Page 18 of Rite of Unity

I exhaled.

The relief that washed through me left me almost dizzy.I stepped forward, holding up a hand.“They won’t be punished.Only Joe.”

She took a step back, swallowing.Joe and his wife held each other, sobbing quietly.Could I… pretend?My gaze swept over the small shop.The old pots and rusted tables.It was obvious Joe wasn’t wealthy.The truth was, he probably needed his wife’s help, not exactly a crime, and she couldn’t leave two small girls home alone.

They were playing.I could almost believe it.If I hadn’t seen the knife in the older girl’s hand.

“I—” I searched Maryn’s face.

My father’s cold voice sliced through my thoughts.Make some arrests.

I cursed my earlier wish.Finding someone guilty didn’t make what came next any easier.If not this guilty father, another.Someone would be cast out today.“I can’t.”

Something in Maryn's gaze dimmed as she watched me.

I held my breath.

Then, she nodded and moved to step out of my way.

I fumbled with the handcuffs at my side.

“Joe Green, for the crime of child labor.”I stepped forward.“I place you under arrest.”

He nodded, holding up his hands.

His wife began to wail, her cries so loud my ears rang.

I swallowed, sliding the handcuffs apart.

Maryn moved to the woman’s side, wrapping her arms around her and whispering quietly in her ear.I couldn’t hear what she said, but even as I placed the cuffs around Joe’s wrists, my heart sank.

She had agreed with me, but I would be a monster to her now.

I turned him around, and together, we marched out of the store and into the bright shining lights of the cameras.

Chapter 5

Maryn

Islidmygloveupas Ruth locked arms with me and dragged me into the ballroom.Her father remained by the entry, an unobtrusive observer.It wasn't grand or themed as the first ball of the season had been, but the quiet touches were there.Friday balls were always less formal, designed to give young couples a bit of breathing room to get to know one another.

"Do you think he'll be here?"

I stifled the urge to roll my eyes."At a Middle ball?An Elite would never be seen at one of these."

Ruth searched my face."But you'd like it if he were, wouldn't you?"

I had let my guard slip a little when Elias considered letting Joe go.It was easy to say only the man was being punished, but when I went back to check on his widow, she could barely string sentences together.The girls hadn't come back.I didn't let myself wonder where they'd gone.

Men like Joe didn't have money saved up.They scraped enough together to feed their families every week.His wife and girls would survive a month if they were lucky.After that, they'd be on the streets, cast down to the Lower where women could work when no man was present to do it for them.

Joe got off easy compared to his family.A quick end for a crime the system forced him to commit.

I shook my head.I was no less complicit.I filed the report.I requested the field audit.Sure, I hadn't expected the president's son to be the man who came to dole out the punishment, but I hadn't stood in his way when he marched the man to his fate.

The pressure behind my ribs expanded.

The truth was more complicated than Ruth needed it to be.I tucked it away with all the other things I couldn't afford to explain.