Lucy's hand rested on his arm. "This is its heart," she whispered.
Grace nodded. "It listens here."
Jude set down water bowls and knot bundles. He looked at each wife in turn. "We are named. We are memory. We belong." He lit a torch and held high. The flame flickered. Shadows licked the walls.
They began their ritual: each wife stepped forward and recited her vow by heart, name, memory, unity. Each voice echoed, reverberating back from stone. After each vow, she pressed bracelet against wall, affixing bead to an existing scar or carving. Then moved back to stand in the circle with him.
When they finished, eleven beads glowed faintly against stone.
