Page 35 of The House of Quiet

Chapter Twenty-Eight

A Storied Dawn

Dawn wants to have secrets.

She watches the older ones run around—handsome and mysterious Forest, beautiful and funny River, gruff but kind Minnow, lovely and delicate Birdie.

She loves Birdie like she’s never loved anyone.

Minnow, too. They’re the first people to ever look at her and think she could be useful for something.

And she’s been so useful. No one else could help Nimbus.

Every morning Dawn wakes up and remembers that she has a job to do.

A purpose. It fills her with pride, which makes it easy to be happy.

After the excitement this morning with Lake disappearing and then being found, Dawn was too worked up to sit in a bedroom, so she brought Nimbus to the study to draw with her.

He sits while she draws, but it’s nice. She likes it, and she thinks he does, too.

Sometimes he hums—so quiet it’s hard to hear—but she thinks it’s because he’s happy.

Not just happy because she is, but really, actually happy to have a friend. To have someone to sit with.

It’s how she feels, at least. She hopes he does, too.

“What do you think of Forest?” she whispers conspiratorially.

“He’s the handsomest man in the whole world.

I know what you’re thinking; you think I have a crush on him.

Maybe I do.” But Dawn feels that way about all of them—Forest and Birdie and River and Minnow.

It isn’t that she wants any of them to hold her hand or kiss her.

It’s that she wants to be older and lovely and full of intrigue like them.

Dawn sighs, resting her chin on her hand.

“Do you know why Forest doesn’t talk? He had a terrible curse laid on him by a witch.

She took one look at his eyes and fell madly in love with him, but his heart already belonged to a princess.

The witch declared that if she couldn’t have him, no one would.

She took the princess’s memory and sent her away to be a maid.

And then she told Forest the only way his love would ever remember him was if he could tell her his name…

but then the witch took away his voice! And the only way his curse is broken is if his love kisses him.

He wandered the whole world searching for his lost love, and at last he found her.

But she doesn’t remember him, so she won’t kiss him and break his curse, and he can’t tell her who he is and break her curse.

Trapped in the terrible chains of their curses, he stays near her, longing and hoping that it will be enough.

That one day she’ll look up and see who he really is, and both their curses will be broken.

Oh, it’s so dreamy and romantic and sad, isn’t it? ”

There’s a noise by the door. Dawn looks up with a start to see Forest leaning there. She blushes, but he’s smiling. He likes her story. She’s very good at telling stories.

Forest beckons to her. Dawn feels a thrill of excitement. At last, she’s being included! She practically skips over to him, catching herself at the last moment and walking somberly so he’ll know she’s mature enough to help.

Forest leans down and Dawn leans in, heart racing, waiting to hear at last what he sounds like.