Page 2 of The Unseen Hour (The Unseen Hour Duology #1)

JANUARY

I cy slush threatened to seep into my brown leather boots, though they were laced up just past my ankle. I lifted my skirts as I crossed over the puddle. The outer layer of the dress was an unrelenting shade of vibrant pink, a perfect match for my eyes.

When I am managing a household of my own, I shall outlaw this wretched fabric color , I swore to myself as I continued to trudge through cobblestone streets full of mud and melting ice.

Pellix snorted, and I cast a forlorn glance back to where I’d left him tethered.

It was criminal, truly, that horses weren’t allowed more places.

As far as I was concerned, Pellix behaved with more chivalry than many of the noblemen in Emrys.

Not that anyone was asking my opinion on equine etiquette.

I supposed I should consider myself lucky that I’d been allowed to ride side-saddle into town with a formal chaperone.

The way my mother described it, only a generation ago, anything but a carriage would have been out of the question, particularly with the weather as cold and dismal as it was currently.

My destination loomed over me, an imposing row of brick buildings. The one I needed was second from the left and took up several businesses’ worth of space. It also, I thought with more than a little bitterness, was unlikely to provide what I needed.

Back where Pellix was tethered, Finneas gave me a small wave as he tied off the white horse he’d ridden for the morning.

He’d been one of our footmen for years, and while it meant another lecture from Mother on how just a generation ago simply a footman to accompany me would have been a scandal in and of itself, I was glad he was who she’d chosen to ride with me into town.

He followed me up the lane.

“Do you think Pellix’s shoes are looking a bit worn?” I asked him.

I knew that Finneas had taken a liking to the blacksmith’s daughter and spoke to her whenever he got new shoes for the horses. Our horses' hooves were better looked after than anyone else’s in Emrys, primarily because Finneas visited the blacksmith and skilled farrier so frequently.

He grinned.

“You’re sure you don’t need me to go with you to the library?”

“Thank you, but no. Charlotte will be meeting me there.” I was meeting one of my closest friends later, but I’d intentionally set things up so I would arrive earlier by at least a couple of hours. “Her brother will have escorted her, so I will be fine.”

“I’ll be waiting by the horses when you’re ready, freshly shod!” he promised before disappearing down an adjoining street, a bounce in his step .

I strode toward the library, with Mother’s voice echoing in my head.

“In my time, ladies would not have been caught alone for all the money shipped across the Talwin Sea! Ruination for certain!”

If Mother was to be believed, then ladies in generations past must have sat on their duffs doing nothing but needlework most of the time.

The idea made me itchy all over again with the need for action.

As I reached the library doors, I lifted a hand and used the black metal handle to pull the left one open.

Treading across the tiled floor of the library’s entrance, I was thankful my boots didn’t echo too dreadfully.

I could see the towering shelves of books beyond, but before I could go through the stacks I had to make my way past the librarian.

The man behind the desk was balding, spectacled, and cleared his throat a good three times before I reached him.

His ruddy cheeks and reddened nose had me wondering whether he was ill or just old and blustery.

He wasn’t the usual man at the front, and the scowl on his face as he examined several pieces of old parchment did not instill hope for a friendly welcome and easy interaction.

I planted myself, in all my hot pink glory, in front of him. When he didn’t acknowledge me after a few moments, I leaned forward and tapped my finger on the top of the desk. When that didn’t work, I took a note from his book and cleared my throat.

He glanced up, eyes huge and watery behind his spectacles.

“Excuse me,” I started when he said nothing, “but I need a pass for the Estates section, please.”

He looked me up and down, smacking his lips and chomping on nothing but air before giving another scratchy throat-clear.

“Which aisles?”

“Wherever ‘H’ would be.” It was becoming a struggle to hold on to my friendly demeanor. When I’d come in the past with my brothers, no one ever cared which sections of shelves they wandered about in. Maybe we hadn’t advanced past Mother’s time very far after all.

He leaned to the side, looking pointedly over my left shoulder, then repeated the movement to the right.

“Companion?”

I let out a small sigh.

“Just me,” I replied with a forced smile plastered on my face.

“I’m not certain Miss …” His eyes flicked down to his book, and then back up to my face.

“Celia Hipnosi,” I supplied.

The man’s eyes went wider behind his spectacles, and his gaze zeroed in on my eyes.

The moment of recognition. Honestly, if he’d been more attentive we could have avoided the entire interaction.

Vibrant pink eyes were a renowned Hipnosi trait, and we were the only family in any country known to possess them.

Even so, the man continued to frown, tilting his head side to side like I was a strange and unfamiliar creature he couldn’t quite decide whether to pet or hunt.

“My attendant is just outside, securing the horses. He should be around before long,” I lied. With any luck, if I made it to the stacks the librarian would go back to his reading and forget all about me.

He huffed.

“Very well, proceed to the left. You’ll go through the archway to the second room, and then eight rows back on the left.”

I nodded along with the instructions, thanked him and then scurried past before he could change his mind.

I knew very well where the books I sought were, but I had no intention of telling him that.

Admitting to the librarian that you’d spent the evening just before the past year’s Unseen Hour breaking into the library wasn’t likely to get one invited back in as a patron.

“At least all this pink is good for something ,” I muttered to myself as I made my way to the familiar shelf of books.

The librarian had probably only let me near it because he’d been face to face with a Hipnosi. Rubbish. Not that his reaction had been earned by me. Our family had been powerful and respected for generations.

I did have a hunch, though, that the bespectacled book guardian would have thrown me out if it hadn’t been for the pink. Very few dared to refuse a Hipnosi.

I couldn’t help a furtive glance as I passed the Royals shelving area.

Unlike my current destination, the shelves there had intricate carvings on the side, inlaid with shimmering gold, and more impressively a second desk with not a librarian, but a guard.

Very few people were allowed in there, since it contained important papers pertaining to the royal family and their dealings.

Only nobles with letters bearing the seal of Her Majesty or the prince were allowed.

It was the area I’d sneaked into just before the Unseen Hour, with a hunch that my father’s writings had ended up there. I had been right. Our family sometimes worked closely with the royals, and he’d been pursuing something for the queen when everything had gone wrong in the first place.

I had found the book I was seeking, but it was missing a couple of pages.

I needed to go back to the beginning and try to piece what I had together.