Immanuel's Veins Read Free

emerald grasses an hour’s ride down the twisted path. A tall stone wall ran the length of the southern side where the road ran into the property. Green lawns and gardens surrounded the estate, encompassing ten times the ground as the house itself. The estate had been commissioned by Dimitrie Cantemir in 1711, when he was prince of Moldavia for a brief time before retreating to Turkey.
    â€œI see the twin peaks, but I see no gowns,” Alek said, squinting down the valley. His gloved hand was on his gold-busted sword. Leather armor wrapped his chest and thighs, same as mine. A goatee cupped his chin and joined his mustache but he’d shaved the rest of his face in the creek earlier, anticipating his ride into the estate, the arriving hero from abroad.
    Alek, the lover.
    Toma, the warrior.
    I looked down at the golden ring on my finger, which bore the empress’s insignia, and I chuckled. Alek’s wit and charm were always good friends on a long journey, and he wielded both with the same ease and precision with which I swung my sword.
    I nodded at my fair-headed friend as he turned his pale blue eyes toward me. “We’re here to protect the sisters and their family, not wed them.”
    â€œSo then you cannot deny it: the sisters are on your mind. Not the mother, not the father, not the family, but the sisters. These two female frolickers who are the talk of Ukraine.” Alek turned his mirth-twisted face back to the valley. “Heat has come to the dog at last.”
    To the contrary, though Alek could not know, I had taken a vow to Her Majesty not to entangle myself while here in Moldavia. She was all too aware of the sisters’ reputations, and she suggested I keep my head clear on this long assignment that might too easily give us much idle time.
    â€œOne favor, Toma,” she said.
    â€œOf course, Your Majesty.”
    â€œStay clear of the sisters, please. At least one of you ought to have a clear mind.”
    â€œOf course, Your Majesty.”
    But Alek was a different matter, and there was hardly any reason to deny him his jesting. It always lifted my spirits.
    If I were a woman, I would have loved Alek. If I were a king, I would have hired him to remain in my courts. If I were an enemy, I would have run and hid, because wherever you found Alek you would find Toma, and you would surely die unless you swore allegiance to the empress.
    But I was the furthest thing from a woman, I had never aspired to be a king, and I had no mortal enemies save myself.
    My vice was honor: chivalry when it was appropriate, but loyalty to my duty first. I was Alek’s closest and most trusted friend, and I would have died for him without a care in the world.
    He blew out some air in exasperation. “I have gone to the ends of the earth with you, Toma, and I would still. But this mission of ours is a fool’s errand. We come here to sit with babies while the armies dine on conquest?”
    â€œSo you’ve made abundantly clear for a week now,” I returned. “What happened to your yearning for these sisters? As you’ve said, they are rumored to be beautiful.”
    â€œRumors! For all we know they are spoiled fat poodles. What can this valley possibly offer that the nights in Moscow can’t? I’m doomed, I tell you. I would rather run a sword through myself now than suffer a month in that dungeon below.”
    I could see through his play already. “From frolicking sisters to suicide so quickly? You’re outdoing yourself, Alek.”
    â€œI’m utterly serious!” His face flashed, indignant. “When have you known me to sit on my hands for weeks on end with nothing but a single family to occupy me? I’m telling you, this is going to be my death.”
    He was still playing me, and I him. “So now you expect me to give you leave to exhaust your fun here, then go gallivanting about the countryside seeking out mistresses in the other estates?