperor's will. You will never succeed." - Inquisitor Davis, Ordo Malleus
The Conclave was due to meet shortly, but the Lady Highest found herself in the Recongrator's medbay. Empty and sparse, it was built to accommodate hundreds. Today there were only two.
Standing below a single bank of fluorescent lights, they looked like angels descended, two radiant beings in a room shrouded in darkness. A handful of medical servitors accompanied them, occasionally jamming injectors into their necks and replacing blood-spotted wrappings.
Now bearing a suite of augmented organs behind a stretch of pale, patchwork skin, Sister Eleven tore into a lavish banquet prepared for her by the Recongrators' attendants. 'Tore into' hardly did the act justice - she consumed, meals fit for entire squads of guardsman vanishing in seconds. It reminded the Lady Highest of Huntsman apetities.
The thought sat like a blade in her gut.
Palatine Naja bint Mutaa al'Ibanhi watched from the bedside, her lips curled into a small smile. The first one she'd worn in service to the Lady. Her hands were folded together, more likely out of habit than observance of a particular prayer. She was beautiful. Scarred, vicious, zealous. Beautiful all the same.
"I hope I'm not interrupting," the Lady Highest said. The Palatine's smile vanished. Sister Eleven's did not, the image of Sanguinius that had been carved into her face distorting wildly as her cheeks puffed up with food and sparse breaths.
"Hardly," the Palatine said. "I… my thanks for your order's medical assistance."
"I wish I could do more," the Lady Highest admitted.
Naja's lip curled, her burn scar shining in the unrelenting light. "My-" she paused. "Sister Eleven is doing well." To confirm her superior's words, the hulking sister gave the Inquisitor a thumbs-up. "Sister Victoria's remains will serve the mission even in death. A testament to sacrifice and unwavering duty." She neglected to mention that Victoria was the only one with physical remains to use.
"May we speak?" The Lady Highest asked.
"We should," the Palatine said. "I shall return in a second, Eleven."
Sister Eleven nodded, now devouring a rack of grox ribs.
They proceeded deeper into the medbay, lights flickering to life as they progressed. More beds appeared, more hulking bays of medical equipment, more servitors, more servo skulls, their business unchanged as they were brought into sharp relief. They labored in the light just as they did in the dark. The Lady Highest blocked the Palatine's limp from her mind.
"I am… requesting an explanation," Naja said between gritted teeth. The Inquisitor knew she wanted to use 'demanding'. "An agent of the Officio Assassinorum sent to kill the Inquisitor I'm sworn to protect…" Her ever-present frown returned in full force. "What have you done?"
The Lady Highest saw no point in avoiding the matter. "Many things," she answered. "I can think of very few that would earn the enmity of the Assassinorum."
"And how sure are you of that?" The Palatine asked carefully.
The Lady Highest stopped. Resumed. "I'm not certain. Whatever the reasoning behind the attack, it is possible it was a personal matter. I wish it could have been another - your sisters fought with an uncommon bravery, and deserved a better fate."
"Empty words," Naja said. "They died doing their duty. A Sister of Battle can ask for nothing more."
"They deserved to die on Cadia," the Lady Highest said. "Not to a fellow servant of the Imperium."
The Palatine's mind roiled - she couldn't understand why the Inquisitor was attempting to offer sympathies for her sisters, why she had approached in the first place. "It matters not," Naja said eventually. "It is the duty of all the Emperor's servants to die in His name. I only pray you are being truthful."
"And if I wasn't?"
Naja's smiled a black smile. "Do you think I would kill you?"
The Lady Highest swallowed as the Palatine's life came into focus, thoughts and memories recalled in agony and grief. Youth. The loss of her parents. Fury, always the fury. Broken bones and noses and blood-flecked Drill-Abbots with singing whips, the Sisters, the cloister, the unbearable fucking silence, the constant reprimands, the suffocating quiet, the endless droning prayers, the demotions, the politics, the weeks spent locked in a frigid cell… all attempts to quell a righteous rage that only fueled it further.
The threat of Repentia duty that hung over her neck like a guillotine.
