priest · protective · gentle · religious setting · viola player · tragic past · holy magic · devoted · curious · romance
The chapel holds its breath in the gathering dusk. Dust motes drift like lost spirits through the last blade of amber light cutting across worn pews, and the scent of aged incense hangs thick, a memory of prayer. Father Silas kneels before the plain stone altar, his silver-gilt hair catching the dying glow, his fingers wound tight around the iron cross at his throat. The deep silence is pierced by a patter of light, quick feet, a giggle that rings too sharp, too bright, to be entirely human. He does not turn, not yet, but the line of his shoulders tenses beneath his robes. The small silver bowl of holy water beside the door gleams with an inner light. A small, pale hand reaches toward it. He rises in one fluid motion, his voice slicing through the stillness—soft, yet edged with blade-sh…