“That I don’t doubt,” I told him.
I wasn’t going to tell him that Lia had in fact told me a million things about him over the years and not all of them were complimentary. Mind you, the most damning it got was how boring he was and that he may as well have been made out of cardboard and pre-recorded responses. Still, they’d been the ravings of a crush gone wrong – not that he knew about any of it, I’d bet – so I wasn’t going to put much stock in any of it until I saw more for myself.
“Lia, don’t you need to get to uni?” Dad called and Lia giggled.
“Yes. I’ll see you later, Kostin. It’s great to have to home,” she said with a weird little wave before she said goodbye to the others and hurried out.
At the door, she gave one more weird wave to Kostin and left.
“It is I who should be welcoming you home, isn’t it?” Kostin asked me.
I pulled my thoughts off finding my sister’s mid-crush behaviour amusing and turned back to him. “Uh… I suppose. Not that you have to.”
He inclined his head again. “It is less I have to and more I want to. Uncle Max is like family to us, so having you home is a true honour.”
I felt myself flush and I looked down before I did a great impression of Lia and broke out in an embarrassed smile. “Thanks, Kostin.”
“Tell me Anya, have you been on a tour of the grounds yet?” he asked and I looked up to see if the smile I heard in his voice was actually on his face. It wasn’t.
I shook my head. “No. I haven’t actually been properly outside in almost three weeks.”
Kostin’s face was still that open, polite expression. “However did you manage that?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know. I guess I just didn’t really find a reason to go outside. I’ve been kept pretty cooped up with lessons for the ball and, honestly, I wasn’t sure what there was to do out there.”
He nodded. “If you have nothing planned, I would be honoured to show you before breakfast?”
I thought about it. It was barely half-past seven – I know, I didn’t know what I was doing up and functional either! – so, I could not eat for a bit longer. Gerta and Shelly had caffeinated me on waking up, so I’d last for a little while before turning into a raging caffeine-less shrew after such little sleep.
There was something about Kostin, even if he was a bit robotic, that was missing with his brothers. The vibe I got from him was…nice. He seemed like a nice guy and someone I wanted to get to know better. Especially as, like he’d said, our families were close.
“If you’re not hungry, that would be great. Thank you.”
He shook his head. “Nie. I ate on the way.”
I gave him a single nod. “Okay. Uh…” I just realised one reason why heels and jeans were a terrible idea. “Just let me change my shoes to something more practical and I’ll meet you in the front hall?”
“I look forward to it.” He gave me a short bow and I smiled in return.
I paused as I left, wondering if I was supposed to say something to the others. Hilde had moved over to Kostin and she gave me a smile. Rex, Dad, Dmitri and Nico were obviously in some fierce argument based on all their postures, so no one was going to miss me there.
So I hurried out and found Nikolai.
“Everything all right, my lady?” he asked.
I nodded as I led the way back to my room. “Yeah, I just need to… Do I have any snow boots, Nikolai?”
“Uh…” He paused. “I don’t know, my lady.”
I thought about asking him to find Gerta and Shelly, but decided that would take too long. I waved a hand at him as though he had any part in my decision-making process. “I’ll just go look. Surely they’ll be in the wardrobe if I do.”
“I would imagine so, my lady.”
I careened into my room, leaving the door open and kicking my shoes off as I rushed to the wardrobe. I crashed into the ottoman on my way past and sent it skidding across the floor, with an audible thump as it hit the dressing table.
“Lady Tatiana?” Nikolai called from outside the door.
“Safe. I’m fine. It’s all good,” I called back as I rummaged in the wardrobe and found a pair of socks and a nice cosy-looking pair of snow boots. I sat on the bed and pulled them on as I told myself, “Now who’s not going to fall over in the snow? That’s right, this girl.”
I was terribly pleased with my plan. Which is why I was in a very good mood when I walked back into the entrance hall, carrying a coat of course because I was a born and bred Australian who’d just left temperatures in the mid-thirties and had found themselves parked firmly in the minus temperatures.
