Alexander shrugged.
- I do not know myself.
Still, he changed a lot. As if he had become younger. And it was so strange to see the Emperor's son wearing an old cloth uniform of a servant. It was as if it made him an ordinary boy. Unobtrusive and no different from other children in the city.
- What do you have here? - Andrew pointed to Alexander's clenched fist.
The Grand Duke looked at his hand in such a way that he himself did not know what was in it. He slowly opened his fingers, and Andrew saw how a bright blue pearl sparkled in the dim light of the night-light.
- A family heirloom... - Alexander somehow smiled sadly. - All I had left...
For a few moments, the Emperor's son was looking at an unusual earring, and then suddenly he asked:
- Do you know how to keep secrets?
Andrew nodded in surprise.
- Actually, I shouldn't tell anyone that... - Alexander slowly slipped the clasp of the earring into the hole in his ear and snapped it into place. - But if tomorrow they kill me too... - he swallowed nervously, - and then Valentina, at least someone will know what this thing is for... and what its real purpose is.
- Well, why are you so... - Andri quietly objected. - Who needs to kill you?
Alexander looked at the floor. Without raising his head, he answered:
- The same person who needed the Emperor's death. If everything had been fine, would I have been taken nowhere else? - In his words, he sounded sad and offended. - The whole palace of the guardsmen... and could not protect one person! My father should not have died!
Alexander's voice became too ringing, but Andri never saw tears in his eyes - the prince turned away and stood up. Clenching his fists, he walked through the room, opened and closed the door sharply, as if he wanted to check whether there was no one behind it, and then suddenly took up the blue pearl and quickly inserted it right into his ear. Like a regular noise plug. Andrew stared at his friend in surprise, but he sat down on the carpet again next to the professor's son.
And then he said in an adamant voice, "Ask me something!
- Well... - Andri was stuck. - When was the last time you ate?
- In the afternoon, - Alexander wriggled with dissatisfaction. - This is not the case! Ask such a question... Such a thing that I would not answer you for anything!
Andri was even more surprised and even confused. And the question jumped out somehow by itself...
- А... How do you feel about me? - and my heart suddenly knocked so often...
Alexander pulled his throat, put his eyelashes down for a moment, and then, looking straight into Andri's eyes, answered:
- I always wanted to be like you. And I always dreamed of such a friend. What I'm afraid of is that you and I are going to fight and I will never see each other again.
Andri didn't even know what to say.
He didn't expect...
And Alexander, meanwhile, was fiercely digging the pearl out of his ear. One more moment - and it was pumping freely again on a thin chain. The prince closed his eyes and breathed heavily, even sweating on his forehead.
- What is wrong with you, Al? - Andri was afraid. - Why are you doing this?
Alexander took a deep breath and finally looked at his friend.
- It's a pearl," he replied, tired. - It's unusual. It's a very old thing... My father has explained to me for a long time how it works. You see, when it's in my ear, I remember everything that happens around me in a special way. It's like writing on a page in a book... And as soon as I pull out the pearl, the book stays in it. I continue to remember, but only the general sense of what is happening. But if you put it back in, the events that you've experienced with it before unfold your eyes as if they were in a bright photo, as if they were happening right now! The pearl keeps the memory instead of us. But... that's not all," he sighed. - When this thing is in my ear, when it remembers everything, I can't lie. Just keep quiet. That's why this earring is always worn by the chief judge at the Imperial Court... This is really a very honest court, where it is almost impossible to pass a wrong verdict. You can only keep silent if you are asked a question that you do not want or have no right to answer.
Andri was shocked. He tried to pick up words to express his feelings, but he couldn't, he only opened and closed his lips over and over.
Alexander smiled not cheerfully.
Continuation in the next part 24.