Serpent and the Throne (Fedosian Wars #1)

5. Nice Things

five

Nice Things

Sofia sat on the steps and waited forever. Plenty of courtiers passed by her up and down, and some sentinels, but not Lev or Aleksei. She grew certain Aleksei never went to call her brother. Sofia had taken off the choker and sat with it on her lap as Zoya Chartorisky hovered by the foyer with some women, whispering, and looking her way once in a while. As large as it may be, Raven was a finite space, and Sofia got up to go find Lev herself.

Gilded rooms, grand pianos, and crystal chandeliers, but for the drunk courtiers, some even high, a part of Raven reminded her of White Palace. That section was a remnant of the Guard reign, she supposed. But the castle also had bare stone hallways, dark with only a few candles lit along the way. No paintings of saints, the floor naked wood, those sections must have been built during the Shield rule. One candelabra she saw was strange obsidian, and none of the candles on it were lit—they’d all burned out and wax was dripped on the floor.

She didn’t think Lev was down the black corridors, but the architecture was intriguing, like dual minds inhabiting the same body, and she had been wandering around lost when she came upon a narrow hallway without any windows. Armors like those of Guard Knights, only black, lined the walls and it looked like a dead end with the Red Shield banner hanging from the wall.

Hearing voices down the corridor, she thought to go ask where she was. She hadn’t been through here before, but she was hopelessly turned around. The castle was designed like a madman’s dream, stairs ending halfway up a floor, spaces resembling foyers that led to nowhere—

The armors turned, their eyes glowing red. Perhaps not empty then, one stepped out and strode toward her.

“Forgive me, where is…”

He was large, over seven feet, and he grew in menace as he marched to her without a word. The red cape swayed behind him, and the gold etched alchemy on his breastplate glowed. The visor was closed but the eyes behind the darksteel burned like fire. A war hammer was in his hand, the entire thing steel.

The ‘I’m sorry’ got stuck in Sofia’s throat as she backed away, frightened witless. Was he a monster?

“Stand down, Watchman. Stand down.” Aleksei yanked her from behind and kept himself between it and her, backing away together, his grip tight around her elbow. “Stand down. Stand down, Watchman.” The war hammer swung up. “Fuck.” Aleksei shoved her aside. “Your Majesty, it’s Aleksei. Your Majesty!”

A long, “Mmmm,” like a growl sounded down the hallway.

Sofia hid behind a pillar. Metal clanked as heavy footsteps trailed away. She could see Aleksei and held her breath when he took his hands behind his back and bowed.

“Issss…” A female voice trailed off, then returned after a long pause, “…the vermin gone from my house?” Her speech slurred, she dragged her words.

“We still have guests at Raven, Your Majesty.”

“Expel them.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“Where’s Viktor?” the voice demanded.

“The archmage is not here, Your Majesty.” Aleksei kept his gaze down.

“Why haven’t you killed him? Why haven’t you avenged your father?”

“Forgive me, Your Majesty.”

“Avenge. Your. FATHER!”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

A moment passed and all Sofia heard was her pounding heart.

“Fuck,” Aleksei breathed. Scarlet gaze flicked up and he straightened. Then he turned to her, his eyes narrowing.

He grabbed her hand, and soon they were rushing down a flight of stairs. “I told you to wait, no?” he asked passing a landing, then they descended more stairs.

“I’m sorry.” Sofia’s innards still twisted, and her knees felt weak.

“Don’t wander around Raven,” he said, a lesson she’d already learned. “And don’t worry about that. We’re not trying to kill the archmage or any other Guard. Her Majesty is just tired.”

That had sounded more than simple fatigue, but she said nothing. She couldn’t keep track of where they were going through the twisting and turning but was glad to start seeing servants, people, and soon, courtiers.

“Lev left while I was in the ballroom,” he said. “I hadn’t realized that. I’m sorry.”

“He left?” Sofia was furious.

“He probably forgot he came with you. He was inebriated.”

They passed some thinly dressed or not at all dressed women in a hallway, and Sofia averted her eyes when a man suited in the same fashion emerged from one door.

“Aleksei, where’s Vasily?” he asked as though he’d been garbed acceptably.

“Left with Semyon.” Aleksei led Sofia through the maze.

“Semyon left?” the naked man yelled from behind.

“Busy tonight?” Sofia asked, now climbing some marble stairs.

“Not more than usual.” They passed through a gallery and were back in the foyer Sofia had entered when she first arrived.

Though the music was even tempered and elegant, the obnoxiousness of the guests had increased significantly during the time Sofia had spent lost. Even more time than she imagined had passed, she realized, as she followed Aleksei out and saw the sky silvering.

“It’s morning?” she asked.

“Twilight,” he said. “Somewhere past five but I haven’t heard the bell for six. Sun rises around seven in Krakova this time of the year.”

