Athena Vanderbilt's Arc

Chapter 1 of 1

Athena stood at her bedroom window and watched the carriages line up below. Her family had filled every hour of her day with lessons, fittings, and tea. They had noticed her wandering Hollowsong, and now the grand stone walls of the estate felt like a cage. She wanted one thing: to find the brooding man in town and learn the truth no one would tell her. She studied the new schedule pinned to her desk. Music at nine. Tutor at ten. Lunch with cousins. Riding at three. There was one gap. After breakfast, before her tutor arrived, the staff cleared the breakfast room and the side halls went quiet. Athena slipped out the servants' door and into the gardens. She moved fast past the fountain and the trimmed hedges. A gap in the back wall opened onto a narrow path. She took it, heart pounding, and followed the lane into town. She stopped across from the black building with the glowing sign — the place everyone said he frequented. The door opened. He stepped out into the morning light and saw her. His hands flexed once at his sides. He did not look away, and neither did she. Athena had her window now. She would use it every day.