Aleksey's Kingdom (6 page)

“Of course not. Give me some credit, Nikolai. I have owned more fine horses in my life than you, I’d wager. This is the brilliance of my plan—there is a captain in Major Parkinson’s company who cannot ride at the moment as he hurt his back when we were—anyway, he has volunteered—well, I asked him, and he agreed—to come and live here while we are away. He is an excellent chap, and I know you will like him. Or at least tolerate him.”

“You have it all organized, do you not?”

“I have not decided what is best for Faelan. What do you think? Should he come with us? Will he be up to it?”

As none of us were going, I was quite happy to say that Faelan would be fine on such a journey, which clearly made Aleksey happy. I liked being consulted, even if it was this late in the day and my input didn’t matter anyway.

I felt like something unpleasant to step in, being so false to Aleksey now, and knew I ought to have told him outright of my refusal, but I did not.

I expect total honesty from him but do not often give it in return—as my lie about the Black Crow proves. Now that I was secure again in having Aleksey, I was quite happy to return to gloomy thoughts that I did not deserve him. It was this self-recrimination that then colored what happened when we returned to the cabin.

There was a large group of people on the opposite side of the lake, milling around, showing signs of setting up camp. When we went up to them, instead of saying all that I had intended, instead of seeing them out of our little kingdom, I greeted them hospitably.

I was a little surprised, therefore, by the reception I got from them, given I was making such an uncharacteristic effort to be polite.

They stared at me, mouths open. The young daughter of the colonists particularly was gaping at me, as if I had materialized from the very earth upon which I stood. It was all very… perplexing. I turned my gaze upon my young man, who had the grace to be looking elsewhere—anywhere but at me, in fact. And then I remembered his confession—how he had told them I was his doctor. I had the distinct impression that when he had thus named me, the description had been embellished by… shrunken… yellowed… aged?

My private amusement with Aleksey was apparently mistaken for geniality with the world in general, for my reception was soon more amiable, the officers particularly appearing very glad to make my acquaintance.

I felt Aleksey swell with pride alongside me. I felt his love and his desire for me then as a tangible thing, and I could not deny him one moment of his pleasure.

I agreed that, most assuredly, we were to accompany them and that, naturally, I would lead them to the fort and that, by all means, we would leave on the morrow.

It was all I could do.

I loved Aleksey too much, and on the rebound of thinking I had lost him, there was nothing I could deny him.

I
THINK
I was a little stunned that night. Perhaps I genuinely had been concussed from Xavier’s hoof upon my temple, but I could not make sense of what was happening to me. I was about to leave my comfortable cabin and trek through the forest in the winter (well, it was close enough to that harsh season to make no difference once we reached the falls, which were much higher naturally than our lake) with a group of men to discover an empty fort.

Aleksey was giving me very wary looks as we made ready for bed—me on a temporary pallet on the opposite side of the cabin. This was the first deception that was forced upon us by his enthusiasm to have things different to how they were. I could not, would not, risk one of the group from across the lake coming up to the little log house on the pretext of fetching some food perhaps, or some other spurious reason, and discovering what we really were to each other. This was Aleksey’s kingdom, and our rules had applied here when the only people we saw were transient and passing through our land to other places. Now, however, we had civilization creeping closer every day, and we could not afford to have our situation known in the colony. We would most likely have to move on, and neither of us wanted that, having put so much work into our new home. I think Aleksey was rethinking his rash decision now. He was certainly looking very downcast. When I actually climbed onto the sacking, he exclaimed exasperatedly, “That would not fool anyone but a complete imbecile, Niko. You have hardly spent the last two years sleeping like that on the floor.”

“It would certainly not fool anyone that I was merely your doctor if I was examining your body as closely as I do most nights. You have brought this upon yourself. Get used to it. We will be sleeping apart until we return from this expedition.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. We will find opportunity to be together. We did in the war.”

