Page 44 of Boy of Chaotic Making

He looked up. “That must be O—”

He paused as a young hound scrabbled through the door. Not Owein. The dog came right up to Merritt’s side and snuffed around, then jumped up so its paws were on his thigh.

“Maksim, no!” shouted an adolescent boy in the doorway, scrabbling much as the dog had. “I’m so sorry,” he said to Merritt. Then, noticing Ernst, he went red in the face. He bowed at the waist. “My apologies, sir. He’s just in training and got away from me. Took ’im to the kitchen for a treat. Which he willnotbe getting now.”

The hound sniffed at Merritt’s plate, completely undaunted by the threat.

“Not a problem.” Merritt pushed the enthusiastic animal down. “Pups are like that.”

“How old is he?” Ernst asked.

The boy grabbed Maksim’s collar and hauled him toward the servants’ door. “Nearly a year, sir.” His eyes shot between Ernst and Merritt. “Don’t tell Mr. Coldwell. Will you?”

Merritt imagined Mr. Coldwell was the kennel master.

“It will be our secret.” Ernst grinned. “Now hurry out before Lady Helen sees you. She is far less forgiving than I am.”

The boy nodded and dragged Maksim toward the door, but the pup must have gotten a whiff of sausage, for it pulled free and jumped at the table, turning its head sideways to grab at Briar’s forgotten morsel—

A loudcracksounded through the room, giving everyone but the dog pause. Merritt stood, knocking back his chair. Dust fell from the ceiling.

The crystal chandelier quivered.

“What is—” Ernst began.

And the ceiling fell down.

Chapter 17

March 5, 1847, London, England

A quiver and crack like thunder reverberated through the library where Hulda and Lady Helen were talking. Hulda’s heart seized. Her skin pebbled beneath her dress. Her eyes met Lady Helen’s round ones.

In an instant, they were both rushing for the door, cutting through the lobby to the breakfast room. Dust clung to the air like fog.

Hulda coughed. “Is anyone in there?”

Wind shot from Lady Helen’s palms, blowing back the cloud as they approached the door.

“Hulda!”

Hulda’s bones turned to ice. “Merritt!” she screamed, and rushed in. Lady Helen barked for her to wait, but Hulda was already inside, stepping over broken pieces of wood and stone. She collided right into Merritt, who looked like he’d just come in from a snowstorm. Rubble sprinkled his head and shoulders, but he was upright. He looked all right.

She grasped his arms. “Are you hurt?”

He turned away as Lady Helen’s gusts blew in, whipping through the air, blowing away most of the debris covering him.

“You’ve got to come quick!” cried a servant boy within the room, climbing over a large chunk of the ceiling with oddly smooth edges. “The baron and Maksim! Hurry!”

Cora sobbed into her sister’s lap at the far end of the visitors’ morning room, where everyone had gone while Mr. Blightree saw to the baron’s injuries. Owein had heard the rumble and come in as the servants began crowding around the breakfast room.

Just like the bedroom ... though the damage wasn’t as bad. This time there had been injuries, however.

The chunk of ceiling that had fallen from the corner, right past the servants’ entrance, had crushed the baron’s arm. Skimmed the shoulder of a boy who worked in the kennels. Shattered the back leg of the dog he’d been trying to lure outside.

It was the damage to the dog that had upset Cora the most. “She loves those dogs” was all a very choked-up Lady Helen could manage. The leg would have to come off; Blightree couldn’t use necromantic healing magic on an animal. Might have been better to put the animal down, some people were saying, but Cora promised through streaming tears she’d nurse the hound back to health, and her parents had relented, for now.

Owein wasn’t sure what to do with himself. He wanted to stay by Cora, see if he could comfort her ... especially if she loved dogs so much. But her sister didn’t likehim, so he hesitated to approach. Lady Helen and Prince Friedrich spoke in quiet tones near the door; she occasionally dabbed at her eyes with a handkerchief, and he occasionally reminded her the baron would be just fine. Merritt had gone with Blightree, despite insisting he was unharmed.

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