“Don’t do this to him, Tanya,” Vasili beseeched her. “Stefan doesn’t deal well with guilt.”
She glanced over her shoulder and for the first time gave Vasili a genuine smile. “He won’t be guilty, he’ll be angry. You said so yourself. But I don’t happen to mind his anger. Now, am I going to be your queen?”
“Yes,” all three of them replied.
“Then respect my wishes.”
“But he is already our king, and our friend besides,” Lazar pointed out.
“So? I told you I’ll deny it. Then he’ll just be furious with you for misleading him.”
And she walked away before she let them convince her that she was being unreasonable, prideful, and very likely foolish.
Chapter 33
Tanya hadn’t expected Stefan to come for her when the ship docked in Danzig the next day. She had hoped he would and had dressed accordingly, but she hadn’t expected it.
She had so many beautiful clothes to choose from now, it was actually a dilemma to decide what to wear that might impress him. She’d settled on a dark emerald skirt with a matching short-waisted jacket that buttoned primly to the throat, revealing only the delicate white lace on the high collar of the blouse beneath. Sasha had even supplied her with two choices for outer wraps. One was a long, thick cloak in pearl gray with a darker gray fur trim and a hood lined in the fur inside and out. The other was a coat very similar to the men’s, black velvet with brown sable along every edge and in a wide, cape-like collar. Hers fell to the ankles, while theirs cut off at the knees. What Sasha must have found amusing was having it made in the same material and colors as the one Stefan was wearing right now. Fortunately, she’d chosen the gray cloak to wear today.
He appeared stiff. The bow he offered, slight as it was, was formal. And she could read nothing in his expression as he looked her over, though his eyes were more amber than brown. But she had done nothing that could have made him angry, so that softly glowing color had to come from some other emotion, though she couldn’t imagine which one.
“It is our hope the voyage was not too tedious for you.”
Definitely stiff, and she didn’t know what to make of it, if he was merely reluctant to have to deal with her again, or … Lord help her, had the others gone against her wishes and told him what she’d said yesterday? No, she wouldn’t assume that. He’d have come straight to her to demand to hear it from her, wouldn’t he? And be furious besides. Right now he was only—dammit, she couldn’t tell what he was. But if she’d got anything out of his friends’ revelations about him, it was that Stefan was even more complicated than she had thought.
She decided to behave just as she’d planned, casual, a little bit goading, a little bit friendly, maybe even a little provocative, whatever it took to keep him off balance until she could figure out where she stood. After all, his total indifference to her on this voyage was telling. If he could stay away from her on the confines of a ship, would she ever see him after they were married and he had a whole country to disappear in? If they were married. Maybe he’d find some way to get out of the betrothal. He was king, after all.
The smile she had planned to give him wasn’t quite so dazzling now, but she still managed to speak in a friendly tone. “The voyage was quite pleasant, but of course it would be, with such charming companions to keep me entertained. “
He obviously couldn’t tell if she was being sarcastic or not, for he hesitated before saying, “My men are a lot of things, Tanya. But charming?”
“When they try to be, yes. I even found—to my amazement, of course—that I could like Lazar and Serge. And I have grown quite found of Sasha.”
“You don’t mention Vasili.”
“Let’s just say I’ve learned to tolerate your cousin, even when he’s at his obnoxious best. No, I can’t even say that. I have discovered, only recently, that I actually have a horrid temper. So I guess I haven’t been very understanding of the close bond between you and Vasili that has more or less influenced his behavior toward me.”
She smiled again, this time with satisfaction, for his new expression was a priceless combination of bafflement, irritation, and wariness. He really didn’t know what to make of her now, and that was just what she wanted for the time being.
“It surprises you that I figured that out?” she continued. “Well, don’t be. Vasili made the confession himself only yesterday. So I guess the most I can say is that I will try to tolerate him in future—your Majesty. “
He raised a brow at the title, something he could at last deal with directly. “Was it the credentials?”
“Not at all. I thought they were faked.”
“Then what convinced you?”
“Sasha, actually. He has an amazing way of getting his point across without even trying. He just kept going on and on about you, me, Cardinia—and the wedding.” And then she pinned him with a direct gaze that had just enough angry sparks in it to indicate what was coming. “Why the hell did you tell me Vasili was king?”
He turned toward the door on the pretext of holding it open for her, but the question obviously disconcerted him so much that he couldn’t hold her gaze. “You were being troublesome at the time. I thought you would be less so with him named as the prospective bridegroom.”
She wasn’t letting him off the hook that easily. “Why?”
“Because women become utter fools around him, and that is before he even sets out to seduce them. If he had made an effort to win you over, you would have succumbed.”
Tanya snorted. “If you believe that, you are deluded.”
He finally glanced at her and his look said she was deluding herself. “You say you know that Vasili’s loyalty to me influenced his behavior toward you, so haven’t you realized yet that some of his behavior was a deliberate effort to make you despise him? I merely wanted you to come along with us willingly, but Vasili saw the consequence of the lie. He didn’t want you falling in love with him when you would have to marry me in the end.”
