A Vow Written in Blood and LightThe judge did not step fully into the world.It pressed, reality bent beneath the weight of its attention, stone whitening like bone beneath a blade. The rift above the courtyard widened just enough to reveal a shape vast, faceless, luminous outlined by law rather than flesh.JUDGMENT PENDING.The words were not spoken, they were imposed.Eron stiffened beside me. I felt it immediately the way his holy core responded, eager and afraid all at once. The instinct to kneel, to submit, and to be claimed.I placed a firm hand on his shoulder and grounded.“You stand,” I said quietly. “No matter what you hear.” He nodded, jaw clenched, eyes fixed on the blinding white above. “I’m not kneeling.”Good.The Knight-Commander had fallen to one knee anyway, sword pressed to stone, head bowed in reverence and her knights followed, shields clattering as they lowered themselves in unison.The demons did not. Instead, they stood still, silent, and defiant.The judge’s a