BooksBarbecue
Back The Night and Its Moon
Chapters (64)
  1. Front Cover
  2. Title Page
  3. Copyright
  4. Contents
  6. Pronunciation Guide
  7. Prologue
  8. Part One
  9. One
  10. Two
  11. Three
  12. Four
  13. Five
  14. Six
  15. Seven
  16. Eight
  17. Nine
  18. Ten
  19. Eleven
  20. Twelve
  21. Thirteen
  22. Part Two
  23. Fourteen
  24. Fifteen
  25. Sixteen
  26. Seventeen
  27. Eighteen
  28. Nineteen
  29. Twenty
  30. Twenty-One
  31. Twenty-Two
  32. Twenty-Three
  33. Part Three
  34. Twenty-Four
  35. Twenty-Five
  36. Twenty-Six
  37. Twenty-Seven
  38. Twenty-Eight
  39. Twenty-Nine
  40. Thirty
  41. Thirty-One
  42. Thirty-Two
  43. Thirty-Three
  44. Thirty-Four
  45. Thirty-Five
  46. Part Four
  47. Thirty-Six
  48. Thirty-Seven
  49. Thirty-Eight
  50. Thirty-Nine
  51. Forty
  52. Forty-One
  53. Forty-Two
  54. Forty-Three
  55. Forty-Four
  56. Forty-Five
  57. Forty-Six
  58. Forty-Seven
  59. Epilogue
  60. Excerpt from The Sun and Its Shade
  61. The Night and Its Moon Playlist
  62. Acknowledgments
  63. About the Author
  64. Back Cover

Nox hurried up to the dorms while the rest of the children were eating dinner. She stripped her pillow and used a pillowcase to create a makeshift satchel. It wasn’t the best time of the year to be running from the grounds, as late fall was just starting to threaten them with frost. She eyed her bed and wondered whether she could risk taking the entire scratchy comforter from her cot without being detected. Her mind drifted to how long it would take for the climate to become milder. Surely, people used the regency’s road to venture to the royal city all the time. They could be on a cart and bound for warmer weather before they knew it.

A jarring noise shook her from her thoughts.

The manor erupted in a confused flurry as the sounds of banging, followed by the commotion of an argument floated up from the foyer. Nox looked over her shoulder to ensure no one had spotted her. She felt her heart catch in her throat, somehow convinced she’d been thwarted. She shoved the pillowcase full of food under her bed, tucking away evidence of her plan for escape. She sidled around the corner to peer over the balcony and see what was causing the excitement.

She blinked against the sight, struggling to comprehend. It was a man.

The sight of him was as rattling as if there had been a troll on the landing. She’d sooner believe her eyes were betraying her. There were never visitors to Farleigh. The only people who came and went were the bishop, the sellers, and the buyers. This man was unaccompanied, and it didn’t look as though he was here to purchase.

The stranger was the size of a mountain and covered to the gills with more weapons than even the heroes of stories. He spoke with a loud frustration to a defensive Matron Agnes. The Gray Matron made no secret of her loud displeasure as she confronted him. Other children peeked their heads from the dining room, down the hall, out of their dorms, and over the balcony, all drawn by curiosity to witness the disturbance. The front door to the manor remained wide open as if it had been flung on its hinges and left where it stuck itself to the innermost wall, letting in the cold autumn air. The night behind him pressed in, with the lanterns and fires in the manor barely making a dent in the gloom beyond.

“You can’t stay here.” Agnes raised her hands to herd him out as if he were a feral animal. There was no kindness in her voice as she motioned the man from the manor.