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A Piece in the Game
Behind those closed study doors, a different conversation played out.
“I’m sorry, but there’s something off about the Empress’ intentions,” Orlov admitted.
“What? I thought we just resolved this. Can we please drop it? I hate to see my two favorite people fight,” Ivan appealed.
“I cannot in good faith just ‘drop it.’ There’s something off about this entire situation, from the uprisings, to the sudden push for Romanov representation…”
“Woah, you can’t seriously be saying that Ursa has something to do with the terrorism--”
“I’m not! I can’t accuse her of something like that yet--”
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As expected, her father came to her chambers late in the afternoon, after Ursa had finished up her tea and snacks. She had planned to have a walk in the gardens before dinner, but her father made sure to ruin any hope of that.“What did you just pull in court?” he snapped. “Do you know what Lord Volkov just brought to me? This is the afternoon paper with all of the details of this morning’s court news! And in the political section, what do I find? ‘Empress Romanova Vasil Adds Last Minute Romanov Tradition to New Year’s Banquet: Explosive Cultural Precedent!’” he read.Ursa flicked her wrist that was code to Cecily and Emery to vacate the room. “It’s as you read, Father.” Ursa calmly put down the book she was in the middle of reading on the coffee table. Ursa knew that he would come to confr
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