The Night & Its Moon by Piper CJ

Author:Piper CJ [CJ, Piper]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Fawn Storytelling, L.L.C.
Published: 2022-02-09T23:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 15

Nox wasn’t able to sleep, nor was she really trying. Her mind flitted rapidly from one thought to the next, an amalgamation of sounds and ideas and plans and memories. She couldn’t relax, couldn’t sleep, couldn’t rest. Her mind felt like tavern music where six musicians all playing different instruments and clashing songs insisted on playing over one another, each vying for her attention. She tossed fitfully between her silken sheets, turning her pillow to find a cooler side. Her heart burned with hatred for the north and its kingdom. The vengeance she felt knowing they held Amaris was the spite that kept her warm at night.

Her eyes were open as they burned into the dark of the wall, thinking of what the duke had said. Yelagin. Forces were being dispatched to Yelagin.

Her mind hadn’t relaxed in more than two years. Millicent had told her everything. During the year that Nox had spent behind the bar, she had considered herself lucky to be insignificant enough that the lady of the house barely spoke to her. Once Millicent had seen her for what she was and deemed her a worthy protégé, the Madame had opened up and let her in, filling in all of the gaps. A barmaid–an orphaned whore–hadn’t been worth sharing the weight of her secrets, but someone being groomed to lead beside her, on the other hand… She had fallen victim to the Law of Recency when it came to her feelings regarding the Madame. Perhaps it had been the familiarity of their now-regular interactions. Yet, the informality of their relationship had begun to erode even her most awful memories of Millicent, leaving begrudging companionship in its place.

The Madame trusted her with talks of the politics of the kingdom, with the rumors of unrest, with the corruption of the church and wicked places like Farleigh. They’d spent months fostering their connection before Nox had finally loosened her lips to ask what had happened the fateful morning the Madame had taken her in the carriage to Priory. She’d heard the commotion from the far side of the manor, and then before she knew what had happened, Amaris was gone and she was being ushered into the glossy, black coach.

The truth of the morning had been worse than anything she’d allowed herself to imagine.

Millicent had been mournful to have to inform her of just how terrible the events had been in the courtyard. She’d hung the curled ringlets of her head in pity for the dark-haired girl as she told her that she had been standing on the cobblestones in front of Farleigh that morning as the silver teenager had sprinted out of the house intent on escaping to the woods. Amaris had run, not wanting to go with her. Millicent had paused sadly, commenting on how she’d traded an unfamiliar devil for the one she could have known. The assassin had seen a vulnerable girl running for the woods and abducted her.

The women in the courtyard had been helpless to stop it as the villain had swept her up amidst her cries.

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