Read Online Fair Maiden by Cheri Schmidt - Free Book Online Page A

him. “Could you?”
    Christian grinned back and switched the music again.
     
    When she’d retired for the evening, he still wished to see
her room, but had remained in a foul mood, and asked to view it later. As she
left, his gaze fell to the soirée invitations again. What a mess.
    He went over his ledgers to see how long he could drag this
out financially. Not long.
     
     

Chapter
7
    Vision
     
    In the days that passed she’d conversed with Jackson and
Christian enough to get to know both of them quite well. The three of them had
agreed that perhaps she should not show herself to the other servants. Mainly
because Jackson said the cook was too superstitious and would not likely react
well. And since the others held her opinion in high regard, they reasoned that
none of them should know about the ghost dwelling with them in the castle.
    She did not feel as sad as she had before, but remained
frustrated with her situation. And she could not see a way of changing it. She
took one look at the missive on her bed and reminded herself that she was
loved, even though she did not know who loved her enough to tell her in such a
way. But also could not help but wonder how she was in danger, and by whom. The
witch’s words lingered in the back of her thoughts and simply would not relent.
    With a sigh, she shifted to the looking glass on the wall
again. She still wore the same dress, with the same veil, and the same ribbons
tied in her hair. She’d tried to change her appearance with thought, but could
not seem to manage that. She could glide through solid objects, she could hover
above anything, and move and lift things with nothing more than her mind, but
she had limitations beyond that.
    It was difficult to look at herself, not knowing who she
was, not knowing her own name. “Why am I here?” Tears sparkled in her
green-eyed gaze. “Please, who am I?”
    She got the sense that she was being watched again, and
gasped. She turned to see that no one else was in the room, and her door was
tightly closed. She returned her gaze to the mirror and shrieked when she saw
two faces looking back at her. Whilst the man and woman were smiling, their
eyes expressed a deep sadness. And, to her surprise, the woman looked like
her….  “Mama?” she whispered.
    The lady with golden hair and green eyes nodded, looking
very pleased. She looked at the man, and then addressed him, “Papa?”
    He beamed at that and nodded eagerly.
    “Help me! Who am I?”
    They both frowned, her mother blew a kiss, and then their
images vanished.
    “No!” she reached for the glass and pressed her hands
against it. She felt resistance just as she had with the invisible barrier
outside. “No! Come back, please,” she sobbed.
    She waited, and waited, and when they did not return she
decided to go find Christian. She wanted to talk to him about this, and knew he
was in his bedchamber.
     
    “Christian?” she called through the wooden door, hoping he
would be able to hear since she was unable to knock.
    Moments later, the door opened partway, and a bewildered
Christian peered out. “Princess?”
    “Do you have a moment? Could I speak with you?”
    “Of course.” He swung the door wider and motioned for her to
enter.
    She laughed. “I could have gone through it, silly .”
    “Now, now, you mustn’t deny me a chance to be a gentleman.”
    “Very well.” She lost her train of thought when she viewed
that he wore only trousers. “Forgive me. It seems I have interrupted your
bedtime ablutions.”
    And apparently, he only then noticed his naked chest and
reached for his shirt to shove his arms into the sleeves. He did not bother
with the buttons, and she remained distracted because of it. “Come, princess,
tell me what troubles you.” He reached for her hand then, but pulled back when
he apparently recalled he could not touch her. He did that a lot, reached for
her like that. She realized he felt like she was real, and the idea