"All I wanted," the Palatine said. "All I've ever wanted was to serve the Emperor, bring honor to my sisters. Give them a reason to be proud, let them face their deaths with spiteful grins and no regrets. At every turn I am foiled. Everything I do is destined for failure." Her eyes were wet and angry. "Do you think Sister Victoria died without regrets? What about Sister Emmanuelle? Sister Macie? Sister Pollyanna? Sister Yulska? Sister Sho? Sister Nanda? Do you think they wanted to die down here in the dark? Lay down their lives for a witch?"
"I think they died proud," the Lady Highest said, "Because they did not do so solely for me."
The Palatine sighed, burying her face in her hand. "Then they are truly fools," she whispered with undisguised fondness. "They deserve someone else to lead them. I will bring them nothing but shame. All my life, I have done little else."
The Lady Highest reached out for the Palatine, but her hand could not find its way to her shoulder. Naja didn't see.
"Palatine," the Lady Highest said. "Naja. I would have no one else lead my Order Militant."
"Not even your blonde pet?"
The Lady Highest bit down a dark laugh. "No, never Yang. She would take great offense at being referred to as a pet."
"She…" Naja frowned. "I am no witch, but she reminds me of myself during my youth."
"And she would fare very poorly in the Sisters of the Sacred Rose," the Lady Highest replied. "Whereas you managed an impressive command. I wouldn't have asked for the Thanatos Mission if I didn't believe you to be the best. In case you haven't noticed, I tend to acquire... unorthodox individuals. To me, talent and dedication is all that matters."
"Exotic pets," the Palatine argued.
"Perhaps," the Lady Highest said wryly, "but none of them heretics. All serve the Emperor as you do, with the same will. The same fury. I spare no second thought, no mercy for heresy. Wherever it might arise."
"So you believe that the Assissinorum is compromised?" the Palatine asked. "Are you so truly arrogant that you can't imagine yourself the target of someone who sees you as a threat to the Golden Throne?"
"No," the Lady Highest breathed. "Not anymore," she admitted. "And if I really am a threat, I'll need you to carry out the execution." Ira is dead, and I cannot ask Yang or Amat to do it.
A harsh, barking laugh. "The Lady Inquisitor," Naja said. "The Lady Highest. Aside from your flagrant witchcraft, from what I have seen, your sins are the mundane sort. I know you are no heretic. Or, at least, you don't believe yourself to be one. For now… for me, that will suffice. The rest of this act is unnecessary. Your platitudes are wasted on me."
"It is no act," the Lady Highest confessed, hoping the Palatine would hear the sincerity. "And Inquisitors do not engage in platitudes." She checked her chronometer. The meeting was nigh. "When the time comes, I will help secure you and your sisters a deployment of your choosing. But first, Josephus must fall."
"Josephus must fall," Naja repeated. She looked to Sister Eleven, whose pace had slackened somewhat in her Palatine's absence. "Yes. Only then will I see if your words hold weight."
"Only then," the Lady Highest agreed. "I pray it is soon."
"As do I."
The Recongrator's meeting hall had remained untouched from the Culexus' infiltration, a stark and empty hall with a sweeping ceiling and split down the middle with a solid slab of black stone. There were no decorations. No depictions of their founder, no holy images, nothing but meter after meter of impenetrable rockcrete behind onyx-slate walls. Only a dim grey light filled the hall, its source unseen.
Though the hall was free of damage, all who had come saw the scars the assassin had left without. With her guard still in orbit and the surviving sisters left to their prayers, the Lady Highest felt alone. Isolated.
She missed Yang. She missed her kasrkin. Above all else, she missed Ira. This was supposed to be a moment of triumph for her, the induction of a new brother into the order. Instead, it all tasted like ash. Bitter. Dry. Cloying.
It tasted like green torches and shattered elbows and blood, and the attempted apology to Naja had not helped. The Palatine desperately wanted to believe her superior, desperately sought affirmation.
The Lady Highest eyed her master across the long blackstone table, watched him tap a few notes into a datapad. As always, his sword hung at his hip, a black slip of unfeeling hate. There's a reason he is never without it in my presence. What secrets are you hiding?
It was Ozpin all over again. Maybe he was Ozpin.
He would have revealed himself if he was, she reassured herself. And if he really was him, she wanted to look inside his mind no more than she did the naked Warp.
She shook the thought away as the other Recongrator lords entered the hall. The first was Lady Steelshield, still wearing her ever-present smile. This time she was alone, attended by neither of her acolytes.
