“No Russian priests in Dixie,” Eli said. “But before a saint.”
That was true. Before Saint Moses the Black.
I could feel my lips curving up.
Smiling at Eli was easy to do.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
The moment couldn’t last, but at least I had it. Then the kitchen door burst open, everyone jumped back in alarm, and Peter practically leaped inside, dragging my little sister behind him.
Peter saw Eli, and his face lit up. Whatever Peter’s faults, he loved his big brother. “Guess what?” Peter said. “Bogdan has been arrested!”
It was a measure of Bogdan’s character that everyone was pleased, especially Felix. From behind Peter, Felicia waved at me.
“How did you get out of the school? How did you get here so fast?” I said, when I could get close enough to speak to her without yelling over the hubbub.
“Peter kidnapped me,” Felicia said, looking cheerful. “He told the headmistress that his family needed him at home and they had asked for me, too. She agreed only because the school is in a mess. No one knows what’s happening, or if there’s been a coup, or if the Americans are trying to take back California, or what. It’s crazy! Peter had enough money for us to take a cab.”
“We all have a lot to tell each other,” I said. “Felicia, Eli has told his family that we are…”
“I knew it!” Felicia grinned like she really was eleven. “Wonderful!”
Peter was hopping around like popcorn on a hot skillet. He fired out bits of information, and no one was listening, because everyone else had something to say, too.
Veronika led us all to the family parlor, which was situated beside the kitchen at the back of the house. It wasn’t as formal or depressing as the front parlor, where I’d talked to Veronika and the girls the first time I’d visited. Though we were only there because closing the curtains in the front might be strange and therefore suspicious in the early afternoon, I felt cozy and family-like.
Eli and I weren’t looking at each other much, but we were holding hands pretty steady, so that was fine. Veronika, Lucy, and Alice were excited and all whichaways, because a lot of big family stuff had just been piled on top of ’em.
Felix was hard to read, as usual, and Peter was all over the place. We had to calm him down to start catching everyone up on the big day we’d already had.
Lucy went first, telling Peter to pay attention while she told him what had just happened. Peter knew that the grand duke had been shot, and he started to tell us how he’d learned, but Lucy shut his water off.
“It was our Lizbeth who did it,” Lucy said proudly. I didn’t feel like cringing this time. I would get used to what I’d done. Sooner or later. Eli’s hand squeezed mine.
“Lizbeth!” Peter’s face was full of hero worship. “Lizbeth, you are a great…”
“Bride to our brother,” Lucy said steadily. “Eli and Lizbeth are married.”
It was good Peter had been forewarned by our conversation the day before, because he took it pretty well for someone who’d had a crush on me.
“Congratulations, Eli,” Peter said, with a lot of dignity. “It’s wonderful to have Lizbeth join our family.”
“Thank you, brother,” Eli said, just as soberly. “I have finally done something intelligent, you think?”
Then Peter grinned and laughed, and we received congratulations all around. Even from Felix. Who’d had a crush on someone else.
Eventually, the whole story about getting Eli out of jail was told, even my substituting for the maid, Nina. That seemed more amazing to the Savarov women than my shooting Alexander.
“Oh! That’s why!” Peter exclaimed. “Felix, did you tell Nina your name was Bogdan?”
“I might have,” Felix said, looking down at his fingernails.
“And that Lizbeth’s name was Yana?”
“That’s Bogdan’s wife,” Eli whispered to me.
“I may have also said that,” Felix admitted.
Nina had called me Yana, but I’d just figured it was some Russian form of address I didn’t know yet.
Veronika looked down at her hands, clasped properly in her lap. She bit her lip. Then she laughed, a sound I’d never heard from her. “I’m sorry,” she said, with a gasp. She didn’t look a bit sorry. “That’s just perfect. Sooner or later, he’ll talk his way out of it, but I’m very all right with Bogdan having the scare of his life.”
“After all the times he’s scared you,” Peter said.
