The Beastkeeper's Bride

4: The Hospitality of Addilyn & Finnegan Holt

4: The Hospitality of Addilyn & Finnegan Holt

─── · 。ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Two Days Later

The ghastly, ill-proportioned caricature at the top left corner of the parchment looked remarkably human... all but for the protruding, curling horns stemming from his crown. Other than his likeness represented as such, the parchment contained details of his height, species, a simple and concise description of his appearance, and a one sentence allotment for a personal credo or incentive that in all likelihood was meant to attract the attention of a lady.

It did not.

In fact, most of them served as a deterrent.

Millie let out a long breath through her nose and set the wooden tablet, that had the magical bit of parchment clipped neatly to the top edge, on the escritoire she was sitting at.

The townhouse of Mrs Addilyn Holt was not resplendent, but it was serviced, compact and comfortable. It was more than Millie could have asked for after spending the last day and a half submerged in the large sewage pipes that intercepted the Thames, the filthy alleys and narrow streets of slum areas where her presence and odour would go the least noticed. The moment Theo had marked her disappearance, he had alerted London's guards. The fact that a notorious lady was missing was not an event that would easily be looked over and the streets had soon flooded with papers and pamphlets- all carrying the depiction of her likeness sketched onto the parchments, all promising huge rewards for her safe return from her 'devastated' guardian, Theo Adams.

It would have been easy enough to evade the grasp of human men- Millie was fast and strong, having spent years of her youth absorbed in physical exertions on her father's massive estate and grounds in Ravensfield. She knew how to wield a pistol and she wouldn't be averse to using a dagger or blade of some sort should she come across one, but she was devoid of any weapon.

And the guards had Other hounds- massive, furless slate-skinned beasts that resembled dogs in some ways but whose scent abilities far expounded those of any normal canine, being of fae descent. Their particular abilities had soon been discovered and utilized soon after The Reveal, at the behest and convenience of humankind and therefore under no persecution for the usage of the supernatural canines. Millie had taken Grover's advice and skidded down the nearest embankment, immersing herself in filth that she couldn't dwell long thinking about lest her bile surge to the back of her throat again from the memory.

In the end, it was while she had picked up a paper on the filthy streets in East London's slums that she had found the advertisement- right beside her image on the front page- that had read: Mrs Addilyn's Anxious Hearts Society: For a mere two shillings per annum, a selection of human and supernatural species at your fingertips for perusal- simply choose your desired partner and we'll do the rest! Fine print: all participating clientele need be of sentient capabilities. Extremely finer print: payment made upfront.

Millie needed a husband, any husband, and the peculiar matchmaking service seemed like an answer to her prayers. Hell, it had even been placed directly beside her likeness in the societal papers- what more of a sign did she need?

She had been recognised almost immediately when she had located and entered the townhouse where Mrs Addilyn conducted her business and before she could explain her presence, or anything really, she was ushered upstairs into a guest chamber, made to bath (three times, considering how caked and layered in filth she was) and provided with a few items of personal clothing from Mrs Addilyn herself.

And that was how she found herself presently, encased in a soft robe that was a few sizes too big for her, freshly bathed, and perusing the contents of the AAHS matchmaking portfolio. The tablet seemed to be of a magical nature, for should Millie find one of the males depicted acceptable, she need only check mark the page with her quill. The ink would disappear as if absorbed into the very threads of the paper. Moments later, should the male find her file mutually acceptable, the number of the profile would appear on the wood of the tablet behind the page clipped to it.