The Lady Machinist (Curiosity Chronicles Book 1) Read Online Free PDF Page B

She tensed. Sitting beside him may not have been a good idea after all.
    She took the stringed instrument and settled it in her lap. The men watched as she tested a few notes to see if the instrument was in tune. She began to play the new music she composed, a simple song about a young woman who stood on the beach, watching the sunrise. She sang of the woman’s curiosity of what lay over the horizon.
    By the second verse, Lydia began to relax, letting the melody flow from the chords beneath her fingers and carry in harmony with her voice. Rhys’ eyes never left her once. He watched as though he were attempting to learn the song himself, his eyes venturing from her fingers as they played the notes to her lips as she phrased the words. He continued to linger his gaze on her mouth after the song came to an end.
    Rhys applauded her. “Well done.”
    Nikolaos and King Sabba also clapped. Nikolaos remarked, “Lady Dimosthenis’ talents go beyond forging automatons. She could be a musician if she wanted to.”
    “How fortunate for all of us that she excels in both crafts.” Rhys’ statement made Lydia embarrassed. She got the sense that he wasn’t saying those things merely to flatter her.
    King Sabba rose. “I believe we will adjourn on that good note.”
    Lydia lingered as the king and Nikolaos started for the door. She knew Nikolaos would wait to escort her home.
    Rhys pushed his chair in. “Is something wrong?”
    An idea came to her, one that bore quite a risk. “Tomorrow morning, meet me on the island’s remote side at eight.”
    “But the king said the demonstration was to be at ten.”
    “He did, but I’ll need time to ready the automatons.” She wanted to speak with Rhys about the agreement terms without Sabba and Nikolaos present. “You wish to know how that process works, too, do you not?”
    Curiosity made that mischievous expression return to Rhys’ face, along with the dimple. “Eight, it is. Good evening, Lydia.”
    “Good evening, Reez .” She gathered her jacket and tambouras and left the hall, hope lightening her steps even as she resigned herself to being escorted back to her family’s residence by Nikolaos.

 
     
     

Chapter 5
     
     
    Rhys watched Lydia practically float from the hall, a far cry from her angry march off the beach earlier. She had something up those little capped sleeves, and she’d make sure he’d see it first thing in the morning. As though his job weren’t already challenging enough.
    The agreement still went unsigned, regardless of the positive impression he left on King Sabba. And he still needed to convince Lydia to work with him. How was he going to do so if she was skeptical of his every word?
    The servants came to clean the dining hall, a signal for Rhys to clear out. As he left, he saw Lydia at the end of the hallway walking alongside Nikolaos. The chief adviser kept lowering his head to view the tambouras taking residence so inconveniently on Lydia’s arm that he intended to grasp.
    Rhys leveled his sights on him. The chief adviser’s too-studied demeanor made him wary. And angry. He noticed how Lydia worked to distance herself from Nikolaos when they first entered the dining hall together. Rhys wanted to grab him by his robe collar and demand to know what that was all about.
    Rhys retired to his accommodations in the palace’s east wing. Perhaps he shouldn’t intervene in that matter. It was Lydia and Nikolaos’ business, not his. But when he saw Lydia that night, with her long brown curls framing her shoulders, his impression of her changed. And when she played those dulcet tones and sang in that warm, pleasing alto, he temporarily forgot the purpose of the dinner.
    So much for him being the charmer of the evening.
    Rhys pulled off his jacket and tossed it over a chair, grateful to have one less layer of clothing on. Maybe charm wasn’t what Lydia needed to see from him. Her actions showed just how much she appreciated diplomatic niceties. What could