Using the water cloth in the next room, he soon returned to the tray and, ashamed of his own hunger, ate some more warm buns.
Then he realized that his father was gone.
He cried bitterly at that unfortunate tray, still holding a bun in his hand.
He spent the whole day as if in a dream. He kept waiting for someone to come and say that it was time to get dressed and go to the funeral service. But the door to the room opened only twice, and both times it was the same guard with a tray.
Late in the evening, when Alcus was desperate to wait for someone, General Clars came to him and told him to follow him quickly. Alexander only had time to put on the cheap shoes and the old livery of the boy's services. The general did not order wasting time on training camps, said that the life of the heir and the Empire as a whole depends on a few minutes...
Alcus forbade himself to think about the bad and, while taking off the earring with the pearl, quickly followed the general.
- Where are we going? - He asked when he saw the crew waiting for them at one of the black stairs for the servants. - To Valentine's?
Alexandre didn't have time to find out more. The door slammed and the coachman, at first in no hurry, and then faster and faster drove the cart away from the palace.
Inside it smelled like cheap perfume, even cheaper tobacco, dust, spilled and sour wine. Or maybe it was beer... Alcus was breathing a little at a time, afraid that he would throw up. But we didn't drive for long. Soon the coachman pulled the reins sharply, and the horse got up.
Alc spent a few moments in doldrums, not knowing what to expect - whether it was a shot or a knife from the dark... But when the door of the cab opened, he was astonished to see such an acquaintance behind it ...
He was met by Victor Goran. Andri's father.
Never before had Alexander visited simple houses, even very good ones, so he was surprised to see the grid of the black entrance to the yard, the yard itself with strange buildings and clothes hanging on the ropes, then along narrow staircase and, finally, the door to the apartment of the professor, because of which the quiet voices of the two women were heard.
When they were opened in response to Mr. Goran's special knocking, Alcus realized that the door led directly to the kitchen, where they had been sitting before, and now the two elderly maids were frozen in amazement.
- Oh, my God! - Only one of them exhaled, thin, tall, and slightly older than the other, a round-headed woman, who was surely a shrimp. - Father, what are you doing backward? And who is this boy? Is he from the palace?
- Everything later. Find good clothes for the boy and get him on the road. As if Andri were collecting.
- Is it a long way to go? - without further ado, the maid specified.
- You have about an hour to rest and talk to my son," he smiled gently. - I know you're very friendly with him.
Even at the cab, the professor told Alexander to forget all the titles for a while and become just a boy from the palace. But still, it was so unusual to hear the family address from such a well-behaved man.
Alcus nodded. His head was going around from what was happening.
The professor visited the palace more than once, but what relation could he have to the general or Valentine?
- And then where did he go? - He tried to find out again. But the professor just smiled and nodded at the door leading inland.
Andri stood at the door with a big smile on his face, disheveled and dressed in a nightgown.
Alexander has changed a lot in recent days. His slightly rounded face has become thinner and sharper, and always calm gray eyes as if they had become bigger and darker. But maybe it just seemed to Andri, because the bedroom, where they sat right on the carpet, was lit only by a small night-light. Even the light of the moon did not enter the room - the windows were tightly closed with heavy curtains.
While Andri was anxiously looking at his friend, he also did not remain in debt.
- A noble lantern you have! - Alexander nodded on the blue cheekbone of his professor's son.
Andri smiled embarrassingly at one end of his mouth. Now, a couple of days later, it seemed stupid for him to fight with that guy who had been torn off... The eyes of the unlucky thief, full of despair and despair, kept coming to mind. The same sunken as now at the prince.
- Yes, it is there... - Andri waved his hand vaguely, - on the square... when the holiday...
And they both stopped talking. The ill-fated holiday became a red line that divided life into two. Especially for Alexander. Andrew could not even imagine what it was like to lose his father and confidence in the future.
I had to say something, but only senseless nonsense came to mind, heard from the dialogues of adults... Something like "Please accept my condolences" or "I'm sorry about that"... Who needs them, these regrets?
- And why were you brought to us? - Andri finally asked, deciding not to touch the most painful topic - the death of the Emperor. - My father did not say a word that he would do it...
Continuation in the next part 23.