The sun shone strong and insistent on all lands and with this also on the magnificent and large territory of Southern Ireland.
Those huge and verdant lands had belonged for centuries to the Dustin family, one of the oldest and richest Houses that had ever ruled over such a territory.
The Dustins had somehow been successful in the riches of the earth and in controlling the population, but in those last few years, just as the 1700s was about to reach its half a lot had happened and that family's luck no longer seemed to be on their side.
In those years Lord Ludwig Dustin at the head of the family had left this world due to old age, at the age of eighty-eight years exactly.
Lady Annalise Dustin, wife of the latter, had lost her life at the age of fifty-five in a failed revenge attack on the British coast of the east.
Young Lords and twins William and Dickon Dustin, the youngest of their family, had lost their lives due to drink poisoning.
And now that most of their family had disappeared over time, only 38-year-old Preston Dustin and his younger brothers Warren and Meredith Dustin remained to take power and rule over these lands.
The sun shone, hot and insistent, shone on the green and numerous leaves of the trees of the forest, moved them with its wind.
The shining rays illuminated the fresh and green fields on which agriculture was practiced, further enriching the country's assets thanks to taxes.
Taxes. The Dustin family or rather Preston Dustin had always tried to keep the price of these low or at least in proportion to the quality of their dominion over those lands.
But as more people in his family lost their lives, he too had to survive somehow, thus leading in recent times to raise taxes and bring a kind of despair and rage among the citizens.
He was not ready for war, he had never been, he was still thirty-eight years old on the other hand, he was not old, nor had he ever cared much about wars or conquests or anything else in his life.
And it was precisely on one of those mornings that the Earl of Southern Ireland had received a rather unexpected and unexpectedly surprising visit.
Preston was now, at this moment, in his study, in the study that had once belonged to his father before blindness and old age struck him, and now it was his, the eldest son of the House.
The man's straight brown hair fell perfectly and neatly to the nape of his neck, his brown eyes were also scattered outside the window, looking at the sea, the town before his eyes, the woods and forests that surrounded it.
-I offer my condolences, lord Preston Dustin- Aleksei admitted slowly arranging his back in a more comfortable position on the padded chair.
He stood there, looking as a guest at the difficulties that the new Lord Dustin was facing, perceiving in his eyes the sadness and frustration of someone who has recently lost a battle.
The man sighed, smiled slowly, tried to at least do it, letting out a bit of hope and serenity in all his sadness.
-My mother has always been like that, she always did everything to her liking...- commented the lord as some wet tears were created and sifted through his eyes -there was no way to stop her even if the idea that she is now dead, still at the age of fifty-five, leads me a bit of despair-.
Aleksei nodded briefly with his head, slowly moved his black curls from his travel-sweaty forehead and from his shoulders.
He wondered how his father would react to the fact that his youngest son had escaped from court, that he had escaped from the prison where he was forced to live, locked up in his own room.
Dimitri knew of his departure, he knew it as much as his mother and had accepted his brother's decision more lightly than their father had done.
He smiled, even if sometimes there seemed to be a rivalry between the two princes, he was happy on the one hand that Dimitri was his brother, no matter how unpleasant or full of himself he might be, the two loved each other in a way, he felt it.
Aleksei sat and looked at Preston's figure, looking over his shoulder as the rays of sunlight flooded his figure and made the lord's brown hair shine.
He knew how much pain he was going through right now and he respected him, respected his weaknesses and his losses.
Although the prince had not yet lost any parental figure he had lost a brother and already knew how this had affected his life.
-Your siblings still don't know anything about what happened, don't they?- Aleksei asked impertinently but without bad intentions, placing both his pale and cold hands on his pants, on his knees.
He knew he didn't have to bet too much on that situation to have the Dustins in his favour but it was so, if they wanted to forge an alliance he had to start knowing who was on his side.
This was what he had always been taught since his childhood, by his tutors and a topic that he had also dealt with a few years earlier during his university studies in Russia.
Preston closed his eyes, exhaled slowly from his lips, for a lord it was a pleasure, it had to be, to welcome a visit from a prince, but his companion seemed very intrusive towards him, intrusive in a positive way.
-Warren and Meredith should arrive here soon, it will be then that I will tell them what happened, however painful it may be...- the new Lord Dustin let pass from his thin and cold lips.
-Waiting for my siblings, in any case, why do you not communicate the reason for your visit, prince Aleksei?-.
The prince smiled weakly, tried to do so, at least when the grimace he had placed on his pale face did not seem to contain a look of too much skepticism.
-You ask that as if it were a burden to you to hear my proposals...-.
Preston lightly bit the lower part of his lip, some tears still lay in his eyes, but he would not let them fall, not even slip, he held them there, firm and steady while a faint smile had settled on his face .
-Aleksei Romanov, Prince of Russia, I hope for yourself that your witty humour is intended only for me and not for any other lord you meet...-.
The prince closed his gaze, slightly shrugged his shoulders in a sense of non-awareness and carelessness as if by now that man was not afraid of his own death.
On the other hand, he was not, he had never been unlike many others.
What was death? How did it feel when you left this land? Was it like falling into a deep, endless sleep? How to take a road with no return?
What was the meaning of death and when did a person really die? He could die while staying alive, could he? If that was what he was doing...
At that moment the creak of the door opening interrupted the man's thoughts, it was a weak creak, not easy to hear, but he knew very well that that creak would very soon help him in carrying out his goal.
The figures that immediately attracted the attention of the prince were the following two:
A young man perhaps the same age as Aleksei, in his thirties, with hair of a red color similar to orange, with a blurry shade of blond in them.
Puffy and full hair and distributed over his head like a soft bush.
