Of Fates And Phantoms (The Ministry of Curiosities #7)(5)

The prince narrowed his gaze at me as I moved to stand alongside Lincoln. "Who are you?"

I bobbed a curtsy then lowered myself a little more. How low should I go? I almost lost my balance as I stood again, but Lincoln grasped my arm and steadied me. "My name is Miss Charlotte Holloway," I said. "I'm a friend of Mr. Fitzroy's."

"Miss Holloway, you claimed you know things that may help in this situation, but I think it's best if you leave this to me and Fitzroy.

"She stays," Lincoln said before I could respond. At the prince's arched brow, he added, "The supernatural doesn't frighten her."

I wouldn't have put it like that. Some of the supernatural frightened me terribly.

Leisl rose and stepped in front of me so that I couldn't see the prince's reaction. She touched my cheek, her gaze connecting with mine. She sucked a sharp breath through her teeth and her fingers curled on my cheek. The nails scraped my skin but did not break it.

"Yes, you can help," she said. "You see the dead. I cannot."

I could do more than see the dead. I could raise them and control them. I thought it best not to mention that in front of the future king of England, however. Although I doubted he had the power to reinstate a law to burn witches at the stake, I didn't want to take that chance.



       
         
       
        

Leisl turned to the prince who looked somewhat stunned after her pronouncement. At least he didn't call anyone mad, or demand my arrest. "I came to warn you, sire. You are in danger from your dead father."

"How can a spirit harm me? Are they not made of air?"

"I do not know. It is not clear."

He snorted. "Seeing the future is an imprecise science, is it?"

"The unclear can be changed. The clear cannot. Good fortune is with you tonight, sire. My son and his bride will help if you allow it."

"Oh! I'm not his bride," I said with a silly laugh that I wished I could take back as soon as it escaped my lips.

"I … I … " The prince smoothed his hand over his evening jacket then tugged on the cuffs. "I ought to return upstairs. You must leave now."

"But you are in danger!"

Lincoln placed a hand on her shoulder. "You've done all you can."

The prince held Lincoln's gaze for a very long time before breaking it to once again take in every inch of him … of his son. Did he see the similarities? Did he know or suspect? It wasn't clear from his expression, now closed and unreadable. It was so very like the mask Lincoln sometimes wore to hide his emotions that my breath hitched.

The prince turned sharply and strode up the stairs. Leisl gathered the lapels of her coat at her chest, her dark eyes focused not on the man she'd lain with in her youth, but the man who was the product of that union  .

"You were such a little thing." She touched Lincoln's arm and, when he didn't move away, squeezed. "Now you are strong. Fierce."

"Tell me what you know about the danger," he said. "What have you seen?"

Leisl's fingers sprang apart and she let him go and stepped away. I wanted to chastise Lincoln for his coolness toward her when she must be feeling quite emotional to meet her long lost son. But I couldn't do so here, in front of her and others. Seth, Alice and Lady V approached cautiously down the stairs.

"It was his father," Leisl said emphatically. "He may wish to harm his son."

"How, when a spirit has no form?" Lincoln asked.

"I do not know."

"You said you saw it, in your vision. If you didn't see how it harmed him, then what, precisely, did you see?"

"No, no, not see a vision. Not … " She clicked her tongue in frustration. "Not like I see you now. I see it as feeling, in here." She touched her chest. At Lincoln's continued frown, she added, "You do not see my breath, yet you know I breathe. Yes?"

"I understand," I said. "It's an instinct that's nagging you, not an actual vision." 

"An instinct," Lincoln said flatly.

"As you instinctively know when I'm near or in danger. You don't see the pictures in your mind's eye, but you do know." I touched his chest over his heart. "In here."

He closed his hand over mine and drew it to his side. "You're supposed to be a strong seer," he said to his mother. "I thought you could see pictures, visions."

"I do, with some. With the prince, it is in the heart only. Is instinct," she said with a smile at me. "As your bride say."

