Changeling (Sorcery and Society Book 1) Read online

  Changeling

  Molly Harper

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Discussion Questions

  About the Author

  Copyright

  This ebook is licensed to you for your personal enjoyment only.

  This ebook may not be sold, shared, or given away.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the writer’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Changeling

  Copyright © 2018 by Molly Harper

  Ebook ISBN: 9781641970341

  Interior illustrations by Polina Hrytskova @PollyKul

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

  No part of this work may be used, reproduced, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without prior permission in writing from the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

  NYLA Publishing

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  http://www.nyliterary.com

  1

  Changeling

  Lightbourne, Northern England

  One wrong step and my ankle would snap like greenwood kindling.

  I bolted down the cobblestone walkway connecting Rabbit’s Warren to the maze of side streets that cushioned the elegant neighborhoods of Lightbourne from our neighborhoods. Heaven forbid our Guardians smell the “humors” drifting out of the more modest Snipe houses.

  I ran through the early morning fog as fast as I dared on my unsteady legs, lungs burning, clutching the canvas bag to my chest. Mum had been so tired the night before, she’d taken a shirt of Owen Winter’s home for mending, rather than staying late. Mum rarely took anything from Raven’s Rest, for fear it would get soiled in our grimy little house or worse, that she’d be accused of stealing.

  Unfortunately, Mum was also tired enough to forget the shirt when we left our house before dawn. She sent me to fetch it because she needed Mary’s help getting the day started. Since starting as a maid-of-all-work at Raven’s Rest two years before, I’d been trusted with small tasks like hanging sheets and drying dishes, but Mum needed Mary’s help with jobs I was simply too sickly to do.

  The house ran on a precise schedule. The Winters woke up at exactly six, followed by breakfast at seven. Washing day chores were immediately followed by dusting, sweeping, and scrubbing the water closets before any of the Winters woke. Owen left for classes at the Palmer School for Young Men at nine, while Mr. Winter retired to his study to work. Mum met with Mrs. Winter to discuss menus and upcoming social engagements before luncheon. We spent the afternoon helping Mum prepare an elaborate formal dinner, which we served and cleaned up before retreating home just before midnight to collapse into our beds and start all over the next morning.

  I supposed that I should have been grateful that unlike my friends’ families, we were allowed to live off-site in the Snipe district known as Rabbit’s Warren. My friend, Elizabeth’s, family was required to live with their Guardians full-time as a term of their employment, meaning they were available to serve around the clock. But given the uneven pavement and my weak ankles, living on-site sounded pretty good just about now.

  I ran, careful to look for any cray-fire carriages that might have wandered into our neighborhood. The richer magical families could afford the new horseless carriages; quiet, smooth-running vehicles powered by the cray-fire engine and steered by coachmen. The magically super-charged crystals provided the speed and safety of a horse-driven carriage without the earthy drawbacks. The problem was that when these magical marvels inadvertently found their way into the Warren, the coachmen tended to drive at breakneck speed to get their esteemed passengers back out.

  I rounded the last corner to Armitage Lane, rallying the last reserves of energy it would take to get to Raven’s Rest. And I bounced face-first off of a warm mass that smelled of sandalwood and ozone. I yelped, sprawling back on the stone walkway, losing my grip on the shirt. Barely feeling the pain radiating through my backside, I scrambled to my knees, searching for the canvas bag. The rough fabric would protect Owen’s fine shirt from street dirt, but not a puddle. If I damaged that shirt, Mum would make me regret it, and then Mrs. Winter would get a hold of me.

  Large hands wrapped around my thin arms and pulled me to my feet. I winced as the lift stretched my abused leg muscles. A smooth tenor said, “I’m so sorry.”

  My head snapped up, finally registering that there was a finely dressed Guardian man holding me up by my elbows. I squinted up at him. No, not a man, though he was the tallest boy I’d ever seen. He was sixteen or so, on that awkward edge between gangly adolescence and growing up. He had the high cheekbones and long, refined features of the upper class, with large blue eyes and thick dark hair so long it brushed his high collar. An expression of bemused mortification made his features almost approachable. He was wearing the black suit and blue-and-grey striped tie that marked him as a Palmer’s student. His pristine white shirt was marked with soot from my face.

  I cringed in his grip, expecting at least a good telling off.

  “Am I hurting you?” he asked, letting go of my arms. The sudden release of bloodflow to my hands made me suddenly aware of how badly I’d skinned my hands on the stone.

  I raised an eyebrow. He was slouching down over me, turning my scraped palms over in his hands, inspecting the damage to my pale skin.

  “I just wasn’t watching where I was going. It’s a terrible habit of mine when I’m in the middle of a good think. Alicia says I wouldn’t notice if dragons fell out of the sky and did a dance on my head,” he said in that soothing voice. He didn’t seem at all worried about the sandy grit on my hands or the dirt embedded under my ragged nails. He just cupped them in his own hands, sending a pleasant warmth blooming through my stinging fingers.

  Was this a trick? It felt like a trick.

  I groaned at the sight of even more smudges on his cuffs. “Your shirt.”

