After a trip like this, there would usually be a few days of traveling time to think things through and decompress. Instead, everyone congregated, Ginny and Neisha cast the spells, and the group was whisked away from whence they came. Francine knew to expect things to be in a possible state of disarray when they arrived home, but she was still slapped in the face by the stack of crates in the atrium and jumped as Azure bellowed from behind her:

Without a word, Neisha started touching crates one at a time, making them disappear. Francine wasn’t sure where they were going. They might be going to the staging area downstairs, they could all be piling back into Cinnamon’s rooms upstairs, or maybe they were appearing at her house across town. Francine certainly wasn’t going to ask. She just ran through the back garden to her room. It was here.

Several dresses, including her Mother’s last costume, were laid out across her bed, and her favorite music box, the one with her Mother’s figure dancing inside, excited she ran over; her jewelry was even in there! It wasn’t her best jewelry, just a few little trinkets she’d been given as gifts over the years. The copper and turquoise bracelet Matt gave her on her seventh (fourteenth in earth years) birthday was safe; tears filled her eyes. Then…

She looked around, but what she was searching for was nowhere to be seen, so Frannie ran upstairs to the sitting room, turned a circle,

Not finding what she was looking for in the Sitting room, she raced up to the closet where Argento was unpacking his new jacket.

Francine nearly fell in her mad dash down the stairs, tearing through the dining room. It wasn’t there either. Azure: where was Azure? Francine was getting winded, running up and down the stairs.

By the time she made it all the way back up to the third floor, where she found Azure in her bedroom with the door open unpacking, she was

Francine, who was in no mood for Azure’s idea of a joke, stood breathing and trying to keep her wits about her. It wouldn’t do to come off as ungrateful or make her mad.

Francine already hated the sound of this but couldn’t stop where it was headed. Azure closed the door behind her.

Tears streamed down her face, though silently, and she got up to leave, but Azure wasn’t about to lose this chance to finish questioning her about the night before, separated from her co-conspirators.

Francine sighed and just slouched back into her seat.

Francine had been given guff from her dad, and she had been in screaming fights with her sisters, but she had never before felt more sure that any threat against her would be carried out. She immediately burst into tears, hoping she would pass right out, but things didn’t go that way for her, and she spilled every last detail.

Azure was true to her word. Not even yelling at Francine, she only thanked her and allowed her to leave after their conversation. No storming off to Ginny’s room. In fact, as Francine sat on the sofa in her sitting room, visions of the Mother she never knew and contemplations on the possible repercussions of what had just occurred dancing in her head, she saw Azure standing in front of Lady Adrema’s doorless room outside, where she disappeared.

The following day, Frannie decided to stop wallowing in misery over her misfortunes and find Ginny, hoping she wasn’t already under house arrest or something. Frannie knocked on the door to her bedroom, and the door opened. She walked in to find it empty. It wasn’t completely empty; there was a bed and a few other things, but Ginny wasn’t there. She appeared suddenly, only to grab Francine by the arm and quickly step back up through space with her to another room. Francine suddenly realized there weren’t any stairs in the previous room as she looked around the new one, which had no stairs either.

This one had tables all around the room, cabinets filled with jars, dozens of books on a shelf, and a big chest of drawers; Francine wasn’t even sure what this room was. But she could tell Ginny had something in front of her she was working on. It smelled terrible and looked boiling hot.

    Ginny got out a bag of gold dust, and Francine’s eyes went wide,

Ginny took the flask and her spellbook. Her hair hung loose to her back like it always was but wasn’t combed to its usual lustrous shine or curled slightly at the ends. As soon as the spell had been cast, the flask was empty, and her hair shone like fire reflected in glassy obsidian.

Before she could head to the bathroom to dress it, Neisha and Azure were downstairs knocking at the door. Without waiting for an answer, they started checking Ginny’s various rooms, first the bedroom. Then, they could be heard in the Library below, Neisha calling Ginny’s name as she teleported into the Spell lab.

Ginny groaned, knowing what this conversation was likely about, but acquiesced.

Before she’d even finished her sentence, Neisha teleported them. Francine nearly fell to the floor but plopped on a dining chair within sitting distance instead.

Azure tucked her hands behind her back and started to pace back and forth past the other side of the table as Frannie and Ginny were served each their favorite breakfast. Francine got a plate of pancakes with fresh fruit, cream, a portion of ham, and a pot of tea; Ginny had a savory bowl of oatmeal with crumbles of venison sausage and a cup of coffee.

Francine couldn’t help but roll her eyes internally as she dug in. She had heard this speech from her sisters and even her dad. She had to keep herself out of trouble and keep a good reputation, or Matt and the Trellingbills wouldn’t keep her Betrothal contract, and she would end up an old maid.

Frannie had never thought about it that way. She’d always been so focused on keeping Matt that she’d never considered whether he was worth keeping in the first place. It was always a given. He was the son of a Duke who could provide her and her family with everything they needed. What was he like? Sipping her tea, she tried to think. She remembered him as dashing, funny, and brave, but it had been over a year since she had even seen him.

Francine interrupted before she could stop herself.

Ginny set her spoon down and wiped her mouth.

Frannie felt the urge to protest again and say she loved Matt, but now Tony’s words rang in the back of her mind, and she refrained.

Frannie merely hung her head, knowing she had been on both the giving and receiving end of such pointless cruelties a time or two.

Ginny dropped her spoon into her half-eaten oatmeal with a clatter.

Ginny was starting to get worked up and teleported away. Neisha went after her, leaving Frannie alone to finish her breakfast and conversation with Azure. It was less painful than she imagined. They talked about ways to get people who were making them uncomfortable to be off already, never letting boys into her dorm room, and when the appropriate time to get the gun out would be. Gerdie would be sent along with her, staying in the dorm’s attached servant’s quarters so she wouldn’t be completely alone.

    That being said, you do need to use good sense and judgment. Every time you get backed into a corner and have no options, whenever someone forces your hand, you’ve just been stripped of your ability and right to choose for yourself. I don’t want that for you, and I don’t want to see you killed or jailed for killing someone else.”

To her surprise, Francine felt relieved afterward and even gave Azure a quick hug.

CH 19~ Picking Through the Remains

Second Chances Can't be Ignored

After a trip like this, there would usually be a few days of traveling time to think things through and decompress. Instead, everyone congregated, Ginny and Neisha cast the spells, and the group was whisked away from whence they came. Francine knew to expect things to be in a possible state of disarray when they arrived home, but she was still slapped in the face by the stack of crates in the atrium and jumped as Azure bellowed from behind her:



CH 19~ Picking Through the Remains

Second Chances Can't be Ignored

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The Adventurous Button Thief

CH 19~ Picking Through the Remains

Second Chances Can't be Ignored

This is an Exclusive Story for supporters of .css-13w9qce-Text{display:inline-block;color:var(--text-accent);}K.B. Silver

About the Creator

K.B. Silver

Comments

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Keep reading

The Adventurous Button Thief

This is an Exclusive Story for supporters of K.B. Silver