He didn’t make her uneasy anymore, and as they headed toward the carriages Sofia saw a lot of drunkenness that way. A lord dressed as a wolf was retching by a coach for one. But the air smelled as though it might rain, and a breeze blew from the garden which was lush green.

The trees didn’t look evergreen, there was a giant oak there for one, and the lawn was the color of summer as well, so she asked, “Do you mind if I go see the garden?” The winters in the eastern provinces were long and harsh and the scent of fresh grass was inviting. “It’s enchanted, I suppose?” she asked about the garden. The spring would visit Krakova before it made its leisurely way toward the east, but it was still too early for such a deep green color.

“Courtesy of the archmage, I believe,” he said. They turned right, away from the carriageway, and headed toward the garden. “Again, I apologize for earlier. I hope you don’t make news of it to the archmage.”

“Don’t worry about it,” she said. “Your father is Duke Burkhard?”

“Was,” he said. “My father passed.”

“My condolences.” She wondered why the queen thought the archmage had a hand in the duke’s passing. If her recollection was right, which it might not be, Duke Burkhard had taken his own life some three, four years ago. But that wasn’t an appropriate thing to discuss when they’d just met.

“Thank you.” He glanced back over his shoulder at the castle.

“Is it all right you left your post?”

“It should be for a few hours.”

“Hours?” she asked.

“It’s a sizable garden,” was his answer.

They strolled on the soft grass and oh how she missed the feeling, not only of summer but of being outside and… She didn’t know how that trail of thought ended. All this was new to her. The leaves on an old lonely beech tree with thick branches tangled around itself rustled as a gale passed through, flapping the long hem of Sofia’s light dress.

Aleksei took off his black cloak and draped it around her. It was unlined wool, and she felt the weight and the warmth at once.

“Thank you.” She adjusted it so as not to drag the hem through the grass.

He was noticeably taller than her but not that much bigger, because he had a lean frame as younger men did. A brown leather scabbard hung from his sword belt, and the hilt of the blade was darksteel. Different than the saber Guards carried, his sword was wide and straight. Double-edged, she thought.

Alchemy circles and symbols etched in gold were displayed on his vambraces, darksteel with brown leather straps, and he had a strange contraption on his left hand like steel bones on the outside of the skin.

“What is that?” she asked, brushing the back of his hand.

“Exoskeleton,” he said, and illustrated by making a fist. The metal bent. “It protects my hand if I hit something.”

“Are you left-handed?” she asked.

“No.” He reached across and grabbed his sword with his right. He didn’t have an exoskeleton on that. “Need that hand for that.”

She stopped walking, which made him stop as well, and he turned to face her. Tracing her fingers through the cold steel grooves of his hilt, she found it fascinating he let her touch his gear. Men didn’t usually like that.

“The count says salt and acid from finger grease corrode steel,” she mused out loud. “Why is the hilt metal? Doesn’t that hurt your hand?”

“Doesn’t hurt but it can slip, especially when it gets wet. A sentinel blade is all darksteel because that’s our alchemy. If I put wood or leather on it, the first time I change it into something other than this exact configuration,” he drew his sword, “it will fall off.”

The gold on his vambrace glowed as the sword folded on itself, then sprung open into a crossbow. The transmutation was efficient and practiced. It was also very impressive, because Sofia had never seen Shield alchemy. She’d read of it and understood it but witnessing it was still… magical. She wanted to clap but that would be obnoxious.

“Aleksei.” She took a step forward, beginning her stroll, and he walked alongside her at her pace. “What were those things in the dark hallway?”

“Watchmen? They protect the queen.”

“Are they alive?”

“That’s debatable,” was all he said. Not a topic he wanted to discuss, she reckoned.

They sauntered in silence for a while, the songbirds starting the day while grey clouds teased a drizzle. No rain yet, it felt more like dampness in the air.

“It’s my first time in the capital. I’m not great with people or conversations,” she confessed.

“I saw you at the Church of All Saints,” he said.

She’d been to the Church of All Saints once before and it was during her only other visit to Krakova, ten years ago when she’d asked to see the capital as a wedding gift, and it’d been the only place they took her—no royal ball at that time.

“When you were five?” she joked.

“Twelve,” he said.

“Why do you remember that?” She laughed, turning, and walking backward beside him to tease him.

“Because I didn’t know who you were and looked for you afterward,” he said. “Kept attending service every Day Solis, listening to the greatness of the archmage,” he smirked, “but never saw you again. Some years later, I visited the White Palace with my father and saw a painting of Lady Yelizaveta. I could have sworn that was you, and it was rather devastating to find out she’d passed many years ago.

“In hindsight, I think it was just the way the candlelight refracted, but when I saw you at the church, it looked like you had a halo. So, I thought maybe I’d seen a spirit. It made me feel special, to be honest.”

‘You’re funny,’ came up on her tongue, but it had come across as rude when Zoya Chartorisky had said it. So, she spoke what she thought. “You are kind.”

