The Covenant's Burden
👉 Previous Decision: You chose to seek shelter in the upper sanctuary tower and continue reviewing deed records.
Under the cover of dusk, I slipped out of my cottage, the precious documents clutched tight. The two armed guards barely stirred, their attention fixed on the front path. I circled around the back, through the dense arboretum, until I reached the base of the old sanctuary tower.
The tower was a relic, rarely used except for occasional meditation. Its thick stone walls, a single heavy oak door, and spiral staircase offered a measure of defense. Inside, the air was cool and still, smelling of aged stone and forgotten incense. I climbed the winding stairs, past silent prayer alcoves, until I reached the upper-most chamber, a circular room with narrow, slit windows offering glimpses of the starlit valley.
I barricaded the heavy door with an ancient, iron-bound chest and spread Mother Abigail’s charter, the 1995 covenant, and Lindqvist’s testimony across the dusty wooden floor. The flicker of my battery-powered lantern illuminated the crucial lines of text. Lindqvist’s slip was indeed the key—Jonah’s claims were built on sand.
Hours passed. The deep silence of the tower was occasionally broken by the hoot of an owl or the distant bark of a dog. Then, a soft scraping sound came from one of the narrow windows. I froze, my heart leaping into my throat. Had Jonah’s men found me already?
A figure squeezed through the opening, agile and surprisingly quick despite the cramped space. She dropped lightly to the floor, dusting off her dark, practical clothes. Her face was smudged with dirt, but her eyes held a familiar, haunted intensity.
“Grace,” she whispered, her voice a low rustle. “It’s Miriam. Miriam Cross.”
My jaw dropped. Miriam, Jonah’s estranged ex-wife, exiled from the Order years ago for unspecified “transgressions.” She had been a quiet, gentle soul, broken by Jonah’s tyranny. I hadn’t seen her in nearly a decade.
“Miriam?” I breathed, disbelief warring with a flicker of hope. “How… why are you here?”
She pulled a small, heavy satchel from her back. “I heard what Jonah was doing. What he plans for this place. For you.” She cast a look around the tower room, her expression grim.
“He’s building his kingdom on lies,” she continued, her voice trembling slightly. “He always has. I know. I lived it for twenty years. But he won’t do it again. Not if I can help it.”
She opened her satchel. Inside, wrapped in oilcloth, were several thick binders, their covers worn and faded. My eyes widened. These looked like the original sanctuary ledgers, the ones before Mother Abigail’s 2005 reforms, the ones Jonah had always kept hidden.
“These are the real deeds, Grace,” Miriam said, her gaze firm. “The ones he forged, and the ones he tried to destroy. The truth.”
The twist in my gut settled into a hard knot of certainty. Miriam, the silent observer, had returned, carrying the very evidence that could break Jonah’s tyrannical hold forever.
Choose your next action
Accept Miriam’s hidden evidence regarding Jonah’s forged land titles. — Read CHAPTER 6A to continue
Distrust Miriam and try to escape the sanctuary perimeter alone. — Read CHAPTER 6B to continue
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