Nox’s hands had pickled and pruned from her hours scrubbing in the laundry while Amaris was tasked with the gentler chore of dusting the furniture. When she’d finished with the soap and bubbles and linens, Nox stumbled up the stairs to lie down. She’d rather stare at the ceiling and trace the crown molding in silence than interact with peers.

She’d been surprised, but always happy, when Amaris had entered with a handful of natural magic.

“You went to the pond? Already?” Nox asked, attempting to bury whatever small hurt at the idea that Amaris had gone without her.

Amaris made a face. She crossed her arms defensively. “Just for a minute,” she said. “I was already outside when I helped shake the dust from the curtains, and it’s really nice out. There are no matrons there yet. Don’t be mad! Now, are you going to come look or not?”

Two mosquito bites, four stumbles over exposed roots, and one pause for the distracted plucking of a flower later, they arrived at the pond’s edge. Amaris was right—it was indeed a beautiful day. The bright, blue sky of early summer was neither too hot nor too cold. The air smelled faintly floral from the lavender bushes that clustered around the property. If it weren’t for the numerous other children in and around the water, the day would have been perfect. One of her least favorite frogs, a boy named Achard, was splashing a pair of freckled sisters rather obnoxiously from where they sat on the shore.

Her lip curled in irritation whenever she saw him. Perhaps she was meant to be the bigger person. Achard had been punished more times than most in the house, the spankings, the time locked in isolation, and the thousands of lines of contrition that would stoke the fire of his hateful heart. Anytime a matron took out her anger on him, he turned around and unleashed his fists on one of his peers. Misery may love company, but Nox’s sympathy ran dry whenever Achard forced others to join his suffering.

Nox couldn’t make out what the older sister said to the boy as she sheltered the ginger toddler from the water, but apparently, it had irritated him. The squelching sounds of mud filled the air as he stomped from the pond.

“Leech!” someone screamed.

A boy with britches rolled up to his knees looked down at his toes in horror at the swollen parasite suckling on his ankles. The children around him shrieked as he pulled it off his leg and began to chase them with the disgusting aquatic worm. Nox nearly gagged in horror, disgusted by the water and its murky terrors. She was equally agitated by the presence of other people, but there was little she could do about that.

She turned to Amaris, angling her body away from the chaos as she asked, “Where are these secret jewels?”