May your soul no longer crave the soil.
The grazes on her feet began to ache, but she ignored them. Mrs.Van followed her, and for a long while the only sounds that echoed were their own footfalls.
Leena finally broke the silence, turning to Mrs. Van. “What is the Limitless Vessel?”
She remembered Lord Hargreaves had also mentioned the Limitless Vessel on the day he’d killed Lord Avon in Lady Hargreaves’s recollection—that it was the reason he’d murdered his oldest friend.
“I do not know,” Mrs. Van replied slowly, as if she was deep in thought. “But we must tell the master of Kilworth’s last words. We must tell him soon.”
It took some time before they emerged from the wine cellar into the morning light. Leena had been too blind with worry to take note of the passages as they ran from Kilworth, but Mrs. Van’s mind was sharp, and she’d had enough foresight to memorize their exact route and lead them back.
Leena was surprised that it was still early daylight. Surely years must’ve passed since Mrs. Van had come into her room that morning?
She searched for Rami and St. Silas in the emptiness of the halls, but even the servants seemed to be gone. They made their way toward the grand entrance, stopping in front of the door that opened to the outside world.
They were not there.
Leena’s heart sank, St. Silas’s clear instructions ringing in her ears. If he was not back shortly after dawn, Mrs. Van and Leena were to make their way back to Golborne directly—without him. Rami, she knew, was still locked away.
St. Silas did not realize that Leena had never had any intentions of leaving without him.
She glanced at the grandfather clock. Distantly, her mind absorbed the fact that it was another three hours before Lord Avon was due to appear.
Not that this mattered anymore. She felt a crushing despair at just how close they had come to finding Lord Avon’s ghost.
But there was no time for that now.
Leena turned to Mrs. Van urgently, knowing that there would be consequences from her sudden change of plans. “We must ready the carriage and go find Mr. St. Silas and Rami before making our way back to Golborne.”
Mrs. Van shook her head, gripping Leena’s arm. “That is not what the master instructed.”
Leena pulled her arm back. “I am well aware of Mr. St. Silas’s plans. However, he is not here to enforce them, and we are not leaving without them.”
The tiniest flickering of a smile appeared on Mrs. Van’s lips before the older woman’s face turned blank once more. “First, shoes.”
It took them less than five minutes to collect their necessary belongings. Mrs. Van had found for her a small leather satchel, and Leena packedA Guide to Botanyand the old housekeeper’s timepiece. Then they made their way down the steps of Weavingshaw’s grand staircase.
Once more, Leena felt a stirring of foreboding at the emptiness of the house. “Where are all the servants?” she asked Mrs. Van as they left the house, the crisp air like a knife to Leena’s lungs. The snow had reached her ankles as she bounded down the curved driveway, heading toward the stables where they would hopefully find a carriage ready.
“At the miners’—” Before Mrs. Van could finish her sentence, they heard the rattle of wheels on the drive.
They froze. Leena’s pulse thrashed in her ears.
A gilded carriage came from the forest at breakneck speed, the horses shooting dangerously across the path. Whoever held the reins was an unsteady driver, the entire vehicle jostling up and down.
Leena and Mrs. Van lurched toward the banks of snow on the side of the road, missing the iron of the horses’ hooves by seconds. Just as the vehicle passed, Leena saw a familiar figure on the boxseat, back hunched over in concentration. She heard the figure shouting her name.
“Rami!” she yelled, racing after the carriage, nearly slipping on the ice in the process.
Rami’s lip was split and fiery contusions spread across his cheek. “Leena!” he called back, and tugged on the reins with a hard wrench, forcing the horses to halt. “Where’s Kilworth?”
“Dead.” It was Mrs. Van who replied before Leena could.
“Where is St. Silas?” Leena countered.
“He’s inside the carriage. Get in quickly; we are being pursued.” Rami’s eyes were hectic, peering wildly at the road behind them. “The Black Coats are not far behind. We must make a head start before they arrive.”
What on earth were the Black Coats doing this far north?
