Page 193 of Maksym

Grace paused.

Her voice lowered.

“What made you go toward the clearing?”

Sloan’s hands slipped from the edge of the stand and then returned, as if she needed something solid or she would vanish from the chair entirely.

“I heard screaming.”

Maddie’s eyes dropped to her lap.

Nikolay took her hands.

Grace stood very still.

“What did you hear her scream?”

Sloan’s mouth opened. No sound came.

The chamber waited.

The truth spell did not care for grief, but it allowed a moment for breath. Barely.

Sloan swallowed. Her lips pressed together. Tears slid down both cheeks now, unchecked.

“She screamed for Nikolay.”

The name crossed the chamber like a living thing.

Nikolay did not move, but the stillness of him became almost unbearable. Maddie’s head bowed farther.

Grace gave them one beat. Only one.

Mercy measured tightly enough to remain useful.

“Did she scream his name more than once?” Grace asked.

“I don’t know. I just knew something was wrong.”

“What did you do?”

“I ran.”

“Toward the clearing?”

“Yes.”

“What did you see when you reached the clearing?”

Sloan’s eyes fixed somewhere beyond Grace. Not on the room. Not on Maddie. On memory.

“The torches,” she said.

Grace waited.

“They were around the altar. The elders were there. Sage was there. Maddie was on the altar.”

“Describe her position.”