Next came the Penitent Inquisitor, a tall and wiry man whose slim power armor was lashed over with darkmetal chains, some binding holy books to his person. A purity seal was fused to his neck, red wax melted into the skin of his throat.
"Greetings," he said, his voice a low yet commanding whisper.
"Greetings brother," the Hallowed Inquisitor replied. The Lady Highest nodded.
The next arrival was heard before he was seen, distant footfalls filling up the meeting hall with purpose and clarity. Shortly afterward, the Hooded Lord emerged at the entrance. Two meters tall in his antique power armor, he was swathed in a black robe with gold trim, his thoughts hidden behind a genial, gentle smile and lined face that evoked thoughts of one's grandfather. The Lady Highest knew little of his work, only that he was a ruthless member of the Ordo Malleus, and that he often debated their master over finer points of Recongrator doctrine.
"We have arrived," the Hallowed Inquisitor said. "Then let us begin." Standing, he clasped his hands behind his back. "I ask The Lady Inquisitor Weiss Schnee - now the Lady Highest - to rise."
She did so robotically, her bow akin to that of a servitor's. "I thank you for attending, and for your support during my career," she said. "It is my hope that our efforts today will further our work across the Imperium. Though we are human and we may err, it is our solemn duty to persevere. Only the Emperor is infallible."
"Only the Emperor is infallible," her comrades echoed. Four pairs of eyes appraised her, and she felt like a child again, her father's gaze spearing her to the floor, the drill abbots bellowing at a defiant pseudo-adolescent. Their whips flecked with blood. The Lady Highest shook the half-memory away and met their stares with cold rigidity, with unflinching resolve. Ira's memory deserved nothing else.
"Thank you for your words," the Hallowed Inquisitor said. "I realize this conclave has been called at an unfortunate time. Abaddon the Despoiler has launched his Thirteenth Black Crusade, the fighting fierce yet inconclusive. The Lady Highest endeavors to stop one of his generals from seizing a treasured artifact. Misguided intent poisons the Inquisition. Even here, in our most sacred halls - as I am sure you have seen - we are not safe. Some of our brothers and sisters have vanished. Many report assassination attempts. These are dark times, indeed. But, as the Lady Highest said, we must persevere."
"These are all things we know," Lady Steelshield said, her augmented limbs whirring softly as they leaned upon the table. "Why are we here? And for what purpose? To take us away from our work during such a precarious time is reckless in the extreme. What could be said here that could not be communicated via astropaths?"
A smattering of agreements coursed through the table, the Lady Highest included. Coming here had cost her dearly.
"A fine question, Lady Steelshield," the Hallowed Inquisitor began. "The primary reason is an... opportunity that has presented itself, one centuries in the making. Lord Torquemada Coteaz has called for a great meeting of Inquisitor Lords on Holy Terra." Silence greeted their leader's words. Lord Coteaz. The Daemon-Foe, the Protector of the Formosa Sector, the Inquisitor Malleus Exultant. One of the most famed and respected Inquisitor Lords in all of the Imperium, calling an unprecedented assembly...
Lady Steelshield's question had been answered. There were no protests.
"Was there a reason given?" The Lady Highest asked gently.
"To discuss Abaddon's Crimson Path," the Hallowed Inquisitor said. "How to ensure it finds no purchase."
"That cannot be all," the Hooded Lord said.
"It is a broad subject," the Hallowed Inquisitor allowed. "Decisions made there will set a tone for the Inquisition in the coming centuries. Set precedents. The gravity of such an assembly is great as it is terrible. It must be successful."
"It will be a bloodbath," the Penitent Inquisitor stated. "Such a summons will inevitably draw… his attentions." There was no name uttered, but they all knew who he meant - the Pyrophant Judge of Salem Proctor and outspoken Amalathian Lord Fyodor Karamazov.
"Exactly why we must go," the Hallowed Inquisitor insisted. "We must combat whatever poison he will spread. By any means necessary." His lime-green eyes parsed every attending member, scanning their reactions. True to their calling, stoic professionalism ruled them all.
"A grievous blow to the Amalathians should he lose face before Lord Coteaz," the Penitent Inquisitor added softly. Though his voice was scratchy and strained, it belied an iron resolve. "We must take care not to make a martyr of him."
"Killing him outright would be the peak of foolishness," the Lady Highest replied evenly. "While it might expedite a handful of matters, it would poison decades of work."
