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cabins below, her manservant following smartly behind. A sharp blast of the ship’s whistle indicated<br />
that departure was imminent, and within minutes of the sound, Rayley and Davy emerged up the same<br />
steps to join Trevor on deck.<br />
“And so we are off,” Rayley said, as the ship begin to pull from its berth.<br />
“Where is Tom?” Trevor asked.<br />
“Already in his bunk, Sir.” Davy said. “I think he celebrated his last night in the Palace a little<br />
too much.”<br />
“And what of Emma?”<br />
“Also below deck, consoling Alix,” Rayley said. “Or perhaps it is the other way around. This<br />
country has a strange effect on people, does it not? Despite everything, I feel we have all fallen a bit<br />
under its spell.”<br />
“I have a question, Sirs,” Davy said, as the yacht began moving toward the center of the Neva,<br />
the engines settling down into a low steady drone.<br />
“We may not be able to answer, but by all means, give it a shot,” said Trevor.<br />
“Should our loyalty toward ideals be greater than our loyalty toward people?” Davy asked,<br />
cupping his hand to be heard above the wind and the engines.<br />
This was a bit more philosophical than either Rayley or Trevor was prepared for, and for a<br />
minute they all simply stood, still facing the Winter Palace. The eternal Palace. It seemed it would<br />
take as long to leave it as it had to approach it.<br />
“We discussed this very topic during one of our meetings,” Trevor said. “One of the ones you<br />
missed. As I recall, we failed to come to any conclusion.”<br />
“You have obviously given the matter some thought,” Rayley said. “What do you think?”<br />
“I feel I’ve done the wrong thing, Sirs,” Davy said, his voice cracking. “In fact I know I have.<br />
I’ve lied to you, Sirs, and I have to get it off my chest or the trip back will be a proper torment…”<br />
“Hold on, son,” Trevor said. “What are we talking about?”<br />
“One of the lads in the Volya,” Davy said. “Vlad. I saw him on the dock last night and I could<br />
have given chase and I…I didn’t.” He was green with agony, gripping the railing as if the seasickness<br />
which had plagued him during the first trip had already taken hold of him again. “Then I didn’t tell
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