by Jane Godman
“That ruling applies to the Tavisha kings. They are the ones who swore to be bound by honor and tradition. I am bound only by my own desires. You and I will be the founders of a new dynasty.” He raised his glass. “The Petrov monarchy.”
Realizing he was referring to their children, Lidi took a sip of wine to hide her face from him. Since her presence at Vasily’s side was a pretense, there was no reason for any discussion of a future family to provoke a storm of emotions in her. But the sharp tug of loss and sadness had nothing to do with the man she was with. For a brief instant, she had a mental picture of a family of her own. Of a tall laughing father swinging a child up into his arms and of herself watching the scene with pride. And that man, of course, was Ged. It was an “if only” image, gone as soon as it appeared.
When the meal was finished, Lidi risked his displeasure by reminding Vasily again about his mother. “I would like to see her tonight, please.”
He pouted, the expression transforming his features and making him look like a sulky schoolboy. “Very well. You will excuse me if I do not join you.” Gesturing to a servant, he gave an order. “Escort Lady Rihanoff to Zoya Petrov’s apartments.”
When Vasily had gone, Lidi felt relief ooze from every pore. Being in a permanent state of tension was exhausting. Rising from her seat, she followed the servant from the room. Making their way along a corridor lined with gilt-framed portraits, they descended a wide staircase to the central hall.
“You will need a cloak, my lady.” The young female servant bobbed a curtsy as she indicated a rack of fur-lined garments.
“Does the queen live in another building?” Lidi fastened one of the cloaks around her shoulders and followed the woman outside.
Nervously, the servant glanced over her shoulder. “Please, my lady. You must not refer to her as the queen. And, yes. Her quarters are in the east cottage.”
Darkness was falling and flaming torches lined the walls as they crossed the courtyard. Passing between alternating pools of golden light and dark shadows, Lidi was aware of a figure following in their wake. She bit back a smile. Ged was an alpha-male bear shifter. Stealth was not one of his strongest attributes. Luckily, her companion did not appear to notice him.
The east cottage turned out to be a small, plain building as far away from the main palace as it was possible to get while remaining within the encircling walls. Lidi’s guide knocked on the outer door and pushed it open without waiting for an answer.
“Visitor for you,” she called out, her manner unceremonious to the point of insolence. When Lidi stepped cautiously inside, the woman walked away, closing the door and shutting her in.
Lidi hesitated on the threshold, aware of her uninvited status. She was in a small, dark room, in which two chairs faced a fireplace. The only light came from a meager fire and a woman sat in one of the chairs, her face turned toward the flames, apparently unaware that she was no longer alone.
As Lidi moved closer, the woman moved her head. Although her eyes roamed back and forth around the room as though searching the shadowy corners, it was clear she couldn’t see. “Is someone there?”
“I’m sorry.” Lidi reached out a hand, grasping the other woman’s fingers to reassure her. Why had the servant thrust her into this room with a blind woman? “I had asked to be taken to see Queen Zoya.”
The woman’s lips curved into a smile. “Queen Zoya? It’s a long time since anyone called me by that name.”
“Oh.” Lidi sank to her knees next to Zoya’s chair. “I didn’t mean to disturb you.”
Zoya returned the clasp of her hand. “Who are you? And why are you here?”
“My name is Lidiya Rihanoff. My father is the Count of Aras.” Lidi bit her lip. How did she proceed from here? Your son is trying to blackmail me into marriage? Too blunt. No matter what your son tells you, don’t rush out and order an outfit for the wedding? She got the feeling the warning wouldn’t be necessary. Zoya was not going to be a guest of honor at any event organized by Vasily.
“Ah.” Zoya patted her hand. “Your poor father. Mikhail does what he can for him.”
Lidi felt as though the world had just tilted very slightly off its natural axis. “I don’t understand.”
“It’s a very long story.” A man stepped from the shadows into the circle of firelight as he spoke. “If we are to tell it properly, perhaps your ‘bodyguard’ should join us?”
