Serpent and the Throne (Fedosian Wars #1)

28. Long Journey

twenty-eight

Long Journey

Niko didn’t like the queen’s throne room and had made himself a space where his council gathered. Sofia’s first time attending such a meeting, she and Aleksei arrived early because it took Aleksei a rather long time to walk from one wing of Raven to the other—they had too many stairs—and she noticed Niko decorated the room with the art the Shields stole from White Palace. But she held her peace. He was a child, and the Guard paintings of landscapes and beautiful horses, and the marble statues of saints, made it almost home for her.

The walls were newly painted teal, bright and vivid, and the arched windows had a view of the city. The wool carpet had a peacock with gold feathers. It was commissioned by Auntie as a joke for the archmage. Sofia didn’t suppose anyone else in the room, which was Niko, Eugene, and Aleksei, knew that and let it be. There wasn’t the need to bring up bad blood. The Shields sacked White Palace because the Guards attacked Raven, unprovoked in their minds because they hadn’t killed the archmage. And it all began with the archmage, and his treatment of Aleksei hadn’t been warranted either.

“What happened to everyone else?” Aleksei sat down on a bergère chair and dismissed a servant after she brought him tea.

“He speaks,” Eugene said. “Need a word with the family first.”

Niko was frowning at the table, and Sofia went to him. A relief map of Fedosia, and the tokens with the crests had moved since she saw one like it at the White Palace. She glided her finger over the golden sun at Usolya. Lev was alone.

“An answer came from you brother,” Niko said, his frown deepening.

When the prince sent an envoy to Lev, Sofia had included a letter telling him she was well and had been waiting for a response. “What does he say?” she asked, hopeful.

“Eugene, show them,” Niko said.

Eugene had been digging through a drawer for something, which turned out to be an opium pipe. He loaded it, lit it, and took a deep inhale followed by an exhale of thick smoke.

“Guards showing their true colors when they think they have the upper hand. House of light, my ass,” Eugene said, standing behind the table. There was a box in front of him, like the ones for ladies’ hats, but when Eugene pressed on the top it bloomed open like a flower and music played. Inside it was a decapitated head, preserved as though alive with his eyes open and haunting. It rotated.

Aleksei stretched out his legs to release a crick from his knee. “The envoy, I presume?” he said. “If they don’t want to negotiate, they must have Menshikov at least.”

Lev wasn’t typically cruel, Sofia knew that, so it must be anger at his father’s death.

“Oh, a letter for you as well.” Eugene held out a folded paper.

Sofia crossed the room to take it. The Guard seal was already broken when she opened it, and it simply said, “I hope you’re right.” It was his reply to her saying Aleksei wouldn’t harm her.

“What should I do now, brother?” Niko lifted his gaze from the map.

“What did your letter say?” Aleksei asked.

“I…” Niko looked at Eugene.

“We asked for peace,” Eugene said.

“On what terms?” Aleksei asked.

“On the terms they stop being hostile,” Eugene grunted. “What do you want? Should we have offered to suck his cock as well?”

Aleksei was quiet for a while, then said, “We need Uncle.”

“I summoned him, but he didn’t come,” Niko said.

“You can’t summon him. You’re not the tsar yet, and he’s the head of the house now that the queen is no more,” Aleksei said. “We have to go to him, to the Red Den.”

“Ah yes.” Eugene settled on a settee and blew out smoke. “Why get killed by enemies when you can get murdered by your family.”

“Do you think he’ll support me?” Niko asked, his hands on the table still and his gaze on the map. Sofia imagined he was looking at Sarostia where the Shield forces were.

“Well, he’s big on family honor and legacy,” said Aleksei. “He didn’t like the queen, but he has to support a Shield tsar, especially against the Guards.”

“Eugene?” Niko asked.

“Fuck if I know, boy.” Eugene grimaced. “Rodion may support you or he might boil us alive, the thing he’s famous for. He’s a Shield. The fucker is mad.” The room fell silent for a moment, then the sentinel continued after some pondering, “Aleksei, are you sure you want to take the prince to the den?”

“Lev can’t sack Krakova with the forces he has now, and he should know better than to siege in winter.” Aleksei paused, biting his lip. “It’s too late in the year for Menshikov to be pushing his infantry across Fedosia… Spring is when they’ll move, so we have some time. But after the White Palace, four hundred sentinels are all I have. If we don’t get Uncle, we have to worry about our allies turning on us, Chartorisky, Vietinghoff, Durnov… Even the captain of the city patrol will be able to usurp Niko.” Aleksei flicked his scarlet gaze to his brother. “We need Rodion. Are you all right traveling, Niko?”

Sofia had nothing to say in this except she still couldn’t believe Lev had decapitated a messenger. Papa’s death and the fall of his home had turned him cruel, or he wasn’t in charge at Usolya.

“I’ve always wanted to visit Sarostia.” Niko smiled.

“Feels like a bad idea, but what do I know,” Eugene muttered. “Aleksei, be fucken sure of what you’re doing because I’d rather take our chances with the Guard than be trapped in the den with the mad dog and the fifty thousand men at his disposal.”