Lord and Lady Hothfield arrived along with the butler and footmen. It would seem we weren't welcome to see in the New Year. Lord Hothfield asked one of the footmen to have our carriage brought around, and another fetched our coats. Lady Vickers praised the ball and the esteemed guest list, but Lady Hothfield ignored her completely. Lady Vickers thrust out her considerable chest, threw back her head, and backed away. She bumped into the Greek statue. A moment later, she stepped away, a small smile on her face. The crimson cloth covering the statue's nether region disappeared into the folds of her skirt.

I bit my lip, but couldn't stop my grin. Seth and Alice both followed my gaze to the white marble statue, now entirely naked. Seth pinched the bridge of his nose while Alice giggled into her hand.

Lord and Lady Hothfield hadn't yet seen. They continued to sport scowls as the footmen produced our coats. I put mine on and caught Leisl observing me. Could she see into a person's past as well as their future? What did she see in mine?

"You are not medium," she said quietly. "You are more."

I glanced at Lincoln. Neither of us answered.

"Do not fear me," she said. "I do not harm the woman my … my son loves." She reached for his hand, but he moved away. Her face fell.

I took her hand instead. "Forgive him," I said. "He needs time."

She nodded and held my hand briefly in both of hers before letting go.

"If you need anything, we can be found at Lichfield Towers in Highgate. Take care, Leisl."

Alice hooked her arm through mine. "We'd better go," she whispered. "Lady Hothfield is looking at us so fiercely, I can feel her glare stabbing me."

"You!" Leisl took a step backward, her huge eyes fixed on Alice. "You are door."

"Door?" Alice tried to laugh but it fell flat. "Charlie, what does she mean? Why is she looking at me like I'm the devil?"

"The door to other worlds," Leisl muttered, taking another step back. She pulled out a necklace from beneath her bodice and held it up. The flat oval pendant attached to the leather strip sported a roughly hewn etching of a blue eye. It was identical to one I'd found in Lincoln's possession some time ago. He'd told me his mother had given it to him when he was a baby. It was all he had of hers.

"What is she doing? Is she cursing me?" Alice's voice rose in panic and she sidled closer to me.

"Nothing like that," I quickly assured her. "It's for her own protection."

"She knows what I am? What my dreams do? How? How can she know?"

"I'll explain later." I took her hand and steered her toward the door.

"Alice?" Seth fell into step beside us. "You look pale. Allow me to escort you."

"Oh!" cried Lady Vickers. "Oh my! Oh dear, how wicked."

I spun round to see Lady Vickers pointing at the statue, her other hand shielding her eyes.

"I cannot bear to see such … such filth!" she screeched.

Several faces peered over the balustrade to see what all the fuss was about. More than one gentlemen snickered, and a few ladies too, while an older woman covered her young companion's eyes.



       
         
       
        

"I want to see, Mama," the girl whined, clawing at her mother's hand.

Lady Hothfield's cheeks turned the color of the carpet. "Cover it up at once! You there, your jacket!" She dragged the hapless footman's jacket from his shoulders then flung it back at him. "Cover up the offensive area! Quickly!"

More guests peered down, and several giggled while others shook their heads in disgust. This level of society wasn't used to seeing nakedness in their entrance halls, not even on statues. Indeed, for some, nakedness in any room was abhorrent.

Gus arrived with our carriage. Lincoln climbed up beside him while we four piled inside and pulled the blankets over our laps. Lady Vickers produced the statue's loin cloth and waved it in front of Seth's face.

He shoved it away. "You're drunk."

She flicked the cloth at him. "How else am I to get through evenings like those?"

"I thought you wanted to go."

"And be whispered about behind my back? Be snubbed at every turn? That is not my idea of a pleasant evening, Seth."

"Then why accept the invitation at all? Indeed, why go to so much trouble to secure an invitation in the first place?"

"To force them to smile politely at me when I greet them. I want them to know that their malice did not bury me." She patted his cheek. "And to insure you will be accepted into society once again."