Lidi tilted her chin at the stranger. “This has nothing to do with my bodyguard...”
“It’s okay, Lidi,” Ged closed the door behind him and strode into the room, instantly dominating it with his size and presence. He looked at the other man in silence for a moment or two. “Thirteen years is a long time, Mikhail.”
Mikhail nodded. “I wasn’t sure it was you at first.”
“What gave me away?” Ged asked.
Mikhail smiled. “When I told you your mistress was in the blue suite, you didn’t ask where that was.”
While the two men were talking, Zoya was listening with a frown. “What’s going on?” she whispered to Lidi. “Who is this man?”
Overhearing her, Ged came forward and dropped on one knee beside her chair. Taking her hand, he pressed a kiss onto her fingers. “It’s Gerald, Zoya. I believe I must thank you for saving my life.” With tears streaming down her face, she reached out a shaking hand to touch his face and he smiled. “You have to ignore the beard and mustache. This is my disguise.”
Slowly, she examined his features. “Is it really you?”
“It really is. And Andrei is also alive and well. You saved us both.”
“But what is this all about?” Zoya held out her hand in Mikhail’s general direction.
“I think your visitors have some questions for you.” He came to stand at her side, looking down at Ged and Lidi, who were both kneeling beside the fire. “Is that right?”
Lidi decided there was no time for diplomacy. “Your son is holding my father prisoner in an attempt to force me into marriage. Although we plan to rescue him when we remove Vasily from the throne, there are a lot of things about the night of the massacre that don’t make sense. This may be our only chance to find out the truth.”
Mikhail placed a hand on Zoya’s shoulder. “We always feared this day would come.”
She nodded. “But we knew if it did that it would be because Ivan’s sons were alive. That can never be considered a bad thing.”
“Why did you save me and my brother but not my father?” Ged asked.
Zoya remained silent for so long Lidi thought she wasn’t going to answer. When she did, her voice was quiet and filled with pain. “I knew of the murder plot, but I wasn’t sure of the details. I had arranged to have you and your brother removed from the palace that night, but after I had made sure you were safe, everything happened so fast. When the killing started, I was faced with a hateful choice. Save my husband...or save the man I loved.”
Ged closed his eyes. “You chose Mikhail.”
“I’m sorry.” Her shoulders slumped. “I was the only person who knew what was happening. When I heard my son’s men running through the corridors, I had seconds to decide which direction I should go in. If I went to the left, I could reach Ivan’s room and warn him. If I went the other way, I could get to Mikhail and tell him to hide from the killers.” She rocked back and forth in her chair. “Even though I knew what the consequences would be for our country, I went to the right.”
“When Zoya told me what was happening, I refused to hide,” Mikhail said. “I tried to get to your father’s room by using the back stairs. But it was too late. He was already dead.”
“And you went to Alyona’s room,” Lidi said to Zoya.
“How did you know that?” Zoya asked.
Lidi exchanged a glance with Ged. “It’s what I would have done.”
“It was horrible. Knowing your son is a murd
erer is bad enough. Watching him kill an innocent young woman, unable to stop him—” She broke off, clearly struggling with her emotions.
“When Vasily knew what Zoya had witnessed, he told her it would be the last thing she ever saw,” Mikhail said.
“No!” Lidi gasped. “You can’t mean Vasily was responsible for his mother’s blindness.”
“Vasily grew up watching me consult the spirits and devise spells. But, although he also wished to harness the powers of the spirit world, Vasily’s motives were...” Zoya shook her head. “After everything he’s done, I still find it hard to say it about my own son.”
“I’ll say it for you.” Mikhail’s expression was hard as flint. “The word you’re looking for is evil. How else would you describe a man who killed his stepfather, in addition to a group of other people, and then cast a spell on his mother, leaving her blind?”
“So that’s why you stayed here,” Ged said to Mikhail. “It wasn’t out of loyalty to Vasily. It was because of Zoya.”