Beside him stood a woman a few years younger, she had long brown hair, almost like Preston's, if not a lighter tone and locked in a puffy braid on her back.
Presumably those were the other two Dustin siblings, Warren and Meredith.
The lady wore a thin but warm blanket over her shoulders and wrinkled, dirty clothes, not quite worthy of a lady of her level.
Preston remained motionless, the lord merely observed both siblings from the distance, placing a thin but sincere smile on his face, powerfully but slowly raising one of his arms until he pointed to the other two.
-Prince Aleksei, allow me to introduce you to both my younger siblings: Lord Warren and Lady Meredith Dustin...-.
The prince's stern eyes met those of the two present in that room, leading both to force themselves into a quick and precise bow.
It was clear that the two were unfamiliar with the man's sudden visit, he understood this from their astonished and intrigued gaze.
-My prince, if only I had known of your visit I would have made sure to introduce myself to you in a more dignified manner but you know, I am just back from a trip...-.
-Oh...don't bother Lady Meredith, please, we are among us on the other hand- Aleksei smiled slightly and almost blushing on both cheeks, thus giving his pale face a minimum of color.
It was no surprise to him that he found the lady attractive, pretty, nice in some way, he could see it in her big eyes full of life, in her delicate face.
He hadn't lain with a woman for weeks, perhaps, he tried to maintain a fairly neutral and composed, professional attitude, even if his natural needs began to become more and more persistent day by day.
But that was not the reason why he was there, of course, obviously he could not declare himself to the woman only now, not now where they met again after all that time, but at the end of the war, proposing a wedding to her would not have been an idea that would have displeased the man.
-Take a seat...sit down...- Preston invited his siblings to sit on the upholstered armchairs that lay neatly inside the large study, illuminated at that moment by the last rays of the warm sun.
Warren and Meredith Dustin neatly took their places on both chairs that had been made available to them, they were silent for a long time, it was clear that they didn't have much to say or were embarrassed by the tense situation.
-Do you not have something to say, lord Preston?- Aleksei asked crossing both of his arms under his chest.
Preston was starting to can't stand that impertinent young man anymore. How come he didn't respect his peace? How come he didn't keep the proper professional distance from him?
The man gritted his teeth together, he could not say something, not to a prince of a higher rank than him, not even to one of his guests, it would have been rude, so he just put a slight smile on his face .
-I'll wait for you to clarify your ideas first- he passed the word to the prince, who somehow seemed to expect an answer of that kind.
Aleksei smiled sourly, he did not want to give satisfaction to the other, a competition was involuntarily started between the two, he had to change the cards if he really wanted his plan to go into effect as he wanted.
-I came all the way from Russia to lean on your help against my cousin Isabelle- the prince ended up adding placing both his hands behind his head, dipping his fingers in his black curls, squeezing briefly.
He had to joke he hoped.
Preston really hoped it was so, otherwise he felt in his heart that the situation would soon end in tragedy if that reckless prince didn't shut his mouth once and for all.
Was he coming to propose an alliance right now? Just a few days after the discovery of their mother's death? How reckless did it have to be to ask for something like this during the mourning of an entire family?
But again he couldn't say anything, nothing that might offend the other, so Preston just smiled briefly.
-Why don't you turn to the covenant then? I'm sorry to contradict you, my prince, but as long as I am in charge of the Dustin house, the start of a war is not even asked...-.
Damn! Aleksei gritted his teeth, Preston Dustin was a reckless opponent and very strong even for himself, he had to find a way to make him change his mind, even if there could be a way...
-I have decided not to turn to the allies because, while they will end up killing each other for who will become the next ruler, I have decided to play a much cleaner game...my revenge, our revenge for money, more than you can even imagine-.
Aleksei was shrewd, he knew how much at that moment the Dustin house was suffering from lack of money, how much they suffered to remain standing after all the deaths they had had to suffer.
Money? Only money? It was a too greedy and reckless offer to make, Preston knew well that the prince had a much wittier plan in mind.
-Do you therefore want to be a spectator of the slaughter that others will end up doing? Only for the money? Are you in no way interested in having the chance to become king once and for all?- Preston asked turning his face in profile to the other sitting behind him.
-Being a sovereign has never been my real goal, you just need to hear how my name sounds, King Aleksei, it wouldn't sound good at all, maybe that's why my father gave me this name, so that being a sovereign isn't never was my true nature...-.
That young man was spinning around something using irony, Preston knew it, he felt it, from the sudden vitality he had taken and enveloped the prince's body, he felt his aura in some sense, it was a strange sensation.
Just for money it couldn't be, they would have earned, he would have lost and no bidder with a minimum of intelligence would have proposed such a thing.
-My army has thousands of soldiers, many more than your lands have ever possessed, we would all be yours, along with the money I will offer you, all alone in exchange for your sister's hand-.
Preston blushed abruptly.
Aleksei wanted to marry Meredith? That stupid, intrusive prince, did he think that money and a few soldiers could have bought his sister's love?
He was not the first suitor to Meredith's hand, the lady was still young, really pretty and physically capable of conceiving and giving birth to children, it would have been too big to ask for that.
The lady blushed on her cheeks, turned pale in the face, it could not be, if seriously her brother had agreed to marry her to Aleksei she would never have been able to meet her beloved Diane again, nor ever be able to see the children.
Her future depended at that moment solely on Preston, she prayed, hoped that he would make a careful reflection, a wise choice, that he would refuse it all for her.
But instead it is for her great surprise that she noticed a smile on her brother's face, noticed his eyes resting on her, look at her, observe her, lowered her gaze.
-I accept this offer- the man admitted letting go out of his lips -we are going to regain our freedom, as far as my sister is concerned, it would not be a problem for me if you met her intimately even before your marriage-.