Once Upon a Broken Heart, #2
The Ballad of Never After
by Stephanie Garber
Contents
Chapter 33
Overview
Evangeline presses Jacks about the names at the Hollow and the Merrywood past. Jacks admits he was friends with Lyric and Castor and recounts Vengeance’s attack at Merrywood Manor, where he failed to save Castor. After resting, Evangeline explores the inn and discovers a carving: “Aurora + Jacks,” hinting at complicated ties.
Summary
In the Hollow’s loft, Evangeline confronts Jacks about the height notches and names on the wall. Realizing his name sits apart from the Merrywood Three, she pushes for clarity. Jacks admits he was friends with Lyric and Castor but not with Aurora or the Archer, and grows evasive.
Pressed for more, Jacks recounts the day Vengeance attacked Merrywood Manor. He arrived to find everyone dead except Castor, who had been stabbed in the back. Believing Honora, Castor’s mother and a famed healer, could save him, Jacks tried to get Castor to her, but failed. He concludes bitterly that no heroes survived that day and that he is no savior, then leaves despite Evangeline insisting he saved her life tonight.
Later, Evangeline wakes alone in the dark loft, hurting but mobile. She realizes Jacks undressed her while she slept to remove bloodied clothes and left a shirt for her. Needing a bathing room, she carefully crosses the outside bridge amid star-like lights and makes her way into the warm inn.
After washing and gathering herself, Evangeline follows the scents of bread and cider to the main level, noting a whimsical meal clock and the cozy, weapon-free tavern entry. She continues to explore, hungry but cautious.
Near the clock, Evangeline discovers a carving that reads “Aurora + Jacks,” which jolts her and suggests a deeper past connection. As she processes this, a voice asks if she is enjoying snooping, cutting the moment and hinting at further revelations.
Who Appears
- EvangelineInjured but determined; questions Jacks about Merrywood, rests at the Hollow, explores, and discovers “Aurora + Jacks.”
- JacksTends Evangeline’s wounds; admits friendship with Lyric and Castor; recounts Vengeance’s attack and failing to save Castor.
- CastorRemembered as noble; the lone survivor at Merrywood when Jacks arrived, later died despite Jacks’s attempt to save him.
- LyricRemembered as good; part of Jacks’s circle before the Merrywood tragedy.
- AuroraMentioned as a pest by Jacks; her name is carved with Jacks’s, implying a past tie.
- The ArcherMentioned as not Jacks’s friend; part of the old group tied to Merrywood.
- VengeanceAttacker at Merrywood Manor whose assault left the heroes dead.
- HonoraCastor’s mother; famed healer Jacks hoped could save him but could not.