“Yeah,” Aleksei said. He wasn’t sure at all.

Sofia was in the room she shared with Aleksei, reading in bed, when he came in. It was late at night. Niko had piled up all his meetings and audiences till Aleksei was better and the brothers had been sifting through them for three days straight. For appearance’s sake, Aleksei had been wearing his sentinel gear, but he had trouble putting them on and taking them off now, and Sofia got up to help him with it.

“My grip feels weak as shit,” he mumbled, tired, when Sofia relieved his hand of the exoskeleton.

“You’ve been through a lot.” Sofia pulled off his weapons belt.

He lifted his elbow so she could get to the baldric buckle. After standing there silently, “I don’t deserve you,” he whispered.

Having collected all his weapons, Sofia rose to her tiptoes and pecked him on the lips, turned to hang his gear, and realized that would have been their first kiss—not really, but as far as he remembered. She’d been trying hard to not be inappropriate with him and had just crossed that boundary unintentionally.

She wrapped the scabbard in the leather strap, set it on a chair, and turned. The dry wood popped and crackled in the fireplace, lending light, and the room smelled of the herbs she’d been brewing. He hadn’t moved and was looking at her.

“I’m sorry,” Sofia said.

He crossed the room slowly to where she was, stood in front of her reminding her how he was taller, ran his hand through her long hair, and watched the curls fall free with some fascination. Something was on his mind, so she waited, but the silence stretched on and on.

“Aleksei?” she had to call because he was elsewhere, not here with her. “What’s wrong?”

“You should leave,” he said.

“Why?”

“I’ll have my men escort you to Usolya before it gets too cold to cross the country. You may use the train. I’ll have Niko write you permission.”

“Aleksei.” She took his roaming hand and held it to draw his attention because he was in his mind. “Why?” she repeated for he hadn’t answered.

“I can’t leave you here, and I can’t take you to the den. It’s too dangerous. Lord Durnov died today—”

She kissed him. She saw where he was going. In this war for the throne, everyone was coming for Niko’s head. Usolya was safer, that was what he was going to say, but she didn’t want safe. She wanted him.

He was frigid, didn’t yield to her, didn’t open his mouth or kiss her back, and when she pulled away from him, he was just frowning.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

She saw his hesitation. Fidgeting, not looking at her, tortured, he’d been the same standing in front of her in an abandoned hut during a storm while they were on the run.

“Aleksei, whatever burdens you, let me help you carry it. Tell me. What’s wrong?”

He wiped his mouth as though to get rid of the words, then went to sit by the fireplace. It was his knee. A lot of things ached in him now and he sat there playing with that rather than speaking to her. To give him room to breathe, Sofia went to the apothecary corner and weighed herbs and arranged vials. She didn’t need to look up the portions. By now she knew them by heart.

“When I saw you at White Palace, I wanted so badly to speak to you, to touch you,” he said. “I returned to Raven to see if you’d survived because you’d been on my mind the whole month I pursued Lev and Semyon across Fedosia. I just wanted to see you again. That’s why I turned around at Black Ore. Maybe I would have succeeded in catching and killing them, but I wouldn’t have returned if I crossed into Bone Country. The throne has no allies there.

“I wish Niko would have let me die because all that’s gone now. The love remains, and I think it always will. I want you to be well, and I want you to be happy, but I have no desire for you. I can hardly stand you touching me. It’s not just you, though. Niko hugged me and I wanted to punch him. I hoped it would get better, but it hasn’t. So, please just go home and don’t burden me. There’s nothing here for you.”

Sofia looked up from the portioned herbs. Aleksei was turned away from her, staring at the fire while he massaged his hand, making a fist and releasing it. She flicked a spoon across the apothecary table and it fell onto the hardwood floor, chiming like a bell. She didn’t know how to respond to him. There wasn’t anything for her at Usolya either.

Though he stuck a knife in her gut and twisted it, she understood he was telling her that he was hurt and not all right. She took the tonic to him and held out the cup. “Here. You’re supposed to drink this before you sleep.”

He sighed at her. “I want you to leave.”

“I heard you, but no.” She nudged the cup. “Drink this.”

“You’re not upset with me?”

Just then she realized she may have come on too strong with her love story, telling him how he was supposed to love her when she was a stranger to him. She was asking too much of him too soon at the time he was juggling a lot.

“You’ll need my support at the den,” she managed to say, then dropped the cup because he hadn’t taken it.

He didn’t let it fall on the floor and caught it. Without a word, he drank it and set the cup aside on the dresser.

“I asked Zoya. The Chartorisky will be riding with us,” he said.

“What did you promise her?”

“She’s been betrothed to Niko. She’ll be queen.”

“Ah, the girl gets her crown after all.” Sofia sat on the bed and kicked off her slippers. “Wrong brother, though. I think she fancies you.”

“I wish I could pay her back for Charger. I think she expects a favor now,” he mumbled, speaking to himself as his gaze drifted toward the fireplace again.

