Midnight's Song by Keely Victoria Read Free Book Online Page B

only the beginning of a fence that seemed to span for at least
a mile and house a spanning forest within its bounds. Vines lined
the sides of the gate and crept up its swirly iron bars and a sea
of brilliant, shining paper lanterns lined all of the trees in the
garden directly behind it. Everything was so lush, so green! Where
were they getting the water to create such a lush inhabitance in a
world that claimed to have little to none?
    Archie leaned over and glided his
finger over a red button beside the gate. It was apparent that he
was speaking into some sort of intercom, but I couldn’t hear a word
of it. A light suddenly switched on at the entrance and the gates
swung open. The world was dark now, but our cobblestone path was
lit with dozens of flickering lights that went all of the way to
the entrance.
    The carriage came to a
stop in front of colossal door. The door itself was huge – but it
was connected to an even mightier mansion. We parked between a
spluttering fountain and a uniform line of servants and family
members who had come to greet us. Jackoby came down from his hiding
place on the top of the cart and unlatched the carriage door. He
took my hand – now trembling – and gently helped me down onto the
ground.
    My anxieties were at their highest
now, and as if that wasn’t enough I soon found myself being nearly
crushed in an unexpected embrace. Less than a second after I
emerged from the cabin, a gracefully moving young woman approached
me. It was Wren. With a multitude of servants watching, I’d
expected her to be formal in her greeting. I was wrong on all
accounts. As soon as she saw me, Wren pulled me in for an awkward,
emotional hug.
    “Welcome to the Devereaux
Estate.”

8 | Prim
and Proper

    I woke up the next morning to find
myself bombarded with sunlight. The moment that I opened my eyes, I
panicked. The sight of these foreign walls and lavish windows were
enough to send me spiraling into culture shock. Last night the room
had been too dim for me to see much. Now, I could see that it was
lusher than I could have ever anticipated.
    The first thing I
noticed was the walls. They were plastered with a coral, swirling
wallpaper that spanned to the top of a ceiling that was at least 10 feet taller
than I was. Decorated gas lanterns were mounded on each wall,
enclosed by mazes of white molding. At the very end of the maze was
a pair of glass doors that led out to my own private
balcony. This is for me? I fathomed, choking on my tears. This was too
much for anyone to take in, much less someone like
me.
    I turned my head to
see a tray of uneaten fruit and barely nibbled breads sitting on
the table next to my bed. After arriving last night Wren insisted
on taking me on a grand tour of the Estate. We didn’t venture far,
but I did get a chance to see the kitchen and become acquainted
with the head chef. She was a cheeky 7 th caste woman known as Haley
King.
    I’d only seen Grandmamma briefly last
night. I was far too tiresome to dress up and present myself to the
rest of my relatives, so I played sick and retired to my room early
in the evening as an excuse to avoid the prodding. Despite my
refusals, the head chef had been kind enough to send up a tray of
food for me anyway. It was a kind gesture, but I was so tired that
I barely took a few bites of the food before falling onto the bed
half-asleep anyway.
    I lifted the sheets
and took notice of something else I’d been unable to finish before
collapsing onto the bed last night; and that would be dressing myself. Apparently I had been so tired that I’d dropped onto the
mattress before I’d even finished disrobing. The paisley cotton
nightgown that I’d intended to wear was still on the foot of the
bed as proof of the mishap. It didn’t seem to be such a big deal at
first seeing that no one was here to gawk at me. Then, I heard a
thud.
    “Good morning milady! It’s
time to get up and at ‘em! ” An exuberant maid smiled as she swung
the door