Black Roses
Rating: M
Setting: England, Bath, 1769
Plot: Erik Romaniove, a man fleeing from his home of Russia, takes refuge in Bath, where he is sure no one will suspect him of hiding. He is sorely mistaken, for his powers and famous wit follows him across Europe. His is summoned at once to the Normington Castle, to test his powers on the Duke of Bath who is suffering from a fatal illness.
Little does he know that what will ensue will push his resistance to the ultimate test…...
Disclaimer: I am not making money out of this fiction. Erik's second name belongs to me, and so does all the other characters in Normington Castle and in Bath. Nothing else does, and if it did I would not share them with anyone!
Chapter 1
Resentment
'The weather, at least, is tolerable.' A little dwarf man said, his voice strained. 'Now in Russia, I believe people are afraid of leaving their home in
fear of the cold!'
The man sitting next to the dwarf did not bother to reply. He turned his head to the carriage window and stared disdainfully at the little English town of Bath,
missing sorely the richness of Russian land.
He was dressed head to foot in bleak black, a black leather mask covering the left side of his face. His clothes were made of the richest silks and the plumed feathers on
his hat did not disguise his wealth, but in his manner people would have thought him a executioner or a witch-catcher.
Yet he was a fugitive, running away from his beloved land, forced to face the bleakness of England.
Damn him. Curse him! Erik thought viciously. Let the deepest pit of Hell consume him, and let him
writhe in ceaseless agony!
The dwarf seated next to him sighed. 'Erik, think rationally. At least England is not full of peasants! I knew you despised those damned wretches!'
Erik merely shrugged. 'I did not despise them because they did not have priviliges. I despised them because they despised me!'
'Yet you still long for Russia! Where the people thought you a man in touch with the devil, a man who could kill a rival by simply winking at them!'
Erik tutted. 'Lenin,I thought I had made it clear that the case of Pelourous was not my doing. He died from the ague. I did not cause it.'
Lenin raised his eyebrows. 'The Russians are fickle, tell them what you may.' He clapped his hands.
'Now, we are nearly near the city centre. Shall I get lodgings for you here?'
'No, you fool!' Erik spat. 'City centre! Indeed! I am on the run, with I don't know how much money on my head, and yet you expect me to languish in the
city centre with all the ambassadors and foreign ministers?'
Lenin paled. 'Sorry…master…forgive me. I should have thought….' He was cut off by Erik's dark glare.
Lenin stuck his head out of the carriage. 'Drive on,Roster! We no liking the city centre.'
Erik snorted.
They soon found satisfactory accommodation late into night, since every landlord were suspicious of the foreign little dwarf and the tall man in black with piercing eyes.Lenin, knowing Erik well by now, sent for a whore. 'In there,' Lenin said clumsily, pointing at Erik's door. He could not take his eyes of the whore's bare arms and her daringly low cut dress. The whore grinned and ruffled Lenin's hair. 'Not you, my little babe?' Lenin's gaze shifted from the girl's arms to the swell of her breasts. 'Not me...uhh, my lord. Who is in there.' He pointed again at the door. 'There. You see the door?'
The whore grinned again. 'Very well, sweetness! No rush.' She sweeped into Erik's room, leaving a dazed dwarf behind her.