The Lady Machinist (Curiosity Chronicles Book 1) by Ava Morgan Read Free Book Online

wires in its voice receptor box are fine tuned to respond to changes in pitch and tone. When you took out your gun, it heard me shout and thought I was in distress.”
    “Machines can’t think.” He finally put the revolver away.
    “You know what I mean.” Lydia gazed in dismay at the jumble of wires sticking out from the automaton’s back. Why were they moving?
    “Look out.” Rhys knocked her off her feet.
    Lydia heard a crash just before the two of them landed on the floor. He sheltered her from the impact, holding her against his chest. The room came alive again with the sound of clanging metal.
    Once the din settled, Lydia peered over her shoulder. The assistant was on its back, having brought two rows of automatons with it. Oil and hydraulic fluid mingled on the floor in an orange-brown pool of sludge.
    “It was going to fall on you.” Rhys spoke into her ear. His breath tickled the sensitive area.
    Unnerved by such close contact, Lydia looked into his face. The brash, teasing manner that lightened his features before gave way to a darker, focused countenance. He hid much beneath the cloak of civility he chose to don. She wondered just whom New Britannia sent to deal with her, and for the first time, became uneasy with the thought of what he might do if he didn’t get his way.
    “You’re a dangerous man, ambassador,” she whispered.
    “You’re welcome.” He lifted himself and her off the floor with little effort on her part. “I’ll help you clean up.”
    “There’s no time. The demonstration starts in half an hour. I need to ready the remaining soldiers. The ones that are still standing, that is.” Lydia straightened her clothes, making an attempt to stop noticing the absence of his touch.
    She approached the fallen automaton and winced at the scrap metal Rhys’ armor-piercing bullets made of its torso plate. “That wasn’t even an armed model.”
    “And yet it nobly defended you.” Rhys found a stray bullet lodged in a piece of the armor plating that had broken off at the automaton’s shoulder.
    She took it from him and examined it under the light. “How did you come by such a vicious firearm?”
    “Custom. You’re hurt.”
    Lydia dropped the armor and covered the reddened skin of her hand. “A mild abrasion from when I shut the assistant down.”
    Rhys took her hand, inspecting the wound. “This is a burn.”
    “Nothing a bit of comfrey balm won’t soothe.” She drew back, sucking air through her teeth when Rhys touched the burn. “I’ll tend to it after the demonstration.”
    “It’s already blistering.” He took a handkerchief and wound it gingerly around her hand. She bit the inside of her cheek to keep from vocalizing her pain.
    He tied the handkerchief. “That should stay for a while.”
    Lydia studied the overhand knot. Only sailors made those. Maybe he was telling the truth about his profession. “Thank you.” Embarrassed at being tended to by him in such an intimate manner, she changed the subject. “You should go back to the palace. The king will look for you soon. I’ll show you the path back.”
    “I know the way.”
    She took him to the entrance and watched him take sure, confident strides along the hillside before she retreated into the Guild’s warm, dim interior.
    She tried to chase away the new sensations in her mind and body that occurred when Rhys put his arms around her, shielding her from harm. After that last encounter, she didn’t know if she was doing anything right anymore.

 
     
     

Chapter 6
     
     
    The clean lemon scent of Lydia’s hair lingered in Rhys’ nose as he took the longboat to The Enlightened and clamored up the gangplank. He found Malcolm reclining at the ship’s helm with a bowl of breakfast porridge.
    “There’s to be an automaton demonstration in twenty minutes. You’ll need to see how many we can fit in the ship’s cargo hold.” Not waiting for a reply, he went below to his cabin and shut the door behind him.
    No time