“What?” Eli sat up straighter, let go of my hand, and became angry Prince Savarov, all in a second.
Veronika said, “Son, we didn’t want to tell you this, but Bogdan and Dagmar came by several times recently, without calling ahead.”
Dropping in was not a good thing in the Savarov household, I could tell.
“And what did they want?” Eli was leaning forward, his elbows on his knees.
“They wanted to threaten us,” Lucy said, when her mother did not speak. “After the, the, incident at the library…”
“Ivan, a friend of Bogdan, made remarks to Alice,” I said, to fill Eli in. “In front of Peter.”
“Yes, I took care of it,” Peter said. But not with pride. “I took care of it stupidly. That’s why you were arrested.”
“Wait. What?” Eli’s brows drew together.
This family had had a lot of secrets. It was good we were clearing the decks. Letting all the horses out of the corral. However you wanted to put it. But that didn’t mean it wasn’t painful.
“Ivan was found dead,” Lucy said. “Not that anyone told me until very recently. And he was killed by a technique that you, Eli, can use… that’s what Felix tells me. But in this case, you didn’t.”
“Peter?” Eli said. “You did this?”
Peter, flushed, nodded.
“You extracted—?” Eli didn’t want to finish the sentence, out of respect for the feelings of his mother and sisters.
“I did,” Peter said.
“I’m impressed,” Eli said, though there was no admiration in his voice. And left it at that.
“Once he knew this, Dima had to die,” I said. “Ivan’s friend, who’d also harassed your sisters. Dima Zaitsev.”
“Thank you, Felix,” Eli said.
“I helped,” Lucy said proudly.
Eli, who’d been reaching over to shake Felix’s hand, snatched his own back and glared at her. “You did what?”
Just one shock after another. Poor Eli.
Eli did not thank Felix when he found out that Lucy had identified Dima on the docks. He looked from me to Felix with narrowed eyes.
Then we had to tell him about John Brightwood. Who had been released after that, and probably in a direct reaction to the death of Dima.
Eli had to get up and walk around the room then, and the women were not able to hide how horrible it had been… and they should not have felt obliged to.
“I was not here to protect you,” Eli said, his voice choked. “I was not here. There is so much blame here. You could blame me for getting arrested and not fulfilling my duty to you. You could blame Peter for killing the man who had insulted his sisters, though I don’t. You could blame Felix for enlisting the aid of my little sister in identifying and killing the man who could connect Peter with the death of Ivan. But there’s no blame attached to Lizbeth, who has done her best to set all of us straight, even when that caused her to have pain in her conscience.”
“I did my share of bad things,” I said. That was sure the truth.
“But you did it to protect me and my family,” Eli said.
“No denying that, I guess.” I smiled at him, with an effort. “Your mom and your sisters, they’re made of strong stuff.”
“You’re right,” Eli said. “I didn’t know how strong.” He turned to his mother. “Is there anything else you want to tell me? Have we gotten all our dirty linen out on the line yet?”
Felicia had not said anything in so long that I was worried a
bout her. But she’d been soaking it all in. My sister, the sponge.
“I haven’t killed anyone since Mexico,” she said brightly.
“Good,” Eli said, ruffling her hair.
“She’s not a puppy,” I said. Felix looked at me with a question on his face, but I said nothing more.
Startled, Eli turned to me. “Of course not,” he said, with a little hesitation. “Excuse me, Felicia, if I’ve made you feel less than…” He didn’t know how to finish his sentence.
“My sister’s figured out I’m not eleven,” Felicia said, still smiling.
“But in Mexico, you said…” Eli’s voice trailed off as he tried to remember.
“Never said I was eleven.”
“How old are you, then?” Veronika said.
She was real civil, considering we’d moved from major stuff in her family to minor stuff in mine.
“I’m almost fifteen,” Felicia said, and the bottom of my stomach dropped out.
“When’s your birthday?”
“February 8.”
