I feel terrible about breaching her trust, but not terrible enough to turn back. Nia left for drinks with Nolan over an hour ago. She offered to let me tag along, but I declined. They deserved time alone together, and I needed her out of the house so she didn’t realize that I had no intention of staying in my room.
Getting around the city without being noticed wasn’t difficult. All I had to do was keep the hood on the cloak I borrowed from Nia’s closet pulled over my hair and not trip over my skirts again. The dress Madame Ella sent yesterday was far too long. I would’ve thought she sent it to the wrong address if my name hadn’t been written on the box.
Nia suggested bringing it back, but I don’t want to be a bother. Madame Ella is already doing me a favor by altering my mother’s dresses, so I did my own hemming this morning.
The handful of people I came across were too drunk to even notice me skirting the shadows in my borrowed cloak. The downside is that, by the time I reach The Divide, I’m a ball of sweat underneath the thick wool.
The bridge waits like a silent sentinel, guarding the unknown.
There’s nothing to be afraid of.I’ve already met the people who live on the other side, and the bridge can handle the weight of not only horses and riders, but also carts of water . These old planks won’t have an issue with my weight.
It’s going to be fine.
Everything is fine.
With cool air filling my lungs, I take the first step.
Beyond the quiet groan of the board beneath my slipper, nothing happens. I don’t burst into flames or keel over dead. It’s just a bridge. I cross bridges all the time. Couldn’t reach the well in Gravale without crossing one.
Everything is fine.
I take another step. And another. Each one feels like a victory, a testament to my perseverance.
When I return to Rosehill, I’ll be able to tell everyone with certainty that there is nothing to fear. That our neighbors aren’t monsters out to dine on our flesh for supper. They have no intention of using our bones to pick their teeth clean.
Those are the sorts of nonsensical lies printed in the first few chapters of that ridiculous book Trevor gave me. I got so irritated by the falsehoods, I couldn’t even finish.
No wonder everyone in Rosehill is terrified.
When I can no longer see any lamplight at my back, the bridge starts to sway of its own volition. I wait for shadows to emerge from the gloom, but nothing appears. Mist falls around me like a shroud, so thick I can hardly see the steps in front of me.
Despite the roughness cutting into my palms, my hands remain steady on the ropes holding the swaying planks. This isn’t so bad. A little eerie, sure, but the more I walk, the easier it is to take the next step.
I swipe my hands down my skirts, thankful for the cool silk against the soreness. Surely, I must be almost to the other side by now. This must be the longest bridge in the?—
My foot meets nothing but air.
I’m too far gone to pull back, and my body tips forward. My arms cartwheel, missing the rope on my way down. No! No! “No!” I flail for something to keep me from plummeting to my death, somehow managing to catch the brace where the board should have been attached. The rusted metal bites into my hands as I dangle, nothing but air and terror beneath me.
A scream rips from my throat as I beg for help. If I cannot pull myself up, I’m going to plummet to my death, my bones broken and entrails splattered over whatever waits at the bottom of the abyss.
Stupid, bloomin’ weak arms.
My life flashes before my eyes.
My mother’s laugh.
My father’s smile.
My brother’s teasing.
My fingers cramp, and I screw my eyes closed, praying to whatever deity is listening.
Nia will be devastated. My poor father and brother will never know the truth of my demise. My sudden disappearance will break their hearts.
Why didn’t I stay home? Why didn’t I listen to Nia when she told me to put the Unseelie out of my head? Why did I venture into this terrible place of darkness and shadows and death and?—
Something clamps around my hand. My eyes flash open, meeting a pair of dark eyes set in a face I recognize.