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It was all too much. First the Hunt of Smoke and Shadow, then a giant mechanical spider, the fog-laden mystery of border control, and now this… this ridiculous party. On a hotel rooftop. In a wild, sprawling secret city she’d never even heard of. With a mad ginger man and a giant cat.
Deucalion family.”
It’s a New Age, she thought with disbelief. And I’m alive.
and then Kedgeree the concierge, then Martha the housemaid—“Step boldly!”—and another, and another, and soon the air was filled with a chorus of those two electrifying words. They stepped off the rail one by one, until Morrigan was looking down on a sea of umbrellas.
Morrigan liked him instantly.
Eventide yet.” Jupiter leaned down to whisper to Morrigan. “Frank’s my official party planner. Roof-Raiser-in-Chief. Best in the business, but we mustn’t tell him that, or he’ll look for a job someplace fancier.”
Only dwarf vampire in Nevermoor, you know.”
“Kedgeree sent me, sir. There’s been
Wundersmith,
Dame Chanda, Morrigan
woodland creatures
This is what a Wundrous Society member looks like, she thought. Beautiful and stately, like Dame Chanda. Interesting and admired, like Jupiter. What must they think of her, she wondered—Martha and Dame Chanda and Fenestra and Frank? Were they already whispering about what a terrible choice Jupiter had made?
“Course you’ve got a knack. You’re a candidate for the Wundrous Society. You’re Jupiter North’s candidate. He can’t bid on you unless he’s sure you’ve got one.”
The curse made her special.
The curse had followed
chandelier
“Mr. Jones?”
“You’re Ezra Squall’s assistant.”
“Wait… how do you know about the Free State?”
“A prank?” He looked surprised and a little offended. “Absolutely not. Mr. Squall doesn’t play pranks. His offer was genuine.” Morrigan was confused. “But I turned around and you were gone.” “Ah. Yes. I must apologize for that.” He looked genuinely sorry. “Forgive me, I was thinking of Mr. Squall. If word got out that he was offering an apprenticeship, he’d have been inundated with parents trying to foist their children on him. That’s why he bid on you anonymously. I did intend to return and speak with you, but Eventide took me
but—why in heaven’s name are you roaming the lobby of the Hotel Deucalion at this hour?”
“Yes. Like a tooth. See that?” He pointed, and Morrigan squinted up into the darkness. “There—see the little glint of light? It’s growing back in, replacing itself with something brand-new.”
“What’s my knack?” she demanded. “Good morning to you too.”
throat. “Every year, the Wundrous Society selects a new group of children to join us. Any child in the Free State can apply, so long as they’ve had their eleventh birthday before the first day of the year—you just scraped in, well done you—and provided they are selected by a patron, of course.
education. Your patron must be a member of the Wundrous Society. The Elders are very strict
There are four, spread out over the year. The trials are an elimination process, designed to separate the Society’s ideal candidates from
the Speech Trial’s fairly straightforward, for example. You just have to give a speech in front
Each candidate who’s made it through the first three trials must stand before the High Council of Elders and show them something.”
“That’s the difference between the Wundrous Society and a normal school. Even when your studies are over, you’ll still be a part of the Society, and it will be a part of you. Forever, Mog.
“Look—the Wundrous Society is more than just a school. It’s a family. A family that will take care of you and provide for you your entire life. Yes, you’ll have a brilliant education, you’ll have opportunities and connections that people outside the Society could never dream of. But much more important than that—you’ll have your unit.
An instant family. Brothers and sisters for life.
have a knack for seeing things.” “What
“The Gossamer is an invisible, intangible network that… hmm. Imagine a web. Imagine a vast and delicate spider’s web laid over the entire realm, like… no. You know what, forget the Gossamer, all you need to know is that I see things other
teller. I’m a Witness. That’s the name for it. I don’t see the way things will be, I see the way things are.” Morrigan gave
this? There are… events and moments in the past that attach themselves to people and things, and cling to them through time simply because they have nowhere else to go. Maybe they eventually fade or get torn away or just die. But some things never die—the especially good memories or the especially bad ones can hang around forever.
can see the pinpricks in your fingers from when you cut up her favorite dress in revenge, sewed the pieces together, and hung them as curtains in the living room.”
Your stepmother was wrong.”
“You forget it,” he said. “You forget it, from this moment on. Do you understand? You are not a curse.” “Yeah, okay.” Morrigan rolled
tell you this: You are not a curse on anyone, Morrigan Crow. You never have been. And I think you’ve known that all along.”
Jupiter understood that she didn’t mean her family, but the Hunt of Smoke and Shadow. If she closed her
