“And Lada?” Grigor asked. “She is from the region where the most fanatical Sacred Circle believers come from. Is she also a believer in the Sacred Circle?”
Andros looked tired. “Unfortunately, her parents both holdpositions of power in the church and preach all the time the basic tenets of the old ways. Lada chose to go against them, and they threw her out of their home and refused to speak to her. She married very young for protection. The man she married was a member of the church and one her parents had chosen for her. He courted and married her without telling her he was a member of the church and that her parents had put him up to it.”
Andros sank into a chair and regarded his siblings and Afanasiv with his brilliant blue eyes. “They told her they would rather see her dead than marry outside the church.”
“There is no chance that she is actually a member and is playing you?” Garald asked.
Andros looked as if he might leap out of the chair and strangle his brother. “I’m still quite capable of hearing lies. Our aunt trapped Lada and I just about lost my mind. In my arrogance as a royal, I thought I could rescue her from the underworld. Apparently, Olga had managed to find a way to compromise all of us.”
“Not all,” Grigor denied, indicating Vasilisa. “She managed to stay out of Olga’s hands, and when she realized what she was up to, she warned Garald before he could be compromised.”
Andros studied his sister. “How did you see through Olga? How is it that you realized she was with the demons when I didn’t?”
“I didn’t want to see,” she admitted, her voice trembling. “Afanasiv helped me at one of the darkest hours when we followed the demon with the vial of blood back to his mistress, back to our aunt Olga. She was evil and cruel. So far gone there was no saving her. I could see that. I wanted to be wrong, but I could see she had been working for Lilith for a very long time.”
Afanasiv wrapped his arm around Vasilisa, pulling her beneath his shoulder, sheltering her against his much larger body. She felt ice-cold in spite of the warm clothes she was wearing. Carpathians regulated their body temperatures naturally. It was possible she didn’t have that skill down quite yet, so he did it for her. She wore white trousers, amatching long-sleeved blouse and vest, and a white, very feminine tailored jacket. She seemed to favor the color white right down to her boots lined in white fur.
“How did I not see that she was in trouble?” Andros asked them. “You and Sorina fighting vampires and you becomingSange rau. The Sacred Circle getting a foothold and hurting our people, threatening them if they didn’t join. Aunt Olga hurting Lada the way she did. Lada has been through so much already, with the way her parents treated her and then her first husband. I was being so careful with her, waiting to present her to our people as my choice. I didn’t ask her to marry me when I should have because I was afraid some nutcase would target her. Isn’t that laughable? I don’t have a chance in hell with the only woman I’ll ever love.”
“She wears your ring,” Vasilisa pointed out.
“Not a formal engagement ring.” Andros covered his face. “As the ruling king, I pretty much screwed up everything.”
“Andros.” Vasilisa went to her knees beside him. “Why would you even think such a thing? You’ve brought prosperity to our people. Look at their homes. Their farms. You turned everything around. Life was hard here. No laughter or hope. You made a difference.”
“Have I, Vasi? Then why are our people suddenly turning against us? What could have caused our aunt to betray our family the way she did? I asked Lada to marry me and she turned me down. I don’t blame her. She went through hell because of me. She wasinhell because of me. She’ll carry the scars on her body and think of me every day of her life and how I failed her.”
Afanasiv had a difficult time believing Lada wasn’t in love with Andros. “Would you mind if I spoke with your woman? This seems out of character for her. When I saw her before Gaia was called, she very much seemed to be in love with you. As for her scars, I am certain I can remove them if that is her desire.”
Andros looked up with his hands over his face but fingers spreadwide. “Why do you think she loves me? Did she say she did? She’s never said it to me.”
“Take me to her,” Afanasiv ordered, forgetting he was speaking to royalty and his brother-in-law.
“I’ll give my consent to the marriage if you can get her to say yes to marrying me,” Andros promised.
“We’re already married,” Afanasiv said, exasperated. “I care nothing for your consent. Vasilisa is my wife. My woman. My partner. And you already have consented.”
“I have?”
“Yes. Because you love your sister and she deserves to be happy. Anything less than full consent would be petty and beneath you.”
Andros scowled at him. “I can see I’m always going to have problems with you.”
“Only if you make Vasilisa unhappy. Take us to see Lada. I believe the outcome will be what you have wanted all along.”
You want to make certain she doesn’t belong to the Sacred Circle,Vasilisa said.
I am certain this woman is in love with your brother. It doesn’t add up that she would turn down his proposal of marriage. She had to know he was going to ask her. There is a reason, my lady, and I fear it has something to do with her parents and their fanaticism.
It will break his heart. He is drowning under the weight of his responsibilities.
Then we will work faster to get to the bottom of whatever is happening here.Afanasiv was certain Lada had some part in the drama being played out in the middle of the royals’ territory. He wanted to question her without Andros present.
“It will be best if you allow Vasilisa and me to speak with your woman without you there so she is free to say what she feels,” Afanasiv said as they followed Andros out one of the five doors of the great banquet hall and down another corridor.
Andros threw a wary look over his shoulder but didn’t stop walking. The palace was spacious and had a multitude of rooms. It was also a little drafty. Afanasiv took in the various entry and exit points, everywhere there could be a vulnerable place that the palace could be penetrated easily if under attack. As fast as he assessed the problem, he found a solution to fix it. His mind worked that way and did so at a rapid rate of speed. He was aware of Vasilisa following his thought process, keeping up with him every step of the way.
I never considered that the atrium might be a way for our enemies to infiltrate the palace. The glass is bulletproof. The material on the roof and sides is reinforced with every protection I could think of. Even if they used C-4, those wards should hold.