Free Forgotten Truths (The Forgotten Truths Series) by Justine E. Domke Page B

close to my size. This wasn’t the case with James’. He had a larger frame than I did. I had rolled up the cuffs of the pants along with the sleeves of the shirt. The waist of the pants was a bigger problem, but I had tried to gather a couple of the belt loops in front and tied the loose shirttails in them. It may have looked odd, but I worked with what I had.
    James reached up to the lamp on the wall and lit it with a candle from the hallway. He hadn’t looked at me yet, but I noticed that he had changed out of his uniform into similar clothes that I was in. He kept his back to me as he went to another lamp next to the mirror and lit it as well. I always preferred natural light, but there was something about the way the candles flickered in this particular room that had a settling effect on me.
    James went to close the door and then turned to face me. When he eyed my clothes, I could tell I’d caught him off guard. He had looked ready to continue our conversation when he had come in, but now he was trying to hold back laughter. When he saw how I was looking at him, he stopped immediately and sat down in the chair. I came back over to the bed and sat at the foot. I crossed my legs under me as I leaned back against the post.
    “So what do you want to know about me?” he asked.
    I folded my arms across my chest. “What will you tell me?”
    “Well, I was born right here-”
    “Where is here to be exact?” I interrupted.
    “Port St. Martha. Anyway, I was born here and lived with my mother until she died when I was twelve. I don’t know what happened to my father. My mother didn’t like to talk about him. I only knew that he left quickly after I was born. So after she died, I was wandering the streets when Captain Brown found me. That was about eight years ago. He brought me here and introduced me to his son, William, and we became friends quickly, and I’ve been here since.”
    “I thought you said your father was dead.”
    “Well, I consider him to be. I’ve never heard from him or heard anything about him. It’s just simpler to say he’s dead than try to explain.”
    “I guess. You don’t have a very exciting history.”
    He leaned back. “I’m sorry to disappoint you, but unless I get more specific questions, I don’t know what to tell you.”
    Because of this statement, we stayed up all night. I asked him question after question and he answered honestly to all of them. I learned what he liked and disliked about people, why he was able to get away with not doing any work on the ship when he brought me here (which was because he didn’t actually work on the ship), and much more. This was probably the easiest way I’d ever gotten information from someone. With pirates, or other men in general, if I wanted to know something I’d ask without holding back, but usually they wouldn’t tell me the truth.
    I stretched and yawned as light appeared in the sky. The sun was rising. James did the same thing and smiled when I yawned again, not able to stop it.
    “Go to bed. You look exhausted.”
    “Well, we have been up all night.”
    He stood up. “You’ve looked exhausted for the past few days. And when you did sleep, it wasn’t for long and didn’t look like it was a very deep sleep. Just relax and don’t worry about anything. I’ll get a few hours of sleep and come in and check on you later.”
    “I’ve gone several days without sleep and I’ve been fine.” I yawned again, but I didn’t want to admit defeat. The bed was very comfortable under me. There was no doubt that if I lay down right here, I wouldn’t wake up for several hours.
    “But you’ve been very stressed the past few days. Just don’t worry about it.” He pulled the chair back to where it had been originally and went to the door. He had his hand on the handle, but stopped and looked back at me.
    “May I ask you something?”
    I yawned in response.
    “Have I gained any of your trust since yesterday?”
    I gave him a tired