"Yet we cannot ignore the summons," The Hallowed Inquisitor said. "It is entirely possible we are being summoned to our own execution. Lord Karamazov and his allies will level accusations against us during the proceedings.
"And will they be entirely false?" The Lady Highest asked.
"No," the Hallowed Inquisitor replied. "But all we have done is for the Emperor, the Imperium, and the people within it. You slew an Inquisitor some ten years ago, no? A woman with Xanthous delusions? Did you utilize the proper channels, or cut her down where she stood?"
The Lady Highest frowned. She had not thought about the slaying of Inquisitor Galatia in many years. After eleven years, there was still no regret.
"Exactly," the Hallowed Inquisitor said. "It matters little what Karamazov accuses us of. Some of it will be fantasy, some will be rooted in truth, but the intent behind it all is twisted and malign."
"And can we trust Lord Coteaz to see to the heart of the matter?" the Penitent Inquisitor asked.
"Trust is for the bold," the Hallowed Inquisitor answered simply.
"I trust Lord Coteaz," the Hooded Lord said, fist resting on the table. He stared at it intently, no doubt recalling the daemons it had crushed. "His intentions are always for the betterment of the Imperium. But if we - like Karamazov - approach this expecting a war, it is a war we will get."
"So we are to go to Holy Terra like meek lambs?" The Penitent Inquisitor demanded, his whispered voice filling the hall. "Lord Coteaz will soon hold court over a killing field if we do not prepare ourselves. And do not presume that we are the only names atop Karamazov's list of enemies. We merely hold the distinction of being near the top," he added with a sneer.
"Then what of the Crimson Path?" The Lady Highest asked. "Abaddon will laugh as we butcher each other, rip ourselves to pieces. What could this assembly truly hope to accomplish? Lord Coteaz is no fool, he…" The Lady Highest trailed off, thinking. Realizing. "He wouldn't call it unless he had good reason. He has to know it will be a pit of vipers."
"Which means there are ulterior motives behind the assembly," the Hallowed Inquisitor confirmed.
"Well, we cannot simply refuse the summons," the Hooded Lord said. "To do so would damn us irrevocably."
"We go forth," the Lady Highest said, the truth of it all dawning on her. "We have to ready our evidence, our best arguments, and just… go. Lord Coteaz does not suffer fools, and he wants Abaddon's Crimson Path strangled in its infancy. If Karamazov arrives fists swinging and spittle flying, it is all to our advantage."
"Karamazov isn't an idiot either," Lady Steelshield said. ""Despite his hasty and reckless nature."
"But his zeal might be his undoing," the Lady Highest insisted. "We will attend this assembly. We will offer our arguments and our advice. The Hooded Lord is right. If we show the assembled Lords that we are there to battle the Imperium's foes and nothing else, we - and the Imperium as a whole - will be better off. Our Master told us of the deaths," she reminded them. "The assassinations. Inquisitors are choosing sides. And if at this assembly they choose their faction over the Imperium as a whole, they will be judged and found wanting. If we are so judged, then I will welcome death."
Silence.
"I as well," the Penitent Lord said. "I do not trust that all the Lords will see things as you do," he clarified. "But all we can offer is the truth."
"Let me go," the Hooded Lord boomed, standing tall. "I have fought and bled with my Chamber Militant. They will take no sides, but they have long stood as incorruptible, unstoppable guardians of the Imperium. They know much of Inquisitorial affairs, and will be happy to see justice done, the Crimson Path curtailed."
"Allow me," Lady Steelshield declared, metallic voice ringing loud, her subharmonics flaring with pride. "I have allies in the Ordo Machinum, and ugly whispers whirl about Mars. Terrible battle is being waged on the red sands - only I can glean the truth of the matter, and stand tall before Lord Coteaz."
"I will go," the Lady Highest said. "I will be the voice of the Recongrators."
The Hallowed Inquisitor raised an eyebrow. "Is that wise?"
"A Culexus sought your head," Lady Steelshield protested. "Penetrated our fortress with ease. Holy Terra will mean your doom."
