by L.K. Hill
***
Taras spent the rest of the morning with his men, training on horses. His afternoons were free, but he met with the rest of the officers every night before dinner, and he would have guard duty tonight.
He spent his afternoons in a variety of ways—often reading, preparing for tomorrow’s schedule, or conspiring with Nikolai about whom to question next. He attended the tsar’s receptions to educate himself on court customs and re-familiarize himself with the feel of Russia. After a month, however, the sessions had grown dull. He was simply not a courtier.
Today, Nikolai had a meeting with 'someone else who might be able to help.' Nikolai never gave Taras details about the people he talked to until he felt sure they had something to say about the investigation. It frustrated Taras at first, but he supposed it was a good strategy, ensuring his hopes never got up too high. Nikolai explained it would be less dangerous if they didn’t know too much about one another’s intrigues. So far, the old woman, whose name Taras had never learned, was the first lead promising enough to share.
Taras didn’t want to stay indoors. The bright spring day beckoned to him. He would have gone horseback riding, except that he'd exercised Jasper all morning with his men. Instead, he contented himself with wandering around the palace grounds.