Edie arrives at Langford house

I'm still trying to figure out what Edie's narrative voice sounds like, and more details about her past. I suspect that her parents were government magicians, and they both died when she was still quite young because they were part of the government force that took out the last Great House that went mad.


Edie woke up from her nap with a start. At some point while she had been sleeping, it had gotten very cold in the car, to the point where even her fur coat and the wide stole it had come with couldn’t keep the chill from her bones.

“Sleep well?” asked her brother-in-law, Charles, unwarrantedly sarcastic.

Edie didn’t answer. Instead, she stared out at the falling snow, briefly mesmerized by the swirling flakes as the weak electric headlights of the car illuminated them. She put her hand to her throat and fingered the charmstone that dangled from the pearl necklace she wore. “I don’t think we’ll make Bitterford while it’s still safe to drive,” she said, eying the drifts that were already forming.

Charles sighed. “No,” he said bluntly.

“So are you going to do anything about it?” Edie swallowed hard and shut her eyes. That had been too much staring out the window.

“I’m not going to have another fight with you tonight,” Charles said, sounding exhausted. “So stop trying to pick one, all right?”
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