Page 80 of Her Majesty's Necromancer
"Of course."
I pressed a hand to my mouth but quickly drew it away. It was too late, however. Lady Harcourt would have guessed Gurry's answer from my question and reaction. She too covered her mouth and left her hand there.
"The general knew," Gurry protested. "He approved. He gave me full reign to do as I saw fit to teach my charge."
The general knew? It grew worse and worse.
"I wasn't the only one," Gurry said. "I saw other marks on his back, not inflicted by me. He didn't kill me because of a few beatings, girl. Do you understand? No, he killed me because he's mad, a crazed dog. He shouldn't be allowed out of his cage."
I slapped my palm down on the chair arm. It silenced him, but also made Lady Harcourt jump. I didn't care. I was too intent on what he was telling me, too horrified to think of young Lincoln at this man's mercy, and at the mercy of his other tutors. How many had beaten him?
Gurry was probably right. Lincoln hadn’t killed him for the beatings, or Gurry wouldn't be his only victim. Then why? Was Gurry holding something back from me?
"There has to be a reason," I said. "Tell me. I command you."
His lips flattened and he swirled again before standing still. "My methods had begun to work. I'd almost beaten that willfulness out of him when a distraction emerged. I removed the distraction. Perhaps he's angry with me for that." He shrugged.
"What distraction?" I pressed. "Another person?"
"What's he saying?" Lady Harcourt asked. I raised my hand, but she batted it away. "Charlie, you must tell me what he's saying."
"He's a bad seed," Gurry said. "A very bad seed. You can't trust a man with gypsy blood in his veins."
Gypsy! It was the second time I'd heard Lincoln referred to as such. The first time I'd thought it simply derogatory, but now…perhaps Lincoln's mother had been a traveler. She'd been a seer, and he'd told me she had dark coloring, so it was possible.
But it wasn't a word I would repeat to Lady Harcourt. For some reason, I didn't want her to know.
"Nothing important," I told her when she asked again what Gurry was saying. "Cruel accusations, nothing more."
"They are not accusations!" The spirit dashed left and right, around furniture, across the mirror and pictures hanging on the walls, as if trying to disturb them to show his anger.
"Why did Lincoln become distracted?" I pressed.
The spirit chuckled again and came to settle between Lady Harcourt and myself. "It was an annoying little distraction that he was much too fond of. I got rid of it. That's all you need to know."
"Tell me!" I shot up from the chair and faced up to him, but he merely chuckled again.
"Or what?" he sneered. "You can't do anything to me, girl."
"Mr. Gurry, I'm ordering you to—"
The door behind me crashed open. I knew without turning that it was Lincoln. No one else would dare interrupt without knocking. If I needed any further confirmation, I got it from my companions. Lady Harcourt's face drained of color. The spirit of Mr. Gurry flinched and whooshed backward.
My legs felt suddenly too weak to hold me, and I sat down. I wished the armchair would swallow me, but there could be no escaping Lincoln. Fury vibrated off him in waves, leaving me in no doubt that he knew who I was talking to, and why.
Lady Harcourt recovered first. She rose and put out her hand. "Good afternoon, Lincoln. I'm so pleased to have caught you before I go."
"Get out." The quiet order was more brutal than any shout could have been. I held my breath, waiting for him to explode, but he didn't. He merely stood by the door and watched Lady Harcourt with a ferocity that had me trembling.
I knew it would soon be my turn.
She blinked. "Pardon?" Whether she had more nerve than me, or simply didn't see his anger, I couldn't tell. She sailed up to him, smiling sweetly. "Linc—"
"You heard me."
"My dear, what is it? What's the matter?" Her act was a wasted effort, but she didn't seem to realize it.
I did. Perhaps because I knew Lincoln's secret, or perhaps because I knew him better than she did, but I knew he was aware of Gurry's spirit hovering nearby. There was no point in keeping up the charade.