“Can’t Niko afford a horse?” Sofia asked. “I heard the throne is broke, but still…”

He turned frowning, then burst into laughter. “Oh, that’s right. I can probably ask him for money now.”

Sofia pulled out the hairpins one at a time, freeing her long curls. “You remember Zoya giving you Charger?”

“Am I not supposed to?” he asked.

“Hmmm. I thought that memory might have been erased because I was with you that day.”

“You weren’t there…” He contemplated. “I remember going to Murmia through the woods like a lunatic instead of taking the roads. I didn’t understand why. I suppose I was with you, right?”

“Yes, we were together.” For the first time in her life, she spent a moment in awe of the archmage. His spell had been intricate, incredibly elaborate. Instead of simply erasing the memories containing her, it had weaved an alternate narrative.

“We’re not married, are we?” Aleksei asked suddenly.

“No. Why?”

“Niko thought we were.”

“Oh.” Sofia smiled. “I was wearing a wedding dress when he came to Red Manor.”

“Why?”

“You wanted me to. It was a dress you had.” She’d glossed over a lot when she tried to tell him about the relationship they’d had because no amount of words could revive all the details. A memory was a strange thing and it would fall in a piece at a time. The archmage had destroyed something they could never recreate. Then the hate returned and she no longer cared how talented he’d been.

“Pity I don’t recall.” He looked at her as though trying to imagine how she might have been in the dress.

Sofia rose slowly, went to him, and knelt on the hardwood floor by the fireplace. She held out her hand and waited for him to take it. When he did, she gently pulled him toward her.

She touched the side of his face. “See?” she whispered. “It’s all right.”

He closed his eyes and breathed. “Thank you.”

“We should get some sleep. We leave early and it’s a long journey, I reckon,” she said.

“Yeah,” he said, took a moment, then got up.

Prince Nikolas’s entourage made a long line of riders and carriages, lasting for over half a mile—a hundred sentinels and their spare horses, ten horse drawn vehicles including supply wagons, and the Chartorisky who were accompanying the prince had their lot of retainers.

Zoya looked well and smiled when she saw Sofia. She’d been speaking with Daniil, and he turned and bowed, acknowledging Sofia. A burn scar crawled up the handsome boy’s neck now—Lev’s Dragon Breath at the steeplechase.

The White Guard banner of the gold sun was flown next to the Chartorisky silver and blue under the Shield red. The Guard banner shouldn’t be flown since Lev, the lord of the house, wasn’t in the entourage, but Aleksei had asked her permission which she’d given. She was older than Lev, and though she didn’t dispute her brother’s claim of the house, it’d be good to display some support for Niko going to Sarostia, which was the purpose of the banners.

After reciprocating the etiquette, Sofia headed for her coach.

The Chartorisky coaches were ivory, and their retainers dressed in blue, but the Shields were all black, coaches and riders. The royal carriage didn’t have any extra markings, for security Sofia supposed, and though hers was black lacquer on the outside, the interior was pleasant with white satin and powder blue velvet.

As the entourage got on the way, the carriage rocking gently to the knocking of hooves, Sofia kicked off her slippers and settled for the long haul in the soft cushioned cabin grander than a meager home.

Once they left the city, she opened the curtains to the morning drizzle and the autumn terrain they were riding through. More rain meant floods, perhaps another failed harvest. Violence was coming, but the morning was pleasant nonetheless, and she’d been reading the volume of light codex she’d brought with her, when her door flung open while her carriage was still moving, and Aleksei hopped in. He reached over her and pulled the gold tassel, releasing the curtains down.

“I need to have a word with you, if you don’t mind.” He sat down across from her.

“Of course.” She closed the book and set it aside.

“The Menshikov are dead and it’s not us. Do you think Lev is capable?” he asked.

“What? Says who?” Sofia had a hard time grasping it. Bogdan Menshikov was Lev’s friend and they were a known Guard ally.

“Church courier pigeons haven’t been flown since the archmage’s death,” said Aleksei. “But our train is still running since we owe the Pulyazin a lot of grain. A message from Lord Fedya Pulyazin came through the railway. Two weeks on the train, two weeks riding from Seniya, the news is four weeks old but the House of Menshikov is no more, and according to him, the corpses were… not human.”

“Oh, you’re asking if Lev would kill a house full of people including women and children, I suppose, and stage their corpses to drum up a scare in the east where the faith is still strong?” She shook her head. “Not a chance. Whatever happened, it’s not him.”

“Whatever happened,” he repeated and considered. “I’d agree with you, but also didn’t think he’d behead an envoy and display his head in such a decorative manner. Perhaps he’s lost his mind.”

“Maybe…” She couldn’t disagree. Why kill an envoy? He hadn’t even been a soldier.

“All right.” He reached for the door. “Let me know if you need anything. I have to go out there and make sure your brother doesn’t kill us en route.”

“You think he’d come this far west?” she asked.

“I have no idea where he is,” was his answer. He reached for the door.

“Aleksei, it will be all right.”

“Yeah,” he breathed, and with that, he left and the door closed in Sofia’s face.