Page 89 of Tales of a Monstrous Heart
‘I’m not asking Master Hale.’ She raised a dark brow in challenge, but there was a softness in her eyes. Cautious of my emotions.
I should have thought about it, but all I could see was the warmth of William’s smile, his ease with the house, Emrys’s work to heal Mr Thrombi, his disdain for the Council and how easily he’d forgiven me for almost killing him with a ghoul.
‘Yes.’ The word left me without doubt. I did trust him. Maybe foolishly, but perhaps I was tired of suspicion, tired of running and fearing everyone’s motives.
‘Fine.’ She smiled reluctantly, before leaving me to find my boots. ‘I’ll forgive him then.’
I laced up my boots as she tidied up the room and grumbled something about the horrid bed. I watched her, the ease of her movements, the natural flush in her cheeks. No longerweakened by her transformations, despite the fact she’d had one mere hours ago.
‘How did you do it?’ I asked. Watching her sharp eyes turn to me, not needing to ask what I meant.
‘It wasn’t a choice. Or perhaps the racket you were all making irritated me enough to test my limits.’ She smiled, running a palm over the horrid bedspread to smooth it into place. ‘Just as you killed those dark things so effortlessly. I think there is something in me that wants to … change.’ She contemplated her words for a quiet moment. ‘Something that wants to be free at last.’
My magic shifted within me, a warm rush in agreement that made me ball my hands into fists to hold it back.
‘That doesn’t scare you?’ Did it scare her as it did me? To be everything that had been forbidden for so long?
She crossed the small space to stand before me, such vulnerability in her suddenly feline eyes as she looked up at me, reminding me how much smaller she was. Yet there was nobody stronger or more imposing than Alma. Maybe Emrys.
‘What do we have to be afraid of, Kat?’ The was such a gentle strength to those words, I found my fingers interlaced with her own.
Nothing. There was nothing left to fear now. We’d seen it all. Survived it all.
Then a wretched knocking came on the chamber door.
‘Don’t get soul-snatched !’ Alma snapped before ducking through the wardrobe, the doors closing behind her of their own accord.
Being soul-snatched appeared to be the least of my problems as I opened the door to another dour-looking servant. This one was younger but held the disposition of someone twice her age as she turned sharply on her heel and forced me to follow at pace.
We went down the creaking stairs to the quiet, dim halls, where the scent of tobacco lingered and the wallpaper was threatening to peel.
It was unusual for lords to let their houses sink into such disrepair, then again, by the job Lord Percy was doing monitoring the lands, it shouldn’t have been that much of a surprise.
I was led past a busy kitchen to the back of the house and out onto a gravel path to a carriage house. A familiar figure stood there, dressed in dark grey riding attire cut close to the imposing form of him as he fixed his gloves, surveying two grazing horses.
The maid left me without a word – chased back inside by the cold – and I was suddenly grateful for the thickness of my jacket as I made my way over to Emrys.
His riding coat was a fine suede, trousers the same, and boots not having a mark on them, despite the muddiness of the ground surrounding the stable.
‘I don’t suppose Hale taught you how to ride a horse when he was planting a seed of rebellion in you?’ He smiled in way of greeting, the breeze forcing his hair onto his brow. Out in the sunlight I was momentarily startled by the handsomeness of the man, and just how oblivious he was to it.
‘I know how to ride.’ I stepped around him to assess the dark horse I’d been given. At least it was tall enough for me. I lifted the saddle to check the girth, tugging on the straps before dropping my attention to the stirrups.
‘My father used to rescue and raise perrybons,’ I added over my shoulder, watching with interest as he stroked the side of his own mare.
I remembered the ancient creature with deep affection, their shape similar to a horse, except larger and with small twisting antlers, closer in appearance to deer. Wild and fearless animals that demanded respect, not control.
‘I don’t think I’ve ever seen a perrybon,’ he mused.
‘There are hundreds on the northern islands to the south, if you know where to look.’ Too wild to be coaxed onto ships and I often wondered how they were getting on, undisturbed now, since most beings had abandoned the islands after the wars.
‘You’ll have to show me,’ he replied easily.
It felt like a promise, as if there would be time after all this. Time he wished to spend in my company. His eyes said the same, an intensity to them genuinely awaiting my answer.
‘My Lord.’ A young serving boy emerged from the stables with his own smaller, and far less impressive, mount. The old beast looked like it would keel over at any moment, but the boy mounted it anyway.
Emrys nodded. I assumed this was the scout.
