CamillasConsequences Read Free Page A

aetheric plane. I run a few steps and lift into the aether, higher and higher, the wind tangling my hair. I relax in the flimsy seat, my hands poised over the directional levers. The scattering of lights below is beautiful, but in Lower London they are diffuse, a result of the dense soot that spews from the factories.
    My thoughts return to Aldridge. I lack patience with the imperfect creatures that God put on this earth before women. In some ways I suppose I can pardon God for His mistake. Perhaps Man was a trial effort, a crude sketch, a flawed rendering that merely prepared the way for the perfect entity who came after, Woman.
    A long sigh escapes me. Since I spend so much time in pursuit of adulterers, it seems as if honorable men are as scarce as hen’s teeth. I have more than enough information to seal Aldridge’s fate. The more I consider my options, the more I wonder about his wife and three daughters. The eldest is almost ready to make her debut. Perhaps I should speak to Lady Aldridge. She may provide me with some enlightening information that will allow me to deal with her husband more effectively.
    As the Silverwing glides silently through the sky, I look over my shoulder. I am coming for you, Lord Aldridge, and I will alter your life forever.

Chapter Two
     
    I need to make a list of my enemies, and to do this I must take stock of my cabinet of curiosities. Sighing, clutching the letter against my drumming heart, I ascend the staircase. The east wing is always locked, for this is where I keep my darkest secrets. My fingers close around the large, heart-shaped pendant that hangs from a chain around my neck. Once I reach the top of the stairs, I open the heart, revealing three keys. I remove one and unlock the double doors. After securing the door behind me, I march swiftly down the empty hallway toward the last room on the left. I remove the second key and unlock my bedchamber.
    A canopied four-poster bed overwhelms the large room, and the walls are covered in Panoptographs, a reminder of my previous life. I was on my way to becoming a renowned Panoptographer before my engagement to Samson. I had won several awards and even traveled by airship to the Dark Continent with the International Wildlife Society to take pictures of the great migration. Panoptographs of scavenging hyenas, snarling lions and galloping zebras surround me.
    My favorite hangs over the mantle. The Panoptograph is of a lion, teeth bared, black mane flying in the wind, charging at its prey. At that moment, I was its prey, for I had placed the Panoptoscope as close to his pride as I dared, and he caught wind of me within minutes. He roared and attacked, and how the blood pounded in my veins as he raced toward me, a beast of beauty and death. My trembling finger snapped the picture. I grabbed the ’Scope and scrambled into the branches of a nearby tree to avoid having the flesh torn off my bones. Oh the beating of my heart! It took forever for the frantic rhythm to quiet, and I perched in the tree until dusk, the great male roaring beneath me. Eventually, he lost interest and he and his three lionesses wandered deeper into the savannah.
    I cherish this image, because it reminds me of the proximity of death. Had I not found shelter in the tree, I would not be here today. Every time I look at my Panoptographs, I relive the sweet fear and the exquisite thrill of danger, for nothing compares to the hunt.
    When the Society approached me once again a year later, this time to document an indigenous Namibian tribe, I was engaged to Samson. Nevertheless, Samson gave me his blessing and encouraged me to go. Men who permitted their fiancées to travel the world were rare indeed, and I appreciated his generosity in giving me the freedom to embark upon new adventures. Samson understood my wild and willful nature better than anyone, and he recognized my desire to stretch my wings and explore foreign lands.
    We shall postpone the wedding, Camilla. Pursue your