The Thornwick Revenge

ge, Aut

wl, her gloved hands resting stiffly on her lap. The road twisted through mist-draped fields, each bend unveiling more of the landscape she hadn't seen in f

paired it. Neit

ent to unfinished grief. Its west wing was still blackened, five years after the fire. The roof sagged in places, and vines curled thro

iver, though th

letter claimed. A formal summons, st

tion of Thornwick Hall's records before the new heir

fficial.

almost b

, here

d on the door's iron latch, heart quickening as the scent of damp earth and burnt wood

pillar. Windows warped from heat. Stone blackened by soot but ne

o, miss?" the driver asked from his se

he said, her

odded and reached back to l

arms straining with the weight of books and letters, and

uch. Inside, the air was thick with dust and old silence. Light slanted in from tall window

red this place. The scent of beeswax and old parchment. The hollow e

al. Quiet. Steady in w

n't come to the estate. She had stayed away away from the whispers, away from the grief that re

s final

't have. If anything happens,

ll warm from his hand. And yet what haunted

ent it late. He would

, she learn

liver it only if something happened. But when the estate burned and guards sealed off the grounds, Niall panicked. He feared punishm

to the boy. But she

allway was broken

come through th

but clean, the lapels pinned with a small insignia she couldn't place. A thin scar curved across his jaw,

you," she sa

detail. I'm here on beha

w I was

s to know who walks into places like this.

ll. "You kno

our brother was Tomas. And I know

ence wasn't agreement, bu

were sharp, but not unki

ng for the tru

l. "Then we may have

g as years of dust billowed into the corridor. Inside, the room was exactly as she remembered: shelves of ledgers, stacked f

er shelf and pulled the

broke the silence. Something small had falle

ther

on thick, brittle paper, edges yellowed by time. No signature. But one thing

he first l

stolen names and ruined lives. The fire did not

art po

nown. He'd

d cost hi

y. Mira sat at a long table beneath the flicker of weak firelight. The letters were spread

Leo appeared in the doorway,

up late,

ay the sam

g at the letters bu

d. "My father had one like it. Bef

. "Your fathe

ts-taking property from tenant families by forging claims. When he tried to speak up, they cr

ed his ja

said quietly. "And t

her might've been trying to

to hers. "Maybe t

she turned one of the pages. On

t returns, the house

er spine. She didn't k

red at it made her

apers laid out in organized rows. The house remained quiet, but never st

heavy with presence. Beneath a loose floorboard, she found a journal.

three recurring

sked Leo. "W

. "Aster

as no Aster in the fa

se they er

n't ela

way he said it made