Damn him, but his moods were beginning to wear on my nerves. “Yes,Your Royal Highness, I think it will work, but I cannot begin to see how we will separate the king from his court and all his attendants.”
“I was thinking we kidnap him.”
I laughed, some of my tension released. Then as an afterthought, I added, “Surely you jest.”
He shrugged. “If he lives, he will forgive us, and no harm will come to us. If he dies, we die anyway.”
“What is with thiswe? I will—”
“You do this with me or not at all.”
“Damn it! What if my cure doesn’t work? What am I to think if you are the only person there?”
“Well, I suppose you will have to think me a king-slayer.” He paused, staring at me in the darkness. “You have thought worse things about me, have you not?”
I stared back. “And are they true?”
I think the night waited for my answer with me. He blinked, turned to face the way home, and said very distinctly, “I would never do anything that would harm my father.” With that adroit reply, he kicked his horse into a canter, despite the dangers of the darkness, and drew beyond my vision.
CHAPTER 7
IWOKEto clatter and disturbance. My head ached, and I felt incredibly out of sorts. I had been left to find my own way back to the castle and through to my rooms. It had set me in such a bad temper that I had slept fitfully, my thoughts spinning and churning as much out of my control as the waves beneath my window. I was slightly mollified to find that Stephen was making the clatter and that he was making it with hot water, some food, and a fire. He was a welcome sight. I yawned and stretched. “What time is it?”
“Time to rise?”
“Ah, a wit.” I climbed out of bed, modestly wrapping the sheet around me. In the habit of sleeping naked, I was not used to being woken by small, noisy boys. I particularly did not want this inquisitive small boy to notice the state I was in. It would pass. I ordered him to ready my horse. I was determined to take matters into my own hands this morning—visiting the proposed house being my first intention.
When he left, I cast off the sheet and tested the water. I was beginning my shave when Aleksey breezed in from the adjoining room. “The devil’s arse, Aleksey!” I grabbed the sheet, but it was a little late for modesty.
His eyes widened. If he was about to remonstrate with me for cursing at a prince or make some other comment on… something, I wasn’t interested and forestalled him sharply, “You knock next time, yes?”
“You do remember that I am a soldier?”
What this had to do with my erect member I could not imagine. He must have seen my annoyed confusion, for he waved dismissively at my barely covered nakedness. “I live all day long with naked men. Your modesty does you credit, but it is wasted on me.”
“You paint a very interesting picture of your armed forces. They must have great success in battle. Vast hordes of naked, aroused men would make every enemy combatant flee the field!”
He grinned. “Oh, I don’t know. Anyway, you have distracted me from what I came to tell you. Please carry on.” He indicated my ablutions. The water was getting cold, so I did not tell him that I would wait until he left. I turned my back on him and began to soap my face. In the mirror, I could see him watching me with great interest. For someone who, as he claimed, lived his whole life with naked men, he seemed to be studying my naked back uncomfortably closely. “You are brown and white.” He snorted. “It looks ridiculous.”
“I do not ride around naked. Unlike your soldiers.”
He ignored this, as I thought he might, and said more soberly, “It’s agreed, by the way. My brother has agreed to your proposal.”
I turned, razor in hand, face half shaved.
He nodded. “We held a council of war… well, not arealone of those of course, because we’re not at—anyway, we all talked, and we’ve all agreed. You will accompany the king to the Beliebenhaus, and there you will cure him.”
“That’s ex—Beliebenhaus? Doesn’t that mean—” He gave a small imperious wave, and I let it go. “That is excellent news. I’m… surprised.”
He shrugged. “As am I. Nevertheless, George commands and George is obeyed. You go. Do you need to make preparations? Does my father?”
I looked down with a sly smile. I was about to ask for a Powponi sweat lodge to be built at the House of Pleasure and Lust.
TOMYamazement, Aleksey managed to find half a dozen servants who he assured me were quick witted enough and skilled enough to carry out my building instructions from a diagram and a description of what was needed. They listened intently, looked at the sketches, took in my anxious look, and then the leader asked neutrally, “So… you want a hut, sir?”
I frowned but nodded. “Yes, I suppose so. Can you do it?”
“Can we build… a hut?”
