Misery sees the battle being fought in her captain’s soul, her military training on one side and her faith on the other. Angelsteeth has a chain of command, a fiber-clad set of protocols, and she took an oath on her life to honor them both. But her faith is an older and stronger credo and it has been part of her life since memory started forming. The miracles she witnessed in the past week exert a stellar pull on her grief-worn soul. Misery wants to tell her, come to me, come as you are. It is so much easier in the cradle of belief. She feels incredibly light, the anxiety washed from her being, and replaced by the Grace of the All-Seer, All-Maker, All-Knower. Mother was right. Mother was right all along. Her death was not for nothing. The nullvoid hasn’t won. Her captain is the closest to this glorious embrace. The Duke isn’t far behind. Misery will not push them, will not give them ultimatums, yet. They must take the final steps themselves.

“So,” says Major Reyes. “Now what?” Ever the skeptic. Still clinging to xer stubbornness. The lines between xer brows a testimony to the depths of xer doubts.

The General strides forward and comes between Diamond and Major Reyes. Now the quiet takes on the weight of expectation. On the table, housed in the yellow bell of another aegis, Misery’s amulet floats over a disc of holy tigereye. The General taps the apex of the bell and the aegis hums. “This token,” they say. “It’s yours?”

“Given to me when I was born. My mother found it. A messenger told her she would bear a holy child…”

“You’ve had it all this time? It’s never been registered.”

“It’s always been on me. You can ask my captain. Or the Duke.” A light gesture in their direction. “It was a sentimental object for me. A reminder of home. They took it from me when I was arrested on the Capital, but Pyrex Imogen recovered it for me. Possibly in secret.”

“And you did not know its purpose?”

“Not until now. Not until it was revealed to me.”

The General nods, thinking their slow and deliberate thoughts, armored by heavy caution. A nixen who bears the weight of responsibility and bears it as well as one can. They already know what they believe, but are they willing to drag all under their command along with their folly? Their decisions will change the course of the Faithful’s future.

Finally, he says: “What happened here was a blessing. A holy miracle. It cannot be denied. I do not know what the next steps will be, or should be, but I do know that you are not dangerous. You were sent to us for a reason.”