I hadn’t even known her birthday. “Well, you don’t know mine, either,” I said, to comfort myself.
“It’s in November, and you’ll be twenty-one.”
A curious look passed over Eli’s face, but he said, “We’ll celebrate, then.”
I nodded. All of a sudden, I was numb. The day had been a hard one, a violent one, and full of suspense. I’d made the shot of my life. Eli was free. The Savarovs were facing all kinds of news about themselves. My sister could get pregnant; she was old enough for that. Eli had told everyone we were living like married people. No going back now. I sagged in my seat.
“Eli, your wife needs a nap,” Veronika said.
“Yes,” he said. Then he hesitated, looked at her with a question in his face.
“In the attic room,” Veronika said. “You two can have it for tonight.”
Lucy and Alice were shocked that their mother had given her consent. And they loved it. I could tell.
Eli only nodded and helped me up. I could not watch out for anyone else at the moment. They would all have to say what they would and be what they were while I took time away. We went up to the third floor. I held on to the banister and Eli, and he dragged my bag along with him.
Eli opened a door at the top of the stairs. We stumbled into a room about the size of mine at the hotel, a humble room with a double bed. “When we had a live-in maid, this was her room,” he said, looking around. There was a sink in one corner, a toilet, a small bathtub, and an old wardrobe. Everything open to view. It was fine.
We got undressed and crawled into the bed. Looked like Eli’d decided he needed a nap, too.
“You smell,” I said.
“Too bad to…?”
I smiled. “Not that bad. But I can’t stay awake long, so let’s get cracking.”
“You sweet-talker.”
It wasn’t what I had imagined, after our long separation, but then… I had been scared to imagine much of anything at all. I had Eli back, and Eli loved me, and at the moment we were safe.
Maybe.
I woke up to an empty room. Eli’s prison clothes were in a heap on the floor, and he’d left the wardrobe door ajar to show me there was another dress inside. From the light, I could tell I’d slept through the night to the morning.
Great.
I took a quick bath and was happy to dig out my toothbrush. I felt fresher and refreshed when I pulled on the dress and went downstairs, carrying our previous day’s clothes in my arms. I’d spotted the clothes washing machine on the back porch the night before. I dropped our things on top.
There were some strange rolls and some butter on the kitchen table, and I ate them like I’d never seen food before. I poured myself a cup of tea, because that was what was available. Felicia came through the dining-room door. She was still in her school uniform. “You’re wanted in the front parlor,” she said. “You’ll never guess who’s here.” She was smiling.
I could see she wasn’t going to tell me who was there, so I went to see for myself.
I was for sure surprised to find the aged Xenia Alexandrovna standing behind Tsarina Caroline, who was sitting on the couch next to a man somewhere in his thirties. He was pale, with dark blue eyes and dark brown hair. He was not wearing a military uniform but a good suit.
Damn, I thought, and did as good a curtsy as I could manage. If ever I was going to attempt it, the time was now. “Your Imperial Majesties,” I said, and then didn’t know what to do with myself.
“Lizbeth,” said Eli, and once I located him I felt better.
“Please, sit with Ilya,” Tsar Alexei said. I could tell that getting to sit in the presence of the tsar and his wife was a rare privilege, so I tried to appreciate it. I would have felt better if Xenia had been given leave to sit, too.
Veronika was also sitting, in a little armchair. Captain McMurtry was standing at the door. From his position, he could see both the front door and the people in the parlor. I was glad to see him, and I nodded when I caught his eye. He looked a little surprised, but he nodded back.
No Peter. No Lucy or Alice.
“I am glad to meet the woman who saved my wife’s life,” Alexei said.
“It was my honor.” Figured that was safe.
“I understand you are an excellent shot.”
“I am. That’s my living.”
The tsar’s eyebrows drew together in a little pucker.
Okay, I must have said something odd there, and I’d only meant to be matter-of-fact.
“I wonder if you would like to be my wife’s bodyguard,” Alexei said.
