Alexander

Repercussions

The trek back was agonizing, especially the leap across the brook. By the sound of the instruments and the smell of food and liquor, the party was well underway. Maybe he'd been wrong. His father might be swaying with one of the trampy maidens, singing some sort of off tune song that he didn't know at all. The nanny could be smitten by a handsome duke, or fretting over Josiah. Alexander might be nothing but a hazy memory in the back of their minds.

He made it to the door and cracked it open to peer through. All seemed to be well, and by well he meant no one seemed to be frantically searching for him, when he heard two whispering voices in the entryway.

"Where's Alexander?" Josiah hissed.

"Probably off simpering elsewhere. He took a hard fall off of a hill when he attacked me," Nicholas hissed back.

"Attacked you?" Josiah scoffed. "If you think that Alex attacked you, then I'm wondering who really conquered the Ylinkin Tribe." He snorted. "Where is he knocked out at?"

Alexander balked at his Josiah's words. Lydia had been his bold defender, but he'd never even considered the possibility of a second, less imposing guardian.

Nicholas was deeply offended. "You think you know so much, don't you Jo? What I'd like to know is how you can be so thick! How can you choose to stand by idly and not punish Alexander for what he's done?"

"It's not his fault," Josiah said, quieter than before. Uncertainty corrupting his previously defensive tone.

"It is, though, and you know it. What changed your mind? Was it Lydia?"

"It was unavoidable. He would never have chosen for her to die. He misses her, just like the rest of us."

"He tainted her."

"She tainted herself."

"He broke Father's heart."

"No, Mother broke his heart."

"Enough!" Nicholas cried at last. There was a rush, a scuffle, the sound of a fist swinging through the air. "You're speaking like a fool!"

Alexander listened to his brothers both puffing angrily, breath hissing through their teeth. Finally Josiah spoke. "I miss her too, Nick. But you've made that innocent boy's life hell."

Alexander heard Josiah walk away, but Nicholas remained in the entryway. "Innocent? Really? Well, if he's innocent now he won't be when I get through with him," he said under his breath. There was such conviction in the words that Alex felt a thrill of fear slice down his spine. Then Nick walked away as well, leaving the way clear.

He slipped up the stairs without detection, taking off the 'nice' robes and throwing on his typical apparel. Then, he collapsed on his bed, sleep pulling him in like a vise.

He woke up to his head being jerked, his neck straining and mind struggling to figure what was happening. Before he could fully tell, he was out of his bed and being dragged down the stairs by the hair.

"Father," he croaked groggily. "What...?" The sounds of the party had died away, leaving an eerie silence in its wake. Only now did he realize that they were alone except for Elizabeth, Nicholas, and Josiah. A family reunion. By the dull pulsing pain in Alexander's head, he wasn't so sure it was a happy occasion.

"Where have you been?" his father asked. "You've missed the whole party."

"I was tired," he said.

"You weren't hiding?"

"Hiding?" Alexander asked, playing dumb. "Why would I be hiding?"

His father wasn't a man for games, so when he clubbed Alexander over the head he wasn't surprised. His headache flooded back like hot tar, the growl becoming a roar, and he grimaced. "Don't be stupid, your brother and sister have told me all about the attack."