Page 2 of Rite of Unity

My mother’s sharp gaze could have cut steel.“The two most important ceremonies in your life are the Endowment of Purpose and your wedding.If it were ever discovered—” She pressed a hand to her chest.“—that you chose to keep some memento from childhood…” A shudder ran through her.“Come.Your father is already waiting.”

We marched down the stairs, past my brother lounging in a chair.He glanced up, gaze raking over me, and I hugged my armful of clothing closer.“Break a leg, Sis.”

I slid into Father’s car.

He leaned forward, patting my arm.“Ready, Princess?”

I swallowed, glancing at the door as Mother shut it.I had expected her to join us.My pulse thrummed as I glanced back to my father and nodded.

The names of my entire family spun as I repeated each in my mind.I couldn’t mess this up.My family was counting on me.

“Father?”

“Yes, Princess?”

“Will you tell me why our family changed our name to Holt?”

His soft smile vanished and he reached into his pocket, sliding out his tablet.The car jolted forward and we rolled around the long drive in silence.

We had made it halfway across the city before he finally spoke.“We conform to fit the world we live in.”

When we reached our Covenant House,theCenter Covenant House, massive white stones rose, ringing its perimeter, its great tower rising above even them.

Though it was summer, a chill skated over my skin.

"John."A steward stepped forward, shaking my father's hand."Right this way."

He ushered us forward and my stomach clenched.I had walked through these doors every week of my life, past the great Y carved into the stone above the entrance, past the stewards who knew my father by name.But my feet had never felt so heavy on the marble floor.

We stopped outside the first arched door, and my father looked at me for the first time since exiting the car."Go through.I'll meet you on the other side."

At the center of the room, a great flame rose, dark smoke curling toward the grate above.It did little to dampen the scent of scorched fabric.

I heaved my clothes into the pit, shrugged off the robe, and tossed it in after them.

The next doors were heavy.Four stewards in navy ceremonial robes stood in a circle around the pedestal—the exact one my mother had replicated at home.I stepped up onto it, back straight, hair bound behind my shoulders, and stared at my feet.

A man shuffled forward and I bit down on my tongue.The pain was enough of a distraction that my stomach settled a little.

Father whispered to someone across the room and I exhaled.

“Turn,” the man before me commanded.

I did.Slowly.

Shoes scraped over concrete as another man came to stand beside him.“Good work, John.”

My stomach churned.

Father chuckled.“You said the same of Leyah.”

The thought of my sister going through this very act three years ago should have calmed me, but a stone weighed down my stomach.She’d been excited for this day, looked forward to it since we were little, but it hadn’t changed her fate.

“Bend your knees.”

I did, stretching my fingers wide to resist the urge to flinch away from the hand that skimmed over my skin as my braid was lifted to expose my neck.

“Tilt your head forward.”