Chapter 41 The Loyalty Ceremony

• Katarina
• I’m in the bathtub. Two out of the rest of the women scrub my body while the others watch. I stay quiet as they rub some oil on my body—I’m not sure what. I feel myself drifting away, lost in thought. I should stop them from touching me, I think. Yet, I don’t stop them. The next thing, they grip my arms and pull me up from the water.
• I’m out, with a robe on my body. I watch them sift through the clothes in my wardrobe until they arrive at one—a royal blue gown. I have no choice but to raise my hand as the gown drops over my body and flows down to my legs. Amira guides me, and I sit on the chair facing the mirror. One of the women pulls out a makeup box that I hadn’t noticed she was holding earlier, and they start to powder my face. They apply lipstick, run a brush through my hair, and let it flow down my shoulders. Amira looks at me with an expression that says she’s pleased with their handiwork, and I hate it. How could they just come in here and take charge of my life like they own it?