Read Online Incorporeal by J.R. Barrett - Free Book Online Page B

pointed toward the table. “I juiced some oranges for us. Have you ever tasted fresh orange juice?”
    Nathan picked up the glass and studied the orange liquid. “Yes. Oranges grew in my homeland; the blossoms smelled sweet, but the juice was bitter. I tasted them when I…” He stopped speaking and Sara saw a muscle in his jaw twitch. “The juice was quite bitter. We added honey to make it more palatable.”
    This is your opportunity . He’s giving you an opening, use it . “When was that?” Pretending to search through the refrigerator, she blurted out the question before she could hesitate.
    Nathan sighed and set the glass back down on the table. He reached for her. Setting the items she held aside, he clasped her hands with his own. “I drank orange juice at my home in Andalusia.”
    “ Spain?”
    “ Yes.” That muscle twitched again. “Along the Atlantic coast.”
    Sara stared into his eyes. “What is your name, your full name?”
    “ Natan de Manua. I was the youngest son of a prosperous Jewish merchant, a man who sailed his own fleet of trading vessels for the Queen, from the coast of Andalusia to London Town, bringing herbs and spices, precious oils, and dried oranges.” Sara noticed that his smile was grim. “From the Orient and Africa.”
    Sara knew her history as well as any average Jewish woman. “What year?”
    “ What year did my father trade? He traded for more than twenty…”
    “ No,” Sara interrupted him. “What year was your family expelled?”
    Nathan dropped her hands and turned away. He walked to the window, stared out at the growing light in the eastern sky.
    “ In the Year of Our Lord, Fourteen and Eighty-Three, my mother, my father, my three brothers and my two sisters, and all our servants, were tortured by the Inquisitors before they were burned to death in our own stables.”
    “ Oh my god, I’m so…” The sudden lump in her throat made it impossible to finish the sentence. Sara pulled out a chair and sat, feeling as sick as she’d ever felt in her life. She had to know. “And you? Where were you? Did you die there, too?”
    Nathan continued to stare out the window. “No. I was with the very people who sanctioned the murders of my family, my race. I kept company with one of the royal princes in Castile. My father was the Queen’s own man, he held her patent, but when the Inquisitors came, it meant nothing to them. The crown secretly coveted his wealth and his trading vessels. They were confiscated the same day of his death, given as a gift to the Queen’s nephew. One year later, our three ships were lost with all hands in a storm off Gibraltar.”
    “ Christ,” Sara muttered. When Nathan remained silent, she felt compelled to prompt him. She knew there had to be much more to the story. “Why did they leave you alive? Or did they? What happened to you?”
    “ The offer was expulsion or death by fire. It cleanses the soul.” His laugh was without humor and Sara felt a chill run up her spine. “The prince, my friend, interceded for me and I was provided passage on a ship to my mother’s homeland, England. I landed with no coin, no possessions. I lived for several years in the alleys of London, a beggar, a drunkard, eaten up by guilt and remorse and a thirst for vengeance I hadn’t the power to slake.”
    “ And then?”
    “ I don’t remember. I woke in a dark place not of this earth, somewhere between heaven and hell, still bent on revenge.”
    Sara rose from her seat. With tentative steps, she approached Nathan. Laying a hand on his arm, she said, “I know my words can’t begin to touch your pain, but I’m sorry for your loss.”
    Nathan turned toward Sara, met her eyes. The even tone of his voice surprised her. “Thank you.”
    “ What of your mother’s family? Did you ever attempt to contact them?”
    Nathan shook his head. “She was descended from a semi-regal family, and she had been expected to marry well, bring honor to the family. Instead she