"Perhaps," the Lady Highest said slowly. Definitively. "But I must go regardless." A deep breath. "My talents will be instrumental in uncovering the assembly's secrets. And as for the Assassinorum, I was targeted specifically. If someone were targeting the Recongrators as a whole, an Eversor would be tearing its way through us as we speak. Instead, a Culexus lies dead in our halls. If the Emperor shows me favor, I will leave Holy Terra unscathed. If not, I will be more beneficial to the Recongrators dead than alive."
"And what of Josephus?" the Penitent Inquisitor asked. "That small, niggling matter."
The Lady Highest chuffed. "I will deal with him first." And tie up some other loose ends. Say farewells. "This meeting is not being held until the end of the year, correct?"
"Correct," the Hallowed Inquisitor answered. "The last of your allotted ground forces will arrive at the staging area of Gartenwald shortly," he added, pushing a data slate over to her. Glowing green numbers stood from it, alongside a handful of names. Along the top of the dataslate, there was a blank bar, one that read 'Task Force Designation'. "Three million men. Twenty-six escort ships, eleven transports. Expeditionary Fleets from Uriel. It is all I could spare from the Black Crusade."
"Three million will be enough," the Lady Highest said. And if it isn't, Yang and I will make it so. "They will henceforth be known as Corruption's End," she declared, typing the words out. "First Josephus, and then Lord Coteaz."
"We can only hope the latter proves less troublesome than the former," the Hooded Lord said. "Though I think going alone is foolish, Lady Highest," he rumbled, "I agree that you should go. Your skill set is more suited to politicking than my own. I can only pray you live long enough to use it."
"A member of the Mechanicus would also be… ultimately ill-suited," Lady Steelshield agreed. "Forgive my rashness."
"Ill-suited compared to a witch?" The Penitent Inquisitor asked gently.
"The Recongrators are not the only faction in the Inquisition to make members of witches," the Hallowed Inquisitor said. "Even our more puritanical brethren cannot ignore the benefits of such individuals. If all psykers were as disciplined as the Lady Highest, the Imperium would fare much better."
"Thank you," the Lady Highest said. Even though his mind was inaccessible, she knew the compliment was genuine. She knew she didn't deserve it. Disciplined... what a joke. She could still hear frozen bodies shattering, Chera's look of horror. Refocusing, she looked at the council. "What is your decision then?" She asked them.
The Hooded Lord smiled broadly. "Myself and Lady Steelshield can depart for Terra immediately," he said. "Muster what support and intelligence we can to assist you. I will leave my acolyte to complete my current investigation. He has my full trust and support."
"My work is not so easily ignored," Lady Steelshield said. "But it can be… handed off. I fear our priorities are changing."
"Lord Coteaz does not rule the Inquisition," the Hallowed Inquisitor said, "but his influence and abilities cannot be understated. What is discussed on Holy Terra cannot escape our ears."
"And what of our allies?" the Lady Highest asked.
"They must be contacted," the Penitent Inquisitor "I can handle the specifics."
"Can we be sure of their support?" Lady Steelshield asked. "Loyalties will be tested."
"We do not live in a time of sureties," the Lady Highest replied, commanding their attention. "We can be sure of nothing. A week ago, I thought Kastile Secundus impenetrable. Yet here we stand, our boots stained with the blood of our faithful. We cannot know every outcome. The best we can do is have faith in ourselves and the Emperor. That is why I must go."
She did not speak the real reason. If another went in her place, they might make the same mistakes she had. They might harbor secret orders to kill and assassinate. If the Assassinorum had an easier striking window, so be it. I will still have my kasrkin.
If they will still have me.
"So be it," the Hallowed Inquisitor said. "Let us go forth."
The rest of the conclave was spent confirming details, arranging orders for subordinates, collecting evidence and preparing statements. Some of it was spent in debate, each Lord arguing for different courses to take in combating Abaddon's Crimson Path. Before they could stand before Lord Coteaz, they must be decided on a united front to present.
It lasted nearly eighteen hours. It was draining work, but eventually all departed satisfied with the work they had accomplished. The Lady Highest begrudgingly admitted that the Hallowed Inquisitor was right to call a conclave - the matters they discussed were completely unsuitable for transmission. A dull stab of anger struck her still. Ira ultimately died because of a need to maintain secrecy.
"Feh," she muttered to herself once everyone but her master had left.
"Something amiss?" the Hallowed Inquisitor asked.
