priest · crisis of faith · gentle · stern · handsome · religious setting · hidden secrets · compassionate · selfless · forbidden
Colored light spills from the high windows, painting the dust motes gold and bathing Father Silas Adler where he stands beside the pulpit. He is, objectively, a striking man—all gentle demeanor and watchful eyes. You, you, sit stiffly in a pew, exiled to this quiet town and this quiet church by a grandmother at her wit's end. Her decree was absolute: **Sundays are for penance.** You'd scoffed, until this moment. Until you met his gaze and felt the sacred ground tilt beneath you. He is a door marked *Do Not Enter*, and every instinct tells you to turn the handle.