That’s why we were in the dark. After a few moments of silence—we were all, I believe, stunned by the show we had seen—there was a rustling and the strike of a match. Miss Sharp and Miss Corey had fetched two lanterns from the doorway and set them on the table. The light shining up on our faces turned us all into frightful ghouls, Dame Beckwith most of all. “But I don’t understand.” Daisy was the first to speak. “I thought the prince went on to found the Order.” She sounded aggrieved, like a child whose favorite bedtime story has been changed. “That is the story the sisters and knights passed down,” Dame Beckwith said. “The real story was considered too frightening, but the sisters preserved the truth in the candelabellum so a select few would know of the danger that has always haunted our Order.” She turned to Nathan. “The man you saw today is not a man at all. He’s a creature made up of shadow that can control the shadows. He’s the Shadow Master.” “Was he ever a man?”
