Page 69 of Court of Shadows
“Not this time, dear Louisa. This is a bit of important correspondence, a letter I was hoping you might deliver to an acquaintance in London.”
We had not spoken outright about my leaving, but the knowledge of it was in the air. Everybody seemed to know I would go even before I said a word about it. Perhaps Poppy had glimpsed me packing my meager belongings and sorting through Father’s possessions, and that was indication enough that the rumors should start. I didn’t mind.
“Here.” Mr. Morningside finished the letter swiftly. It was not very long, and he closed it with one of his flourishing signatures, then dashed it with drying powder and folded it. “I would say this isn’t urgent, but please give it your full attention when you get to the city. Something has not sat right with me for quite some time.”
The folded note was still warm from his hand when I took it and tucked it into the folds of my skirts. “Who is it for?”
Mr. Morningside leaned casually against the edge of his desk and coaxed one of his birds onto his hand. It was a dainty finch, and it climbed onto his fingers with a soft cheep. I don’t know if it was nostalgia or anxiety, but I felt suddenly sad and a little afraid. Was this the last time I would stand in this strange office and smell the scent of his books, tea, and the dusty pleasant perfume of so many fluttering wings?
“I’d like for you to visit the shop where I purchased Bennu’s journal. I want more information about who brought it in initially.”
Nodding, I felt another wave of fear. Leaving had felt like a way to extricate myself from all the confusing mysteries of the house, but it seemed the mysteries would never end. This would be one last favor, I told myself, and then I would be done. “I thought about that, too. How did the journal leave the First City? Someone must have taken it, perhaps a thief or...”
“Yes.” Mr. Morningside looked distracted, his eyes fixed over my shoulder. “Let us hope it was a thief. My alternate theories are far less harmless.”
I turned to find that Chijioke and Poppy had been summoned. The little girl with the marked face had her hands deep in her pockets and swung side to side, grinning up at me. Chijioke, by contrast, could not even for an instant meet my eye.
“Well. The time has come, Louisa, to discuss the dissolution of their work contracts,” Mr. Morningside said, striding briskly into the foyer and standing between us.
At once, Poppy’s face fell and she hid her eyes behind spread fingers. “You’re... You’re going to make us leave? But why?”
“Did we do something wrong?” Chijioke quickly added.
“Wrong? No, not at all. You have both been exemplary employees,” he said.
“Then why must we go?” Poppy whined, but she sounded on the verge of tears. “Who else would take me in?”
I cleared my throat with some difficulty and knelt, but she did not come nearer. “Why, I would take you in. I have some money available to me now, Poppy, and I wanted all of you to come with me. You don’t have to stay in this wretched place anymore; you don’t have to kill people or do Mrs. Haylam’s bidding. And you, Chijioke, would you not like a house of your own?”
He chuckled and crossed his thick arms across his chest. “Wait, lass, is this your idea of a gift?”
“It isn’t wretched here!” Poppy scampered back and flung her arms around Chijioke’s leg, hugging it. “This is my home. It’s where I belong!”
“That’s not true,” I said, but I could already tell this was a battle I was going to lose. “Just because it’s the only thing you know doesn’t mean it’s the best place in the whole world for you.”
“Welikeit here, Louisa. I like it here.” Chijioke shook his head, giving me a pitying smile. He put his hand reassuringly on Poppy’s little shoulder. “I’ve no desire to live in a city. Iwouldn’t be able to breathe there.”
I stood and went quiet, saying nothing until Mr. Morningside ushered Poppy toward the steps leading up and out of the cellar. “There is no need to fuss, Poppy. I am not sending you away, only allowing Louisa here to collect on her end of our bargain.”
Chijioke took the girl’s hand and pulled her toward the stairs, giving me a glance over his shoulder. “I’m sorry, lass. No offense, but you might’ve asked. I would have gladly told you I’ve no desire to leave.”
And then they were gone. I had the letter in my hand still but it felt like nothing, like I held nothing at all, and that that emptiness was my reward in all of this.
“Lee?” I heard myself say softly.
“Mrs. Haylam knows of no way to untether him from the Black Elbion. Leaving its circle of power would kill him, Louisa.” Mr. Morningside took a few strides toward the stairs, and waited to speak again until the door up above us latched. He looked at me sidelong and sighed. “You know, I almost wish they had agreed to leave with you. I do so fear what the shepherd might do next.”
Fighting the numb feeling in my body, I squinted and watched him pace. “What do you mean?”
“Finch... What he saw... They were never to know that Chijioke has the ability to transfer souls from vessel to vessel. I’m meant to be banishing the souls here to death permanently.Instead, I may have... tweaked the rules. Slightly.” He ruffled his dark hair and puffed out his lips. “I would be more nervous, but for having you on my side.”
“Yourside?” I laughed, mirthless. “I will deliver this letter for you, but then I want nothing to do with you.”
His face went still and unreadable, like one of his flickering masks from the pavilion. “You might now have the luxury of money, Louisa, but you do not have the luxury of anonymity. The shepherd will hear the story from Finch. He will know just as I do that you have Father’s soul inside you. Pretend you can run all you like, girl, but ancient wheels have a way of turning, and old, ugly wounds have a way of opening up again.”
I shook my head. No, no... he was wrong. I could go to London and live a normal life. I could free Mary and then find a way to be myself again.
“I suppose time will tell which of us is right,” I told him softly.
