I snorted into my cup, careful not to laugh too loud. Since even the staff considered indentured slaves beneath them, it was a kindness that they let me eat with them. A place I’d earnedonce I was assigned to serve Lady Penelope—a duty they likened to torture. Some had even become friendly after I’d received my assignment. My being Penelope’s personal servant had taken the burden of tending the harridan off their shoulders.
This great honor was granted to me partly because I couldn’t quit. Mortis had grown weary of replacing the hired help. Also, I was but one of a handful of people she didn’t make cry on a daily basis.
Not someone to be dissuaded, Gingus slapped the table. “Ain’t the mead that’s addled folks but that darn comet that’s bearing down on us. I tell you, strange occurrences have been happening since its return.”
Maybe Gingus wasn’t as crazy as everyone believed.The comet.Yes! The odd experiences I’ve had since my birthday may be due to its arrival. If that were the case, then once it was gone, I would return to my unremarkable self.
Rose spoke up, eyes wide in her small heart-shaped face. The bighearted housemaid was the closest thing I had to a friend around here. “I heard talk there was a bula calf born with two heads the other day.”
“That right there proves it.” Gingus puffed out his chest, suddenly the authority on all things unnatural. “Look at the effect one celestial event is having on our land. Monsters rising up, babies with deformities… Next, it will be plague and drought.Thisis why we stay the course. Why magic ought to be wiped clean from the realm.”
“Hear, hear,” someone called from the far end of the table. Other voices rose, joining in.
They were a superstitious lot for a group who’d turned their backs on magic. Oh, the irony.
As if the comet itself were listening, the table shuddered beneath my forearms, my bench vibrating against my bottom. Gasps broke out as plates rattled against the coarse wooden surface.
When the trembling stopped, nervous laughter twittered around the room.
The ground tremors had started a few months ago and were growing more frequent. Scholars claimed it was frost quakes. Many caves and underground streams existed under our village. The freezing and thawing of those streams put pressure on the bedrock, causing the vibrations. Or so they insisted.
Whatever the cause, it set my skin crawling.
The fellow next to Gingus pounded his back. “Well done. Well done. That was some ghost story. I could almost feel the ground goblins rising under my ass.”
Laughter erupted. My own nervous chuckles joining in.
Because every Puritan knew, magical creatures like goblins—and dragons—didn’t live in places like Nefarr.
Chapter Five
SERAFINA
“Did you enjoy the celebration,my lady?”Twenty-three, twenty-four, twenty-five… I counted my heartbeats through my feet. Thanks to the endless comet festivities, it would be hours before I could slip off my boots and rub the ache away.
“Not at all,” Penelope huffed as I tied her dressing robe. “That insufferable woman from Sheffield droned on about barley shortages since Graycott was attacked. As if I care whether peasants go without bread.”
Plenty of familieswouldcare—at least those not already lying dead in Graycott’s streets.
“It is tragic.” I shifted my weight.Forty-six, forty-seven… “Did you manage to catch sight of the comet?”
She blinked. “Comet?”
“The Atlas comet,” I said patiently while my pinky toes went numb.
“Oh, right. That.” She waved me off. “If you’ve seen one comet, you’ve seen them all.”
I’d have liked to view it—if I weren’t kept too busy for stargazing.
Beyond the windows, lightning flashed. Rain began to patter against the glass, washing my chance to see it into the gutters.
Penelope caught my disappointed reflection, her lip curling in a mock pout. “Oh, too bad. Perhaps you’ll catch it when it returns—in a thousand years.”
I swallowed my retort, fetching her discarded gown. Goddess save me, it was as heavy as a dead boar trimmed in lace.
“Do clean each of those ruffles before you retire,” she said airily. “One of those annoying tremors spilled wine on the fabric.”
“Yes, my lady.” I’d love nothing more than to remain on my feet long into the night.
