Light Dragons 03 - Sparks Fly

want to be too specific in my attempt to provide her with a little comfort.
    Imogen gave a delicate little shrug, returning her gaze to the stones. “Ah. Yes, I’m sure he does. At one time I had hope that Ben and I would find Nikola’s brothers, but we were unable to do so.”
    “Nikola is your father?” I couldn’t help but ask. I didn’t want to be nosy, but my curiosity got the better of me, and she honestly didn’t seem to mind talking about him, so long as we kept off the subject of his manner of death.
    “Yes.” She set down a stone she was stroking and looked up again at us, a little smile lighting her pure blue eyes. “Nikola Czerny, the fifth baron von Shey.”
    I blinked at her. “Your dad was a baron? A real baron? Does that make you anything?”
    She laughed aloud, patting my arm for a second. “Yes, it makes me a woman.”
    “Oh, I’m sorry,” I apologized again, blushing a little at the stupidity that had emerged from my mouth. “You have to excuse me-I’m an idiot. But I’ve never met someone who was from the aristocracy before.”
    “Most of the nobility lost their power in Austria almost a hundred years ago,” Gretl said gently, giving me a little squeeze on my arm. “Although I, too, did not know that Imogen’s father was a baron. The title passed to Ben?”
    “No, it didn’t,” Imogen said, her expression darkening for a moment before she gave us both a bright smile. “It was all a long time ago, and we have much more pleasant things to speak of, yes?”
    It was a not very subtle hint that she was through talking about the subject.
    “Of course,” Gretl said soothingly, and made a date for the next afternoon to have tea and pastries.
    “I hate to bother you if you’re busy,” I said, not sure whether she had responded to my request for a photo session because she was polite or because she really wanted me to take some pictures of her. “If so, then I will totally understand. But if not, I’m sure we can find somewhere locally that would make a good backdrop.”
    Imogen looked up with a genuine smile. “No, I am not too busy. I would love to be your model.”
    “Oh, you must go to Andra Castle!” Gretl said, clasping my arm. “It would make a lovely setting-”
    “No,” Imogen said quickly, her expression as brittle as ice. I blinked at the sudden change in her demeanor. She suddenly relaxed and gave a forced little laugh. “I’m sorry. You must think me very odd, but Andra Castle holds . . . bad memories for me. I would prefer not to go there again.”
    “Of course we won’t use it,” I reassured her, curious at such a strong reaction to a ruined castle. Perhaps she’d been frightened there-when Gretl had told me about the ruins, she said that it had a bad reputation by the locals as being unpleasant to visit. “There are lots of other places around here we could use.”
    “The rose gardens?” Gretl suggested. “The town hall? The church? It is quite old.”
    “Mmm . . .” I scrunched up my nose as I thought. “To be honest, I’d like to try something a little different as a backdrop for Imogen. Something to contrast with all that fair delicacy.”
    Imogen laughed, her expression once again changing like quicksilver. “I’m sure you meant that as a compliment, but I assure you, I am anything but delicate. Fair, yes-I got that from my mother. But delicate? No.”
    “Appearances are often deceiving,” I agreed. “I think I’d like to see you set against something dark and gritty. That would make for some wonderful depth to the picture.”
    “As you like. You’re the expert,” Imogen said with another of her little shrugs.
    “I’m far from that, but I see you . . .” I narrowed my eyes and thought about an image of Imogen against the ruined castle. That would have been ideal, but there were other places that I could use. “Oh! Gretl told me about this haunted forest near here-”
    “No!” Imogen all but squawked, drawing attention from the people moving past us. She shot them a reassuring smile before turning it on me. “I’m so sorry. You must think me terribly emotional, but if you are talking about the Shey Woods, then I must again say no. It is not a good place, that forest. I will not step foot in it again.”
    “I’m so sorry; I didn’t mean to suggest somewhere that would make you feel uncomfortable.” I thought for a moment. “I don’t really know many places around here, but surely there must be some other