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Chapter 5 Sarah’s Scheme
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“Saving you requires no justification.” Brielle’s voice was devoid of emotion, flat as a stone.
She turned on her heel and walked away.
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Finished
Watching her retreating back, Lilith’s mind raced back to the events of the morning. A sense of disquiet gnawed at her. Unable to quell the rising guilt, she called out, “Lady Brielle!”
Brielle halted. Lilith scrambled to catch up.
“Regarding what transpired this morning… I am truly sorry. Had I not been burdened with the task of attending to you, I might have fled the estate hours ago My frustration was misplaced, and I took it out on you.” Lilith hung her head, shame coloring her tone.
She had not expected Brielle to intervene. If not for her Sarah would have surely beaten her to death.
Furthermore, Brielle had even reset her dislocated arm. She was nothing like the venomous, malicious shrew the rumors painted her to be.
Realization dawned on Brielle. The girl was merely a scapegoat for her frustration.
Lilith warned her again, “If you want to stay, don’t cross Sarah. She’s the head maid here, and her own mother is the housekeeper of the inner quarters.”
“I already have.” It was too late for such words now.
Lilith lowered her voice further, glancing around anxiously. “I once overheard something. Donna must have promised Sarah that once she became the lady of the house, given her frailty and inability to fulfill her wifely duties, she would appoint Sarah as Lord Daniel’s personal chambermaid. She was to serve him in Donna’s stead.
“Now that the marriage to Lord Daniel has fallen through, if you wish to win Sarah over, you could promise her that position. Then, perhaps, she will cease her persecution.”
Lilith, fueled by gratitude for Brielle’s aid, offered this counsel with solemn sincerity.
Brielle was taken aback. So, there had been a pact between Donna and Sarah. The position of chambermaid exchanged for loyalty.
Now that the marriage plot had crumbled, Sarah looked upon Brielle with nothing but venom.
As Brielle connected the dots, she realized the depth of Donna’s malice. Not only had she manipulated Brielle into marrying Daniel to face his cruelty, but she had also ensured Brielle was surrounded by enemies. She had left her no path to survival.
Brielle taking the bride’s place and entering Clarke Estage was but one piece of a grand, sinister design.
Recalling the drugged rolls from earlier, the Dreamer’s Dust was likely procured by either Sarah or Donna.
Brielle studied Lilith. If the morning’s incident could be forgiven, perhaps Lilith could prove to be a useful
pawn.
“Do you trust me? I can save your mother.”
Lilith’s expression shifted. She recalled Brielle’s prophecy from that morning-that within three days, there
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Chapter 5 Sarah’s Scheme
would be a funeral.
Finished
Brielle’s eyes were deep, fathomless pools. A chill skittered down Lilith’s spine. She felt an eerie disconnect; those ancient, knowing eyes seemed ill-suited for Brielle’s fleshy, unassuming face.
“I trust you.” Compelled by some force beyond her understanding, she whispered.
“Then procure food for me. Quietly. I shall await you in my chambers.” With that, Brielle turned and disappeared into the room.
Lilith stood frozen in her wake.
Before long, Lilith returned, moving like a shadow. From the folds of her apron, she produced a roasted chicken wrapped in waxed paper and pressed it into Brielle’s hands. “Eat quickly. The aroma is strong. If they catch the scent and come investigating, we shall both suffer the lash.”
Lilith stood watch at the door while Brielle devoured the fowl, finishing every morsel before letting out a satisfied belch.
Lilith approached the bed, hesitation in her stance. “Do you… do you truly possess a remedy?”
Sated, Brielle’s energy surged. “What ails your mother? Did you summon a physician? What tinctures did he prescribe?”
“In the beginning, it was naught but a megrim and a fever. We summoned a physician, and he administered decoctions for the chill, yet they offered little relief. Over the past fortnight, her condition has worsened. The physician is baffled. He suggested she needed constant care. He suspected… some malevolent spirit…”
A malevolent spirit? Brielle’s eyes gleamed with interest. “Aside from the headache and fever, what other symptoms manifest?”
“In the few nights I watched over her, she would stand toward the entrance for no reason at the stroke of midnight. When the fever seized her, she would babble incoherently, though I could not decipher her words.”
The description was peculiar. Brielle pressed on. “Before your mother fell ill, did anything unusual occur?”
At this, Lilith’s eyes lit up with recollection. “In the two days prior to her illness, she spoke of a wealthy family using banknotes to honor their dead. She deemed it a wasteful extravagance. So, she ventured to the burial ground and retrieved two banknotes that had not been wholly consumed by the flames.”
Brielle looked aghast. “You dare steal coin from the dead?”
Lilith started. “It truly is a curse, is it not?”
Brielle pondered for a moment. She then procured parchment and a quill, scrawled out a prescription, and handed it to Lilith.
“Take this and procure the ingredients. It will sustain your mother for the nonce. Then, take those two banknotes your mother reclaimed and return to that grave. Burn them to ash. And while you’re there, leave a small offering of coins for the dead-a proper tribute to see them on their way.”
Lilith stared at the prescription, nodding dazedly. “Very well.”
She could not be certain if Brielle’s prescription would work, but she was desperate enough to try.
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Chapter 5 Sarah’s Scheme
Suddenly, Lilith recoiled as if struck. “But… I cannot leave the manor.”
Finished
Brielle considered this for a moment. “Tonight, keep your ears pricked. When chaos ensues within the estate, seize the opportunity to depart. Do not await Sarah’s leave. Complete your business and return immediately.”
Lilith gazed into Brielle’s eyes-eyes that seemed to pierce through to one’s very soul. She exuded an aura of inscrutability.
This Brielle had undergone a metamorphosis since her suicide attempt. Her gaze was cold, devoid of
warmth.
“But if Sarah reports my absence…” Lilith fretted.
Brielle smiled with scornful mockery. “Her? She will have her own calamity to contend with tonight.”
They believed they could band together against her? Now that Jocelyn stood in her stead, it remained to be seen who would be the tormentor and who the victim.
********
Night descended shrouded in silence. Brielle sat motionless upon a stool, awaiting the inevitable visitor.
The moon and stars were obliterated by heavy, brooding clouds; the air smelled of impending rain.
Around the ninth hour, footsteps echoed from beyond the threshold.
A dark silhouette pressed itself against the door, straining to hear the movements within.
Sarah’s low, venomous voice drifted through the wood. She consumed three rolls today. That should suffice. The dosing will ensure she experiences a night of hedonistic bliss, rendering her insensible. When she awakens, that will mark the end of her wretched existence.”
The previous night, Daniel had not actually sent men to claim Brielle’s virtue; he had merely staged the scene to terrify her.
But tonight, once Brielle lay with multiple men and was soiled, Daniel would surely not permit her to live. That ugly, low-born wretch would suffer a fate worse than a live burial.
Brielle discerned Sarah’s shadow through the window, but she could not identify the figure standing opposite her.
Who was Sarah conversing with? Was it Donna?
“Come now, all of you. Go inside,” Sarah hissed to the men.
The door creaked open. Several figures entered in succession. No tapers had been lit, leaving the room pitch black. They were forced to navigate by touch.
The door clicked shut. Only Sarah remained outside, listening intently for the sounds of debauchery.
However, she was oblivious to the fact that Brielle had already slipped out through the window and was now standing beneath the eaves, moving with lethal silence behind Sarah…
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Fate Binds Me to Lord Clarke
