Prue had trusted Craftsman Primrose from the first moment she’d met him.

They both nodded. “Then I will see you bright and early before the others stir. Now, enjoy the rest of the party. You have a very important day tomorrow.”

After he left, Prue and Edwin stared at each other.

“What in Medlock was that all about?” said Prue.

Chapter 27: Primrose’s Plan

PRIMROSE’S PLAN

When Prue crept to the window and peeled back the curtain, it was the ghostly half-light of daybreak. A thin layer of ice coated the rooftops like cold dust beneath a cloudy sky.

Hurriedly, she pulled on three layers of clothing and two pairs of socks, then turned the door handle as quietly as possible.

Edwin was pacing in the hallway. “I was about to tap in case you didn’t wake.”

They hurried silently down the stairs to the pneumerator, and pulled the lever up to bring it their way. Once inside they sat opposite each other, both deep in thought, tentative but curious.

“What do you think he means by empowering the personifates?” asked Edwin as the pod shot towards the factorium.

Prue leaned in. “Maybe there’s a secret meeting of Rights for Personifates? Perhaps there’s a classified meeting place and an initiation.”

Edwin shrugged. “I guess we’ll find out soon enough.”

They stepped from the transport hut on to the frozen lawns of the factorium. The grass crunched like fine shards of glass beneath their feet, and Prue’s breath chugged in steamy clouds before her.

“Look, he’s at the forest edge,” said Prue, spotting Craftsman Primrose.

They hurried towards him.

“I’m so glad you both came. Come along.” He turned towards the forest.

“Craftsman Primrose, what about the guard?” said Prue, peering into the forest nervously.

“It poses us no threat whatsoever, trust me.”

Prue was too intrigued to let her apprehension get to her. She stepped after him alongside Edwin.

“You are both very talented young apprentices.”

“Thank you,” said Prue.

“I took a chance on both of you which I believe was right. Now I will continue what I began to tell you yesterday evening. Then I must ask something of you.”

Edwin glanced up at Prue.

Craftsman Primrose walked onwards. “The personifates are owned by the Sovereign Chancellery.”

“Owned? I’ve never really thought of it like that,” Prue said.

“The Governor sees it as a business. The personifate programme is paid for and commissioned by the Governor of Medlock using the money of the citizens. The personifates are citizens too. Wouldn’t you agree?”

“Yes,” said Edwin wholeheartedly. “We contribute to society as much as anyone in their first life.”

“I agree,” said Prue.

They trudged on through the frozen landscape of the forest, branches snapping like brittle bones beneath their feet.

“Then who do you think should be in charge of the lives of personifates – Master Hannah Woolstenbury and Governor Henri Watson-Wentworth, or the personifates themselves?”