Waiting For Sunrise - The Books Of Beginning AU

30. An Audience With The Countess

Emma got one good punch in before a screecher grabbed her forcefully, tugging her arms behind her back and holding her in place even as she kicked and struggled. The monster had to drag her around the house to the front door (its kin had a hand on each of her siblings and was bringing them along too) and it was all Emma could do not to break down. She felt tears welling up in her eyes, but refused to let them fall, refused to look weak in front of these vicious enemies, who had done something terrible to her brother, if the way he was sobbing violently (the way he thought this was his fault, even though it couldn't be, because this was Michael and he would never betray them, right?) was anything to go off of. 

Instead, Emma kept her eyes on the repulsive Secretary and the angry red welt growing on his cheek where she had struck him. (She would've made it much worse, under normal circumstances, but the presence of the Screechers and Michael's frantic apologizing had confused her, thrown her off her rhythm.) The loathsome little man had the book in his hands - it had fallen from Michael's as he screamed in shock when Emma first attacked the Countess's toady, and Kate had dove for it. She had fought valiantly against the second Screecher, the one now shepherding her and their brother, and only let go once she was dealt a vicious backhanded blow. (A bruise was forming across one of her cheekbones, and her eyes were angry and defiant, even as the monster handed the Secretary the book they needed to get home.)

It was only when they reached the front door that Emma was put down beside her brother and sister. Kate immediately took her hand and squeezed it tight. Michael wouldn't look at them or touch them, even when Emma said his name.

"What's wrong with him?" Emma whispered to her older sister, even as the Secretary grumbled about a lack of good help, struggling to get the door open without the screechers. 

"It's the Countess," Kate whispered back as they were shoved roughly into the grand, well-lit manor house. (It was so different from the decrypt and gloomy place Kate and Emma had encountered in their own time.) "She must have done something to him. A spell. Otherwise, he would never..."

Emma's expression turned hard - as hard as it could be, when tears were beginning to leak from the corners of her eyes. "That bitch. I oughta... I'm gonna..." She couldn't finish her threat, instead focusing on choking back a sob.

The Screechers shepherded them through the halls. It was the same manor house that Kate and Emma had spent the night in, years from this moment, but the difference was stark. While that house, the one from their present, had been dilapidated, not unlivable but messy and old, its grandeur worn away with time and neglect, this house was imposing. Everything was neat and well lit, all the furniture carefully maintained, all the wallpaper kept spotless. The Countess's standards were clearly higher than whatever Dr. Pym instructed of Miss Sallow.

The Secretary lead them to a set of double doors on the second floor. The sounds of music and voices reached the siblings' ears, and they realized they were outside a ballroom.

"You stay here," the Secretary ordered the Screechers. Then he turned to the children, leaning closer so that they could smell his onion-tinted breath. (He was, all three thought independently, the single most repulsive person they had ever met. Even more so than Mrs. Crumley, Emma added vehemently.) "Take my advice, little birdies, and don't make the Countess upset. You don't want to go to the boat, do you? Little birdies don't like the boat." He smiled sinisterly, showing a mouth full of gray teeth.

Emma scowled, even through her aching throat and stinging eyes. "You need to brush your teeth. For about a year."

The Secretary's eyes flashed with rage and he snapped his mouth shut right away. He turned and pushed the double doors wide open, then motioned for the children to enter.