  He scoffed at his cuffs, which were accented with silver cufflinks shaped like lanterns.

  “Never mind the shirt. I can fix it. Are you all right? You bounced off that sidewalk like an India rubber ball.” He was inspecting my face, craning his neck down to make up for the considerable difference in our heights. Not for the first time, I wished I was built like Mary. While my sixteen-year-old sister bloomed with health, I was under-sized and had a permanent sickly look to me that made me look several years younger than fourteen.

  Oh, no. That was probably why he was being so nice to me. He probably thought he’d knocked down a little girl. Heat flooded my cheeks and I felt tears gathering at the corners of my eyes. He was only being nice because he felt sorry for me.

  I looked down at the ground, careful not to let him see the tears.

  “I’m fine, thank you. I just need to get to work before my mother-” I gasped. “The shirt!”

  I pulled my hands from his and stooped to pick the battered canvas bag. It was dry, thank goodness, but rubbing the rough material against my hands had me hissing in pain. A tear slipped dow
n my cheek and I wiped at it quickly.

  “Here,” he said. “I can help with that.”

  The boy patted his pockets, pulling out a tangled red silk cord, a broken pocket watch, a small blue-green egg that glowed from the inside. He handed me these items while he searched the inside of his vest. The egg felt warm to the touch and pulsed pleasantly against my injured skin. Finally, he pulled a smooth black rock out of his breast pocket.

  “Aha!” he said, smiling at me. He took the canvas bag and tucked it under his arm. “Cup your hands.”

  He placed the black rock in my raised palms. I stared into its glassy surface, mesmerized by the rings of white, grey and purple.

  “Hold… still,” he whispered, carefully drawing an intricate magical symbol against the surface of the rock with his fingertip. The twisting line glowed red and I felt the pain fade from my hands. “There you are.”

  I sighed in relief, watching as the scrapes closed into shiny pink scars. I’d never experienced magic directly. I’d seen it performed plenty of times, but I never felt its touch on my skin. It was more comfortable than I expected, familiar, like being wrapped in a favorite old blanket. It only added to the collection of scars and other marks of my service on my hands. They were rough and dry and nothing like the soft, pampered skin of his fingers. “Thank you very much.”

  “Well, I did bowl into you, very inconsiderate of me. I didn’t expect it to work that well though. You must be a quick healer,” he said, smiling again. In five minutes, this boy had spoken more to me than any boy – never mind a Guardian boy - had in years. Boys were usually too busy tripping over themselves to get to my pretty golden sister to even realize I was there.

  But again, he probably thought I was a child. No stranger believed I’d graduated from the Warren school two years before when they saw my short, scrawny frame. He was simply being kind to a child, which was a mark of good character, but crushed the tiny thrill of excitement fluttering in my chest.

  Behind me, I could hear the bells of the Capitol clanging, announcing six o’clock. The boy’s mouth dropped open in a dismayed expression. “Is that the time?”

  “For at least the next hour,” I told him wearily.

  “You’ll be all right, yes? You’ll be able to get to your Guardian’s home?” he asked, backing away from me. I nodded. “Good, just watch out for distracted boys who don’t look where they’re going. We’re a menace.”

  “I will,” I promised, watching him run into the swirling mist. Then I realized, he still had my bag. “Wait!”

  Frazzled, the boy jogged back and placed the bag in my hands.

  “Thank you.”

  He smiled one last time. “My pleasure, miss.”

  And he was off again, pumping those long legs to run down Armitage Lane. I watched him run, sure I would never see this boy, or anyone like him, again. I ran my thumb over the smooth bit of stone in my hand.

  “Wait!” I called. “Your rock!”

  “It’s obsidian! Good for healing!” He turned, still moving as he waved his arm. “Keep it, just in case!”

  I shook my head, watching until he disappeared from sight. Mum would tell me I was being silly mooning over some Guardian boy who was only trying to prevent a problem between his family and the Winters – mistreating a servant was considered the height of bad manners.

  Wait.

  “Mum!” I moaned, trying to dash towards Raven’s Rest, but finding my legs too bruised and sore to run. I glanced at the obsidian in my hand. Maybe there was some residual magic left in it? Feeling more than a little silly, I bent at the waist and rubbed the rock in circles on my knees, trying to recall the comforting warmth that had seeped into my hands when he’d healed my scrapes.

  To my surprise, the pain in my legs slowly faded, just enough to let me walk at a quick clip up the hill to Raven’s Rest. I stuck the obsidian in my apron pocket and prayed my mother wouldn’t question where I’d gotten it. She would not have been pleased with her daughter causing public scenes with a Guardian boy in view of our employer’s home.

  By the time I reached the servants’ entrance to the sprawling Georgian manor, I was doing well to stay on my feet. The kitchen was dim, but warm, thanks to the heat of the cookstove. Mum was stoking the fire, preparing to slide slices of bread on a toasting fork.

  My sister, Mary, was chattering, as usual. She was always chattering about something, lately, it was the new play at the Rabbit’s Warren theatre, the dress she was piecing together from Mrs. Winter’s sewing room scraps, and Owen Winter. Oh, how she could go on about Owen Winter.

