Page 17 of Behind the Mask

Luther moved in to clean and dress it.The gesture might have seemed strange, except Kasumi remembered that Luther had done the same for him.He was still a bastard.

"Now," Luther said, grabbing a chair and turning it so he could straddle it, resting his arms across the back."I know of precious few who would be willing to do something this foolhardy.At present I'm at odds with no one willing to be this reckless—except, of course, the crown."

The man did not move, his face did not change, but Kasumi had only ever had trouble accurately reading one person in his life."Would a royal soldier be this reckless?"

"Oh, definitely," Luther said with a smirk."Especially these young ones.They haven't learned they can be killed yet.So I guess I didn't go entirely unrecognized while in port, which means you've seen me before."

"You raided theSwallowtail,"the man replied."I was a gunner.When they learned I'd seen you, I was put on the task of looking for you."

Luther nodded."So see me, follow me, report to your superiors once we reach Port Hollow.Nice and tidy, except you got stupid about trying to sneak in here.Why?"

"Just trying to learn what I could."

Grunting, Luther stood."Idiot.Don't they teach patience before they put children in the fields?"

"I am not—"

Kasumi cuffed him.

Luther strode to the door and called out; a minute later two sailors appeared.

"We've got us a Fop, mates.Take him to the brig.Feed him right, see he's not harassed, but don't go getting friendly either."

"Yes, Captain."They departed, prisoner in tow.

Luther moved to the bar and poured a brandy.He looked at Kasumi, who shook his head.

"So," Luther said, moving back to straddle his chair again."I owe you thanks for saving my life."His blue-gray eyes had lost their hardness.

Now that he was really noticing, Kasumi found the rapid shift rather…unsettling.He rolled his eyes at the words."You woke up when I did."

"Still, you got to him first."

"He never said he had any intention of killing you," Kasumi said."Stop being an idiot."

Luther laughed and took a sip of his brandy, eyes bright with mirth over the wide rim of the snifter.Slowly he lowered it."You're so amusing when I'm being an idiot, however.Even back when you thought that's what I really was—"

"Oh, I still think that," Kasumi said, but wasn't able to muster his usual sting to put behind the words."I think you more an idiot now than before."

"Back when you thought I was an idiotscholarthen," Luther continued, grin widening."Even then, I thought it fun to rile you.Your mask does not hide your eyes, and even then I could tell you were ready to throttle some sense into me."

Kasumi glared.

Luther finished his brandy and set the glass on the table."If you keep looking at me like that, I'm going to give in to temptation and kiss you.Fair warning."He stood up and started dousing the lanterns, then made his way back to bed in the dark.

Slowly Kasumi returned to his own, wholly disconcerted by such a bald statement.Precious few persons had ever seen his face.Even his parents had rarely seen his face since he'd fully taken up the role of a protector.Faces, appearances, did not matter.They were irrelevant.It was the skill that mattered, the ability.That he was beautiful was irrelevant.

To hear and see so much around him now that he was laid bare was frustrating.Luther's bald statements were unsettling.

He wanted his mask back.

Six

It was a moonless night.

Kasumi tended to think of those as lucky.

Hopefully that would balance out the idiocy that was Luther.Grimacing, he finished getting dressed, double-checking all the lacing, every last harness and weapon.

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