Page 30 of Court of Shadows
“In her chambers,” Chijioke said. I let him explain the rest, too. “Poppy found her, but it’s none of us that did it. I don’t knowwhatcould have done it. She’s all dried up and wrinkly, and her eyeballs, well, they popped.”
Her good eye glittered at that.
“And the men?”
“Still taking the waters,” he said.
She nodded for what felt like an entire minute, and then she took Chijioke by the forearm, pulling him closer. “You will go to town and raise Giles St. Giles. Louisa, you will help me forge a letter. Miss Amelia has cold feet and fled the house, we do not know where she has gone. That will keep the men busy lookingwhile we clean up this mess.”
“But why? You’re going to kill them anyway.” I couldn’t help myself, and the words just came tumbling out stupidly. Mrs. Haylam reeled back as if I had slapped her. “Why not just have done now and get it over with?”
“That is not how we do things in this house,” she hissed, baring her teeth. “Now do as I say, you idiot girl.”
Chijioke shot me a warning look and then hurried away. I decided it would be best to heed that warning, and followed Mrs. Haylam as she swept through the foyer and up the stairs. The front door closed in our wake, and Chijioke was gone, off to rig up the cart and ride to Derridon. While we climbed the stairs, I fretted with my apron, feeling naked without the spoon around my neck.
“It pains me to ask this,” I said carefully. “But does Lee have powers now? Powers we haven’t seen him use before?”
Mrs. Haylam did not wave me off or chide me; she weighed the question, head swaying back and forth as we reached the first-level landing. “The gift of shadow can be unexpected,” she told me. “Unnaturally long life is assured; greater strength is a common boon, too. I have never heard of one imbued with shadow turning healthy beings to husks.”
“But it’s not impossible,” I pressed.
“He will be questioned, girl,” Mrs. Haylam said irritably. We climbed another staircase and another, then found ourselves outside Amelia’s locked door. The housekeeper fished her hugekey ring out and found the proper one. “And I will be having a long talk with our Upworlderguests, too.”
The Residents hovering outside the door came closer as if drawn by her mere presence.
“Go,” she told them calmly. “Alert me when the men are returned.”
The shadow creatures billowed away, off to find windows and vantages. They paid me no attention as they went, but the hall felt warmer in their absence. I watched her fit the key in and give a shove with her shoulder. At once, the smell of death wafted out to meet us and I winced.
“Chijioke said it could be something called a Judgment,” I said, hesitating to go in and be met with more and worse odors.
It did not seem to bother Mrs. Haylam, who locked us in and marched right up to the bed.
“Long has it been since I beheld a Judged body,” she said, leaning over Amelia. She inspected her so closely that it made me feel ill. I couldn’t imagine putting my face that close to a corpse willingly. “The Adjudicator seeks a confession and the soul will give it no matter what. All guilt is revealed. I do not know if death arises from the extraction or from the Adjudicator’s will to annihilate.”
“That sounds awful,” I whispered. Again, I could not imagine Finch doing such a thing. Chijioke could warn me a hundred more times about him, and still I would only be able to judge Finch on his actions toward me. By those standards, he hadbeen nothing but kind.
“Do not be fooled by pretty words and shiny halos,” Mrs. Haylam murmured, peeling one of Amelia’s eyes open. I turned away. “They are the shepherd’s violent hand of justice, seekers and executors of truth. Amelia Canny’s crimes would more than justify her doom in their estimation.”
“Her crimes...” I shook my head, going to Amelia’s desk and looking at the scattered letters and books there.
“Killed her rival,” Mrs. Haylam said coldly. “Her servant saw it happen, and confessed her suspicions to a priest. She was not believed, of course. What does a silly serving girl know, mm?”
“Lottie.” Amelia’s diary sat at an angle on the desk, but I had no urge to look inside. I did not want to know what lurked in the mind of a girl twisted enough to kill for marriage and money. “Amelia was awful to her; I would have a vendetta, too.”
“Poppy, go and tell Mr. Morningside what has happened. Please assure him that it is all under our control now, and that he will need to provide a bird to Giles St. Giles and Chijioke.” Mrs. Haylam stood up from her inspection and crossed to the desk, rifling through the letters for a clean piece of parchment and a quill.
“Did Chijioke go to Derridon?” Poppy asked, hopping down off the bed and skipping toward the door.
“He did; now be quick, child.”
When we were alone, Mrs. Haylam reached for Amelia’s diary, opening to a random page and setting it before me.
“You have steadier and younger hands,” she said, shoving quill and parchment at me. I was beginning to resent being forced to write for the owners of the house. “Do your best. Not too much or they may notice the penmanship is wrong.”
I sat down and puzzled over the note, listening to Mrs. Haylam wrap Amelia in a bedsheet. What would I say if I were her and I had doubts about the marriage? But Amelia didn’t have doubts, did she? She had wanted Mason and his fortune so badly that she had killed for it. Then I remembered the fight at dinner we had witnessed, and I bent over the parchment, dashing off an apology.
My dearest love— Your father’s rudeness has given me pause. Why does he hate me so? If I am to be a part of your family, then I demand respect. I must think, Mason, my love. I must be certain that this is what I want.
