The Matchstick Girl by Suzanne Hocking

Author:Suzanne Hocking [Hocking, Suzanne]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781926716343
Google: nLEnjgEACAAJ
Amazon: B01FGRWUUE
Goodreads: 26890108
Publisher: 8th House Publishing
Published: 2016-05-09T03:00:00+00:00

PART III

Part III - THE SPIRES

Chapter XIX

THE CARRIAGE ROLLED over cobblestones, jolting me inside. I felt like a ghost, carried through the streets of St. Petersburg in a hackney I’d only ever ridden driver side. Curtains draped the windows and through them I heard the sounds of people, the clopping of horses, but they belonged elsewhere, to another world. I hugged my belongings and looked to Maks for comfort. Sitting across from me, he looked a picture of elegance, his moustache more real than my beating heart.

“Are you scared?” he asked.

“I shouldn’t be here.” My will was slipping; I could feel its downward weight like lead in my belly.

“This is your world now. You’ll get used to it.”

“Is it difficult?”

He chewed a strand of ginger hair that dangled near his mouth. His belly rose and fell as he spared a few moments to think.

“There’s only so much you need to remember,” he said at last. His voice rumbled. “Stand straight. Look everyone who matters in the eye. Eat neatly. Speak only of inconsequential matters, unless you’ve earned the right to cleverness. Beware of rivals.” He ticked them off on his fingers, bedecked with rings.

“Then... it has nothing to do with clothing?” I asked.

He frowned and scratched his cheek.

“No, indeed. The Emperor would be himself, even were he naked.” Maks pursed his lips, fat chubby mounds, and I watched his hands twitch at his sides. “We are who we are,” he said, sighing, and looked away out the window. I don’t imagine he met the eye of any passerby.

Huddled in my seat, I chased fluttery thoughts about my head. I might have been herding chickens. Cooped up, they wanted only to escape. They trembled and squawked, fluttery ghost-chickens, new to their pen and afraid. Nervously, I brushed my skirt over my knees. Velvet flattened at my touch, changing colour a little, as though it blushed.

Maks looked at me, an eyebrow raised. I straightened, aware I had made myself small.

“Better,” he said. “You must not forget.”

It is so easy for the body to forget. Mine does not like to pretend. Like the wind, it fills the spaces left for it. My shyness was a deep and hollow place into which I sank.

“Why did you come for me?” I asked.

“I owed Sasha a debt. You know that.”

“You could have sent a servant or made me go alone.”

Maks frowned. “My wife would prefer to know where I am today. She has arranged a visit with the headmistress. I am obliged to attend.” As he spoke, he became bloated, pompous, and snorted loudly through his nose.

“Then surely she knows I am not your cousin! How could you not tell me?”

“Calm yourself, little squirrel. The headmistress knows what my wife does. That is to say, no more than I tell her. A man like me has cousins everywhere. Many are not spoken of in front of wives for fear of crass associations. You, I believe we are agreed, are not crass, and so I told her what she needed to know.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.