whisper Beneath the silk
-
: The Seam B
one gr
tribute laid at a tomb. Evelyn stumbled back, watching in breathless awe as the masonry slid awa
reathed fr
a candle from one of the bras
if carved by hand and foot over centuries. The walls bore gouges, strange scorch marks,
ttom, the passage opene
ht flickered
s of
e cracked, others veiled in cobwebs. Each reflected not her-but flicker
of the chamber,
at remaine
he rot. The skirt was collapsed, boning exposed like ribs, and the fab
been Lili
l gown. A m
across the hem in thread so d
I was, not what
swallow
" she wh
rors sh
ne, their sur
eflections-
dark hair laughing in a sunlit room; Lilian standing at a window, writing
n-Lord
ess polish
lyn saw him seize
a appeared-watchin
e change
n scr
room locked fr
eli
ng fabric int
th
kne
ack, the candle tr
owing me this?"
ors didn
e dres
otting bodice, something
rd, hands shaking, a
ock
found in trinket shops. This was heavy. Cold. Black
r embroidery sciss
read s
ket fel
l of dark hai
not. The gowns are warnings. The house is a wound. He
.
flickered
n extin
yn g
ness swallo
eath coming fast. Her hea
ot from the mirro
inside he
st... before i
-
ng room like a woman retur
member shedding. The hidden chamber had vanished behind its s
locket r
in her palm an
s to her bedside. She spread the notes, sketches, and messages across the quilt and
threads w
ed Alaric-or t
something-marriage
thing ha
rrived so
ri
res
s friend? Or the fin
Isadora had drawn of Lilian'
pain in th
lso g
fe
d shown her on the first day-the
eath
a con
a c
-
he east wing again. She needed answ
m h
glow of a brandy decanter and the dying fire. He didn't l
he locket on
ared
ooked
nd her,"
"You just buried her deep enough
ried nothing. It was the house. It
rusted
ly. "Yes. And
n demanded. "Wh
ate, and crossed to the windo
rst to listen. The others came to appraise. To cove
his face
se you loo
yn f
ha
fiance. The same hunger in your eyes. T
teppe
ing this pla
Alaric said. "Every betraya
he whispered. "W
ze fli
ee Lilian. But s
wed. "What ha
dn't
eyes sai
part of the
-
Evelyn dream
e, it wasn't
ballroom bath
pped around a figure made of shadows. Her h
aw Evelyn,
und the
rward. "What do y
tilted
ick
wn. In her hand-
ed at th
e made o
sses stitched together
ehind it all, a
gan to
d by
h by
lls began
-
the sensation of f
The locket lay open beside her pillow. Her j
l page held
her own handwriting-but
ing. Finish it, or b
-