Nikolai followed me at a stately pace and I smiled as I saw Kostin – now in a jacket – waiting for me with his mother. Of course he didn’t need to have a bodyguard following him around like he was going to accidentally fall off a balcony or walk into one of the suit of armour’s pikes.
“I do not know why we did not think of it earlier,” Hilde said.
“I honestly haven’t thought about. There’s the courtyards and the conservatory and I’ve been busy. And warm.”
Hilde gave one of those polite laughs that made you think it was sincere but the product of many years’ worth of decorum. “I imagine it is a change for you, yes?”
I nodded. “So much. But I’m loving it.” Now the McDonald’s theme is stuck in my head…
“Well, you two have a lovely time…”
The three of us turned as Dmitri and Rex walked out of what I’d fondly termed the welcoming room, snapping at each other in rapid Gallyrian.
Hilde muttered to herself, then smiled at Kostin and me. “Tensions are running high,” she explained.
I rolled my eyes like I knew exactly what she was talking about. “If I had to announce my engagement in a few months, I think I’d be pretty miffed, too.”
Hilde gave me one of those knowing looks that mums had this way of giving you. “Max told you?”
I shrugged. “A few people have told me.”
She chuckled. “Well, Mitya knows his duty. He will do what is best for his country.”
I nodded politely. “I’m sure he will.”
The voices of Dmitri and his father rose, and Hilde gave me an apologetic smile and hurried over to them.
“Shall we?” Kostin asked, holding his arm out in front of him and I followed from in front towards the door. “My family is…steeped in tradition. I understand if it looks strange from your perspective.”
I pressed my lips together as a liveried man opened the front door for us and I pulled on my jacket before I dared let myself open my big fat mouth. “Strange isn’t the right word. I get that there are different rules and expectations for you guys. It’s just…different knowing it and seeing it up close. I guess I’d always expected that you’d all marry for love, even if it was kind of set up.”
“A question, Anya?”
“Hmm?” I asked him as he seemed to be leading the way to somewhere and I was happy to follow.
“How did you think ‘kind of set up’ and ‘for love’ worked?” There was humour in his tone that was only mirrored in his eyes when I looked at him. His face was still that mask of polite, friendly neutrality. Which was far better than the stone-cold neutral of his older brother.
“Uh…” I had to stop and think about that. “I guess I just kind of assumed there was like a list of approved partners, or you just knew that everyone was eligible above a…” I waved my hand while I thought about it.
“Baroness?” Kostin offered, a slight hint of teasing in his tone.
“Or Baron. But yes. Something like that.”
Kostin huffed and, when I looked at him this time, there was a small smile on his face. “While I’m sure there are…more preferable partners, we are technically free to love whoever we want.”
“Ah. Key words being ‘technically’ and ‘love’ there, Kostin.”
The small smile was still there, his dark blue
eyes shining. “Yes. If Mitya were to announce his engagement to a commoner, the family, press and public would berate him for breaking tradition. If he chooses a peer, the family would be thrilled, but the press and public would be condescending he chose so…traditionally.”
“Wow. You really can’t win, can you?”
“It is the state of the country at present, unfortunately.”
“This unrest I’ve been hearing about?” I asked.
He nodded as he clasped his hands behind his back. “The very same.”
I’d been trying to keep up with the news from all over Gallyr. Unfortunately, I’d come across a fair few unflattering articles about Lia and myself, as well as plenty of flattering ones about Lia. But mostly it was just descriptions of current events, not an insight to what it was all about or really how it all started.
“Is it bad, then?”
I didn’t miss Kostin look back to where Nikolai was hanging behind us at a respectable distance. “It could become bad.”
“Because Dmitri looks like he’ll have no engagement to announce?” That seemed weird even to me.
