“Thomas!” the girl yelled at him. “Thomas!” She meant to make him spare the beaten man, if his life could still be saved at all, but her words had the opposite effect; the captain’s jab at the priest had clipped her below the mouth; not much, but enough to beard her chin in blood. When Thomas saw that the girl was cut, he breathed out like a bull, grabbed the dazed captain’s hair, yanked his head back and cut his throat with the long, notched blade. He took his time about it. The girl screamed, “Noooo!” and then she just said, “No,” and she let the priest take her in his arms even though the
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