Miguel's hand closed into a fist. He held the thought for a moment before speaking.
"I knew nothing about this ritual going in. If I'd studied more of this in my earlier years I wouldn't be standing here without a direction."
He let out a breath and looked at the people around him, the captives kneeling on the floor, the collars pulsing with that slow red light, each of them being drawn somewhere they couldn't resist.
He hit the wall beside him once, hard.
"Archbishop, I'm asking you to stay here and watch over them. Whatever help you're able to give, please."
The Archbishop made a sound of assent, though his tone carried a thread of regret beneath it.
"I have nowhere pressing to be. And I expect my presence here has already been noticed by certain eyes within the Church, the Tribunal is probably mid-argument about what you and I have done and whether to treat it as a scandal. Going back would just mean walking into that."
