Sterling by Emily June Street Read Free Book Online Page B

fire. As I wound up to strike the glass pane, Erich returned. He closed the bedroom door and turned the dead bolt.
    “Here, I’ve brought you clothes.” Erich shoved an armful of wool into my arms while removing the log from my hands without comment.
    The woolen servant’s dress was plain and scratchy, as were the apron and mob-cap that went with it.
    “Put them on,” he said.
    I simply stood with the clothes overflowing my arms. I couldn’t put them on while he remained in the room.
    When I did not change, Erich took me by the shoulders and made quick work of my laces again, despite his leather gloves. Did he wear them to mute the touching thing?
    I remained masked, frozen, the back of my ball gown sagging open, hugging the servant’s attire to my chest.
    Erich waved a small bottle at me. “Take off that ridiculous mask and put this on your face.”
    I shifted the clothing to take the bottle. “What is it?”
    “A cosmetic,” Erich explained. “To cover your mark.”
    Something deep inside me uncoiled at his words. Cosmetic? Like a paint? To cover my mark? “Such a thing exists?”
    “Of course.” He cleared his throat and looked almost sheepish. “My—my mistress uses the stuff to hide her freckles. I stole it from her supplies, but she has so many toiletries she’ll never notice.”
    Why had no one ever told me about cosmetic? I blamed first my mother and then Stesi. They must have known about it. The two of them had been interested in fashion and hairstyles. I’d been too wrapped up in my maps and books and archery to care for such concerns. But they had known. They’d known and not told me.
    I stuffed the bottle of the precious stuff into my reticule.
    Erich stared at me. “What are you waiting for? Get dressed! Fix your face! There’s only so long I can cover for you.” He reached as though to pull off my mask, but I ducked beneath his arm and darted towards the bathing chamber.
    “Sterling.” An odd note in Erich’s voice made me pause in the doorway. “Did you—did you mean it?”
    “Mean what?” My gown slipped off my shoulders completely.
    Erich’s gaze ran over my exposed collarbones, but would not meet my eyes. “What you said about when I touched you. That you liked it? That you would be willing to suffer some pain to—ah—make an heir—”
    “The betrothal’s over, Erich.” Was he blushing ?
    “I know. But is it true? I don’t—my touch doesn’t hurt you? You like it?”
    What a cad, to pester me about my foolish words at a time like this. My father had just been murdered, and all Erich could think of was that I’d enjoyed his touch? “I don’t have time to enhance your estimation of yourself,” I snapped. “Every girl in Lethemia wants to kiss you, Erich. I’m sure they won’t mind a few sharp sparks to do it. Please.” I stepped into the bathing chamber and slammed the door.
    “Where will you go?” he asked through the door. “Sterling you need a plan.”
    My hands shook so badly I could hardly cope with my gown and the awful maid’s dress. “I don’t know. Perhaps back to Shankar. Home.”
    “Don’t be a fool, Sterling. That’s where everyone will look for you first.”
    He was right, of course, but I wasn’t as stupid as he thought—I wasn’t going to tell him where I’d truly go. I took my mask off and scooped a dollop of cosmetic onto my face, smoothing it hastily as I checked the looking glass above the copper basin. At any other time I would have marveled at my skin, as smooth and homogenous as a rose petal. But I only pulled the mob cap all the way down my forehead to hide my hair and face, and turned away from the looking glass.
    Erich’s voice from the far side of the door made me jump. “Listen, Sterling, I just bought a house, my own, not my family’s—”
    “You bought a house?” Erich, as the heir to the Talata family’s vast properties, would inherit not only a palace in Talat City, but also a lavish townhouse in every major