{"id":782,"date":"2026-09-11T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-09-11T10:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/insidemayasmind.com\/?p=782"},"modified":"2026-09-09T09:05:41","modified_gmt":"2026-09-09T09:05:41","slug":"queen-victoria-vs-the-ministry-of-darkness-chapter-11-the-unfortunate-transformation-of-miss-kelly","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/insidemayasmind.com\/?p=782","title":{"rendered":"Queen Victoria vs The Ministry of Darkness – Chapter 11, The Unfortunate Transformation of Miss Kelly"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\u201cI can\u2019t leave Mr Dickens here,\u201d Miss Nightingale said sharply.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As much as the infuriating man was fully to blame for the predicament they were in, she couldn\u2019t just leave him to the mercy of that\u2026 whatever it was.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe ain\u2019t got no time, Miss, we\u2019ve got to get you out,\u201d Miss Kelly urged in rushed tones, her eyes darting towards the open door and the empty corridor beyond. \u201cIt\u2019s Mr Sikes and Mr Crackit, Miss. They\u2019ll be looking for you. They ain\u2019t the sharpest tools in the box by no means, but sooner or later they\u2019ll check back here.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhich is precisely why we need to move now, Miss Kelly,\u201d Miss Nightingale retorted briskly. \u201cWe cannot afford to waste time with idle talk, can we, child?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo, Miss, of course not, Miss,\u201d she said, her words tumbling out in a hurried jumble. \u201cBut what about Bullseye, the dog, Miss? He\u2019ll sniff us out before we\u2019ve gone twenty yards. It\u2019s fair guess what they\u2019ll do to you, but if they catch me helping you, they\u2019ll slit me open and have my gizzards out, surely they will.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The dog! Why hadn\u2019t she thought of the dog?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pressing her lips together and setting her jaw, she cursed herself for being so hasty and careless. It was precisely this sort of reckless behaviour that lands Mr Dickens in hot water all the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Around her, torn silks, once vibrant, lay in tattered heaps. Splintered furniture littered the now bare floorboards. There was nothing but useless scrap. Anything even vaguely useful had long since been removed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her eyes, raw and watering from gritty soot coating her face, darted around the ruins. A desperate search for escape, for a solution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Soot!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was so obvious! Why hadn\u2019t she thought of it earlier?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She glanced at her own hands, dress and boots, all caked in the thick, black filth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMiss Kelly, into the fireplace,\u201d Miss Nightingale commanded, her eyes fixing on the other woman. \u201cQuickly, now!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe fireplace, Miss?\u201d she sputtered with wide-eyed indignation. \u201cThere ain\u2019t no room for me to climb up there.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou\u2019re not going to climb up,\u201d Miss Nightingale replied. \u201cI want you to cover yourself with soot. Cover everything.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSoot, Miss?\u201d Miss Kelly\u2019s eyes widened further, if that was even possible, her mouth hanging open as if the nurse had lost her mind. \u201cIt\u2019ll ruin my silks, Miss!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s your silks or your gizzards, girl!\u201d Miss Nightingale\u2019s voice was beginning to quiver as her composure threatened to crack. There really was not any time to explain. \u201cI have used charcoal to combat the foul stink of infected wounds in Scutari. If it can quell the stench of gangrene, surely it can throw off a common mongrel.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With but a whimper of protest, the silk-robed girl nodded, then reluctantly shuffled across the room, ducked through the cast-iron surround, and climbed into the mouth of the chimney.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Miss Nightingale spared no time. Her nails scraped, chipping and tearing against the inside of the firebox, ripping away thick handfuls of black, powdery soot. Forcefully, she began smearing the grime over the girl. Starting from her head, Miss Nightingale worked it into Miss Kelly\u2019s hair, each strand turning from a vibrant red to a dull, dusty rust. Then she started on her pale face, her hands, and her arms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCover every inch of skin,\u201d she instructed in clipped, clinical tones. \u201cWe must smell of nothing but ash and soot.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By the time she stepped out of the fireplace, Miss Kelly\u2019s once vibrant silk robe was ruined, and her white skin smeared with black grime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Together they bolted for the door.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWait!\u201d Miss Nightingale said, coming to an abrupt halt. Bending down, she snatched up a piece of torn silk from the floor. \u201cIf Bullseye wants a scent, we\u2019ll give him one that he won\u2019t forget.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Plunging her hand into her purse, her fingers fumbling until they closed around a smooth glass vial. With a small pop, the cork came loose. The acrid reek of soot in her nostrils vanished instantly, washed away by the sharp, clinical tang of camphor spirits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The clear liquid cascaded from the vial, soaking the silk until it was dripping.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cQuickly, now,\u201d she ordered, tossing the sodden piece of cloth into the passageway. \u201cShow me where they\u2019ve got Mr Dickens,\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMiss Miao\u2019s chambers are this way, Miss.