This day was driving me to bad language, and I hadn’t been up thirty minutes. “No, thank you, sir. I’m real pleased you think well enough of me for that, but I’m not a city woman, and I would go nuts here.”
Clearly, Alexei was taken aback, but I saw that Eli was suppressing a smile. A very small one.
“I’m sorry you can’t see your way clear to doing it,” Alexei said courteously. “And I’m sure Caroline is disappointed.”
Caroline did not look disappointed at all. She looked encouraging. There was something she wanted me to say. I just didn’t know what it was. I did know what I wanted to say. “Your Imperial Highness,” I began, thinking that starting polite was my best bet, “there are some things I’d like to draw to your attention, if you would not mind listening.” I thought I’d put that real well, but a glance at Veronika told me that she was now sitting so straight she looked as if she’d sat on a poker, and her pleasant expression was frozen on her face.
Alexei seemed pretty surprised by my words. He glanced at his wife, and she nodded. Okay, I was going in the right direction. At least, Caroline thought so.
“It surprises me that you didn’t know Eli was in jail. That someone who had served you well, someone you knew personally, was missing. How could that be?”
Alexei didn’t look happy, but he didn’t order Captain McMurtry to shoot me, either. “I understand your surprise,” Alexei said. Then he seemed to be picking his words as carefully as I had. “I can only tell you that sometimes I am so ill I don’t notice things I ought to be aware of. I realize that I have not been eager to ask questions. And I have had advisers who did not… draw the right things to my attention.”
Had that been because Alexei didn’t want to be angry with his uncle? Or because being sick made him wrapped up in his own problems? I was listening to him real intently, because I wanted to understand what he was saying… and what he was not saying.
“I have realized in the past few days that some people think I am not a strong ruler because I don’t know everything that’s going on in my empire. That I am ignorant of the problems of my people and the undercurrents at my own court.”
I wanted to nod, but he’d just said he had learned all this stuff. So he didn’t really need a gunnie like me to confirm it.
Eli had taken my hand. Maybe he did it from habit, a good habit, but also I thoug
ht he was telling me to be even more cautious.
The tsar waited to see if I was going to say something else. But I didn’t.
“Caroline and I have been discussing this, once I heard that my uncle had spread a rumor that I was going to die any minute. We have decided I need to be among my people, both at court and in public, much more than I have been.”
This time, he definitely waited for me to speak, so I said, “Yes, Your Imperial Highness?”
“You do not want to live in San Diego.”
I nodded.
“Since Prince Ilya Savarov is free, and I will make it clear he should never have been imprisoned…”
I had no idea where the tsar was going with this long sentence. Eli did. “Your Imperial Highness, my wife and I will be leaving to visit her family in Texoma quite soon, after I have made sure my mother, my sisters, and my younger brother are all safe and secure here, and can continue their lives peacefully.”
Throwing Bogdan and Dagmar to the wolves. Good.
“You can be assured of that. My wife’s aide, Captain McMurtry, promises to keep watch over your family.”
I looked at Ford McMurtry just at that moment and saw the way he was gazing at Veronika. Ha!
“And my sister, Felicia, Your Imperial Highness? She has already been trusted to help you when you needed her assistance.” That was the fanciest I could say When you were sick, she gave you her blood.
“She will continue in the school as long as she likes,” Alexei said. “And I am grateful for her assistance.”
“Some of Rasputin’s descendants have died suspiciously, I hear,” I said. “I have no idea how true that may be. I would be very, very upset if anything happened to Felicia.”
Now I’d pushed the conversation over a cliff, for sure. Alexei gave me a real cold look, and Eli squeezed my fingers too hard, and Veronika looked as though she were about to pass out.
Only Caroline remained cool. She said, “Any sister would feel the same concern, Lizbeth. We will be careful of your sister as we would be careful of any girl in our care.”
I had to be content with that. “I’m very grateful,” I said. “I thank you both.”
The Russian Cage Page 18