“What are you doing?” she demanded.

Achard sneered. He had picked on her and pulled her hair when they were children, then pushed his mouth against hers behind the stables after they’d crested thirteen, wanting more from her than she’d ever give. She had gagged, disgusted at his forced affection, and left him with a swollen, black eye. Nox would never forgive the type of person who took what they wanted, though the mentality was everywhere in Farleigh. After that day, Achard had brewed hatred for Nox known only to unbridled youth scorned from unwanted advances in the black cauldron of his bruised, childish heart.

“Why would you come here?” Nox asked angrily. Even in her darkest moments, she wouldn’t have subjected a peer to the mercies of the bishop.

The way his sneering face snagged on Amaris was answer enough.

Nox had long been unbothered by the limp insults of the ignorant. She held her head high, their words unable to penetrate her diamond-tough skin. But targeting Amaris with their ugly jealousy was something Nox refused to tolerate. The snow-born girl whom the matrons shielded from labor, lest it mar her perfect skin, had no say in whether she chopped wood or clean the chimneys. Amaris was unable to live any sort of life, save for the gentlest of tasks, at the behest of the Gray Matron. Being hated by their peers was something Nox and Amaris had in common.

“Don’t do this,” Nox said firmly. She raised a hand to stop them.

“Get up!” barked one of the boys. He pointed an outstretched finger at Amaris.

“Leave!” Nox demanded again, but she may as well have been a turnip for all the mind they paid her. “What do you little wart-filled toads hope to do? Drag her by the hair to see the bishop? Get out!”

She punctuated her final command with a shove against the closest boy’s chest, pushing him out of the pantry. The small slit of a window at the top of the pantry showcased the dust kicked up by the scuffling of their feet as if it were smoke. Over the shoulders of the intruders, Mable was nowhere to be seen. They were alone with the boys.

“Grab her!” Achard commanded, shoving past Nox.

Cries of protest rose from the brawl on either side.

She heard Amaris but couldn’t discern what was being said as she scrapped with the boys.

Achard yanked painfully on a fistful of Nox’s hair, immobilizing her. The fire of her rage exploded against the action. Nox threw her entire body weight into the oldest boy in protest. She made contact with a loud thump, sending him off his footing.

“Get out!”