A Sliver of Redemption Read Online Free PDF Page A

and he stood with strength that still stunned him. “You’re my brother. I won’t lose you. Not again. Together, Qurrah. Always and forever. Tell them. Live.”
    “For you, brother,” Qurrah said, “I will try.”
    He looked to the angel priest, whose face had remained steady as stone throughout the ordeal.
    “You were given a wonderful gift, Qurrah Tun,” Azariah said. A quick nod from Ahaesarus and he continued. “You did not ask for grace, but it was given anyway, and you accepted it over death. Such is the state of all men, no different from you. And now we play this game, as if the crimes mattered, as if we live by the limits of man instead of the limits of Ashhur. Who will you be, Qurrah? What life shall you have?”
    Qurrah felt a mixture of shame, embarrassment, and relief as he spoke his words.
    “If Ashhur's grace is as good as my brother's, then I accept it.”
    “Then consider yourself forgiven,” Azariah said. Ahaesarus sheathed his sword. It was as if a bolt of lightning struck the campfire. The paladins stood and murmured to each other, seeing a sight they had seen so many times back at the Citadel, while Aurelia went to her husband, pulling him away so she could tend to his wounds. Tarlak, furious beyond control, stormed away. Azariah saw him and hurried after.
    “You're fools and weaklings,” Tarlak said as he heard the angel's approach. “He deserves death and you know it.”
    “Who said what he deserved held any sway?” Azariah asked. Tarlak glared at him, remembering his sister Delysia's smiling face. He turned to leave, but Azariah grabbed his shoulder and pulled him close, so their eyes were inches away.
    “Listen well to me, Tarlak Eschaton,” Azariah said. “Ashhur has said again and again that all who seek forgiveness, no matter what their sin, will find it. If grace has limits, then it is a sad, useless thing. Back there wept the greatest test this world has ever seen. If his desire for salvation is true, if his taste of grace lasts and Ashhur accepts him into his paradise, then who are you to argue?”
    “After everything, he just falls to his knees, and that's it?” Tarlak asked, grabbing Azariah's wrist and matching him gaze for gaze. “And what of us?”
    “As I said, it is your test. How much do you believe what you say you believe? That golden mountain that hangs above your chest, does it mean anything anymore?”
    Tarlak pushed him away, feeling a tantrum building in his heart but not wishing to give in. He knew Azariah spoke truth, but to see such an egregious example, to see Qurrah Tun not only forgiven, but treated as brother, as equal, as friend, after everything he had done...
    “Only human,” Tarlak said, shaking his head as he walked away. “May Ashhur forgive me for that, but I’m only human. Leave grace for those better than I.”
    Azariah sighed, watching him go.
    “There are few better than you,” the angel said to the empty night. “But perhaps that is your burden.”
    He turned and rejoined the others by the fire.

    H arruq grunted as Aurelia slid next to him underneath their blanket.
    “Careful, I'm fragile,” he muttered as she softly ran her fingers over his freshly bandaged chest.
    “One of these days you'll learn your stupidity gets you hurt,” she said.
    “And that's when you'll leave me,” he said, sighing heavily and leaning his head back. She poked a finger into his hip and glared a feline glare. The playfulness was forced, however, and she curled up against him as gently as she could.
    “It's Qurrah, isn’t it?” he asked as she nuzzled her face into his neck.
    “Just seeing him,” she said. “It brings back too many memories.”
    “Some were good,” Harruq said. “The early days, when we first joined the Eschaton.”
    She smiled. “Those were good days, weren't they? You were still a goofy, scared half-orc. I thought you would die every time I grabbed your hand and kissed your cheek.”
    “Slain by beauty, isn't that what