Page 40 of Trapped By Clocks and Hearts

But the Duchess merely let out an airy laugh. She beckoned me over. “Come. Let’s see what Cook has prepared for us today.”

The Duchess led me to the conservatory where the floor-to-ceiling glass windows let in the late afternoon light, bathing the plants and flowers around the tea table setup. The flowers in their pots were jumping around and pushing the other plants out of their way to be in direct sunlight.

“Quiet!” The Duchess snapped her fingers and the flower pots all clanked still where they stood. Walking along, she rubbed her hands together. “Ooh, can you smell that? Cook has baked some lovely peppered bread.”

I peered out the side of the glass house. I couldn’t see where Chez had taken Allie.

The Duchess noticed my attention veering away. “I’m sure they’ll be back shortly. Please.” She gestured to the spread of food before us. “Help yourself.” Situating herself upon a tall white padded armchair, she shrugged. “And pray tell, what sort of help do you need from me that warrants all this fuss?”

Picking up a plate, I met her gaze evenly. “This girl has lost her memories. Without them, I cannot ignite her Heartfire ember.”

“Ah.” She sighed. “Ironhaven. I remember such a case.”

“And?” I prompted eagerly. “Did the lady retrieve her memories when the Queen captured her heart?”

The Duchess paused for a beat. “Yes. As you perhaps already know, the magic of Heartfire embers is amplified by the connections people have made through their lives, their collections of loved ones, their shared memories. The Heartlamp unlocks all this power.”

I nodded. “Yes, but can you tell me why some victims remain as ghosts and yet some die right away?”

“Oh, that depends on the Heartfire ember,” the Duchess explained. “The more powerful the magic it contains, the less there is left over.”

Perfect.

A little shiver of triumph shot through my body, I almost couldn’t contain it.

My plan was going to work.

Almost spurred on, I picked out more food to load my plate. “Excellent. Then all I really need is a Heartlamp to contain her heart and get Allie’s memories back, thus igniting her Heartfire ember.”

Muted, the Duchess just nodded. “Tis true.”

I moved along the platters of salty seafood, cured cuts of meat, and blocks of cheese.

Maybe Allie was fascinated by whatever sights Chez was showing her outside at the moment, but I was feeling a bit giddy at the prospect of acquiring the power of that coeur. Once I extracted that legendary mystical Heartfire ember power, I should be able to reenergize my clock tower and halt the countdown on my existence.

“Rabb?” The Duchess’s call broke into my train of thought.

“What?” I blinked at her.

Her forehead was creased as she noticed what I was doing. “Why are you…sorting the food?”

I glanced down at the plate where I had quite noticeably pushed some mushy red fruit to one side as though afraid it would contaminate the rest of my selections. “Allie doesn’t like tomatoes.”

The Duchess’s eyebrows shot up. “Really? How do you know that?”

Nonchalantly, I explained, “She always picks them out. Her food trays have always come back with them left over and when we were on the boat—”

Her mouth was slightly ajar in wonder.

Stopping, I clenched my jaw. “What?” I asked again, tersely this time.

She looked away. “Nothing,” she dismissed. “I’m just…surprised you’re doing that for her. Surprised you even noticed.”

I froze.

Tilting her head, the Duchess gave me an amused look. “Did you only realize that yourself just now?”

My skin prickled. I dropped the fork I was holding and set the plate back down. “It doesn’t mean anything.”