“So we’re flying backwith Oleg on Sunday night.” Sándor sat in the back with her as her human driver maneuvered the blocky Mercedes through Warsaw traffic, which was surprisingly busy for one in the morning. “Then meetings?”
“Not for me, but he’s in Odesa all week. There are some negotiations for the new agreement with the Georgian court, and then there will be a formal dinner at the end of next week to celebrate the new deal. Juliya has it all planned.”
Juliya seemed eager to prove her loyalty to her uncle since some of her siblings had turned on Oleg in Saint Petersburg. Not many, Oleg reminded her, but enough that he let his niece do what she felt like she needed to do to regain any confidence Oleg might have lost.
“Do you think after this banquet she’s going to feel less insecure?” Sándor asked.
Juliya and Rudov had hosted three gatherings for Oleg and Tatyana in the past six months in Rudov’s territory to celebrate “the unity of our great empire” and dispel any rumors about their role in Ivan’s betrayal.
“I think they feel secure enough in their own loyalty,” Tatyana said. “But Ivan didn’t have to work very hard to convince some of Rudov’s men that they belonged with him.Oleg has been very hands-off with his governors, and I think both Rudov and Oleg agree that a little more visibility would foster a better sense of unity.”
“And you have to make your grand tour.”
She grimaced. “Don’t remind me.”
Once summer had passed and the kamvasa was over, Tatyana and Oleg would be spending six months performing a grand tour of the Kievan Rus so that the vampires of Oleg’s extended clan could meet their new knyaginya. It was a reason to celebrate after a very dark period.
“So many parties,” Sándor said. “So much caviar. So many dances.”
“I still don’t understand the caviar, but I do enjoy the dancing.”
She was also looking forward to a fresh round of chaugan games to rid her memory of the last one.
Sándor’s mind must have been following the same track. “You know, I’ve been riding more.”
For a wind vampire, Sándor was spending a surprising amount of time on horseback, and Tatyana had little doubt it was so he could hold his own among the chaugan players of the Kievan Rus.
“As have I,” she said.
“I’m going to be better prepared by the winter.”
“I am personally hoping that our chaugan matches in the future are only symbolic battles and not actual ones.”
“May the Kali hear your prayer,” Sándor said. “And how many Russians is Oleg bringing to the kamvasa?”
“Only six and only for a week.” She glanced at him. “Does it bother you?”
Sándor shrugged. “The Russians are very… silent. They watch everything, but they rarely speak.”
“Hmm,” Tatyana said. “It’s Pavel to begin with. He and some of his sons. I believe toward the end of the summer, Polina and her family will be joining us as well. Her partner is human, and they have two children.”
“Pavel is the strange one?”
“Not strange.” She smiled. “Well, maybe a little strange. They want to learn, I think. From us. They need to learn.”
“Learn what?” Sándor frowned.
She saw the gates beyond the trees and the distant lights of her mother’s farmhouse.
“I think they’re trying to learn how to be a real family.” She watched the pale-faced figures around the entrance nod at their driver before they dissolved back into the shadows. “They’ve never really been one before.”
Sándor said nothing as their car turned up the long alley of evergreen trees that bordered the narrow gravel drive.
“I suppose I can understand that,” Sándor said. “I will try to be generous, surati.”
“Just be Poshani.” Tatyana smiled as the car came to a stop and she felt her blood leap at the presence of her mate. “Just be Poshani, Sándor. That’s all they need to see.”
She walked into her mother’s house and smelled paprika and mushrooms, the faint scent of cabbage and lamb coming from the oven.
