The Kingdom of Night (Book 3)

Nineteen - The Value of a Life

Emma

We were visiting Auntie Grace and Uncle Petey for tea when the knocking at the door came. She was first up to answer it, but when we heard a wail and a thump from the front hall, Mum, Uncle Petey, and I instantly jumped to our feet and hurried out to join her. A dread dropped into my stomach when I saw the note clutched in one of Auntie Grace's hands, half-crumpled.

'Is it...' I barely managed to say, thinking instantly of George.

Uncle Petey nodded gravely before kneeling down by Auntie Grace's side and pulling her into his arms. She buried her face in his shoulder, her sobs heaving and silent. I couldn't look at Uncle Petey's face, twisted with pain and grief.

Instead I looked up at Mum. She too had tears shining in her eyes, but seemed determined to not let them fall. I didn't even have to say anything as she wrapped me in a tight embrace. I felt a brief screaming panic–I didn't know which emotion to give the most attention to–but my resolve got in the way first.

I had to tell Hannah, as soon as possible. I didn't even have to read the note to know what happened. Now the only task was to make certain I didn't break down while doing it.

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She came as soon as her classes got out for the day. I'd rung the front desk at the Royal College, giving the woman who answered very specific instructions. Then I had to wait until Mum, Uncle Petey, and Auntie Grace had retreated into the depths of the house to read the note. It said Wing Commander George Haywood was shot down somewhere over Germany during a midnight raid. He was missing in action, presumed dead. At those words, my knees threatened to buckle as well. I suddenly had an image of George's mangled plane, with his body inside it. That sent a trembling all over my body.

Hannah arrived in a flurry of snow and cold. There was a high colour on her cheeks, and her eyes were bright with exertion. It was likely she'd run partly or all the way here. Burton showed her into the sitting-room, and it took a few moments before I could even look her in the eye.

'I came as soon as I heard,' she said, and I felt her gaze on me as I paced in front of the bookshelves lining the back wall. 'What happened?'

'You aren't going to like it, Hannah,' I said, the note burning a hole in the pocket of my cardigan. 'The news isn't great.'

'What?' Her brow furrowed and her jaw tightened. 'Is it about George?'

I bit my lip, taking the rumpled note out and handing it to her. Her hands shook as she unfolded it, tears gathering in her eyes as she read it, once, twice, and then a third time. Something was keeping her knees from giving way, but I couldn't fathom what it could have been.

'No...' She shook her head, covering her mouth. The ring George had given her, just under a fortnight ago, caught the weak winter light from the window. 'No...'

'Hannah...' I began, but she spun away from me, beating me to the door and was out in the corridor before I could catch up. 'Wait!'

I finally found her again at the end, where she'd stopped and leaned heavily against the windowsill. Tears were streaming steadily down her cheeks, and she was biting down so hard on her knuckle that the skin had broken. She didn't seem to notice the streaks of blood on her lips.

'Hannah,' I said again, stopping a safe distance from her. 'I'm so sorry, I...'

'Don't...' she whispered, her breath shuddering on its way in, then out. 'Please...'