Assistant to the Villain, #3
Accomplice to the Villain
by Hannah Nicole Maehrer
Contents
Chapter 56
Overview
Clare and Tatianna navigate Fowler’s hidden tunnels, reopen old wounds, and confront the impact of Clare’s mother on their past. In Fowler’s secret study they discover a coveted wand, triggering a lethal trap as the walls close in. Clare uses orange ink to melt an escape as they run.
Summary
Clare and Tatianna wander Fowler’s dark tunnels by Tatianna’s healing light, reminiscing about a near-kiss from their youth. Their banter reveals lingering affection and tension as they stumble into a hidden mechanism that opens Lord Fowler’s private study.
Inside, Tatianna’s curiosity activates odd artifacts, briefly levitating her and cracking Fowler’s desk. The chaos intensifies Clare’s emotions, prompting a candid confrontation about their breakup. Clare admits her enduring love and guilt, while Tatianna insists the real harm came from Amara’s rigid moral absolutism that shaped Clare and her brothers.
Tatianna comforts Clare, reframing the world as “full of color,” not just right and wrong. Seeking a way forward, they spot a wand embedded as a unicorn’s horn. Despite warnings, Kingsley (Alexander) knocks it free, revealing it as the rare wand they need.
The victory triggers a trap: the room shudders and the walls begin to close. Tatianna urges flight, and the pair sprint through the corridor until they hit a dead end. Clare draws on her orange ink’s melting properties, searing the stone to open an escape as the crushing walls bear down.
Who Appears
- ClareNavigates Fowler’s tunnels, confesses enduring love and guilt, confronts her mother’s influence, retrieves the wand, and melts an escape.
- TatiannaHealer guiding with light; rekindles intimacy with Clare, challenges Amara’s worldview, spots the wand, and urges their escape.
- Kingsley (Alexander)Frog companion who dislodges the wand from a fake unicorn mount, inadvertently triggering the room’s trap.
- Lord FowlerOwner of the mansion; his secret study holds the wand and a deadly closing-walls trap.
- AmaraClare’s mother; discussed as the source of rigid moral beliefs that harmed Clare and her brothers.