Chapter 16
Tatyana
There was something very wrong with her husband.
The moment Tatyana arrived in Saint Petersburg, exiting Oleg’s private jet with her entourage, she saw it in the cool grey eyes that watched her.
The usual arrogance was stripped from Oleg’s face, replaced by a stoic mask she wanted to rip away.
And yet from the moment she stepped off the jet, Tatyana was surrounded.
Two protocol teams from Warsaw and Budapest, Hazar from Bucharest in their crisp ceremonial uniforms, and dozens of humans and vampires from Saint Petersburg were waiting on the tarmac for the arrival of the Poshani terrin who would become the knyaginya of the Kievan Rus.
There had to be over a hundred people waiting at the private airport, but all Tatyana could see was her husband’s stoic expression. All she could feel was a simmering heat behind the wall he had erected around his amnis.
A band was playing, and a children’s choir, their cheeks bright red in the cold night air, started to sing as Tatyana descended from the jet.
It was a folk song she had learned when she was a child, one common in winter programs, and the wide-eyed youngsters sang it beautifully. She waited at the foot of the stairs until they finished, then clapped her hands as the rest of the crowd joined in.
One of the children ran up with a large bouquet of cheerful red and purple flowers, which she handed to Sándor, who had preceded Tatyana down the stairway and was waiting on the carpet.
Sándor took the flowers with a smile, checked them, and then handed them to Tatyana.
As she reached the ground with Rumi following behind her, she looked for her husband, but Oleg had disappeared from her sight when she descended to the tarmac. A royal-blue carpet was waiting for her at the base of the stairs, and several women in uniform were positioned nearby.
“Lady Tatyana.” A grey-haired woman in an immaculate burgundy suit stepped forward and inclined her head. “I am Marina Dashkova, Lord Oleg’s social secretary in Saint Petersburg, and it has been granted to me the honor of formally welcoming you to our city for the first time.”
“Thank you, Marina Dashkova.” Tatyana smiled.
“I feel very welcome—please offer my sincere thanks to the lovely children and their parents for greeting me so warmly.” She lifted the flowers and nodded at the children on risers who were craning their necks to get a look.
“And my thanks to all of your people who honored me with this very grand welcome.”
She knew she’d said the right thing when Marina Dashkova nodded, because her formal smile extended to her eyes. “It is our pleasure and our honor, Lady Tatyana.”
Tatyana stepped to the side and allowed Rumi to get off the stairs. “This is my personal secretary, Rumi. We both look forward to exploring your beautiful city as much as possible during this busy time.”
Marina Dashkova appeared surprised but pleased. “You must only ask and I will arrange whatever tour you would like. Saint Petersburg is beautiful at night.”
“So I have heard.”
The older woman started walking down the carpet beside Tatyana. “Preparations for the wedding began as soon as your retinue arrived in the city.”
Tatyana started walking, nodding and smiling at all the humans and vampires who lined up on either side of the blue carpet. “I trust that Diana and her team are already at work.”
“Indeed they are, and they have been aided by Lord Oleg’s office, of course.” Marina extended a hand toward the long black limousine that was waiting at the end of the carpet. “If you come this way, Lord Oleg will join you for your first journey to the Iron Palace.”
Tatyana, ever a fan of preparation, knew that the Iron Palace in Saint Petersburg had its roots in land claimed and ruled by Truvor the Red when Saint Petersburg was nothing more than a trading outpost and crossroads of the Slavic, Baltic, and Scandinavian people.
It was Oleg who had built a proper palace in the eighteenth century when the center of Russian Imperial power moved to the city.
Which was also the time that Oleg started building ships.
Tatyana nodded and met the eyes of the few humans and vampires bold enough to meet her gaze as she walked through the crowd, greeting each one with a smile.
The Poshani Hazar did not bow, but they did incline their heads as she passed, and she felt their pride and approval in their rigid posture and lifted chins.
Tatyana met Sándor just before she reached the car. He spoke to her in Poshani. “Madam, the car has been checked and Lord Oleg waits inside.”
“Are you joining us?” She could already feel Oleg’s blood churning in her veins.
“Lord Oleg has requested privacy for your journey,” Sándor said. “Mika Arakis and I will be in the lead car.”
“Thank you, Sándor.” She squeezed his hand a moment before she climbed into the limousine and sat next to Oleg, who was waiting silently in the shadows.
