Sin-Pardoning Seal

Winter in the Kingdom of Greycastle begins at the gallows.

A rope, a raven, a golden-red holy seal, and a piece of paper marked "Heretic."

For three hundred years, the Holy See has ruled the continent with these three things: sin marks reveal the heart, indulgence papers absolve sin, and gallows make an example of the condemned.

One indulgence costs a fortune. One sin means death. No exceptions.

Until the Holy See's sharpest blade turned against its master.

Alan, an executioner of the Holy Tribunal, receives a secret order to kill Arthur Ashen, the last heir of the former king.

He thinks it is an ordinary execution.

He doesn't know that his target has been waiting for him for three years and four months.

Nor does he know that the half-page in his arms and the other half in his target's hands fit together to reveal the same answer:

God is a lie. Sin is a lie. Redemption is the most expensive business of all.

When the blade turns, and the printing press spits out paper for the first time,

this kingdom, forged in fear, hears the sound of fire for the first time.

They can burn the paper.

They cannot burn the people who printed it.