Genevieve St. Valentine's Arc

Chapter 2 of 2

Genevieve wrapped the stack in plain cloth before dawn. One hundred pages, each one a quiet accusation. She tied the bundle tight and stepped out into the cold mist, the workshop door closing behind her. The booksellers opened at seven. She had three hours to reach the first one, and a list of names burning in her pocket. She took the path beneath the old willow at the edge of the woods. Its long branches dripped with morning damp. She stopped there to shift the bundle under her arm. That was when she heard the wheels. A fine carriage stood on the road beyond the tree, its crest gleaming gold against dark wood. A man stepped down from it. His coat was clean, his boots polished, his face one she had set in type only the night before. He was named on page two. He walked straight toward her, and his eyes went to the cloth bundle under her arm. "Show me," he said. She did not run. She held the bundle tighter and lifted her chin. He pulled the cloth open with one gloved hand, read the top sheet, and smiled without warmth. "Walk with me, miss. We have a great deal to discuss." The pamphlets stayed in his hands. Genevieve stayed in his shadow. Not one copy had reached a bookseller, and now the man who knew her face knew her work.