“How thoughtful of him,” she sneered. “But you and he both put too much stock in his looks, for some reason thinking that’s all that matters to a woman. And maybe that is all that matters to a woman with no sense. But most women aren’t foolish enough to fall in love with a man without knowing what he’s made of. Vasili is incredibly handsome, yes. There’s no denying that. But he’s also the most arrogant, condescending man God ever put breath into, and you aren’t going to tell me that his obnoxious attitude was a pretense just for my benefit.”
He didn’t like what he was hearing, probably because he knew he was arrogant and condescending, too, in no way as bad as Vasili, but Tanya was counting on his not making that distinction. The object here was not to let Stefan know that she was one of those foolish women she had just ranted about. Not that she had fallen in love. Lord help her, she hoped she wasn’t that foolish. But she knew very well that she had succumbed to a purely physical attraction, one so powerful that she could want this man even when she was so furious with him that she could shoot him. And time hadn’t made that feeling go away. She wanted him, enough to marry him, enough to ignore all his faults. But he had to want her just as much … he had to love her, whether she loved him or not. That was the only way she could willingly give herself over to the control of one man for life. And she didn’t have much time to find out if it was even possible.
Before he could dwell too deeply on what she’d said, she asked, “When you saw that the pretense wasn’t working, why didn’t you tell me the truth, that you were Cardinia’s new king?”
“You already doubted everything. It was not the time to admit to a falsehood that you could hold up as a reason to justify your continued skepticism. “
“I see your point,” she said, her brows knitted thoughtfully for his benefit. “Of course, you never saw mine, did you? It didn’t matter who was being offered as my husband, I didn’t want one.”
He didn’t notice the past tense, he merely replied adaman
tly, “You have no more choice than I do.”
“Ah, that’s right. How did you put it before, when Vasili admitted he didn’t want to marry me? That the king will marry me whether he wishes to or not, because his duty demands it? But you know, Stefan, I’ve been giving that some thought, especially after being assured how all-powerful you are, so powerful, I’m told, that you can have us married no matter what I say about it. It strikes me that if you’re that powerful, how can anyone make you do something you don’t want to do? You could just break the betroth—”
“I happen to honor my father,” he cut in stiffly, his eyes suddenly glowing with serious anger. “Sandor wants you sitting on the throne, so you will damn well sit on the throne! And if you ever try coaxing me out of my duty again … . I will marry you, Tanya. Nothing will prevent that, do you understand? Nothing!”
It was amazing how wonderful that promise made her feel, shouted or not. And she had her answer. He wasn’t going to do anything to get out of the betrothal. Neither was she, but he didn’t know that. Nor was it part of her plan to let him know that. She’d keep him guessing, which would keep her constantly on his mind. But long before they reached Cardinia she’d have him in her bed, too. There was no help for that. She just couldn’t wait anymore.
Chapter 34
“Why so stiff, Stefan?” Tanya asked as soon as they settled into the waiting coach.
He’d grabbed her arm, whisked her out of her cabin and off the ship, all without saying a word to her, but she was determined to open him up today, to get inside his thoughts, even if she had to get him angry again to do it. Fortunately, the others weren’t there to try to stop her. Lazar and Serge were seeing to the baggage and would follow in another carriage. Vasili was disposing of the ship. It seemed it had been bought only to fetch her home from America. Cardinia having no navy, situated so far inland as it was, they now had no further use for the ship.
“Is it the clothes?” she persisted when Stefan didn’t even glance her way. “Do they make you feel more kingly, less like a—commoner?” No answer. “Well, you were right. Definitely too conspicuous for Mississippi.”
“What are you talking about, Tanya?”
He still wasn’t looking at her. Trying to get his goat was getting her own.
“Oh, nothing important. I understand now why you didn’t open up that second trunk of clothes for use while you were in America. You would have stood out like a sore thumb in such strange garb, wouldn’t you?”
Actually, he looked grand dressed all in black, in an outfit that seemed military in design. The gleaming knee-high boots, with trousers tucked into them, were tight enough to define his leg muscles. The velvet jacket was more like a tunic, crossed with silver-gray braid and frogs from neck to waist, then with an open seam, also braided, from waist to mid-thigh, where the tunic ended. Around his waist was a thick belt worked in silver with a splendid leather scabbard also set with silver, and containing a sword that was so fancy, it had to be mere decoration. He wore a sable-edged velvet coat draped over his shoulders like a cape, held in place by a silver link chain with jeweled clasps. To top this off was a hat of the same brown sable fur that merely circled his head, what Lazar called a kucsma.
Although her question was supposed to rile him, all Stefan said in reply to her observation was, “Look out your window before you call my clothing strange.”
He was right as usual. There was no denying she was in a foreign land where people dressed and looked like nothing she was accustomed to.
Tanya had been told the country they were in might be Prussia now, but it had once been the kingdom of Poland, and was still populated mostly by Poles, especially here in the old harbor city of Danzig. And these Poles, men and women both, seemed to favor extremely long coats with the most unusual sleeves, wide from shoulder to elbow, then slashed down the front from elbow to cuff. They were long sleeves, much longer than the length of the arm, and hardly any were cuffed. People just let the sleeves dangle down at their sides or threw them back over their shoulders. One man who looked like a soldier had his tied at the back of his neck. The hats or bonnets were different, too, mostly flat, some tall and oddly shaped, and the men’s hair was either shoulder-length or cut extremely short in a round crop on the very top of their heads.
