Where The Spirit Meets The Bone

Sixteen: Aleksander Morozova

Sixteen

Aleksander Morozova

He didn't go into work early. He couldn't remember the last time that he had done that. He stayed in his room, on his bed, eating breakfast and talking with Alina. Despite the fact that she continued to insist that she hated him.

"Is your job really all paperwork?" Alina said.

He shook his head. "It's paperwork mostly now. But there are times where I can be on the war front."

"Do you travel alone?"

"Zoya usually comes with me, since she is my assistant, and I usually travel with at least a few of the Kings advisors. They like to pretend at being soldier, but most of them have never actually fought."

"Have you ever been injured?"

He flinched at her question. "A conversation for another day, I'm afraid. I don't want to scare you off right away."

Alina tilted her head to the side. "Is it that terrible?"

"The work that I do isn't exactly all sparkles and rainbows. There's a reason that they call me the names that they do."

Alina winced. "You know of the names?

"There isn't much that I don't know," he admitted.

"Well, if you want to be King, maybe you should on balancing The War Machine and the man that runs the orphanage for his mother. That surely can't be the only charitable thing that you do."

"I donate to a number of organizations anonymously, but so do most royals," he said, "and only handful of them actually care about the organizations. Most of them do it for tax breaks."

Alina made a face. "That's horrible."

"That's being wealthy," he said with a smirk, "but I'm afraid the job doesn't leave much time for me to actually be involved with the charities."

"Well," she said, "you are going to be married. Maybe I could be involved."

He raised an eyebrow. "You would want to do that?"

"What did you expect me to do?" Alina said.

"Stay at home, spend my money, and let me ravish you," he suggested with a waggle of his eyebrows.

"Surely I've got to do more than that. Let me work with the charities that you donate to. We can make it so that there is something else that people focus on."

"My beautiful wife?" he said.

She rolled her eyes. "I'm not your wife yet."

"No, but you will be," he said, "I don't know that I like the idea of anyone showering you with attention besides me."

"That's because you are a brute. And just so you know, I won't tolerate any possessive nonsense."

He sighed. "I suppose it wouldn't be too bad of an idea. The Queen, especially, is always looking for someone to go to charity events. And a friendship with the Queen could be beneficial to both of us."

"And imagine all of the people we could help," she said, giving him a pointed look.

He smiled. "Yes and imagine all of the people that we could help. You are far too soft for your own good. You've got to be careful. The Ravkaan court is a dangerous place. If you're too soft, you might get swallowed up on it. But don't lose that softness too much. You're a beautiful soul, and you shine brightly when you care."

"You barely know me," said Alina.

"I'm usually a pretty good judge of character," he said.

He reached out and stroked her chin in an affectionate manner. Alina blushed at his touch. He smiled at her. "You're awfully cute, Miss Starkov."

Alina scowled at him. "Cute? Like a stuffed animal?"

"There's nothing wrong with that."

"You don't exactly want your fiancé to think of you as cute."

"And you want your fiancé to think of you?" he said.

"I...well...." she stammered, her cheeks turning red. He liked that she was still innocent enough to blush. The Ravkaan court was not a place where people did that often. It was all fake smiles and practiced lines. He had forgotten what it was to be around someone real. It was refreshing.

Alina was like the sun in the shadows that surrounded him, and he wanted to bathe in her light.

"I simply meant that you are going to my husband, and you are going to be thinking of me on occasion...because...that is what husbands and wives do. They think of each other sometimes, because that's part of being married."

He smirked. "I suppose you are right. That is what husbands and wives do."

"Exactly," she said with a nod.

"Exactly," he said, "well I can, you know. Think of you. And, despite thinking you are cute, I still have not stopped thinking of ways that I can seduce you, Miss Starkov. Or things that we are going to do on our honeymoon."

She blushed again. "I suppose you need ways to entertain yourself when nothing happens. Might I suggest reading? I've always found it to be a good distraction. Or drawing...."

He laughed. "I find that nothing occupies my mind quite like the art of seduction. I could trace circles on your thighs, for a start, or maybe I will pull the top of your wedding dress off first and play with your breasts, or perhaps----"

"Or perhaps I'll lock you out of the room and you'll spend an entertaining night explaining to the maid and hotel staff what happened," she said.

He laughed. "Do you think we'd be staying in a hotel for our honeymoon, Miss Starkov?"

She swallowed. "Won't we?"

He shook his head. "I have a number of vacation homes. We'll be staying at one of them, where the staff serves only me, and won't question things because they know better."

Alina scowled at him. "Of course."

He smiled. "You can pick where you would like to be seduced even. Do you prefer tropical, forest, dessert, or icy?"

"I'd prefer my freedom," she said.

"Ah, but it's freedom or the death of your dear prince," he reminded me.

"Monster," she snarled, her eyes flickering with rage.

Lord Morozova chuckled. "We're going to get along just fine, you and I."

There was a knock on the door. "Lord Morozova?" one of the maids called timidly.

"What is it, Alice?" he called, as he got up off of the bed and went to the door to open it.

"I'm sorry to interrupt, I know you said you were spending the day with Miss Starkov and weren't to be disturbed. But this came from the palace."

There was a note in her hand in an envelope with the Kings seal on it. The handwriting on it wasn't the Kings, but it was from someone within the palace that he recognized. "Thank you, Alice," he said, "you can go now."

Alice curtsied, and hurried off.

"What is it?" Alina asked.

"There has been a development at work," he said, "I have to go to the palace, I'm afraid, but I'll be back later. Rest. The staff will be here if you need anything."

He almost walked over to the bed and kissed her on the forehead, but he thought better of it. He looked from her, back to the letter, and wondered if maybe the saints hadn't sent him someone divine after all his time spent praying after all.

The note said simply this: I found it. -D.K.

But he knew what it was. And, for the first time in a long time, he felt something. Hope.