I love the arrow bouncing off the apple at the end. That's clever. This is a unique and fun little read. You definitely build up an interesting little world in a short amount of time. I particularly enjoy how you ran with the whole "inquisition" type religious crusade while still maintaining a certain lightness to the story. There are serious consequences, but it feels from beginning to end that things are going to work out somehow. The "William Tell" test is an interesting way of proving innocence.

Resistance takes many forms, doesn't it?
This is decidedly, un-Augily, delightfully untidy. You didn't tie off a single loose end, and I love that. You have let the air flow aroudn the action and between the characters. Well done!

Haha, great twist. I love this little world you've built. Amira shines with light and life, and Finch is a good protagonist to carry us through. I'd love to know more about Father Gallow - part of me wonders if he's misinterpreting "a small form in a larger body" from the glamour as pregnancy - but hey, 3k words. A great read, a great world, a fun little piece.

Editing notes:
- hadn't so much as "glance" at her

- after a simple meal alone "int he" evening

Okay, so this is awesome. I love how you're able to string together an entire world in a span of under 3,000 words. You have a real talent for it; establishing setting and characters; good and evil; relationships; all mellifluous and absorbing for the reader. I would think that this was an excerpt from a much, much longer work if I didn't know otherwise. And you did an excellent job using the prompt that I couldn't even fathom how to approach.

The ending made me grin. I love it. And I'm reasonably sure I -did- enjoy reading it as much as you enjoyed writing it, so that's good.

So I'm probably supposed to have some kind of criticism, huh? (I'll nitpick at typos at your request only) Perhaps the paragraph of backstory for Zealyn could have come sooner, prefacing Finch's rendezvous with Amira, rather than being placed in the center of the story. It does pair well with the small scene with the byrd, though. Maybe I'm out of practice, or maybe you're just that good, but I have nothing else to offer. This is great!