"I miss my acolyte," she answered. She wanted to lie, but it would have been pointless before her master's pointed gaze. "I pray his soul sits beside the Golden Throne."
"A tragic loss," he agreed.
"Too much collateral damage," the Lady Highest said. "A culexus… here…" Will the Recongrators need a new fortress? "How did it find us? How did it best our defenses?"
"Rather simple," the Hallowed Inquisitor said. "It didn't."
The Lady Highest went cold. "What do you mean?" She asked.
"I let it in," he said simply. "Someone in the Assassinorum wanted you dead. Likely because of that fallen Vindicare," he added, thinking back.
Her exhaustion vanished under a rush of disbelief. Horror. Rage. Her hand went to Myrtenaster, ripped it from its place on her hip. She bared her soul against her master, rime filling the air with a howling gale.
"I wouldn't bother, Weiss," the Hallowed Inquisitor said calmly, his voice carrying effortlessly over the wind. "I am pleased you survived. I was merely exchanging a favor," he added. "A favor for a favor for a favor, one wheel spinning within countless others. If the Culexus succeeded, I gain allies. If it failed, I gain allies as well as keeping my most promising student. After all," he asked, "who could have predicted it would fail? I did all I could, after all."
"You…" the Lady Highest could barely think past the fury. Past the despair. For a second, the Hallowed Inquisitor looked like a Schnee, tall and scowling. "You put our headquarters, our entire organization and all its secrets… you risked it all in a gamble for favors?" She demanded.
"A calculated risk," the Hallowed Inquisitor said. "I figured your retinue would not flee for the deepest recesses of our fortress," he reasoned, "knowing so little of it as they do." He allowed her a smile. "If they even had access to its deepest levels. Our secrets were never in jeopardy, not with the carefully constructed worm that 'infiltrated' our cogitators. No lives were at risk but your own."
"Ira... " the Lady Highest whispered. "The sisters…"
"Ira's sacrifice was unfortunate," the Hallowed Inquisitor admitted. "He held promise. The sisters? Hardly. A few might harbor a begrudging admiration of your efforts, but they are by and large irritated by your command. They will not be missed."
"They died for me!"
"And they will be replaced."
The Lady Highest reeled. "Oh Emperor," she whispered. "Holy Terra… the assembly."
"News of the Culexus' failure will spread slowly," the Hallowed Inquisitor said. "I will see to that. And no member of the Officio Assassinorum will touch you on Terra for fear of sparking a war within the Inquisition. No doubt you recall the last time the Officio Assassinorum… took sides?"
"You're a monster." The Lady Highest said. She realized she was weeping. She didn't care, not even as they froze to her face.
"I am an Inquisitor, Weiss," the Hallowed Inquisitor reminded her softly. "Nothing is done without purpose, without thought for the Imperium as a whole. Ozpin was quite clear on that."
A snarl of anger ripped through Weiss at the mention of her old Headmaster. "Ozpin was a fool!" She barked, Myrtenaster braced to end her master's life. One twitch of her finger, and it would fire, blessed bolt shells bursting his head into paste. "A hopeless, accursed fool! And he dragged us down with him!"
"And yet we persevere," the Hallowed Inquisitor said. He had no way of knowing she wasn't talking about the Recongrators. "Speaking of our founder's philosophy, I've proposed some edits to The Sacred Flame," he said, pushing a data slate over to her. "Your writing is really quite evocative!" He said, his smile wide, enthusiastic, genuine. "I'm sure Ozpin would be proud. I hope you take what I have to say into consideration."
The Lady Highest felt ill. Felt worse than when a blank prowled through the Recongrator's halls. She sat, head spinning, blood pumping cold. Fuck. This can't be happening. Fuck.
This isn't right.
The Hallowed Inquisitor made to depart, stopping briefly by the entrance to the meeting hall. "You are quite right, Weiss," he said, smiling wanly. "Ozpin made mistakes. But he himself reminded us that only the Emperor is infallible."
A/N: For the first time in… forever, AWoBE will have a two-part chapter! Unfortunately, next week's installment will be a short one, but hopefully no less dramatic. :)
A massive shout-out to MrDarth151 on Spacebattles for helping me with this chapter. I was stuck on it for the longest time until he made some insightful comments and patient edits.
Thanks again to everyone who left reviews, follows, and favorites. Each one means a lot!
Next week, back to the Void-Whisper!