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locked from inside the room. It was unclear why he was unable to escape; it was suggested that perhaps he was asleep. The Duke of Exeter, returning from the theatre, had stopped and broken down the door to get to him, but the gentleman was already dead.
    She took a book down from the shelf. Holding it open by the cover, she gently shook it. A newspaper cutting slipped out from between the pages and fluttered down.   
    Raiden unfolded it and gently smoothed out the creases. This cutting was dated almost twelve years ago. The faded print told how a fire had broken out in a young woman’s bedroom. The door had been locked from inside the room. The Duke of Exeter had been passing at the time, but he had been unable to save her. The woman’s name was Lady Helena Feralis - her mother.
    Raiden looked from one cutting to the other. The circumstances were too similar to be a coincidence. She had been five years old when her mother died. She was asleep in the nursery at the time, but she had been woken by her mother’s screams. They were told afterwards the door had been locked from inside the room, but the key was still in the door, so why hadn’t she escaped?
    The newspapers assumed it had been a tragic accident, but Raiden knew differently. Someone else had been in the room with her mother that night. Her mother hadn’t come to kiss her goodnight, so she had crept down to her bedroom. She had heard voices; her mother’s and someone else’s. Her mother had been pleading with someone. Marielle had found her and taken her back to bed. Later, the screaming had started.
    Raiden traced the words of the article with her finger. She had never heard of James Matherson before. He was no one of significance. He didn’t appear to have any magic or money. But it appeared whoever was responsible for her mother’s death, might also be responsible for his death. If she could find out who had killed James Matherson, she might finally find out who had killed her mother and why.
    She had always assumed it was a coincidence the Duke of Exeter was passing. As a fire witch, he could have sensed the fire and come to help. Now it occurred to her as a fire witch, he could also have been responsible for starting the fire in the first place. The two deaths were virtually similar and in both cases the Duke was involved.
    But why would Blaize’s father want to kill her mother?
    She gathered up the newspaper cuttings and placed them back in the book. There was nothing she could do about it. If she had come into her family’s magic she could have summoned back her mother’s ghost and asked her who had been in the room with her that night. But she hadn’t and it was beginning to look like she never would.
    Conscious of Miss Grimble’s warning at dinner, she blew out the candle and went to check her window was shut tight. Her bedroom was on the highest floor, but there were demons like Spring Heeled Jack who could leap this high. The street below was empty except for a young man. Raiden rested her elbows on the windowsill. He wore no hat or gloves. His hair was a brilliant white. Perhaps he was an ice witch like Glacia. As if sensing her staring, he raised his head. He seemed to be looking directly at her window. She moved back and drew the curtains. She must be imagining it. She lifted a corner and looked through the gap; he was still staring at her window. She let the curtain fall back into place. Perhaps he had seen her watching him.
    She climbed into bed and pulled the covers up around her and tucked her cold feet against the brimstone. There was nothing she could do about her mother’s death. If she had magic she could have done something, but she didn’t and she needed to accept she might not ever have any. Perhaps there was nothing wrong with her; maybe this was how she was meant to be. Most of the population had no magic. Maybe it wasn’t that she was flawed or defective, just that she wasn’t special. She was ordinary, just like nearly