“Good morning. I’m here to deliver a message,” said Manphry, and nudged the shorter woman through. The pair entered her bedchamber, and while Manphry inclined his head, the woman dipped with a quick bend of her knees.
“I’m assigned to your upkeep,” said the woman.
Lux raised an eyebrow. “I’m confused. Is she the message?”
Manphry’s obvious boredom was redirected to the woman beside him. “Mind your duties in silence.”
Chastised, the woman hung her head and proceeded to lope toward the wide fireplace. Selecting the poker from the stand, she prodded the flames back into existence.
“My apologies.” Manphry returned his hands to his back. “I’ve come to inform you Lord Corvin has invited you to breakfast with him in the morning room. If you wish to decline, however, that is at your behest, and I will send your meal up as soon as I am able.”
“Oh…” She glanced at the washroom, where the tub caught her eye, tempting her in. “Immediately?”
Manphry, noticing where her attention landed, said, “It is early yet, and a delay is allowed. Shall I tell him one hour?”
Allowed? How magnanimous.She might have been truly irritated if she’d believed the wording actually came from thecollector. This footman seemed as wooden as his eyes; she didn’t doubt he chose the delivery himself.“Please do.”
“Hildred will show you the way at that time.” With a pointed glance to the woman now coughing over the smoke she’d stirred, he reached for the door. “Come, Hildred. You’ve other rooms to see to.”
“Yes,” said Hildred, and having returned the poker to its place, followed doggedly behind.
The door closed behind them, and Lux pulled in her lip. She didn’t like this Manphry, she decided. She especially didn’t like how he treated his peers. Or did he think the woman was beneath him in some way and so talked down to her? Her teeth sank harder into her flesh before their release.
Lux tugged the thick nightgown over her head. The air nipped at her skin, and she hurried into the washroom to the tub, gripping the handles until water spewed out. It didn’t take long to warm—a marvel all its own.
Saints above, she’d never yearned for a bath so much as this one.
But no…she supposed that wasn’t quite true. Because here, she was not coated in fear and the black grime of a devouring wood. Here, she could only complain of travel dust and salt, no matter the layers of it that had accumulated. The Maidenway Inn had balked at her request for bathing the night before.
When the water neared the tub’s lip, she swung one leg over the edge. The rest of her quickly followed suit, and she sank like a stone beneath the surface. There, in the quiet dark, she allowed her consciousness to follow.
It was truly mesmerizing, the human soul. Contained within a perfect orb and made up entirely of light. Its warmth permeated her consciousness; she wanted to bask in it like she’d done beneath the sun outside. On cue, her lungs began an expected protest. She ignored it as best she could.
Lux knew the sight and feel of corruption, had slowly begun to study what sorts of things brought about its strangling reach, but she could see no evidence of it inside her now. By all appearances, it didn’tlookbroken. So what had she unbalanced?
She ground her teeth at the lack of answers. Yes, she might have done something wrong, dug too deep, but she would never stay damaged. Even if she had to scour this place for more than lifeblood. Even if she had to break into locked vaults for a cure.
I swear I will if this healer turns out useless.
By now, her chest felt near to erupting; she knew she couldn’t stay beneath the quiet anymore. Lux rose to the surface on a gulping gasp.
She opened her eyes—and screamed.
Her bathwater had turned black. Not dark with dirt, but midnight black and oil slick. She scrambled backward against the edge and watched it drip slow and rotten from her fingers. Her mind seized in paralysis; she couldn’t comprehend what had changed. Of what she’d done to ruin the water.
The smell wafted around her. Fetid and sour, it stank of dead things long gone. It smelled like the devouring wood, the dark moss that had squelched beneath her step. Her hands shook as she raised them higher. And it was then a scratching came from the wall marking her dressing room.
Only the piping? But every hair on her body stood on end.
“To hell with this,” she breathed and leapt from the tub.
Her feet slipped sharply from beneath her.
Lux landed hard on her side, her hip meeting the flagstones first, knocking out all her air. Not even the rug could prevent the bruise she knew would come. She pulled a slow breath, gritted her teeth against the throbbing pain, and pushed herself to her elbows.
She stilled.
Her hands. Her legs.
