I feel terrible about breaching her trust, but not terrible enough to turn back. Nia left for drinks with Nolan over an hour ago. She offered to let me tag along, but I declined. They deserved time alone together, and I needed her out of the house so she didn’t realize that I had no intention of staying in my room.

Getting around the city without being noticed wasn’t difficult. All I had to do was keep the hood on the cloak I borrowed from Nia’s closet pulled over my hair and not trip over my skirts again. The dress Madame Ella sent yesterday was far too long. I would’ve thought she sent it to the wrong address if my name hadn’t been written on the box.

Nia suggested bringing it back, but I don’t want to be a bother. Madame Ella is already doing me a favor by altering my mother’s dresses, so I did my own hemming this morning.

The handful of people I came across were too drunk to even notice me skirting the shadows in my borrowed cloak. The downside is that, by the time I reach The Divide, I’m a ball of sweat underneath the thick wool.

The bridge waits like a silent sentinel, guarding the unknown.

There’s nothing to be afraid of. I’ve already met the people who live on the other side, and the bridge can handle the weight of not only horses and riders, but also carts of water . These old planks won’t have an issue with my weight.

It’s going to be fine.

Everything is fine.

With cool air filling my lungs, I take the first step.

Beyond the quiet groan of the board beneath my slipper, nothing happens. I don’t burst into flames or keel over dead. It’s just a bridge. I cross bridges all the time. Couldn’t reach the well in Gravale without crossing one.

Everything is fine.

I take another step. And another. Each one feels like a victory, a testament to my perseverance.

When I return to Rosehill, I’ll be able to tell everyone with certainty that there is nothing to fear. That our neighbors aren’t monsters out to dine on our flesh for supper. They have no intention of using our bones to pick their teeth clean.

Those are the sorts of nonsensical lies printed in the first few chapters of that ridiculous book Trevor gave me. I got so irritated by the falsehoods, I couldn’t even finish.

No wonder everyone in Rosehill is terrified.

When I can no longer see any lamplight at my back, the bridge starts to sway of its own volition. I wait for shadows to emerge from the gloom, but nothing appears. Mist falls around me like a shroud, so thick I can hardly see the steps in front of me.