“That’s a first,” he said. “Or you have a strange way of pronouncing asshole .”

Because she’d been walking backward, she put her foot in something like a rabbit hole. Not only did she trip and would have fallen on her behind had he not caught her, but she also hurt her ankle and limped when he let go.

“Are you all right?” He looked surprised at her clumsiness.

“It’s fine.” She hobbled.

He gave her his hand so she didn’t put her full weight on the ankle but the stroll through the garden had come to an end. The whole ordeal turned embarrassing, and she apologized but then it began to really rain.

She was going to get drenched either way and told him to go ahead without her, but he picked her up. She had on his cloak still, pulled up the hood, and had hardly felt the downpour when he set her down on a wooden bench. They were under an arched arbor covered with vines and it acted as a parasol, the rain falling around them but hardly on them. She lifted the black hood of the wool cloak and let it slide down the back of her neck as he took a single knee in front of her. He picked up her ankle and placed it over his knee, his grip on her leg warm as he inspected the injury.

“It doesn’t feel broken,” he said, releasing her leg.

The bone may not be, but her heart was about to be as she looked at him, sad suddenly he was the queen’s nephew and couldn’t be paid for. Then again, she was a Guard who didn’t have a single silver coin to her name. Maybe he didn’t have money either. Otherwise, why work as a sentinel, managing drunk lords? Why try so hard with her?

“Aleksei.” She braved it.

“Yes.” He looked up at her, still on his knee.

… And she lost her nerve. It was stupid. He had more gold on his vambrace than all her jewelry was worth. She thought of the alchemy trinket she’d made from her mother’s gold, which was in her trunk at Papa’s home, but that wasn’t enough, was it?

She debated. On one hand, they were strangers and she had nothing to lose by asking. They’d arrived at the festivity late, and there were only thirteen more days of it left. Once she left Krakova, she’d never see him again.

On the other hand, this morning, this moment, was the happiest she’d ever been, and the memory would forever be ruined by shame if he refused her. She wanted to remember the prince's birthday as a great adventure of her life, but if she didn’t ask him, it’d be soiled with regret. She would never know if he would have accepted. She hadn’t been with any other than the count, and… She sometimes wondered if that was all there was to it.

“Are you all right?” he asked.

She’d taken forever thinking as though she’d been alone. Real people were hard to interact with. They waited for an answer, looked up at her, cocked their heads, and made her nervous.

“What’s wrong?” His brows furrowed. “Does it hurt?” He picked up her leg again, taking off her slippers this time and pressing her ankle. “Does this hurt?”

“Aleksei, how much…” She wanted to know if what she had, the bit of gold, was insulting, but couldn’t think of a discreet and respectful way of inquiring about his… service charge. She gave up. Then she threw up her arms at herself, frustrated for being so inept at it.

“How much what?” He lifted his eyes. Their faces came within a breath of one another. He waited for her to answer, the scarlet gaze flicking to her mouth a few times. “Fuck it,” he whispered, dropped her leg, pulled her by the nape, surprising her, and pressed his mouth onto hers.

He’d closed his eyes, but astonished, she stared at him. But then the kiss, the kiss, she let her eyes shut and felt his tongue in her mouth. He pulled her to the edge of the bench and pressed against her, still knelt and his torso between her thighs.

A heat wave rushed through her, and she shivered when their lips parted. The wind had changed direction and the cold rain spritzed on them. She didn’t mind that.

He tucked a stray curl behind her ear. “May I see you again?”

“I don’t have much money and I’m married.”

“I don’t care,” he said. Their foreheads touched as he twisted, looking at her mouth again. His hand glided down the side of her neck. “I’ll kill him if you want.”

“Please don’t do that.” She ran her fingers through his midnight locks. The strands were longer at the crown and had fallen along his ears. The darksteel face armor; he’d had that on his head like a lifted masquerade mask ever since he approached her, but she pulled it down over his face. It had gold grooves and came to a sharp point under his jaw. A three-pointed spearhead rose from the bridge of his nose over the pate like a feather on a bird, and the black of it all accentuated the red hue of his eyes. “Are they colored by magic?” She glided her thumb over the arch of his brow. The eye slits of the armor were wide. She’d hate for him to catch an arrow through them.

He tapped the temple of the armor, the gold grooves glowed, and the armor lifted from his face, coming to a rest atop the crown though held by nothing.

He kissed down the side of her neck. “Please tell me I can see you again.”

“Where will you be tomorrow?” she breathed. Then corrected, “Today?”

“I get off whenever the guests are done leaving. I’ll be home today. It’s my day off.”

“Where is that?”

“Burkhard Estate, but I suppose they call it Red Manor now.” He traced her collarbone through the fabric of her dress, letting out a long exhale. “Will you come? I can’t go to your house. Your family doesn’t like me.”

“I’ll come,” she said without the slightest clue as to where Red Manor was or how in the world she planned to get there.