“Yes. Initially, I was also a target of Vasily’s anger. But, although he’s a foul villain, he isn’t stupid. He quickly realized he would need someone to guide him through his royal duties. The thing Vasily enjoys most—next to murder, of course—is blackmail,” Mikhail said. “His method of keeping me in line is simple. I do as he says, or he will hurt Zoya.”
Ged clenched his fists. “Oh, I am going to enjoy tearing him apart.”
“Not yet,” Lidi warned. “You have to remain in disguise until the time is right.” She looked up at Mikhail. “How is my father?”
“Those dungeons are hard on anyone, and your father is neither young nor healthy.” His expression was grim. “But it is my job to oversee the conditions for the prisoners, and I have done what I can to make him comfortable.” He smiled. “May I congratulate you on your own escape? I have never seen Vasily so angry. He tore the palace apart in his search for you.”
“The only place he didn’t look was here,” Zoya said. “My son has not been near me since I witnessed him killing Alyona on the night of the massacre. After he cast the spell that left me blind, he banished me to this cottage and refused to have anything more to do with me.”
* * *
When they left Zoya, Lidi was in a stormy mood, and convincing her not to attempt to rescue her father from the dungeons there and then used up all Ged’s powers of persuasion.
“It’s too dangerous.” He saw the glint in her eye and continued quickly. “I’m not trying to relegate you to a subservient role, but you are undercover here. Tomorrow night, when the ball is over, I promise you can look Vasily in the eye and tell him how you really feel about him.”
“Look at him?” They were hidden in a dark curve of the palace wall, but he could see Lidi’s face in the moonlight. Her expression left him in no doubt about her feelings. “I will do a lot more than that.”
An image of a ball-gown-clad Lidi in full-on combat mode flashed into his mind and he bit back a smile. “Vasily won’t stand a chance.” He dropped a quick kiss onto her forehead. “Seriously. Go back to your room. Lie low. We don’t have much longer to wait.”
“I’m just not good at being passive.” The words came out through gritted teeth.
“I figured that out a long time ago. Around about the time you were slamming one of Pyotr’s thugs around that hotel storeroom.”
“It’s certainly been interesting.” He could hear the smile in her voice now.
“Hey, it’s not over yet.” He wanted to say more, but skulking in a darkened corner risking discovery by one of Vasily’s guards was not exactly the ideal place for a declaration. One more day. An elegant ball followed by a bloody battle. After that, he would say to hell with it and pour out everything that was in his heart. “Get some sleep, Lidi. Tomorrow will be a long day.”
He watched her as she hurried away, her dark cloak blending with the shadows. Although he had persuaded her to exercise restraint, his own mood was equally restless. There was no way he was going back to that tiny room with its rock-hard bed.
Because he knew the palace so well, it was easy for him to reach the room he sought without being challenged. Tucked away beneath the clock tower, the first thing that greeted him was the scent of disuse. Stepping back outside, he took a torch from the corridor and fixed it into one of the wall brackets inside the room. Its lights showed him a landscape of dust covers.
For a moment, he let the memories flood back. This had been his mother’s music room, and although Ged had been very young when she died, he could still recall the hours he had spent in here listening to her playing and singing.
Flipping back the ancient sheets, he uncovered the instrument he was seeking. The guitar was slightly smaller than anything he’d played recently, and he had to adjust to its size, but, to his surprise, the strings had survived in their leather case. After retuning it and quietly strumming a few familiar tunes, he began to play the notes that had been haunting him recently.
Pour out everything that was in his heart? Maybe he couldn’t do it in words. Not yet. Instead, he would put his feelings into music. During the time he had spent with Beast, Ged had rarely played an instrument. Because his friends were all so talented musically, he had been content to be the organizational brain behind the band. Now his fingers felt clumsy and the instrument had suffered through lack of use, but he knew which notes he wanted to play.