“No, we did not. Your memory is very faulty if that is how you remember our march to war. I remember it as nothing but frustration and desire, which was thwarted at every opportunity.”

He climbed onto our bed and lay on his belly, head at the foot of the mattress, on folded arms, considering me. After a while, watching me attempting to get comfortable, he commented dryly, “You will be very desirous of me after a few nights of this, will you not?”

“Stop being annoying and tell me about these people I am to suffer for the next few weeks. A family?”

“Yes. I am surprised they wanted to come, given the circumstances.”

“Circumstances?”

“Well, yes, that the colony has all been eaten.”

“Uh-huh. This is your latest theory. Mass cannibalism?”

“It is quite a good theory. It would explain why they are missing. They are… consumed.”

“What about the bones?”

“Ground down to make flour.”

“Uh-huh. And the last man standing—the one who did all the killing and consuming and grinding?”

“Ah, that is the best part of my theory: he ate himself from his feet up.”

“You are not funny. I did not like the way the daughter stared at me, I will tell you that for nothing. I had no thought of ravishing her, as you know, so did not like her looking as if I would.”

“No. I do not like her either.” He chuckled. “And she is not the daughter. She arrived in the colony recently on the last ship we had from England—a
widow
. She married the Reverend Wright very soon after her arrival—the other three young men are his sons: Jacob, Samuel, and Martin. They are all right. Very quiet. I do not think they are as keen to go and live in the outpost as the reverend—he is to be the new pastor, apparently.”

“She is his
wife
? You jest. She is hardly more than a child herself, and he is gray of beard!”

“I know. But she is his wife, nevertheless. Mary or Martha or Margaret or something. I know not. Of course, she was already a widow and mother of that odd child.”

I didn’t want to ask, but he clearly wanted me to. “Odd?”

He grinned in wicked excitement. “Yes, did you not observe him?”

I had seen this boy he spoke of. He had been clinging to the girl’s skirts, which was not so unusual. I had taken him for a younger brother. Other than thinking he had sallow skin and did not resemble his fair-haired
sister
, I had not given him more notice. Before I could ask more about his apparent quirks, Aleksey said sternly, “You are not to speak with any of the Wrights.”

“Me? Why not?”

“They are very religious. He is all hellfire and damnation and sin. It’s quite funny to listen to, but you will not appreciate it as you have no sense of humor about sodomy.”

“What! What is that supposed to mean?”

“You get very irate if anyone judges you, whereas I—”

“Oh, this will be interesting. Whereas you…?”

“Whereas I understand their point of view and am very tolerant of their opinions.”

There was some truth to this, so I let it go. “And your soldiers? Who are they?”

He smirked at me in the dark, a tendril of our earlier argument still with us. “Major Parkinson is a good sort of chap, but I would not choose him to lead anything other than the horses to water, and even then I would want a competent sergeant to accompany him to make sure he found his way back safely. He is very nice, but that is all I can say for him.”

“I would say he likes his food.”

“Well, yes, he needs a sturdy horse.”

“And a large uniform.”

He gave me a censorious look. He was not as cruel as I and did not like criticizing people, usually finding good in the worst. I have still not forgiven him for not wholly condemning his uncles, who had tried to depose him, had me tortured and then nearly executed, and almost murdered him. Still he occasionally tried to tell me that they had some justification for their actions, given how we were changing things in Hesse-Davia.

“The other officers are Captain Jonathan Rochester and Lieutenant Owen McIntyre. John is the older one, as he came up through the ranks. The one with the limp is Captain Roderick Fallkirk, the one who is staying here with the horses. The soldiers’ names I do not know, of course.”

“Of course.” He was funny sometimes in his utter inability to see how vainglorious he sounded. I had to remind myself that he
was
a king. It was amazing, really, that he took interest in any of these people. I did not. I only asked as I was forced to be their companion for some weeks and needed to understand them a little. “I suppose you would say the same about the two surly looking men who said they were trappers?”