Kostin’s smile grew as he looked down like he didn’t want me to see it. “Nie.” There was a quick muttering in Gallyrian as though he was trying to work out how best to put it. “Civil unrest is not uncommon when there is...instability with the crown. The people see weakness, that scares them, they want to ensure power is maintained. It is natural. Mitya’s…unwillingness to announce his engagement according to tradition is obvious to everyone. He is quite possibly in the public eye the least of us, but that does not mean the public do not watch him avidly. His dedication to the military is praised by all. But there are many who wonder…” This time when he paused, each time like he was measuring his words carefully, he didn’t continue.
“If he’s the best heir?”
“Ja.”
“But there’s more to it than that?”
“There is always more to it than that. It is but the reason for unrest this month. I cannot say the monarchy has always done the best for its people, Anya. Only a blind idiot would say such a thing. But…we have always had good intentions.”
“The road to hell is paved with good intentions, Kostin.”
“Ja,” he chuckled. “I have heard this.”
We walked in silence for a few moments, but it was pleasant and I felt an inordinate sense of calm and companionship walking by his side. I looked around the gardens, all white-covered hedges and bushes, the roses dormant for the winter, the deciduous trees bare. But the whole thing was still a winter wonderland in my mind. Then again, I’d grown up thinking that the Ice Arena was a winter wonderland and you got more ice burn than fun when you fell out of your toboggan on one of those indoor slopes.
“Question?” I finally asked.
“Yes?”
“Why is your accent so much…stronger than the others’?”
He nodded. “Boarding school in the south of Gallyr. Nico, Lina and Faith went to the north. Mitya and I to the south.”
“Huh, interesting. Any reason for that?”
He shrugged. “None that I know of, it just happened that way.”
“And are you guys always dressed so…formally?”
He handed me his elbow as he looked down at me. “It is a peer’s duty to look the part, Anya.”
I nodded. “Lucky I’m not a peer.”
“Well–”
“No, no. My father is titled. My sister’s set to inherit. I’m just a girl from Adelaide.”
He shrugged and put his hand on mine around his arm. “I would think it is much the same, no?”
I chuckled. “Not really. You surely heard about my spectacular performances at the state and military dinners?”
He smiled. “I did.”
“So tell me something about this place. What will I need to know to survive? It can’t always be this quiet.”
He bowed his head in agreement. “No, it is not. Winter is a quiet time for us, thankfully. Courtiers are either in ski chalets or somewhere warmer. There’s not a lot to know, really. We are much like any family behind closed doors. And much like many royals the rest of the time. Watch out for Lina and Faith, though. They are wonderful girls, but full of energy and exuberance. Nico… I suspect you’ve had the misfortune of witnessing what he is like.” He slid a smirk at me and I blushed.
“Yes, and I can tell you that won’t be happening again anytime soon.”
“Nico will be saddened to hear it.”
I laughed. “Too bad for him. I hear you’re done with the army?”
He nodded. “I am. As is Nico, in his mind. But Mitya does not feel the same. Army service is compulsory for our citizens, we must be signed up before our twenty-fifth birthday and complete at least two years’ service. Nico cannot wait to be done. I appreciated what it did for me, but my calling is elsewhere. Mitya joined at eighteen and completed four years before Father called him home. But it is his place and he wants to go back.”
“So why won’t Rex let him go?”
“Father believes Mitya needs to be doing more than just risking his life on the front lines.”
“And your brother disagrees?”
“Mitya and Father disagree on just about everything these days.”
“I hear whiskey makes it better.”
Kostin huffed another small laugh. “I imagine it would with them. Unlike many, whiskey does not provoke them to anger. Rather it provokes them to love.”
“So, they’re…nice drunks?”
Kostin obviously found it harder to hide his laugh that time. “Ja. That is one way to put it. They are more alike than they like to admit. And that only makes for–”
I yelped as my supposed non-slip boots made me lose my footing on a patch of ice. Kostin valiantly tried to save me, but we both just ended up with our butts in the snow. I caught his eyes as we laughed and I liked what I saw there.
