CHAPTER TWO

 Tatyana

A loud cry faintly echoed in the corridor. It was not very loud but I heard it and I froze. I moved closer, the door was slightly opened, enough to see what's going on inside.

   A man was on his knees, bruises on every part of his body with blood splattered everywhere. They had beaten him mercilessly. His hands were tied behind him. 

  Another man stood over him, rolling up his sleeves.

   “Last chance,” 

The man on the floor shook his head weakly.

   “I told you everything..”

The punch landed before he completed his statement. His body jerked sideways, hitting the ground hard. No one rushed forward to help him, no one panicked. They just watched.This was routine.

My fingers curled slightly against the doorframe. I should leave but my legs refused to cooperate. The man was dragged upright again. His head lolled forward.

    “Please…”

He was hit again and the man who rolled his sleeves brought out a gun, pointed it to his head and shot him. I saw brain matter scattered on the floor. I stepped back too fast making my heel graze the edge of the door, the slight sound echoed.

 It wasn't loud but it was loud enough. The room went still, everyone heard it, someone moved towards the door. I turned and started walking very steady, turned the corner and just kept going.

 By the time I reached my room, my hands were cold. I closed the door behind me and laid on the bed and tried to breathe steadily.

 Soft, pale sunlight slipped through the curtains, touching the edges of the room like it was trying to position itself in a room where it didn't belong. I sat up slowly. The memory of the photographs and what went down yesterday night pressed at the edge of my mind. 

  I needed a distraction from the raging thoughts in my head so I stood behind the windows to look at the gardens.

 The gardens stretched out beyond the glass, trimmed hedges, long pathways, statues placed very carefully to be decorative. By the time I stepped outside after breakfast, I felt better than I did the day before .

A guard stood near the entrance with his posture straight and forward gaze but I caught the slight shift of his eyes when I passed.

 The garden opened wider the further I went. Roses lined one side, white and untouched. On the other, tall hedges curved inward, forming narrow paths that disappeared out of sight.

There was a path with no guards there, that was strange so I went to have a look. I looked behind me.The guard from earlier had stopped further back now.

 The path curved slightly, blocking my view ahead. I followed it anyway. I kept going until I saw it. A black iron gate with a chain looped tightly around it.

My fingers hovered near the metal but didn’t touch it. Instead, I leaned slightly, looking through the narrow space between the bars. Nothing moved on the other side or at least I didn't hear anything move on the other side.

 I took a step back deciding I've had more than enough adventure for one day. Then I heard footsteps behind me, I raised my head and didn't see anyone.

 I turned back toward the gate. This time, I noticed something I hadn’t before. The chain wasn’t new. The metal had been worn down in places of small scratches which indicated repeated contact.

I looked to the ground just in front of it. There was a dark stain. Although faded but not gone. It looked like blood.

   “Step away from there.”

 The voice came from behind me. Nikolai stood at the entrance of the path. His gaze moved briefly to the gate, then back to me.

  “You were told where you’re allowed to be.”

His gaze was stern but I held it anyway,

 “I was just walking and got lost, that's all.”

He then stepped closer. The distance between us closed slowly.

 “Are you sure?” He asked, staring at me like he could see through me.

  My fingers curled slightly at my sides,

  “Yes.”

  My eyes flicked briefly toward the gate, then back to him.

  “What’s on the other side?”

  “Nothing that concerns you.”

I scoffed,

  “Seriously? As your wife, I thought everything here concerns me.”

He paused and watched me in amusement. 

“Go back,” he said.

I stared at him, hesitated but I moved. I went back to the manor. 

    On getting there, a sorry sight greeted me on the front porch. I saw a lifeless body and my spirit left my body. I rushed to call for help from the guards but they all ignored me and stared at me like I was a plague. Till I screamed,

“What the fuck happened here?”

  Nikolai coming back then said,

   “Every action has its consequence”

    I screamed in horror,

    “You almost killed a person because I fucking wandered off?”

        “Yes”.

I stared at him hard and walked away. I had to leave this place.

 NIKOLAI

 “The council is waiting,” Lev said

Of course they were. Those bunch of nosey old people. 

    “Get him out of here,” I ordered.

   “They think you’re weakening.”

Ivan spoke before I even sat down.The council chamber smelled of cigar smoke and old money. Men who survived too long always carried the scent of both.

 I took my seat slowly.

  “Heck, that's what they were given their damn minds to do, so let them fucking use it.”

 Mikhail leaned back in his chair, studying me carefully.

“She entered restricted grounds on her second day here.”

   “She was handled.”

  “You punished a guard,” Ivan snapped. “Not the problem.”

   My expression didn’t change.

  “She is not the problem.”

That sentence caught them off guard, Mikhail’s eyes narrowed slightly.

    “Careful now, Nikolai.”

 I leaned back.

  “You asked for peace. You got it.”

Ivan slammed his cane against the floor.

   “We asked for control.”

There was a heavy silence, then came the probe I knew was coming, 

   “She was never meant to survive this.”