I’m beginning to think Robert is a horndog. And Nadia is shaping up to be tougher than I imagined.

Miss Silque is yet another mysterious person. I know what she is – besides being a fantastic maid and housekeeper – but it would be difficult to write a story about someone who never speaks.

Enjoy my content? Buy me a beer!

A man was driving a small electric cart to take them up the gravel path to the house, but Robert waved him away with his left while taking Nadia’s hand with his right, indicating they would walk.

“It’s spring next week but cannot be more than forty-five F,” he said.  “You’re sure about your scientists’ and tribe Mendro’s calculations?  That Petersburg won’t go under the ice?”

“While Lake Ladoga is now frozen year-round, to varying depth, the waters of the Baltic Sea are thought sufficient.” She shrugged.  “If is not?  We move.  Russia has seen worse.”

Robert wasn’t so sure about that but always admired her fatalism and that of her people.  A people I must learn to be more a part of.

The path led them toward the four-story central structure, the original house of about five-thousand square feet.  There were two-story wings now to the east and west as well as another two-story structure just to the north.  More utilitarian looking, Robert knew it acted as a communications and command center for his mother, if she needed it.  There were also four sub-levels, very heavily fortified.  A concrete private drive led off to the east, linking up to an old but pleasant residential area.  As a boy, I asked Mom why she didn’t have it evacuated.  She gently bopped me on my head with her fist, saying that would make her look weak.  To be a ruler, perception is critical.

Several of the staff were just outside the two large, solid oak doors opposite the looping driveway.  Robert knew most of them, but there was always some turnover.  Having “served the Empress at home and commended” was a ticket to any domestic job in the imperium.  In the midst of them, in a classic maid’s outfit, was Miss Silque.  Auburn hair with curls just to her shoulders over a somewhat flat face, her hazel eyes sparkled to see one she helped to raise.

And she, too, barely looks any older.  Henge and Aurie aren’t here enough to have shed their regenerative nanomaterials onto her, so it’s just another mystery of the Change.

He stepped into her arms and whispered how much he missed her.  She nodded.  A step back, he reintroduced his wife.  A smile and a curtsey.  Miss Silque never spoke; very rarely just making a small sound.  He had no idea why.

Just inside, Robert and Nadia took off their shoes and slid into the slippers waiting for them.  A glance at his watch showed they had eighty minutes before their meeting.  I wonder when Eloise and the girls are getting here?  He looked about at the huge foyer, open to the top floor, with a staircase on the left and right spiraling up each side.  His father’s old study was to the immediate left, now used by his mother.  Stephen, my stepdad who raised me, never seemed bothered by her lingering attachment to someone I only know from pictures and videos.  It takes a remarkable man to put up with Mom’s shit.

“Would the prince and princess care for refreshments?” a retainer asked while Miss Silque disappeared toward the kitchen.  “Or we can show you to your room.”

“Believe it or not, Sam,” he gently chided the older man, “I still recall where my room is.”

“Of course, Prince,” he smiled, taking no offense. 

Robert turned to Nadia.  “Where to?”

She, in turn, addressed the man called Sam.

“Is the Empress or Eloise Patel yet here?” she asked.

“No, Princess,” he said with a small nod to her status.  “The former has some other tasks at hand and the latter is expected in about thirty minutes, barring circumstances.”

“Your room,” she immediately said to Robert.  With a wave from him to the older man, they went up the left-hand staircase.

“You want to know why, of course, my Husband?”  And now I’m back to ‘husband.’

“Sure.”

“Like you, I have lived at and in court my entire life.  I understand politics from the international to the interpersonal.  Just like you.” Quickly recalling her last visit, she went down the East Wing hallway, stopping at a closed door to a north-facing room.  Cooler in the southern summers.  “While this complex situation stems out of my selfish desire, it will come to Eloise much better from the Empress than from me.”

So, he thought, opening his door for her, if were just hanging out downstairs when they pile in, El’s gonna want to know what’s up.  And with Nadia here, she’ll also instantly be on guard.  Why did I have to marry such a clever woman?

“I see, now,” he said, hugging her with his right.  “It shall be as you say.”

“Thank you, Robert.” She set down her bag, quickly shed all of her clothes, and looked about.  “I need formalwear for this meeting.  If there are no outbursts or killings, I imagine dinner, after?”

“Huh?” He was busy staring at her body.  Robert went to a walk-in closet reserved for her.  “Lots of things in here, Nadia.  Your choice.”

When she tried to walk past him, he caught her.  “But first…” he said, scooping her up and moving toward the bed.

“Robert!  Again?”