The Night Curse (Book one)

“I can’t decide which one to choose. Which one do you think, Mia?” my sister questions.

She’s been grilling me for hours about wedding arrangements after swooning over the success of the masquerade ball. “You have immaculate taste, Clemmy. I’m sure you’ll make a wise decision.”

The lacklustre tone of my voice doesn’t go unnoticed. Clemmy gawks at me; her unbound hair swishes about her shoulders. “I’m boring you aren’t I?”

“A little,” I admit. “Anything else newsworthy of late?”

Clemmy begins to twirl the hem of her dress. “Well now that you mention it, over breakfast, mother and father told me that Mr Fletcher has regrettably resigned.”

Goose bumps ignite across my skin, and I feel as if I might pass out at any moment. “What? Why?”

Was he discovered at the ball and dismissed?

Clemmy shrugs and says flatly, “The Queen needs him apparently. Must have been good at his job after all.”

I wrap my arms around myself, my temperature having plummeted. I begin to rock back and forth, riding out the waves of anxiety. No, no, no.

Clemmy clutches my arms, stilling my body. “What’s the matter?”

I stare at her, blood rushing in my ears. “I have to tell you something.”

Clemmy is the gatekeeper to all my secrets. There is hardly anything that she doesn’t know about me. Only regrets. Those I keep for myself. Telling her about Harlow is terrifying, because it means admitting my feelings, and my greatest fears.

“I love him.”

Did I know before this very moment?

Did I know how deeply my feelings for him ran, how desperately I want to hear them mirrored on his own tongue?

Now they are out in the open, drifting in the dense space, hanging oppressively between my sister and I, waiting for acceptance. Clemmy’s vacant eyes give away nothing. Then, slowly, she comes to life and speaks. “You love him?”

I take a shuddering breath and close my eyes. “We’ve met…in our dreams, but last night, we met for the first time in person.”

“But last night was the ba—.” Realisation dawns on her face. “The masquerade ball, he was the man dancing with you wasn’t he?”

I nod.

“So he knows what you are and he’s okay with it?”

“Yes,” I breath in a trembling whisper, dipping my chin. “But now he’s gone.”

Clemmy shakes her head and peers out at the world past my window. After a pointed pause, she returns her gaze, lit with stars. “You have to go after him.”

“What?”

“Grandmother Hyacinth did it, didn’t she? And no one suspected a thing at the ball. You can do this, Mia. I’ll help you.”

I go to say something, but my mind is blank.

“You already have a disguise, and I think I can find Mr Elworth’s—”

“Harlow,” I correct. “His name is Harlow.”

She smirks wickedly. “Harlow’s assigned address from father’s office.”

“But he’s at the palace.”

“Maybe not. He might have gone home first. It’s worth a try is it not? Besides, you can’t go to the palace, that would be a death trap.”

My throat is closing up. Tears slide down my flushed cheeks. “You’d really do this for me?”

Clemmy lays her palm across mine. “You did it for me.”

I pause, taken aback. “What do you—”

Clemmy puts a finger to my lips, silencing my question. “We better get ready.”

Clemmy returns from father’s office, papers clutched in her hand.

“I have it!” She’s gleaming.

I let out a low laugh, slightly unsettled by the easiness of her discovery. Clemmy passes me the address. It’s a farm under an hour’s ride from the manor. The likelihood that Harlow is there and not with the Queen is dismally slim.

If he isn’t at the farm, should I wait? Should I hide out? Should I reveal myself to his family in a bid to gain their help? Or head to the palace anyway?

I push down the relentless worries. “How will I get there?”

“Take my horse. Head East through the fields until you reach a well. When you reach it, take a left and follow the stone wall as long as it lasts. At the end of the road, there will be a dirt track by a pasture of animals. That’s the start of the farm.”

“How do you know all this?”

“It was my riding route every week when I was learning how to ride.” She explains. “Now tell me the directions.”

I recite Clemmy’s instructions four times, until she’s satisfied that they are branded to memory.

I reach out and stroke Clemmy’s cheekbone, realising that I had undermined the true strength of her will.

She unclasps a pearl necklace from her neck and gives it to me, closing my fingers around it like it will fly away if not contained. “If you make it to the farm and something happens, reach out for me, I’ll be asleep and waiting.”

A lifeline. That’s what she’s giving me. She doesn’t know that I don’t need the pearls to make a connection. The fact that she’s family means that I can enter her dreams at any time, I keep the distinction to myself and thank her

I cock my leg over the horse and mount the saddle, setting my feet into each stirrup. She’s a beauty with glossy, auburn hair. I pat her slender neck, taken aback by how high I am. Father had taught me the basics of riding when I was young, but when things grew too risky, our lessons stopped. I had missed riding, and now I hoped that my body would remember what to do.

I need to get this wild animal to obey my commands, so I take a deep breath and steady my nerves. I sit up tall, relax my back, and hold the reins gently in my hands while maintaining my balance.

I tilt my head skyward. It’s twilight. The claw-like crescent moon hovers overhead, dulled by a cluster of clouds. The world is made even darker with the shade of the mask. Clemmy had helped me sneak out and retrieve the horse. I peer over my shoulder and see her watching me from the stables. She’s clutching her chest, and I have to fight to stop mine from bursting in response. Before tears can spring once more, I kick the horse and sprint towards the rolling hills that I’ve only ever dreamt of climbing.