Sabine watched Yselle’s face.
Perfect.
Too perfect.
The words were cutting her and she did not bleed where anyone could see.
“I disappear from myself and rise within the crown.”
Sabine’s stomach tightened.
There it was.
The trap, no longer hidden.
Disappear.
Yselle repeated it.
The chamber accepted.
Serast smiled faintly.
Yselle stood and returned to the wall, color high in her cheeks, eyes fixed forward.
Tavi went next.
She knelt like she was lowering herself onto a battlefield.
Her voice was rough. The words came out like stones forced through her teeth.
“I surrender private will to sovereign union.”
The floor glowed.
“I surrender house ambition to crown design.”
Her jaw flexed.
“I surrender flesh to lawful marriage and marriage to the realm.”
The chime sounded.
Then Serast gave the final line.
“I disappear from myself and rise within the crown.”
Tavi’s lips parted.
For one wild second, Sabine thought she would refuse.
Then Tavi closed her eyes, said it, and hated every syllable.
The chamber accepted.
By the time Tavi stood, her hands shook with rage.
Brinna was absent.
