Mother’s gut curdled. Standing in front of him was King Alexei of Koroslova—reportedly the sternest figure in six kingdoms—and there Mother was with the man’s son slung over his shoulder like some tipsy tavern wench.
His face burned hot, and he hurried to set Vasily on his feet as he scrambled to think of an explanation for what the king and queen had just seen.
But Alexei seemed not to have noticed Mother at all. All his focus was on Vasily. He looked him up and down for a moment, then stepped forward and dragged him into a crushing hug. “My Vasily,” he choked out. “You’realive.”
There was a flurry of movement and then the woman—Queen Irina— threw her arms around Vasily as well, scolding him as she did so. “You were supposed to be safe here! Not throw yourself into the sea!” she tutted. “You frightened us!”
Vasily was wide-eyed and pale, but despite that he was beaming. “What are you doing here?” he asked as he finally extracted himself from his mother’s arms.
“What do youmean, what are we doing here?” his father said. “You were injured, and you thought we wouldn’t come and check on you? You are ourson.”
“Yes, but it was just an accident,” Vasily said. “I’m fine, I swear.”
The king swept Vasily up in an enormous bear hug, swinging him around and lifting him off the ground with the force of it before smiling broadly and letting him go. “You seem fit and well. At least well enough for some horseplay,” he said with a nod at Vasily and Mother. “It is good to see boys being boys.”
It was in that moment that Mother realised King Alexei hadnoidea his son liked men. He obviously assumed they’d been indulging in nothing more than a bit of innocent foolishness, the sort of thing young boys were prone to—never mind that it had been a long time since anyone had mistaken Mother for a boy.
“Horseplay, yes,” Vasily echoed. His pale face regained some colour as he obviously came to the same conclusion about his father’s obliviousness.
“I wrestled when I was younger,” King Alexei said, patting Vasily on the back. “Makes the blood race.”
Vasily’s mother looked Mother up and down, assessing. “And who is your…friend, Vasily?”
“Mother.”
“Yes?” the queen said, a touch impatiently.
“No, Mother. He’s Mother. I mean, um. Mother, this is Mother Jones.” Vasily touched Mother’s sleeve before dropping his hand to his side.
A silence fell.
“Your name is…Mother?” the queen asked, her brow creased.
Both the king and queen turned towards him as one, and Mother fought the urge to hide in one of the stalls under the intensity of their stare. Instead, falling back on years of experience, he cleared his throat, laced his fingers behind his back, and with a small bow, declared, “Mother Jones at your service, Your Majesties.”
“He saved my life,” Vasily said eagerly. “He’s the one who fished me out of the harbour.” He rested his hand on Mother’s shoulder, and his touch lingered slightly longer than it should have before he removed it.
King Alexei’s eyes widened. “You saved our son?”
“Aye, sire. Saw him fall, and I couldn’t lose my best groom,” Mother said, hoping to lighten the moment.
King Alexei’s mouth curved up into a broad smile that held echoes of Vasily in it, and in two strides he was at Mother’s side, slapping him on the back so hard Mother wondered that the teeth didn’t come flying out of his mouth. “Excellent man!” he exclaimed.
“Thank you, sire,” Mother wheezed.
“We shall have King Leopold host a dinner for you,” Alexei declared, “in thanks.”
“Oh, bugger off,” Mother said, before slapping a hand over his mouth, horrified. Had heactuallyjust cursed in front of theking and queenof Koroslova? He swallowed. “I meant to say, if that’s what Your Majesty wishes, sire.”
King Alexei gave an amused huff. “Excellent. We will arrange it. Now, who will tend to our horses after their trip?”
Mother almost heaved a sigh of relief. That, he could do. “I will, sire.” He stepped towards the courtyard and Vasily went to follow him. The king put a hand on his son’s arm. “Where are you going, Vasily?”
“To tend the horses, Father. It’s my job.”
His father shook his head. “Nonsense. We did not ride all this way for you to run off with the horses. Come, we will go up to the castle and you can tell us about your time here over dinner.”
It didn’t sound like a request, and Vasily’s shoulders slumped.
