Page 72 of Tales of a Monstrous Heart
The memory of those words struck me like a blow. So sharp I could taste blood. Master Daunton’s words.
A ravenous heat bubbled through me. I wrenched myself free of the darkness of sleep, waking in a cold sweat, tangled in the bed sheets, unable to catch my breath. I buried my head in my hands, a breathless sob leaving my lips.
He deserved it, I knew he did, and yet it didn’t stop it hurting. That death was on my soul, no matter how valid the act was.
Silent tears escaped my eyes, a trembling in my hands as I tried to catch my breath. I couldn’t stay here. Couldn’t suffer the silence of the night. Alma was curled up next to me. Still fully dressed as if unable to leave my side.
A tapping came against the window, drawing me towards it, just where it was cracked slightly to let the breeze in. Sharp and relentless as it whistled through the gap.
There was a tiny bird pecking at the glass. Only this bird was made of paper, its pecks becoming more insistent with the streaks of rain that began to appear on the window.
I let it in, the bird hopping onto the ledge. Flapping its wings in annoyance where a few raindrops had made it soggy.
An enchanted message.
I held out my hand, letting it hop into my palm, and just as expected, it unfurled into a note.
Kat, forgive me.
Emrys
The burns on my wrist ached at the words. At just how foolish I’d been in trusting anyone. I let the message curl and turn itself into ash in my palm. Montagor was a game I didn’t have the strength to play, and Emrys seemed to be a mystery I couldn’t trust. No matter the horrid gnawing pain that consumed my chest at the thought.
I let the ash slip through my fingertips, refusing to let it distract me as I pulled on one of my simpler dresses, grabbed my bag and headed to the study, intending to work through my frustrations. I would finally go through the ledger on pox that Emrys had given me, ignoring the kindness of the favor.
I entered the study, hearing the room creak as if in concern. I pressed my hand against the doorframe. Feeling the ancient hum of the magic within.
I brought my forehead to rest against it, taking a deep breath as a sad smile came to my lips.
‘Thank you,’ I whispered, knowing the house had helped me. That it had hurt with me. It groaned in answer as I released it and moved soundlessly to my desk. Rage guiding me as I pulled a piece of paper free, writing Master Hale’s name at the top. Suddenly overcome with the need to demand the truth from him. Why he’d lied. Why he’d kept these hideous things from me. Of dark fiends and fey deaths.
I tried but I only managed to write one word on the page.
Liar.
I tore the letter up, letting it scatter across my papers.
Dark things hide in the darkest wood.The story echoed in the back of my mind. Of course they did. That’s why they couldn’t be found. My focus shifted to my notes, flipping through them to see the map again, to see how close the woods of Paxton Fields were to Fairfax Manor. A natural barrier between his lands and the villages. The perfect cover for the dark to hide. Where nobody was allowed to venture unless by the lord’s command.
I remembered the strangeness of the tree bark beneath my palm, the small weight of that dead folk against my skin. The damp press of the foggy air as if weighted with secrets.
Make the bastards pay, Katherine, Master Hale’s parting words came back to me. Those painful burns on my wrist almost mocked me as they ached. How powerless I’d been. How powerless Master Hale had allowed me to become.
Liar,that dark voice inside of me hissed. My eyes burned with childish tears. He would have known. Hale would have known about these fey, about the horrors still happening to them on these lands. He’d kept me blind to it all this time and I hated him for it.
Hated more that I’d allowed myself to be blinded. Blinded by a childish desire to be wanted, to be helpful and cared for.
Rage simmered through me and I found myself at the Portium door, not having a moment to hesitate about my foolishness or how the house creaked in protest. Knowing the door reacted to incantations – Emrys used stones to amplify his requests, but pure magic on its own should suffice.
‘Please.’ I summoned a single flame, pressing it into the space where the crystal was supposed to go. I willed the ancientmetal to listen to me. The cogs began to turn and rattle. Light flared beneath the crack of the door before it fell silent.
I turned the knob gently, opening it to see nothing beyond the threshold but the blackness of night, gloomy as mist curled around the base of pale dying trees, and the cries from creatures of the nocturnal wood. Paxton Field, where the missing fey had last been seen.
The portal had formed in the archway of what used to be a stone storage house with only its frame remaining, held together with thick vines and brambles. Breath misted from my lips as I walked further into the wood, leaving the warmth of the portal behind. Trees swayed in the night wind, branches creaking like old bones.
I was cautious of every step. Every crack of a twig beneath my boot, the smell of rot thick in the air, lingering too long. The creatures here were subdued, the bushes not even rustling, so as not to attract beasts on the hunt. The dark almost endless, as moonlight seemed unable to reach down through the thick entanglement of branches above. Seeing a thicket, I knelt down to take a sample of the earth, only to see the stems corrupted and covered in dark spots of infection.
Cursed earth.
