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Jackalfax,
“The Eighth Age took from me my beloved first wife, and now it has taken my only daughter.” Another piercing caw.
dear Morrigan”—
Great Wolfacre—
(Three days earlier)
The kitchen cat was dead, and Morrigan was to blame.
The old woman peered down at the dead cat and set her mouth in a line.
child psychologists
Crow Manor
The woman ignored her. “Dr. Fielding is famous for his work with cursed children. I’m sure you’ve heard of him.
Corvus
indelicate… time is short. Experts all agree we’re entering the final year of this Age. The final year before Eventide.”
requiring compensation: The Jackalfax Town Council has requested seven hundred kred for damage to a gazebo during a hailstorm.”
“A local man, Thomas Bratchett,
exchanged a look. The woman sighed quietly. “His family is being extremely generous in the matter. They ask only that you pay his funeral expenses, put his grandchildren through college, and make a donation to his favorite charity.”
kred ought to cover it.” “It said in the newspaper that the lunch lady left the stove burner on overnight,” said Morrigan.
“There are only three apology letters for Miss Crow to write this month. One to a local woman, Mrs. Calpurnia Malouf, for her broken hip—” “Far too old to be ice-skating,
Championship last week.” Morrigan’s eyes doubled in size. “All I did was wish him luck!”
Miss Linford’s fear of the curse prevented her from actually sharing the same room with her student.
unpleasant jolt at her father’s words. Even the caseworker looked surprised. “With respect, Chancellor—the Registry Office for Cursed Children
to be cut short.
going to die on Eventide night.
her stepmother, Ivy,
today as rumors of an imminent Wunder shortage continue to spread,”
“will you respond to the reports of mass power outages and malfunctioning Wundrous technology in the states of Southlight and Far East Sang? Is Ezra Squall aware of these problems? Will he emerge from his reclusive lifestyle to address the problem publicly?”
The national rail network is operating perfectly, as are the power grid and the Wundrous Healthcare Service. As for Mr. Squall, he is well aware
“Mr. Jones, there’s been speculation as to whether the Wunder shortages could have anything to do with cursed children. Can you comment?”
Morrigan’s father was the chancellor of Great Wolfacre,
On his left and right would sit Left and Right, his ever-present assistants.
“The cerulean, I
Morrigan thought perhaps that was why her father liked Ivy so much. She was nothing like the rest of them.
maid whisper that Grandmother was a “savage old bird of prey dressed up as a lady.”
“It’s—it’s Bid Day tomorrow,
challenge in life was trying to maintain his grip on the affections of Great Wolfacre’s voting public while his only child brought about their every misfortune.
“Bid Day,” began Ivy, drawing herself up importantly, “is the day when children who’ve completed preparatory school will receive their educational bid, should they be lucky enough.”
parents are wealthy enough to bribe someone, then some respectable person from a fine scholarly institution will come to bid on them.”
in an exaggerated whisper, “If everyone were educated, where would servants come from?”
child’s education,” Corvus interrupted impatiently, waving a hand in front of his face as though trying to brush the conversation away. “The glory of shaping the young minds of tomorrow, and so on. Stop asking questions, it’s nothing to do with you. Left, what time is
take your daughter along, it might help to, er, soften your image. To a degree.”
columns and sitting in the shadow of an enormous iron clock tower, the gloomy-looking Town Hall was Jackalfax’s most important building.
interesting. The Skyfaced Clock was no ordinary clock. There were no hands, and no lines to mark the hours.
strewn blackness of Eventide.
of President Wintersea,
A cheer erupted from the front row when Cory Jameson was bid on by Mrs. Ginnifer O’Reilly from the prestigious Wintersea Academy, a government-sponsored school in the capital. It was his second bid of the day;
“‘Mrs. Ardith Asher of the Devereaux Ladies’ College’—never heard of it!—‘wishes to present her bid for… for…’” The Lord Mayor trailed off. He took a handkerchief from his pocket
forward to collect her bid from Colonel Van Leeuwenhoek of the Harmon Military Academy, hurrying
“‘Jupiter North wishes to present his bid for…’ Oh, I don’t believe it. ‘Morrigan Crow.’”
“An apprenticeship in his company, Squall Industries.”
“Ezra Squall. Yes. The most powerful person in the Republic.” He lowered his
his student, Miss Crow… and his heir.” “His heir? What does that mean?”