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deemed it mandatory that I attend the ball, or I would have found a reason not to go. I wondered if that would change now that safety was of greater concern. Leda would have outright refused if Miss Scarlett hadn’t told her she had to attend as part of the curriculum for her second year.
    It’ll be a perfect chance to execute the manners I’ve taught you, she’d said a few days before, setting her sharp eyes mostly on me. You’ll not get another chance like this for months, even years.
    “I certainly won’t be dancing for very long,” Leda said. Crowds of witches activated her curse, overwhelming her with a headache and making it almost impossible to function. “I’ll stay just long enough for Miss Scarlett to see me, and then I’ll leave.”
    “Will you be able to go, Bianca?” Michelle asked.
    “Yes, of course,” I said with a wicked smile. “I’ll go dressed as a Guardian and show off my newfound talent—sword fighting.”
    They stared at me, aghast for a moment, then we all dissolved into a fit of girlish giggles that faded into the sweet perfume of the beautiful spring day.

Running Pains
    A message fluttered into my bedroom the next morning, bringing the early tendrils of sunrise with it. The night-stained sky, with all her fading stars, winked at me from the skinny window on the opposite wall. I closed my eyes and groped blindly for the folded messenger paper hovering over my face until I caught it in my palm. With a groan, I forced myself to sit up. It took several moments to wake up enough to comprehend the message.
Meet me on the Wall in twenty minutes.
—Merrick
    Yawning and half-blind from sleep, I stumbled into an old dress with long sleeves, left my feet bare as usual, and crept through the silent halls of Chatham Castle, braiding my hair as I went. A few maids, as weary as I, stumbled through their morning routines, ignoring me.
    The air felt chilly when I stepped out into it, prickling the edges of my skin. The Wall, a protective structure several stories high, ringed the front and sides of Chatham Castle proper. Its top had a walkway wide enough to permit three or four carriages abreast. Most Guardians assigned to duty at Chatham Castle lived within the Wall. They called it the Ranks. The Gatehouse, where Papa and Tiberius worked, sat in the middle of the Wall, above the entrance from the road.
    Merrick straightened as I neared. The early morning light made his eyes look bright and alert. Despite the early hour, he looked refreshed, as if he’d been awake for hours. I stifled another yawn at the thought. It was my first lesson. Surely he’d go easy on me.
    “Ready to begin?” he asked. His deep voice rolled with a long rumble. His hair was pulled back in a ponytail as usual.
    “I don’t know,” I said, my voice betraying my suspicion. “What are we doing?”
    He grinned. Perhaps he liked it when people didn’t know what to expect from him. He certainly had enough of that mysterious, vague air.
    “We’re going to run,” he said.
    “No!” I cried with a sharp intake of breath. Even the thought of running seemed unbearable. “I mean . . . I don’t run anymore.”
    His eyes narrowed. “You can’t run?”
    “I-I mean to say that I haven’t run since—”
    The words stalled in my throat. I haven’t run since Mama died. But even that was a lie. I had run. The day after burying Mama I headed into Letum Wood out of desperation, hoping to get away from my overwhelming new life. It had been a mistake. A terrible, terrible mistake.
    “Since Marie died?” Merrick finished for me. My heart reacted with a painful ache. I folded my arms across my chest.
    “I won’t run.”
    “Yes, you will,” he said without an ounce of sympathy. “It’s our first lesson and I need to figure out what you’re capable of before I plan the rest out. I know you used to run all the time. Derek told me.”
    Like Papa, Merrick spoke with even, calm logic. No emotion, no judgment. Just fact. It was