Father's POV
I stood at the threshold of our sacred chapel, the converted basement that had become the heart of our divine union.
The air was thick with the scent of beeswax candles and frankincense, flickering shadows dancing across the wooden crosses and the wide marital altar bed draped in white linen.
Sophia, my nineteen-year-old daughter, knelt before me in her simple white shirt, her long dark hair cascading down her back like a veil of purity. Five years had passed since her mother’s death, and in that time, I had shaped her into the vessel I wanted. She was mine by blood and by covenant. My holy blood covenant.
“Come forward, my child,” I said, my voice low and resonant, echoing the authority of scripture. “Tonight, we renew what the Lord has ordained.”
Sophia rose slowly, h