The door closed, and Tatyana set the giant bouquet of flowers on the seat across from her. With the blacked-out windows around them and the sound from the crowd muffled, she finally felt as if she could take a breath.
She turned to her husband. “What is wrong?”
“Nothing.” Something in his eyes eased, but his voice still carried a cool reserve. Nevertheless, he pulled her across the bench seat, bringing his arms around her and putting his chin on her head. “Nothing now that you are here.”
Tatyana felt his entire body relax, but she knew there was still something he was hiding.
The limousine started rolling forward. She put her arms around his waist and pressed her cheek to his chest, waiting for his head to tilt down as he pressed his rough cheek against her forehead.
Skin contact achieved, her amnis settled and evened out.
“The children’s choir was a nice touch. I felt like I was back in school.”
He laughed a little. “Marina insisted on that. They’re all children of the day staff.”
“They did well.” She lifted her foot and pointed at the flowers. “And I received flowers. You’ve never given me flowers.”
“Haven’t I?” He huffed a short breath. “I’ll have Petr make a note in my calendar for a regular delivery schedule to be established.”
“Yes, that is the definition of romance, thank you.”
He smirked. “They are going to adore you.”
She hoped so. The success of this political marriage depended on Tatyana’s ability to publicly be cool with Oleg while still engendering the love of people who obviously adored him.
Maybe that’s what the reserved voice was for. Was he practicing?
“What are your plans?” She scooted away from his embrace, but Oleg grabbed her hand and took off her glove to maintain skin contact. “For tonight, I mean.”
“A tour of course.” He lifted one eyebrow. “My queen must see her castle.”
“And this is the dinnerware collection,” he said.
“There are various patterns of china and crystal available for formal dinners.” He strolled through a room that looked like a porcelain gallery.
“You can make use of whichever you like, though if you want direction on protocol or history, Marina would be the person to ask.”
“Hmm.” Her fingers trailed along the edge of one case. “It’s like living in a museum.”
“Which is why I don’t spend much time here.”
“How long has Marina been with you?”
“Working? Maybe forty years.” He frowned. “I don’t exactly know. Marina was brought up in the palace. Her mother was in the position before her, and we were…” He shrugged. “Well, she was a beautiful woman and Luana had left me.”
Tatyana leaned against a decorative wooden pillar. “Are you expecting me to be shocked that you’ve had many lovers?”
He leaned on the pillar opposite her, a glass case of silver flatware between them. “Shocked? No. Jealous? Yes. I want you to be horribly jealous.”
“I assume no ownership of your past, Lord Oleg, but if I hear that you have taken another lover when we are mated, I will recruit Ludmila to put a bullet through your eye.”
“Which she would probably do. She likes you.”
“It won’t kill you. But it will hurt, and according to Kezia, you’d basically be a vegetable for a century.”
The corner of his mouth lifted. “So you’ve spoken to your sister about this. Interesting.”
“Is that jealous enough for you?” she whispered.
“No. You should have Ludmila aim for my balls.”
“That can be arranged.” She strolled through the lavish glass and wooden cases filled with cut crystal and painted plates. Silver European-style tea services and gold-trimmed Russian samovars. “What’s next?”
He was still keeping his distance, treating her more like a guest than a wife. After their ride in the car, he hadn’t touched her again, not even when the many servants had disappeared and left them alone.
“If you walk through that door” —he pointed at a set of gold-trimmed oak doors— “there is another library.”
“Another one?”
“The first was not truly the library. More of an office for guests.”
“My god, the money you have.” She shook her head but froze as she pushed open the double doors and stared at the ballroom-sized room in front of her.
Tatyana let out an audible gasp.
Bookcases lined the walls, stacked double with a walkway along the top row.
The cases and cabinets stretched the length of the massive room, and there were large tables in the center of the room, circular wooden contraptions that looked like book Ferris wheels, and various globes dotted along one wall.
The library was lit by golden glass lamps that let out a soft, warm light, and the air smelled of vanilla, wood oil, and lemon.
The entire room looked like a palace for books and…
Yes. There was a ladder.
“Oh my god.” Tatyana nearly sprinted toward it. “Are you kidding me?”
“The ladder is necessary for the librarian to—”
“You have a palace librarian?”
Oleg frowned. “I have two.”
“Are you kidding me?” She was nearly shouting when she reached the ladder and gently pushed it to the side.
It rolled down the parquet floor like it was floating on air.