Unlike his older brother, I didn’t feel like I was going to drool or do something stupid around him. Unlike his younger brother, I didn’t feel any witty, flirtatious banter bubbling up in jest. I felt normal. I felt like I’d found someone other than Lia in this place that I could talk to like a properly normal human being.
“Lady Tatiana!” Nikolai ran up to us.
“I’m fine. I’m fine,” I laughed as Kostin crawled to his feet and helped me up. “Just clumsy as usual.
“Shall we head in for breakfast?” Kostin answered as Nikolai nodded and stepped back again.
“Are you suggesting I fell because I’m faint with hunger, Kostin?” I teased.
He gave me a humoured look. “Is that the story you rather I told?”
I batted him companionably and he smiled. “Sure. That sounds marginally better than I fell because I’m a klutz. Lead the way to sustenance, your highness,” I giggled, taking hold of his arm again.
“My pleasure, my lady,” he said, his eyes twinkling.
Chapter Ten
I’d spent the last week since the military dinner tiptoeing around the palace. I was a good girl and went to my lessons, finding Kostin a dance tutor more often than not and he was just as exasperated with my progress in dance as Miss Karonov was with my Gallyrian progress (read: I could say yes, no, hello, good-bye, thank you, and I’d taught myself how to ask for a beer much to her extreme displeasure). Although, Kostin was much more humoured about my failings. Mr Phipps begrudgingly told me I wasn’t doing badly – weirdly. But I had the feeling that, even if I got one hundred per cent on every pop quiz he gave me, that still wouldn’t be enough to lift the intense frustration that wafted off him every time he saw me trip into the room. And hell was going to freeze over before Mrs Lukin was impressed with my performance.
And Dad wasn’t much better. After the military dinner, I was on Probation. This had happened to me once when I was little. I’d been angry with Lia for I didn’t even know what anymore and cut off as much of her hair in her sle
ep as I could manage. Dad had put me on Probation. Yup, with a capital ‘P’ and everything. This basically meant that I couldn’t put a toe out of line with anything. I had to do well in school, I had to help out around the house, I had to wear clean clothes and brush my teeth, I had to make my bed every morning.
The punishment, as it were, was a little different now than to when I was seven. But I knew it was pretty similar. Do my lessons, wear the right things, don’t open my mouth unless I could guarantee the right thing came out, keep out of sight as often as possible, let Dad do damage control. Mind you, Rex had insinuated he’d had a few choice words to say to General Arnell after he’d been made aware of the situation, although I had no idea who told him the details that would put me in a favourable light. And no one else treated me any differently, except Lia who seemed in awe of the fact that I’d said ‘balls’ in front of a bunch of military guys without batting an eyelid and not fallen on my face on my way out.
But I was getting a little restless. So I was playing hooky that Friday and I didn’t care. I was in a beautiful country, I’d finished school, and I wanted to have some fun. I snuck to Lia’s room after lunch since I’d been told she’d be around and convinced her that the snow outside was looking mighty enticing.
“Do you want to build a snowman?” I asked.
“What?” She frowned.
“It doesn’t have to be a snowman.”
Her frown deepened. “What?”
I look at her, thoroughly unimpressed. “When did you stop watching Disney movies?”
“About when I fell in one,” she replied.
“Ugh, fine. We’re wasting a brilliant opportunity and I feel we should go and play in the snow.”
“Should we now?” A small smile was playing at her lips.
“Plus,” I added, “I promised Jenn and Bea some nice wintery snaps…”
Lia rolled her eyes, looking like she was debating the sense. Finally she grinned. “Okay. But if Dad catches us, you’re taking the fall.”
I held my hand up like a girl scout. “Done.”
Lia snorted as she started getting changed and I bounced around her room. “Dad will kill you if he see us.”
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