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following Miss Kelly\u2019s lead, Miss Nightingale stepped through a disorienting labyrinth of winding passages. Their walls, a dizzying blend of green and red panelling that seemed to twist this way and turn that with little sense. Beneath her feet, the floor groaned and shifted, one moment lurching to the left before suddenly tilting sharply to the right. She stumbled forwards, her boots slipping impossibly on the thick pile carpet, as, without warning and for no logical reason she could see, a steep climb suddenly dropped into a sharp descent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her hands clamped tightly around a warped doorframe, her knuckles white as her heart hammered against her rib cage. Beside her, Miss Kelly moved with a steady ease, apparently unperturbed by her unnatural surroundings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Closing her eyes and forcing a deep breath, her racing pulse settled. Exhaling slowly, she smoothed down her soot-covered dress before falling back into step with her guide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThese creatures, Miss Kelly,\u201d Miss Nightingale said, taking a moment to look at her companion. \u201cThese Blossoms\u2026 I do not fully understand. I hear tales of their beauty, yet\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTo the gentlemen, they are right stunners, Miss,\u201d Miss Kelly said, glancing back. \u201cGentlemen see them as the Blossoms want to be seen. They are vain creatures, those Blossoms; sometimes I think they even believe the illusion themselves. But ladies, Miss, ladies see \u2018em as they really are. Their charms are no good on us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The corridor took another nauseating lurch sideways.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As they turned the corner, the air changed, becoming thicker. The lingering tang of opium vanished, swallowed by a heavy, suffocating sweetness. A heady wave of jasmine, so thick that it reminded her instantly of the sickrooms, where flowers were piled high in an attempt to drown out the stench of decay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re almost there, Miss,\u201d Miss Kelly whispered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lifting a soot-blackened finger, she pointed towards a heavy red velvet curtain. \u201cThat\u2019s Miss Miao\u2019s private chambers. That\u2019s where she takes the ones that she wants to keep.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

****<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cShe can\u2019t have just vanished into thin bloody air, she can\u2019t,\u201d Mr Sikes growled, his knuckles white around Bullseye\u2019s coarse, hemp lead. \u201cCould she, Mr Crackit?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOf course she ain\u2019t just vanished, Mr Sikes,\u201d Mr Crackit replied, peering up and down the corridor. \u201cBut I told you to keep an eye on her. I said she\u2019s a sly one.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Suddenly Bullseye gave a high, strangled yelp. His scarred nose plunged into a piece of torn silk, his dirty white paws clawing at it manically. Almost instantly, the dog lurched backwards, recoiling with a sudden, wet sneeze. With his one eye watering, the brute thrashed his head from side to side frantically, white foam flicking from his jowls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s gotten into you, you useless hound?\u201d Mr Sikes\u2019 voice thundered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr Crackit snatched the soaked rag from the floor, raising it to his nose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBlast, Mr Sikes, it stinks like a tanner\u2019s pit,\u201d Mr Crackit exclaimed, slinging the scrap at the wall. \u201cShe\u2019s playing games with us. She\u2019s gone and dosed the mutt\u2019s nose.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDon\u2019t you worry, Mr Crackit. She ain\u2019t got far,\u201d Mr Sikes snarled. \u201dAnd when I gets my hands on her, I\u2019m going to wring that scrawny neck, and I don\u2019t cares what the boss says about it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cI can\u2019t leave Mr Dickens here,\u201d Miss Nightingale said sharply. As much as the infuriating man was fully to blame<\/p>\n

Continue readingQueen Victoria vs The Ministry of Darkness – Chapter 11, The Unfortunate Transformation of Miss Kelly<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":778,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[35],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-782","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-queen-vic"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/insidemayasmind.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/QueenVic-Cover-NEW-JPG-scaled.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/insidemayasmind.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/782","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/insidemayasmind.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/insidemayasmind.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insidemayasmind.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insidemayasmind.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=782"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/insidemayasmind.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/782\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":784,"href":"https:\/\/insidemayasmind.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/782\/revisions\/784"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insidemayasmind.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/778"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/insidemayasmind.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=782"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insidemayasmind.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=782"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insidemayasmind.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=782"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}