The path grew narrower with every agonizing step, the loose shale sliding beneath their feet like shifting glass shards. To a casual observer, the ascent of Iron-Peak was a fool's errand; to the Minister's family who were physically weak, it was supposed to be a death sentence and mostly for the frailest daughter. But as the altitude climbed, the air thinning into a sharp, cold blade, the hierarchy of the manor began to dissolve.
Lucius watched Evelina's back with a growing sense of disbelief that bordered on genuine alarm. He had spent his carriage ride till here mentally preparing to carry her—literally and figuratively—up this trail to fulfill the requirements of "chivalry." He had expected a wilting lily; instead, he was tracking a shadow. She picked her way up the 12-degree incline with the silent, terrifying precision of a mountain goat, her breathing rhythmic and controlled in a way that defied every report he had read about her.