Everything he yearned to say to Lidi was right there at his fingertips. Fueled by emotion, he teased the strings into a haunting melody. It was as if the echo of the music reached inside him, finding the very point where his soul connected with Lidi’s, caressing and soothing him. His throat tightened, and, even though he played quietly, he poured himself into the chords.
He was unaware of how long he remained lost in his own world. It was only the click of the door that finally drew him out. When he looked up, Lidi was framed in a circle of golden candlelight. Although she was smiling, tears glinted in the depths of her eyes.
Ged placed the guitar aside. “How did you know I was here?”
“I couldn’t sleep, and from my bedroom window I saw a light in this room below the clock tower. For some reason, I was drawn to it. When I got close, I heard the music and I just knew it must be you.” She put the candleholder on a window ledge and went to him. “It was beautiful. What was it?”
“It was your song, Lidi.”
He gathered her into his arms and kissed her, tasting his future on her lips. She was everything he wanted and more. Hope, happiness, and forever. They were right here in his arms. And the thing he had thought he would never have...
“I love you.” Her voice was husky as she smiled up at him.
When he lowered his mouth to hers again, it was the sweetest kiss, the most perfect moment, he had ever known.
“I love you too, Lidi.”
* * *
Lidi tiptoed back toward her bedroom, wrapped in a bubble of pleasure.
Ged loves me!
There was still a long way to go before she could say they had reached their happy ending, but hearing those words spoken aloud by her mate had changed everything. Chaos might be raging all around them, but the world felt right. Their bond had given her so much joy. Now she also had hope. Anything that didn’t end in perfect happiness just wouldn’t be fair.
Shielding the flame of her candle against drafts, she slid noiselessly along the corridor that led to her room. When she left earlier, she had locked the door behind her and now, she reached into the pocket of her cloak for the key. Grimacing slightly as it grated in the lock, she turned it. Once she was inside, she secured the door once again.
“Very wise.” The drawling voice startled her so much she almost dropped the candle. “We don’t want to be interrupted, do we?”
It was as if a pause button had been pressed on that moment. Shock caused the strangest sensation
of the moment splintering and her senses becoming heightened. She was frozen, unable to move, her eyes fixed on the wooden boards of the door.
Even though Vasily didn’t move from the bed, she imagined she felt his breath on the back of her neck and ducked her head to avoid his touch. Nothing in her life had ever frightened her, so why was she letting this man strike terror into her heart?
Turning slowly, she faced the bed, where he lounged casually against the pillows. Straightening her shoulders, she called up every ounce of her courage. “I didn’t realize I had forfeited my privacy when I agreed to marry you.”
He laughed, the sound a masterclass in menace. Pinpricks of fear traveled up her spine, making the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end.
“You forfeited everything the day you refused me. Escaping from your cell was a minor distraction, nothing more. All you did was exchange those prison walls for these prison walls.” He waved a hand, indicating the luxurious room. “The day I chose you to be my wife, you owed me your next breath. You don’t seriously still believe I chose you because I wanted a Petrov-Rihanoff union, do you?”
“Why else would you want to marry me? Today was the first time we’ve met.” Look into your heart...
“Because you are his.” Vasily’s smile confirmed everything she already knew. “When the spirits confirmed it, I knew I had found a way to destroy him at last.”
Doing her best to hide the shaking of her hands, Lidi placed her candleholder on the dressing table. “I’d like to get some sleep. It’s late...”
“So it is. Too late to be wandering the corridors of a palace you don’t know.” Vasily’s eyes narrowed as he studied her face. “Care to explain?”
“I couldn’t sleep—”
“Don’t lie!” He sprang up from the bed, his voice booming in her ears as he grabbed her upper arms.
Anger spiked, driving away her fear, and she welcomed it. “Take your hands off me.” Pushing with both palms hard against his chest, she shoved him away. “I don’t owe you answers. I’m here because you have my father in a prison cell, not through choice.”