The Sorceress, v. 3 of 3

Charlie Kingsward leaves Oxford in a blur of disappointment, his mind battered by a cruel misunderstanding that leaves him feeling exposed and humiliated. Rejected by a woman whose gentle suspicion feels like an accusation, he retreats from the familiar gardens of his youth, convinced that his world has collapsed. With little money, no true friends, and a sense of utter aimlessness, he impulsively boards a train for London, hoping the city’s chaos might drown out the voices that haunt him.

Arriving amid the clamor of the great railway station, Charlie drifts through crowds, clutching a battered travel bag and a vague, unsettling sense that something larger is waiting. The city's restless energy both unsettles and beckons him, hinting at a strange, perhaps magical presence that could alter his desolate path. As he wanders the fog‑filled streets, the promise of an unknown encounter offers a fragile thread of intrigue in his otherwise bleak escape.