"Are you going somewhere, Harold?"
The soft voice caught me just as I thought I'd managed my escape. I paused at the mansion's grand entrance, one hand already on the ornate door handle, and turned to find Alicia standing at the foot of the marble staircase. Her green hair caught the early morning light streaming through the tall windows, creating an almost ethereal glow around her delicate features. She was still in her nightgown – a modest white cotton dress that reached her ankles – but she'd thrown a silk robe over it in her haste to catch me.
Today was our final day offf before the academy would consume our lives once again, and I had deliberately chosen to leave at dawn's first light. The servants were barely stirring, the halls were blissfully quiet, and I'd calculated that everyone in the household would still be deep in slumber. Yet here was Alicia, her emerald eyes bright with curiosity despite the early hour.
