The Ghosts' Feast (The Breathing Ghosts) by Eleanor Keane

Author:Eleanor Keane [Keane, Eleanor]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Published: 2013-12-03T05:00:00+00:00

My heart leapt into my mouth. I looked down at my bloodied, stained clothes and the grime under my fingernails. “Me? You want me to be your companion?”

“And maid,” she added, her eyes glinting with dark humour. There was something about her expression- something hungry, almost greedy- that scared me. I backed away, thinking of how the man had looked before he had set himself on me. It had been the same kind of look.

I expected the Contessa- if that was what she really was- to look shocked, but instead she just laughed- a harsh sound that cut through the air like a knife.

“Ah, you think I’m mad, don’t you?” she laughed. I didn’t know how to reply to that, so I kept silent. The Contessa reached up into her elegant twist of curls, and plucked free a gleaming ruby. She tossed it to me, and I caught it with both hands. It was as red as blood, or a rich, deep wine.

“Look at that,” she said haughtily. “If I were mad, do you think I’d go around Venice wearing that? No. My family would have had me locked up in an asylum by now, or a convent, or I’d be sitting on the streets, gibbering and and begging for food.” She raised a eyebrow at me. “But you probably know all about begging, don’t you, my special one?”

I swallowed hard. “You must be mad,” I mumbled, even though I knew it was rude and ungrateful to say so. “You’ve just killed a man- you’re covered in his blood and you don’t even care...”

The Contessa shrugged again. “Perhaps I am a little mad. But I’ve also just saved your life, and now I’m offering you employment. In fact, I’m offering you much more than that- I’m offering you an entirely new life. A different life, a special life, one filled with purpose and and privilege and power. You like power, don’t you, Fiamma?”

My heart gave a little flutter of joy at the sound of my name on her lips. “I’ve never really experienced much of that, my lady. It sounds nice.”

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