  Mum’s worn face bathed in warm light. How much sleep had she gotten the night before, after spending an extra hour mending Owen’s shirt?

  “Ah, you’re back,” Mum sighed, her tone relieved. Her eyes narrowed suddenly. “And you’ve got dirt on the bag!”

  “I’m sorry, Mum,” I said. “Someone bumped me and knocked me to the ground, and I dropped it. But the shirt should be clean.”

  “Knocked you to the ground?” She spied the dirt stains on my heavy grey skirts. “Are you all right?”

  “I’m fine,” I said.

  “You didn’t overtax yourself, did you?”

  I shook my head. “I told you, I’m fine.”

  “Well, sit down and rest yourself. We’ve some time yet.”

  Mary frowned as I slid into one of the battered kitchen chairs, feeling very tired suddenly. Perhaps I had pushed myself too hard, running home and back. I wasn’t used to that sort of exercise. Mary’s good mood seemed to be restored after going into the cold larder for eggs and raw bacon. Her beet-dyed pink skirts swished back and forth as she bounced between the counter and the old, black wood stove.

  “I should make extra. Owen loves his bacon,” Mary cooed, stretching fat, thick strips across the cast iron pan.

  “Mister Owen,” Mum corrected firmly, without looking up from the fire.

  “Mister Owen,” Mary repeated cheekily, winking at me. I dropped my head on the table. I didn’t have the energy for her nonsense this morning.

  I’d only been still a moment when I felt a nudge against the top of my head. “Sarah, you forgot your pill.”

  “Mum,” I groaned into the table.

  “You have to take them every day as soon as you wake up, Sarah, no skipping, no forgetting. We don’t spend our hard-earned money on these things for you to scorn them.”

  I winced. Mum knew just which strings to pull, and when she wanted to save time, she simply yanked on the big one labeled, “Guilt.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” I mumbled as Mum dropped the pressed brown tablet into my hand.

  My parents paid dearly for the special medication from Mr. Fallow, a disgraced former Guild member who worked as an apothecary, in the heart of Rabbit’s Warren. A mix of vitamins, herbs, and components that weren’t quite legal, the pills treated an array of symptoms leftover from a prolonged battle with Japanese measles when I was three.

  I’d been doing all I could to avoid the pills for weeks. They left me feeling sick to my stomach and twitchy, like I was coming out of my own skin. I’d palmed two so far that week, after being so jittery than I darn near dropped Mrs. Winter’s prized orchid pot. But Mum was watching me now, and so I dutifully popped the rusty-tasting lump between my thin lips.

  I accepted the cup of bone-chilling water from the sink pump and showed her my empty mouth, careful not to arch my tongue and give away the pill’s hiding place. She patted my head. As soon as she turned, I spat the tablet into my hand and tossed it into the fire. The flames crackled with dirty green smoke, but Mum was too busy to notice.

  It took all of my concentration to keep the triumphant smirk from my lips. Nice Snipe girls did not smirk.

  “I’ll mind the bacon, Mary,” Mum said, shooing her from the stove. “It’s washing day, so you two go gather the hampers. Be ready to snatch up the sheets after the wake-up bell, then get to the dusting. Mrs. Winter is expecting a guest in the parlor this afternoon.”
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br />   Mary pouted. “I was going to help serve breakfast.”

  I snorted, covering it with a false cough. By “serving breakfast,” Mary meant standing by the breakfast table and simpering at Owen behind his parents’ backs. Fortunately for Mary, Owen ignored her flirtations in favor of the bacon. I didn’t want to think about what could happen to my family if he noticed and complications arose.

  “I can handle breakfast,” Mum told her sternly. Mary’s pout deepened and her brows drew together in a stubborn line. Mum responded with a hard stare over the top of her wire-rim spectacles. Mary’s mouth bent into a mutinous frown. Mum glowered back. Sensing that the facial expression warfare was at its end, Mary rolled her eyes and snatched a laundry basket off the worktable.

  Pinching my lips together to prevent a snicker, I followed Mary out of the servants’ hallway. My skirt slapped dully against the kitchen door.

  Like their parents before them, my parents had been working for the Winters since they were children. Mum was perpetually worn and snappish. We practically had to carry Papa home after he spent all day working on the Winters’ gardens and grounds. Mary said she could remember a time when Mum smiled and hummed while she worked. She could remember Papa drinking water with supper and telling stories in front of the fire, instead of dropping off to sleep as soon as he flopped into his worn-out leather chair, a bottle dangling from his fingers. She never said that this stopped when I came along. She really didn’t have to.

  The worst part was that there was no end in sight, no holiday, no retirement, just years of work stretching out before me like an endless hallway – where every door was marked “Back-Breaking Labor.” I already knew what my life would be like in a few years after Mr. Winter arranged my marriage to some Snipe boy and I moved away to take care of some other Guardian family. Mary, as the stronger of the two of us, would remain behind to replace Mum as head housekeeper. My future would be even more work, only without a mother to take the brunt of the kitchen chores and remind me to take my pills.