An ancient piece of newsprint fluttered out.
It looked so old she feared it might crumble in her hands, but the waxy paper was surprisingly sturdy. The print was old-fashioned and difficult to read, but the words at the top were quite familiar.
* * *
The Daily Rumor
MONSTER!
By Kilbourne Knightlinger
Here ye, my dear Northerners. There has been another monster attack! Last night, the mighty Lord Bane Slaughterwood had his throat ripped out.
The Valors continue to swear that they did not create any monster. But for ye who haven’t been counting, this be the third violent attack on House Slaughterwood. And all these attacks began after the unfortunate death of our beloved Castor Valor—whom many speculate was killed by Vengeance Slaughterwood during the tragic slaying of House Merrywood.
It could still be coincidence that this monster is now coming after Slaughterwoods. There have been other vicious attacks, which have led many to speculate these monstrous murders are not targeted. But some fear that these attacks are only because the Valors do not have control over the abomination they have created.
* * *
The writing turned into gibberish after that, no doubt because of the curse. But thankfully, the original script stayed intact as Evangeline reread.
There was no date on the article, but she imagined this news had taken place after the story that Jacks had told her in the carriage—and it seemed to confirm everything Jacks had said. It mentioned both the tragic slaying of House Merrywood and the death of Castor Valor.
Evangeline tried not to jump to conclusions—this was a scandal sheet, after all—but she couldn’t help but wonder if this was the information she’d been looking for. She’d wanted to know why the North had turned on the Valors, and this seemed to explain it. Their son had been killed, and they had created a monster in revenge. The article even used the word abomination.
Could this be the same abomination that many believed was locked up in the Valory?
But that didn’t quite make sense to Evangeline. Everything she’d read about the Valors made it sound as if they were magical and powerful—they would have no need to create a monster for revenge. But perhaps the rumor that they’d created the monster was enough to get people to turn on them.
Evangeline knew firsthand just how powerful rumors could be. And she could easily imagine a family like the Slaughterwoods starting the rumor—especially if Aurora Valor had left Vengeance at the altar for another man.
She looked once more at the book in her lap. It was open to a table of contents that appeared to list names of Slaughterwood family members:
The list went on for several pages.
Evangeline started with Vengeance, hoping to get more answers about the Valors, and compare the book’s account with the story Jacks had told her in the carriage.
Unfortunately, the pages were blank.
She flipped back to the table of contents, and this time, it was Glendora’s name that caught her eye. She hadn’t been in Jacks’s story, but she had been married to Vengeance, and there were large portraits of her throughout the castle, so perhaps Evangeline could learn something.
Glendora’s entry opened with a picture of her in a coffin. Her eyes were closed, and her face was aged with countless wrinkles.
The words Glory in Death were printed beneath the picture and above it a span of years that suggested she’d died at the age of eighty-six. The entry on the following page was a surprisingly opinionated piece of history, and Evangeline wondered if the story curse had given the words a bit of extra flavor.
Evangeline stopped reading and returned to the line about flowers and mirth. Her fingers shook with excitement as she rushed to pull out the page of clues that the previous key had written.
Just as she’d recalled, the flowers had been drawn by the words One for Mirth. She knew it could be just a coincidence— a lot of people planted flowers. But hadn’t LaLa said something about Glendora having a famed winter garden? The passage also described Glendora as generous and good and joyful. Perhaps she was just a kind person—as Robin Slaughterwood seemed to be—or perhaps something magical had made Glendora that way.
Evangeline took another look at Glendora’s picture. It was in black-and-white, faded with age, but it was clear enough to see the woman wore a long heavy chain with a jeweled pendant.
Could this be the mirth stone?
Evangeline felt a burst of excitement, followed by a bolt of hope that Glendora had been buried with this stone—since the drawing showed her in a coffin.
She considered telling Jacks of her discovery, but after the events of that evening, he was still the last person she wanted to see.