He held the box up over his head ceremoniously, so that the crowd could see. Then he brought it back down again, flicked open its lid, and withdrew its contents. The serving girl took the box from him, and he raised what he'd retrieved up over his head once more.
"The heart of a prize bull – seized before it could mate and we could make use of its offspring," the Elder declared. A droplet of clotted blood dripped from one of the heart's open arteries, catching the boy in the face. It slapped against his forehead with a dull sound, and began to slide down his cheek.
Not a thing was said from the crowd, as the boy stood there, his face ghostly pale, and his eyes unfocused from nausea. The Elder eventually reached down from his platform to pluck the sacrifice from the boy's hands, before he once more held it up for the crowd to admire, and he tossed it onto the bonfire to burn.
