The Rite of Bloom
In Asterwynd, every child is born with a Sigil that proves they carry a Gift, but it fully awakens only at sixteen during the Rite of Bloom. Until then, they train in controlled “Veilwork,” because half-awakened Gifts can misfire or be stolen. After the Rite, each new adult must serve the kingdom for three years.
Viella Waverly has an unknown Sigil shaped like a stitched-shut eye, and she fears what she will become. During her Rite, the Bloomwell does not show her reflection—it shows the wrong stars, then reality itself splits like a door, revealing a shadow version of Asterwynd before snapping shut. A voice in her mind says she is finally “old enough to hold it.”
The Crown hides what happened and keeps Viella under “protection,” which becomes a cage. She learns the truth: the Rule of Sixteen is a lock, meant to delay dangerous powers. Viella’s Gift is Riftweave—the ability to open and stitch boundaries between places, memories, and worlds. The shadow kingdom, Nhal, wants its door reopened, and every time Viella uses her power, an ancient presence inside her grows stronger, pushing her toward a choice that could save Asterywnd or break it.