Page 191 - DivineSparkRising II-TheMirrorofSilenceFinal

Nicholas Boothman
The room warmed. Something in the wall
unfastened.
Sofia’s voice came back, for once not trying to
convince, only to confess.
“I wanted to cure contradiction because it was
the way my mother and father loved each other —
with noise. I mistook their failure for a rule.”
Henry swallowed and, in a rare act of kindness,
said nothing. He let the confession sit.
Carolina pressed play.
Five seconds of recorded choosing poured into
the room. The water answered with a ripple that
didn’t reach the edges. The bulb flickered and came
back with a truer white. The black glass on the
pedestal reflected nothing for a breath, then a face
that was not any of theirs and was all of theirs: a
human face made of many small decisions leaning
in one direction.
The gate to the next chamber unlatched with a
sound like chalk agreeing with a hand.
Sera stood, a little unsteady. Henry put his palm
to her back and felt her body making new currency
already.
Carolina took up the journals. “Next,” she said.
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