Act II
Scene IV

It is said that children bring both joy and turmoil when they enter this world. At that point in time I had no children, so I was not to know such things, but one only had to look at Berwald and Tino's situation and how it coincided with the birth of young Lukas – or Luuk, as he was called – to believe it steadfastly.

Spring slid into a hot summer, where the sparkling sun shone so strongly that every function was held outside. One such a day in the middle of the hot season, Berwald's castle gardens were full of guests – outdoor tables decked with food and decorations and covered by tablecloths so fresh and white they nearly glowed, surrounded by people, mingling and chatting. Women sat in groups on the lawn, relaxed under parasols, while the men stood with glasses of champagne and smoked.

Katya was the centre of attention among the womenfolk; her curved belly covered by a flowing white dress, her hair adorned with summer flowers. She took no pride in being so talked about – on the contrary, she almost seemed embarrassed when a friend would ask after prospective names or any such talk that most pregnant women loved to carry on with.

"I never would have believed it." A good way off, certainly out of earshot of the women, Lukas took a short sip of champagne. "Berwald vowed he would never touch a woman."

He was standing with Mathias, the two of them sharing the shade of a parasol, since Lukas burned horribly in bright sunlight, while Mathias turned as freckled as a labourer.

"Well, you vowed that too," Mathias laughed, "and look now, your wife is sitting over there!" He gestured to the lawn, where, sitting beside Katya, Natalya watched over the celebrations with an expression of extreme disinterest.

"I recall that you vowed that you would touch nobody aside from me," Lukas near-snapped, "and yet all of the three children on the lawn belong to you." Three-year-old Magnus and two-year-old Emelie ran and played in the grass, dressed in the sweetest of white clothes, while tiny Luuk sat swaddled in his nursemaid's arms.

"Had you been a fighter instead of a writer," Mathias said, a pained chuckle in his tone, "that would have been a sword in the gut." Then he sighed. "You know I never wish to anger you, Lukas."

"I'm not angry with you. I'm angry with the system."

But before Mathias could ask, Berwald interrupted, striding over to them in his smart summer clothes – long and white with only accents of the palest blue and yellow. "Have you seen Tino?" he asked, the barest hint of worry in his voice.

"Has he gone missing?" Lukas asked after shaking his head, tilting his head a little.

"Not missing. Just can't find him." Berwald was away before either of his friends could enquire further.

Tino was in the dressing room. It wasn't so much a dressing room now as Tino's permanent chamber, where Berwald and Tino's marital bed lay. Berwald spent nearly every night there, and not only for physical love, but for the pure sensation of sleeping beside his soulmate.

Tino was packing his things.

"Tino?" When Berwald finally found him, the Swedish lord stood in the doorway, watching him with a mixture of both confusion and horror evident – well, evident to Tino, who had learnt to read him far more easily than any book – on his face. "What are you doing?"

When there was no answer, only the continuous shuffling of Tino's clothes and private possessions, Berwald closed the door sharply behind him and repeated the question. Only then did Tino look up.

"Your future cannot include me, Berwald. Am I the only one who sees it?"

"My future includes you…" Berwald's eyes widened a little. "You're not leaving?"

"I have to." Tino looked drained, exhausted. "I love you, Berwald, but this cannot go on. You'll have an heir in three months. You are expected to play the part of a lord, not a valet's lover."

"I am a valet's lover. I'm your lover, Tino..." Berwald trailed off, looking as though all his hopes had vanished with a snap of the fingers.

"You shouldn't be!" Tino secured his pack. "I know we've made plans, all sorts of grand plans for how the future can possibly work for us, but when one gives it true thought, it's clear to see how ridiculous it is. Katya and the child cannot be hidden away or –"

"I can't go on without you."

One small sentence to break Tino's shaky resolve. The Finn dropped his bag back onto the bed, running his hands through his hair with the air of a man crumbling.

"Do you promise that we will be together?" he asked, turning to Berwald, his bright blue-violet eyes red-rimmed. "Can you promise?"

"I promise." The gravity of Berwald's words echoed in the deep rumble of his tone. He was utterly serious – a future without Tino was no future at all.

"What can be done? What can we possibly do to make sure that neither we nor Katya nor the child suffer from this arrangement?"

"Only one thing." Berwald seemed struck by an idea. "Katya has to die."

The tender warmth of early summer rose fierce and tense in late summer. Nights were stifling, letters written by men in nightshirts, sweating in chilled castle rooms.

Katya felt the telltale pains but she said nothing. It was too early. The child could not be delivered yet.

The small hours of the morning were broken of their thick quiet by an urgent knocking on the dressing room door. Tino rolled out of bed, hazy with sleep, into the trundle bed beside them so as not to give the visiting servant undue ideas (or any more so than had already been planted), while Berwald got up, rubbing his eyes, to answer the door.

"Yes?"

"The Lady Yekaterina has called for a doctor," the servant told him, anxiety in his tone. "The child is coming."

"She told me the child would come with the autumn…?"

"It is too early, sir. There are fears for both of them."

"Their safety in danger?" Berwald stood up straight, physical signs of tiredness gone. "Send for the doctor. Give her the best care."

With a nod, the servant vanished, and Berwald came back to bed, holding open his arms for Tino. Despite the heat, the Finn rolled into his lover's arms, holding him tightly.

It had begun.

A/N: One more chapter, and a finale. I promise I'll try and finish it before I get swept up in holiday stuff, I don't want to leave you guys hanging like this...