The knife slid free with a wet hush, and Master Voss crumpled like burnt paper. I stood there, breathless, staring at my hands—still calloused from years of cleaning his boots. Then the door creaked.\n\nMother stepped in, lantern trembling in her grip. Her eyes locked on Voss’s body, then darted to me—just a shadow now, melting into the curtains. She screamed, not at me, but for me.\n\nGuards came running. They dragged her down, screaming innocence. I stayed silent. I had to. But when they called her murderer, something inside me cracked.\n\nNow they’re taking her to the holding cell beneath the courthouse. I have until dawn to decide: let her hang for my crime, vanish with the rebels who paid me, or step forward and die beside her.