Read Online Rise of the Arcane Fire (The Secret Order) by Kristin Bailey - Free Book Online Page A

immediately felt my chagrin as I took a bite from a cucumber sandwich.
    It was a gentle reprimand, as such things go, but I heard the message all the same.
    Quit your fuss. At least he’s not dead and buried.
    It wasn’t as if I had forgotten that Lucinda’s husband had been murdered. I lived in Simon’s shop and studied his writings every single day.
    Granted, it had been a bit of a shock to discover it had been her own father, Lord Strompton, who had committed the murders, in an insane attempt to prevent anyone from discovering or unlocking Rathford’s time machine. At least that’s what I believed motivated him. It all seemed so insane to me.
    But truthfully, if having your father murder your husband was the threshold for allowable personal misery, I wouldn’t ever be able to express my own sorrow.
    My stomach twisted, and I put down the sandwich. If anything ever did happen to Will, I would beg for someone to gut me with a hot knife. It would be far less painful. Still, nothing could change the fact that I had been wholly abandoned and it felt miserable.
    “If Will ever really loved me, he wouldn’t have left,” I muttered into my tea.
    “Margaret Anne Whitlock, you stop this at once,” Lucinda demanded. She snapped a serviette with a sharp crack , then laid it daintily over the frothy green skirt of her afternoon dress. “Will is trying to make something of himself. I, for one, support him. As should you, if you care for him at all.”
    I gaped at her in shock. “I thought you would side with me in this matter.”
    “I do.” She placed a hand on my knee. “Which is why I’m here. You have the chance to do something great, something I have only ever dreamed of. I’ll not have you throw that away for a broken heart. You’re made of far greater mettle than that.”
    I tucked my head in chagrin and sipped my tea. My heart warmed at her faith in me in spite of my ill mood. It was only then that I fully became aware of her dress.
    A rare blue-tinted green, or perhaps it was a green-tinted blue, the shade nearly matched her eyes, and complemented her honey-colored hair. “You’re not in mourning for your father.”
    She scowled. “I refuse to mourn Simon’s murderer.”
    Well, that would hardly go over well, considering the only people who knew of Lucinda’s father’s murderous tendencies were me, Oliver, Lucinda, and Will. The rest of society would be in a dither over her blatant affront to the dearly departed earl. “I can’t blame you, but isn’t your mother livid?”
    Lucinda rolled her eyes. “She’s half in the grave with it, but I don’t care. I just wish there were some way I could avoid her barbed insults at every single tea.”
    “There’s room here if you’d like to return,” I offered. It would be grand to live with my friend, and I wouldn’t feel so alone. I only felt a modicum of guilt at my selfish intentions, if I felt any at all.
    Lucinda gave me one of her warmest smiles. “I’d love to, but I really should go. Oh, that reminds me.” She produced a neatly addressed envelope.
    “What’s this?” I took it and broke the wax seal. Lucinda didn’t answer. Instead she allowed me to read the elegant and very precise script.
    It was an announcement for an Amusementist wake for the late Earl of Strompton.
    I met her gaze as she arched a brow at me. “Your father’s funeral?” I asked.
    Lucinda looked far too serious. “More like a summons to battle. Be warned.”
    I glanced back down at the neat handwriting. “It can’t possibly be worse than battling a sea monster.”
    “Trust me, it will be.” Lucinda sipped her tea, then placed the cup back on the tray.
    She stood and pulled me to standing as well.
    “Chin up.” She held me out by both shoulders and gave me a regal nod. “You’re going to be fine.”
    I certainly wished for that to be true. While her visit had done much to lift my spirits, it couldn’t take away the aching sadness completely. I feared nothing