“I have no idea who they are. I do not know them from the colony, but I will ask Major Parkinson in the morning. If they were trappers, they must trap very small animals, for they did not have any traps with them.”

I did not reply. It was getting late, and we were due an early start, much to my disgust. I got more comfortable and ran over the journey in my mind, planning what we needed to take.

“Niko….”

“No. You brought this upon yourself. Lie there and suffer.”

“You must be suffering too.”

“I am, but I have an iron will and no sense of humor, as you have just pointed out.”

“They will all be asleep and hardly likely to come knocking now, and besides, Faelan would hear anyone approaching and warn us.”

“In case you have not noticed, he tends to bury his head under a pillow at night and pretend we are not doing what we are doing. I doubt he would hear anyone.”

“He doesn’t pretend any such thing. He studies us.”

“Don’t say that! For fuck’s sake, Aleksey! That’s it. I have joined the Reverend Wright’s ministry and given up sodomy for good.” I heard Aleksey snort at my curse, one I had adopted from a sailor on board the ship we had come to the New World upon. He had taken the habit of adding
fuck
into his speech at random and very amusing intervals, and mimicking him to amuse Aleksey (my condition on board that ship was so pitiful that my poor boy needed some distraction from nursing me) it had sort of stuck. I found it very effective and thought all men should learn such a useful curse.

Aleksey sobered and reverted to his mission. “That’s a pity, because if you attend closely, I think you will hear me throbbing from all the way over on your pallet. Listen.”

“Stop it. This is your punishment, so….”

He slithered off the bed, naked on his belly, and kitten-crawled across the floor for all the world like a soldier approaching an enemy encampment. Suddenly he turned over onto his back and swore loudly. “I have a splinter! Arses, Niko! A huge splinter! Look!”

“Baby.” I rolled out of my blanket and met him in the dark on the floor. “Where? Show me.” I made to reach up for the lamp, but he caught my hand and placed it upon him.

“Here. See? You will feel it. It is very hard.”

I kissed him, shaking him a little for being so wickedly untruthful. He sighed. “I’m sorry for volunteering us now—truthfully. I did not think it through. I do not want to not have you for weeks. What are we to do?”

“Do you think Major Parkinson meant what he said—that I am to lead this expedition?”

“Absolutely. I think he was very relieved to find that you were not—”

“Jaundiced and wrinkled and barely able to stand unaided? Perhaps, then, if I am to be the general, we will require some spying missions….”

He laughed and rolled me onto my back, then lay upon me on the bare boards. It was very uncomfortable but delightful at the same time. “You have become easier to seduce, Niko; did you know that?”

“Did I know that, what?”

“Huh?”

“I think you should start calling me sir—as I am to be your commanding officer.”

He only laughed again, lifted my thigh, and took me as we lay upon the floor. It did not take either of us long. Perhaps the sense of being so close to other people but still indulging in such sinful behavior heightened our pleasure. I spilled very quickly, and he followed soon after, filling me deeply, then lying warm and languid upon me. After a while he murmured, “He is wondering why we are on the floor this time and is taking notes about this new occurrence.”

“
Stop it
. It is not funny.” When we had lived in a palace, I had banned his damn wolf from the bedchamber for just this reason. Here in this tiny cabin, I was not heartless enough to make Faelan (to whom I owed a great debt—to whom I owed Aleksey’s life) sleep outside or in the barn. But I was always conscious of his presence and was never sure whether I didn’t actually believe Aleksey’s claims to commune with the bloody creature.

“Niko…?” I roused and realized I had drifted off to sleep still lying beneath Aleksey on the floor.

“What?”

“Did you notice their muskets?”

I had. The trappers had carried flintlocks. It was surprising, as I could not see much use in trappers carrying them—holes in pelts obviously lessened the value. Aleksey’s army had not fought at all with these weapons, as he had seen no purpose in them. It was debatable. I had seen one or two fired to some advantage but far more completely useless in being too slow to load, too heavy to maneuver, and actually very difficult to hit anything with.