“I see what you mean,” Tanya allowed and gave up attacking his clothes, which were actually very moderate in comparison. She tried the congenial approach again. “You know, Stefan, I’ve learned so much about you on this voyage, I feel like we’re old friends now.”
His expression hardened considerably. He didn’t know what she was referring to, and she could see that annoyed the hell out of him. Good. She smiled to herself and abruptly switched subjects again.
“Lazar couldn’t tell me much about my father, other than how greatly he was admired for continuing the tradition of his ancestors in keeping the Ottoman Empire from taking over Cardinia as it has so many of her neighbors. Your father has also kept those people at bay, hasn’t he?”
“We have excellent treaties with the Turks, but even more importantly, good relations. The Janaceks have always believed in offering a genuine hand of friendship—after they defeat the enemy. The Baranys are of the same philosophy.”
“Yes, well, Lazar said I should ask your Prime Minister, Maximilian Daneff, about the more personal side of my father, since he knew him well. But he said that you could tell me about the blood feud that killed him and the rest of my family in a matter of months.”
That finally made him look at her in surprise. “You still don’t know why you were sent away? Vasili could have told you—”
“I didn’t care to ask him,” she interrupted. “But you, on the other hand, I can ask anything, since you’re going to be my husband.”
That startled him even more, enough to ask, “You have accepted it?”
Tanya shrugged with a degree of indifference. “That depends.”
“On what?”
“You. “
“How?” he demanded, his gaze suddenly so intense, she had trouble holding it.
“Oh, I don’t know. You could try convincing me that you want to marry me, that you have found you can’t live without me, that you love me madly.”
He was frowning so furiously now, she dropped her gaze. Well, she supposed she could have sounded serious instead of facetious, and ended with the words “want to marry me” instead of getting ridiculous with the rest. Now he thought she’d been making fun of him.
Great going, missy. You had a golden opportunity there that you just wasted. No damn guts.
She wondered if she ought to apologize. She stole a quick glance at him and nearly gasped. His eyes were as hot as live coals. She’d made him so angry, it was a wonder she wasn’t already stretched out on her back and being devoured with kisses … Desire slammed through her system at the mere possibility, one she hadn’t realized until that moment. She’d only been nipping at his temper to get him to reveal something of his feelings to her. She hadn’t even considered the consequence of making him lose his temper completely, but the consequence was there, and she wouldn’t mind if it happened right now. And how much easier to have it taken out of her hands so she wouldn’t have to entice him and risk rejection.
“Do you require a reply, Princess?”
His voice was so low and menacing, she shivered. He was controlling his temper by a thin thread. The wrong answer to his question could snap it. Did she want to be made love to in a moving coach, in broad daylight? She didn’t really care at the moment.
Her chin rose stubbornly. “Yes.”
“Marrying me will make you a queen,” he reminded her. “That is sufficient reason for you to accept it graciously—if not willingly.”
That was not the answer she had hoped to hear. And it looked as if he was going to keep his temper under control, no matter what.
She made an effort to readjust her expectations to reality. Finally she sighed and turned to stare out the window
again.
“I wouldn’t know,” she said to finish the subject. “I’m still adjusting to being a princess, and all I can say for that is the title comes with nice clothes.” Then, more stiffly she said, “You were going to tell me about the blood feud.”
“Was I?”
She glanced at him with a tight little smile. “Yes, you were, if for no other reason than because you feel I ought to know.”
She waited, silently, while he just stared at her with those devil’s eyes. When some of the heat went out of them, she knew he had decided that she would at least treat this subject with the seriousness it deserved.
Chapter 35
“It began with the execution of Yuri Stamboloff. He was the oldest son of a very powerful baron, which was perhaps why he felt he was above the law. He killed his mistress only because he suspected her of being unfaithful. It was an act committed not in rage or passion, but calmly, cold-bloodedly, and stupidly, before five witnesses. Because he was a baron’s son, he was brought before your father, King Leos, for judgment and was executed. There was nothing else to be done. But Yuri’s father, Janos Stamboloff, didn’t believe his son was guilty of this murder. You see, the dead woman had first been the mistress of your brother.”
“I had a brother old enough to have a mistress?” Tanya asked in surprise. “Wasn’t I supposed to have been a baby at this time?”
“You were not even born yet when the murder took place,” Stefan explained, adding, “Though you were expected. And you had three brothers. The oldest, the Crown Prince, was sixteen that year.”
She was no longer surprised, but horrified. “Sixteen and he’s discarding mistresses!”
“There are some women who would seduce a baby to advance their circumstances. At court, it doesn’t matter who you use, as long as you use them to your advantage, and a sixteen-year-old boy would be a prime target for manipulation.”
“I suppose you’ve discovered all these conscienceless women for yourself?” she asked tersely.
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