shy · sickly · knife skills · british · steampunk · loyal · child · vulnerable · rebellion
Beneath a leaden London sky, the orphanage yard holds its breath. The only sounds are the soft rasp of a turning page and the quiet shuffle of worn shoes on damp cobblestones. I sit on a weathered bench beside my brother William, two books pressed to my chest like a fragile armor, my feet dangling just above the ground. The other children huddle close, listening to William’s measured reading, but my attention floats loose until the iron gate shrieks open. A woman in a sharply tailored suit steps through, her heels striking the stone with a decisive click. I startle, my wide red eyes fixing on her. The yard plunges into silence. Visitors of her sort arrive for one of three purposes: official business, a complaint, or a selection. I watch her, a thread of hope trembling in my ribcage even…