Perhaps he'd come to depend on Maria too much. After all, in those dark years after his wife's death, when he'd determined never to wed again, he hadn't been able to turn to Vasilissa—no, the delicate thing, he couldn't burden her. It had been Maria, for all that she was the younger child, who'd pretty much run the household, and run it well.
But he was being selfish, thinking like that. Custom insisted a young woman be wed, and wed Maria would be. Though the girl did keep swearing in that calm way of hers that she would marry only for love.
«For love!» muttered Danilo. Well now, he was long past such youthful foolishness. Love notwithstanding, he intended to find her a husband who was a fine, noble man. «Someone who's worthy of — "
He broke off with a start at the sight of the figure that had suddenly appeared out of the shadows. «Forgive me, Danilo Yaroslavovich," said a man's voice. «I didn't mean to alarm you.»
Danilo peered into the dimness, trying to place that teasingly familiar voice, making out the shape of a fine-boned, pale face, a neat, dark beard—
«Alexei! How did you get in here?»
The young boyar grinned sharply. «I told the guards I had an appointment with you. They, ah, believed me.»
Danilo snorted. «They believed your gold, you mean.» If old Svyatoslav, suspicious enough at the best of times, knew that his guards could be so easily bribed, he'd have their heads! «Alexei," Danilo began again, then stopped, belatedly aware that his servants, uneasy, had surged forward. Impatiently he waved them back, very much aware that for safety's sake he should say nothing to Alexei, he should simply have the man thrown out.
But Alexei was giving him a hesitant, charming, innocent smile, a very familiar smile, and memory prodded Danilo. Even though he knew the man was about as innocent as a fox with a mouthful of chicken, he found himself remembering a younger Alexei, alone and friendless, the not-quite-respectable boyar's son, half peasant, who'd looked at him with just those hopeful, fearful eyes, the youngster he'd impulsively made his aide… It hadn't been that bad a choice; Alexei had proven clever enough, and most of the time his charm had seemed quite genuine. But, Danilo realized with flawless hindsight, there had always been that other Alexei, the inner, secret Alexei he'd never been able to reach, a slyness, a bewildering hardness beneath the innocence.
Maybe not so bewildering. Serge, Alexei's father, had always been a hard man himself, a cold man obsessed with status, never forgiving himself for his weakness with that pretty peasant girl, never forgiving his son for being less than pure of blood.
Maybe, Danilo thought with a touch of guilt, if I'd spent more time with the boy …
Dammit! Even now, Alexei still had the sly knack of making everyone else take the blame for his behavior.
No longer. Danilo had done what he could. He'd tried to show the boy there was such a thing as trust, and honor, and stability, and if he'd failed—
No, dammit, he hadn't failed! This wasn't a matter of some minor error in Danilo's account books or a midnight romp with a merchant's daughter. Alexei wasn't a child anymore.
«I doubt this is a chance meeting," Danilo said dryly. «You'd speak with me. Of what?»
«You know of what.» The younger man fell in beside him, voice soft and earnest. «Were you to speak with our prince about me — "
«No.»
«Please, hear me out. I've changed, truly I have. I — "
«No!»
«Danilo! We—we were friends once.»
«Until you betrayed my trust!» Danilo glanced back at the curious servants, then caught the younger man by the arm and virtually dragged him into the privacy of an alcove. «Alexei, I did speak to him once in your behalf! Have you forgotten? I vouched for you. And Prince Svyatoslav believed me. He gave you a position in his retinue, an honorable post. And how did you repay him? How did you repay me? You tried to steal from the royal coffers!»
«Oh, I only — "
«Don't lie to me! Do you know how close I came to being banished for your crime? You know, you surely must know, how quick to mistrust our prince can be— Yes, and even then, I was fool enough to pity you! Even then I was fool enough to risk my post and maybe even my life to argue in your behalf. And if I hadn't done so, you'd still be languishing in the royal prison. So don't come whimpering to me, man. I've done with you!»
The handsome head drooped. «It's true.» Alexei's voice was resonant with sorrow. «I was wrong. I admit it.» He glanced up beseechingly. «And I thank you for your help, you surely know that.»
«Alexei…»
«I have no genuine excuses. But I—I was younger then, and frightened, and foolish. I had debts — "
«Debts! You practically ran through your father's entire estate!»
Alexei's eyes glittered. «I was a fool. I won't make such a mistake again. Please, just tell the prince — "
«Again, no!»
«You're holding my birth against me, aren't you? That's it, isn't it?»
«For God's sake, man, don't whine. And stop trying to blame your mother's blood for your faults. There are men of full peasant stock I'd trust sooner than I'd trust you!»
«But can't you simply — "
«No! Alexei, you lie as easily as you breathe; it took me too long to realize it. There hasn't been any miraculous reformation. Oh no, you're the same sly, slippery Alexei you've always been. I've already endangered myself—yes, and my family, too—for you, and I'm not about to be such a fool again! The prince has been gracious enough to allow you back into the city. Be content with that.»
«You can't mean it. Surely — "
«Can't I?»
«Danilo! You're my only hope!»
«Then you'll be hopeless! Good day to you.»
There was stunned silence. And then, «You'll regret this.» For an instant the studied innocence was quite gone from Alexei's voice, and Danilo whirled to stare at him.
«What's this? A threat?»
«Oh no, of course not.»
Alexei bowed, straightening slowly, watching the boyar leave, then clenched his fists to stop their trembling. How could Danilo do this to him? Danilo, with his so superior airs, looking down on the poor little half-peasant, always lecturing him, always trying to get him to «do the right thing," which meant think like Danilo, act like Danilo—
Damn Danilo! One word from the boyar, and Alexei would have been returned to rank, to wealth…
To safety. Alexei shuddered. He had been so sure the man would forgive him just this one more time. How could Danilo turn against him? Saying his own life had been in danger—what nonsense. The man was a court favorite. Surely he'd have been able to wriggle out of peril, come what may.
Talking about his position and his safety—What about my safety? Doesn't he care what happens to me?
That made Alexei abruptly remember the creditors who were all but breathing down his neck, of his gambling debts and—worse—those to whom the debts were owed, and he began to tremble in earnest.
All right. So Danilo would play his sanctimonious little games, would he? Two could play at games. Maybe Danilo wouldn't sponsor him at court. But the man would still help him, like it or not. After all, Danilo was vulnerable. He had his daughters, his dear Vasilissa and Maria…
And for all the cold fear sickening him, Alexei managed a thin smile. «A threat, Danilo?» he said aloud, so softly it was a whisper. «No threat. A promise.»
It was market day in Stargorod, the great open square at the city's heart crowded with booths set up on cobblestones worn smooth over the generations. The air was heavy with musk and lavender, cumin and cooking oil, and fairly rang with laughter, song, the squealing of frightened pigs and the singsong chants of the merchants. Colors flashed, red, blue, gold, as pennants, cloaks, and wide-sleeved caftans caught the shifting breeze. Those city folk not actively engaged in buying or selling furs or gems or cabbages and carrots were busy watching the dancing bear or the jugglers or the minstrel with his sweet-stringed gusla. For this one day, boyars and commons swirled together in a wild, happy wave.