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Chapter 15 - XIV

(Morning light streams through Kazimir's modest room. He stirs in his bed, reaching for the familiar warmth of Anežka, only to find her absence. Rising with a hint of confusion, he descends to the kitchen, calling her name softly, but silence greets him. He muses that she may have gone for a morning stroll, as was her habit since leaving the convent and moving to his newly rebuilt estate.

(He saddles his horse, Panas, and gallops toward the village center. There, he encounters an unusual gathering—a crowd swarming around the central square. His pulse quickens, uncertain yet drawn. He weaves through the throngs of people, straining to see the focal point of this commotion.)

Kazimir

(whispers to himself)

"What calls them forth in somber score,

On such a day, with gloom in store?"

(At the square's center, Pastor Ondrej stands upon a wooden platform, his eyes gleaming with fervor. The crowd hushes as he speaks, his voice seething with self-righteous fury.)

Pastor Ondrej

"Hear, people, of sins most dire,

This woman, scorched by hellish fire!

She dared to shun our sacred creed,

For vile desires and wanton greed.

And with her, a demon wears his mask,

The snake named Kazimir—his only task

To lure the pure, deceive, defraud,

And turn their souls from grace and God!"

(Kazimir's breath catches as his eyes land upon Anežka, bound to a stake. Her tear-streaked face gazes into the crowd, wild with terror but fierce with defiance. She strains against her bonds, yet the crowd stands unmoved, hurling accusations and fuel for the flames.)

Kazimir

(to himself, in horror)

"Anežka, bound in dreadful plight—

Dear God, how swiftly falls the night!

My sins, my guile, have wrought this fate;

How cursed, this love I celebrate."

(He tries to push forward, but the crowd surges around him, a barrier of bodies. Desperation takes hold as he calls out to her, but his voice is swallowed by the throng. Pastor Ondrej sneers, turning his vitriol toward Kazimir, voice thick with contempt.)

Pastor Ondrej

"This man, a fraud in noble guise,

His wealth but lies, his name a prize

Won by deceit and cunning plays,

As fleeting as the fleeting days.

A thief, a rogue, with no true land—

A charlatan with sin-stained hands."

(Kazimir, fueled by rage, struggles to break through, his hands reaching in futility as the villagers cast burning brands upon the pyre. Anežka, with one last defiant breath, lifts her voice above the crackling flames.)

Anežka

"My love for him was not a sin,

But boundless hope, my light within.

For in his heart, the world I saw—

This love was pure, my only law."

(Her voice breaks as the flames consume her, a shuddering gasp of agony. She burns as Kazimir watches, helpless, the sight searing into his soul. When the flames die, he falls to his knees, silent tears streaming as the crowd disperses, leaving him alone with the charred remains of the woman he loved.)

(Night descends, cloaking the square in darkness. Kazimir remains, kneeling in silent torment. Pastor Ondrej lingers on the edge of the platform, watching with a twisted smile as Kazimir bows his head, broken and alone.)