Free Insperatus by Kelly Varesio Page B

them?
    To her dismay, he removed his hands from the table. “Not too formal, I suppose,” he said to her dryly.
    She felt so ill it was nearly excruciating. “No… no , I—”
    “ They are a long story,” he said simply, rolling down his sleeves.
    “ Oh, please don’t!” she declared with the most foolish feeling burning her up, and he stopped immediately and looked at her. “I don’t care if I see them,” she muttered. He watched her closely as she tried to clear up her actions. “I just hadn’t noticed them before. Please forgive me if I offended you. I don’t mind, really.”
    He said nothing. He watched her a moment, looked down, and kept his sleeves as they were. But he put them under the table. His face was down, and he seemed for a flashing moment personal and pensive. “Are they much worse than my face?”
    She was shocked at his comment. He seemed more sarcastic with himself as he spoke, but not as if he was depressed. But within his eyes she could see question. She could read something, finally. But he must know what his face looked like…
    She felt horrified at herself. “No. I mean, yes! No, Mr. Harker, your face isn’t…the scars on your face are barely noticeable; I just…I’m sorry!” For a moment she didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
    “ Don’t apologize,” he said with a short, silent chuckle. “I was just wondering. I prefer not to look at myself in the mirror. Don’t exactly like my reflection.”
    She marveled at how that was possible, but mortification still clung to her, and she put her face in her hands.
    After a pause, he sighed with a trembling breath. “About the letter, Miss Pierson,” he began, changing the focus of the conversation. He paused. “Rein?”
    She looked at him, releasing her hands from her face. He’d said her first name. He’d actually slipped and used her first name!
    “ It isn’t something you must pity,” he said. “I’ve had them for years.” When she didn’t reply, he spoke with more refinement. “Miss Pierson, I don’t want to have to tell you that the letter you received is truthful, but…” his regretful pause was terrifying. “I hadn’t thought it was, and I said it wasn’t because part of me wanted to make sure you were…well, you seem to take shock better than most women.”
    She sat back and laughed a little. “That’s what Saria told me. But of course she is also very—”
    “ Dramatic?” he finished for her, and he smiled.
    “ Yes. She is terribly histrionic.” She stopped and spoke with a quiver. “Oh, Mr. Harker, I haven’t offended you, have I? I had to have; first your eyes, and now—”
    “ Miss Pierson, please,” he said quietly. “I’m not offended.” He made a slight shake of his head and toyed with his fingers. “The writer of your letter— Mistress—is a well-known woman in this ship. But she is not anywhere near it. In fact, she is in a far-off country, as of now. But both I and Carden served for her…I mean, for work.” He seemed to end his speech there.
    “ You must be wealthy to have a castle, as I heard Mr. Romanoff say you did,” she said. “Why would you work?”
    His manner shifted into one of uncertainty. “I inherited it. It regrettably didn’t come with money seeping out the cracks.” She smiled at his unintentional humor, and he continued. “But Mistress had… has a tendency to know things. A medium, perhaps you would consider her. I wouldn’t say witchcraft, but, I don’t know,” he mumbled. “I have not seen her in many years,” he seemed to grimace. “In fact, I’ve needed her for so long…”
    Rein felt like her heart was attempting to come up her throat. He was making this Mistress sound as though he had once loved her, and the very idea was heartbreaking.
    “— so the letter you found was just as much a shock to me as it was to you. She isn’t on this ship, Miss Pierson.”
    She took a shaky breath and blew out her fright in anger. “A witch? You