Body.
Will.
Blood.
Future.
Indistinguishable.
Not joined.
Not partnered.
Absorbed.
Serast’s gaze touched hers.
He knew she heard it.
Good.
Let him know.
A temple attendant stepped forward and gestured to the first bride.
Yselle.
Sabine had not seen her enter. She stood near the wall in pale gray, face perfect, hands still.
For a moment Sabine forgot her own fear.
Yselle crossed to the relic.
The kneeling stone before it was lower than the surrounding floor.
Of course it was.
A woman kneeling there would appear diminished from every angle.
Yselle lowered herself with flawless grace.
Serast spoke the vow line by line.
Yselle repeated it.
Her voice did not shake.
“I surrender private will to sovereign union.”
The relic gave no response.
“I surrender house ambition to crown design.”
The floor inscription glowed faintly.
“I surrender flesh to lawful marriage and marriage to the realm.”
A thin chime sounded somewhere beneath stone.
