CHAPTER FOUR

 TATYANA 

  “It's one of her maids”

 Lev swallowed once before continuing carefully.

  “She was found outside the gates with her throat cut with a message carved into her arm.”

Nikolai’s voice dropped dangerously low.

  “What message?”

   “She's next.” Lev said.

 NIKOLAI

This girl had just begun to pique my interest a bit. I don't even know when I removed that glass shard from her hair. It just happened, but now the council wants to kill her by all means. I detest being disobeyed.

  "Gather the council members"

    I stood near the balcony overlooking the courtyard, my hands resting behind my back as Lev approached quietly.

“They are here.”

  “Which one of them sent the assassin?”

  “We confirmed Mikhail authorized it.”

I'm not surprised, Mikhail had always been a little impatient. Too ambitious for a man his age. So I walked into the council room.

  “Bring him closer.”

   The guards forced closer while I remained seated at the far end of the room, watching him calmly. He looked furious. That's perfect because fear came after anger.

  “You overstep yourself,” he snapped immediately. 

  “You cannot lay hands on council members,” he rashly said.

 I ignored him. Lev stepped beside me and placed a small silver knife onto the table carefully. The same blade that was found on the assassin. There was recognition in Mikhail’s eyes although barely noticeable.

"You sent a man into my house,” I said quietly.

   “I protected the family.”

  “You disobeyed me.”

  Mikhail straightened slightly, 

    “You’re distracted.”

Wow.

  “You delay her death. You hesitate around her. You let her wander unrestricted while men begin questioning your judgment.”

    I leaned back slowly in my chair.

  “Mikhail, which men question my judgement?”

  “Your men do..”

  “Which of them?”

     “I..I..I don't know”

I scoffed, 

          “You carved a threat into a servant’s arm.

I stood slowly, the first punch broke his nose, blood spilled instantly across the floor. Mikhail stumbled backward with a curse, but the guards grabbed him before he could fall.

  “You mistake restraint for weakness, you were supposed to wait” I said quietly.

     “I did what was necessary.”

I hit him again and again and again, so fiercely this time that his knees buckled and I think I broke his cheek bone. Mikhail groaned sharply as blood splattered across his collar.

  “You don’t decide what’s necessary, you fucking answer to me.” I replied calmly.

  “Nikolai, maybe that is enough, I'm sure he's learnt his lesson,” Ivan said.

   I must have been very lenient with these old men for them to think they could talk to me this way.

  “Lev, take his index finger and that of anyone who dares interrupts me again”

  Turning my attention back to Mikhail, I stepped closer until he could hear every word clearly.

   “If you ever send another man near her again…”

  I sighed and shook my head watching the panic flicker behind his eyes,

   “I’ll erase your entire bloodline so thoroughly that history itself forgets you existed.”

  I straightened and adjusted my sleeves calmly.

  “Now remove him from the council.”

 Lev nodded immediately.

 The guards dragged Mikhail out while his blood stained the floor behind him.

 “Now you've all seen what happens when you disobey me and try to touch a property under my roof, pray the next person should not be one of you, no further directives.” 

   By midday, the new rules spread through the estate.

Additional guards were stationed outside Tatyana’s room, there was restricted movement after dark,every servant searched before entering the east wing.

The council wanted her dead. Fine. But they'd have to go through me first. So I sent for Lev,

 “Yes Sir”

  “Monitor the movements of all the elders in the council, i have a feeling they are going to still keep planning to assassinate her including their lives and whatever dirt you dig up on them”

  “Okay sir, one more thing sir,”

    “Yes?”

   “She asked for the injured guard.”

   “Okay?”

“The one punished after losing her in the garden.” Lev said,

   “She asked whether he survived.”

My gaze remained fixed on her below.

   “And?”

 “i told her he’s alive.”

Of course he was. I never waste useful men.

 “She sent food to his quarters.”

This little bond she was creating with the servants made them want to do things for her without being told to.

Days later, I walked into the library and saw her there. The fire crackled softly nearby. She sat near the long table surrounded by the pictures I had sent to her earlier. 

 Tatyana finally sensed me and looked up, neither of us spoke immediately. Her fingers tightened slightly around the photograph.

   “You had people following me?”

  I walked further into the room slowly.

    “Yes.”

   “When did it start?”

 I didn’t answer immediately. But I think my silence answered the question because she asked again,

  “That long?”

I stopped across from her. Tatyana glanced down at another photograph slowly. This one was taken outside her college dormitory.

  “You watched me in university.”

    “Yes.”

   “Why?”

    “Because your family owed mine.”

She stared at me with her wide doe eyes, confusion deeply engraved in them, then recognition,

  “My parents knew this marriage wasn’t solely because of peace,” she said quietly. 

     “Peace…”

   She scoffed,

   “...now that was just a silly excuse.”

I watched her look around at the photographs spread across the table again. Years of her life captured without permission, realization of being used as an apology sacrifice hit and hurt her at the same time. I felt hurt too.

  Then her eyes shifted toward one specific picture near the edge of the table. My gaze followed hers immediately and oh fuck..

It was a picture of her father shaking hands with mine beside a much younger version of me standing in the background.

  “The Petrov’s and the Markov's were once friends or at least cordial, where did it all go wrong?

 Rolling my eyes I said, 

   “People grow tired of people, don't they?”

  “No, this doesn't feel like that. What exactly are my parents atoning for Nikolai?”