“Or a woman,” Kon said. “You don't recall seeing her with anyone?”
I thought about it all the way to his quarters, but I couldn't come up with any possibilities. If Milana had been involved with a woman, it would be even harder to discover her identity; the women of court were always together and whispering. The whole damn lot of them could be lesbians, and I wouldn't know.
As he shut the door, Konstantin asked, “How did Andrei go from being a guard to the Master Librarian?”
“I don't know. I was only four back then. He's been the Master Librarian for as long as I can remember. But it does seem an odd career change.”
“We need to . . . hold on, you were four in 1988?”
“Yes.”
“So you're only thirty-eight years old?”
“Yes.”
“Holy fuck, you're a baby.”
I rolled my eyes. “I'm a grown man, thank you very much.”
“I know. I'm sorry. I just . . . among beneathers, you are very young.”
“Is that a problem?”
“No, it's good. I'm glad you're young. It means you haven't been with Nikolay for as long as I'd thought.”
“Over twenty years seems like a long time to me.”
“It won't when you're a hundred and twenty.”
“Perhaps not.”
“All right, back to the case. We know it's Andrei. Now we need to investigate him. I think we should start with the other librarians. Specifically, the archivists.”
“I'll have them summoned.” I went to the phone.
“Misha?”
“Yes?” I paused and turned back.
“I'm looking forward to showing you the world.”
Showing me the world. You wouldn't think those words could mean such different things. One man had shrunk my world down to a castle and a village while the other offered me an entire planet. One man had used my age against me while the other turned it to my benefit. One man shackled me while the other fought for my freedom.
So why didn't I love Konstantin?
Because Niko had gotten to me first.
“I'm looking forward to that too,” I finally answered him.
“Almost there, baby. Just a little longer.” Konstantin pulled me into an embrace, and I hugged him tightly, praying to Lachia and Balvoran that Kon was right and my heart would heal from the damage Niko had inflicted upon it.
Please, don't let me be broken beyond repair. Let me love Konstantin; he deserves that much at least.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
I had the archivists summoned to Kon's room one at a time. It wasn't until the fourth interview that we got anything useful.
Konstantin's voice was starting to lose its vigor by the time he asked Lord Stepan if he'd ever seen Lady Milana with the Master Librarian.
