At a Trial (Late in November)
Vitrum stares at Janus the whole time, her eyes red-rimmed, blinking often. A rosary is clutched tightly in her hand, hard enough to make the beads impress against her skin.
When Janus is done, she turns to Payday. "If I may..."
She doesn't bother to wait for her cabalmate's response, she simply begins to speak, her voice soft.
"'To break an unjust law is a moral imperative; not to break an unjust law is to collaborate with it.' Each and every person who stood here, who stood the watch here did so because we believed that the power of
the Lex was not enough, or that at the very least, there was no hierarch strong enough to hold the line against your forces.
"It seems," she says, her hand moving to the next bead on the rosary unconsciously, as if her mind still moves in the prayer, even as she speaks, "that we were right.
"Do not mistake the author of your death, Janus, or blame another for your choices, and the path they have lead you down." Another click, an expression of momentary anguish. "You set your feet upon this path, you and no other."
"Many will speak to blame Father Michael. But led where he was asked to lead. We are all equally guilty of the burden of his death. As we are all equally guilty if we allow yours..." She clicks the bead again.
"Many years ago, as a young physician, I helped a terminal patient into death. Rather than worry about my own salvation, I chose to save another from pain... and I will go before the throne of God, and stand behind my decision and the consequences of it."
She looks at everyone in the room, and then at Harae, blood on her friends' white robes, and then back to Janus, and with finality she says, "I will also stand by your death as well, and the part I had in it."
When Janus is done, she turns to Payday. "If I may..."
She doesn't bother to wait for her cabalmate's response, she simply begins to speak, her voice soft.
"'To break an unjust law is a moral imperative; not to break an unjust law is to collaborate with it.' Each and every person who stood here, who stood the watch here did so because we believed that the power of
the Lex was not enough, or that at the very least, there was no hierarch strong enough to hold the line against your forces.
"It seems," she says, her hand moving to the next bead on the rosary unconsciously, as if her mind still moves in the prayer, even as she speaks, "that we were right.
"Do not mistake the author of your death, Janus, or blame another for your choices, and the path they have lead you down." Another click, an expression of momentary anguish. "You set your feet upon this path, you and no other."
"Many will speak to blame Father Michael. But led where he was asked to lead. We are all equally guilty of the burden of his death. As we are all equally guilty if we allow yours..." She clicks the bead again.
"Many years ago, as a young physician, I helped a terminal patient into death. Rather than worry about my own salvation, I chose to save another from pain... and I will go before the throne of God, and stand behind my decision and the consequences of it."
She looks at everyone in the room, and then at Harae, blood on her friends' white robes, and then back to Janus, and with finality she says, "I will also stand by your death as well, and the part I had in it."