As the Swan King entered the kitchen from the hallway, his knights burst into the room from the backdoor and surrounded us, blades pointed at our throats. Black swans, they were all black swans. I'd thought it was a prejudice of Niko's, that he preferred to be guarded by men who had a similar swan form to his. But now I knew the truth; they were the only ones whose loyalty he could be certain of.
“Bind them,” the King said.
Magic-quelling shackles were removed from their pouches as the knights closed in.
“Niko,” I whispered.
“My sweet little Misha,” Nikolay stepped up to me and caressed my cheek with a gloved hand. “You were like a baby angel, tucked in that dark space. Staring up at me with those ice-blue eyes and downy hair. Winter made manifest and yet so warm. So loving. You were crying for your mother. I knew I had to kill you. You bore the Lebedev mark. That hair. That face. Already a replica of your father. But I couldn't do it. Couldn't hurt you. I brought you home, and I gave you a different life. I hoped it would be enough for you.” He looked around at his prisoners. “It would have been if not for them.”
Suddenly, Konstantin lurched and spun. With snarls and vicious growls, my lover tore into the knight who had tried to cuff him. The other knights ran to help, shoving their prisoners toward a corner as they piled onto the Garin, using air magic to assist their efforts to restrain him. There wasn't enough room for Kon to shift, so he had to make do with his man's body. Even with their magic, his strength would have been enough against one man, he might have even conquered three. The knight he'd attacked was gasping through what may be his last breaths and that had been one blow. But with six men using magic, Kon didn't stand a chance. They finally managed to cuff him and gave him some extra punches when it was all over.
“Take that animal out into the woods and put him down,” Nikolay said.
“No!” I shouted and dove for Konstantin.
Nikolay grabbed me. I punched him in the face. With a curse, he drove a fist into my gut, sending me groaning to the ground. My stare went to my coat, hanging over a chair nearby. Inside its pocket was Kon's weapon.
“Looking for this?” Niko slipped his hand into the coat and removed the gun. Then he pointed it at me.
“Misha!” Konstantin roared.
I don't know if Kon was putting on a show to make Niko believe that the weapon would work for him or if, amid his fear and rage, he'd forgotten that it was keyed to only him and me. If it was a show, he put on a good one.
Kon's eyes started to glow, and he bared his teeth before vowing, “I will slice you to pieces and crack open your bones, Kemarre!”
Nikolay winced at the name but otherwise remained unimpressed. “Get him up.” He waved the gun at me. “All of you are hereby convicted of treason. You will hang in the morning.”
“You can't do this! My clan will come looking for me,” Kon said.
“Why do you think I offered you my favorite consort?” Nikolay cocked his head at Kon. “To control your investigation? Don't be ridiculous. I had control the entire time. Your rooms were bugged. I knew exactly what you were up to and who you were up to it with. More importantly, I have recordings of you seducing my consort. Aroyalconsort.”
Konstantin blanched.
Nikolay chuckled. “Now you see, don't you,Garin? Now you understand. I didn't offer him to you to gain your compliance. I offered him to you because I knew the power my Misha has over men. I knew you wouldn't be able to resist him. That even if he remained true to me,”—he shot me a vicious look—“which he didn't, you would try to seduce him. You'd commit a criminal act to have him. And you did. You gave me the right to kill you, and I have hard proof of it. Your clan can do nothing to avenge you.”
“Niko, please.” I held out my hands to him, the manacles clinking. “This is your chance to change. To be better than your father.”
Nikolay snorted. “Oh, you are adorable. Do you think Konstantin was the only one I was playing?”
“It was all an act?”
“Of course. All but one thing—I do love you, Misha. And although you have betrayed me, I have also heard you defend me. For that, I will spare you. You will be pinioned for your crimes, but you will live.”
“I will never be yours again, Nikolay.” I lifted my chin. “No matter what you do to me.”
“We'll see about that.” He started to turn away.
“Unless.”
Nikolay paused and looked back. “Unless what?”
“You let Konstantin go. Let all of these people go, Niko. You've won. You can banish them from the kingdom. Just let them live, and I will go back to being your willing consort.”
“Do not bargain yourself for me!” Konstantin growled.
Niko and I both ignored him, holding each other's stares.
“I can't let your lover live, Misha,” Niko finally said. “Even if I could get over the fact that he has had you, he will go back to his clan and convince them to return here and arrest me.”
