Kate leaned back. “A what?”
“A carver. It’s a vulgar term for a scribe who practices inscription using his own body as the tablet.” As he talked, Simon unfastened his shirt cuff and began to roll up his sleeve. The dark runic lines wrapped around his muscular forearm. “These are spells. They allow me to perform alterations to myself or to the immediate sphere around me. It would be the same as writing the spell, but obviously it’s much faster since here it is already. I merely speak a focusing word or phrase, and the spell comes active.”
Kate gazed at his inscribed arm. “That’s how you perform feats of incredible strength?”
“It is.”
“Does it hurt? The tattoos I mean.”
“Not now. It was painful to receive them.”
“Did you do it yourself?”
“No. That would take more skill and willpower than I possess. I had them done by a couple of mystics who can perform such tasks. Rare fellows indeed. The first was on the Barbary Coast, and the second was in Norway. But it’s been over five years since my last tattoo; they may both be dead by now. I suspect what I have here is what I will always have.” Simon came toward her. “Would you care to examine them?”
“No, I’ve examined them.” Kate jerked with embarrassment. “I mean I had to when I removed your clothes. I mean …”
“Step out into the dark for a moment.” Simon laughed and crooked his finger at her. He opened the French window and went onto the brick terrace. He blew into his cupped hands for warmth. Then he rolled his sleeve up over his biceps and whispered a word.
Against the night, a bright green pinpoint appeared on his forearm. In the blink of an eye, the light moved along his arm as if writing one of the tattoos anew. The entire arcane pattern glowed and Simon waved his arm, creating a weird blur of emerald in the night.
“Amazing,” Kate breathed.
“Shall I show you some demonstration?”
“No need. I’ve seen you do extraordinary things. And I’d rather you not tire yourself needlessly.”
“As you wish.” Simon passed by her into the laboratory. She followed quietly and closed the door. He returned to his place by the warm fire, taking his time rolling down his sleeve and fastening the cuff.
“I’ve never seen anything like you, Mr. Archer.”
“And you likely never will. I am the only one of my kind, after all.”
“Are there limits to your power?”
“Certainly. I’m a human being. Just flesh and blood and bone. These tattoos allow me to funnel aether through my body, but I can’t physically or mentally manage unlimited amounts nor sustain endless forces tearing through me. If you ram too much powder into a cannon, it will blow apart.”
“How much is too much?”
Simon gave her a sly wink. “That’s the whole trick, isn’t it? I don’t know.”
Her voice was hushed with awe, “It’s true magic, isn’t it?”
“Well, it’s not quite pulling a hedgehog out of a hat, but it’s something, yes.” Simon came to the edge of her table and placed his hand down on the surface with a metallic clatter. When he pulled back, the gold key rested before her. “I want you to keep this.”
Kate looked up at him. “But it was your mother’s.”
“In a way, yes, but I’m sure that it was your father’s before that. More than that, you have the skills and the resources to study it.”
“You have no interest?”
“I have an enormous interest and hope to work with you on it. However, there’s no reason you can’t start to work. Your scholarship and intellectual grasp of the subject is far superior to mine. I am jealous of how you studied, while I attended parties and drank.”
Kate was warmed by his consideration for her intelligence and by his willingness to surrender an object that obviously meant a great deal to him. She lifted the key and gripped it in her hand. “Thank you. Why don’t you take the pages with your father’s runes and attempt to decipher those?”
Simon was quiet a moment, then bowed his head graciously to her, his emerald eyes narrowing to points beneath his dark brow. “I shall.”
Kate coughed. “As soon as you can, I’d like you to spend several weeks here at Hartley Hall, and we can work together on this. As our fathers did.”
Simon hesitated. “I feel as if I’m abandoning you going back to London with that intruder still about. I wish Nick hadn’t gone yesterday while I was laid up.”
“He waited until you were out of danger.”
“I suppose the old fellow can only wring his hands for so long.”
“He did a great deal,” Kate said. “But you needn’t worry about me. I have men around including Hogarth. And I’m capable myself.”
“Indeed you are.”