“He’s still my blood,” Oleg growled. “And he saved my life.”
“Once.” Mika raised a finger. “One time, and you’ve saved him many times since then. You owe him nothing.”
Wrong.
Oleg owed Ivan for not walking down those stairs in Truvor’s fortress. Ivan had stayed his axe. He’d stayed silent when he knew he could have taken Oleg out with the support of Truvor’s faithful among the old Muscovite guard.
But in the bloody aftermath of their sire’s death, Ivan had stayed his hand.
Ludmila, of all people, saw what Oleg was thinking. “He didn’t challenge you then, but he’s challenging you now. I would have had more respect for his challenge then. Then, it was in the open.”
“Then, he knew he couldn’t defeat you,” Mika said. “No one could defeat you.”
“Wrong,” Oleg said. “No one is invincible.” He thought about the black walls of his day chamber. “Least of all me.”
Ludmila leaned forward. “Never say that. Not even to us.” She pointed to the door. “All those people out there? The vampires and especially the humans—all the ones gathered for your big, fancy wedding—they need you to be the baddest, most terrifying monster in this place.Theirmonster. Because their monster is the one who keeps the other monsters shitting their pants.”
Oleg smiled a little bit. “Remind me not to let you make a toast at the wedding.”
“Fuck no.” Ludmila drew back as if he’d burned her. “And if you expect me to go to this thing, there better be good donors. And a decent chaugan match afterward.”
Chaugan. The corner of Oleg’s mouth turned up. “There are two matches already on the calendar.”
The ancient game played on horseback was the precursor to the humans’ modern polo game, and it was the one pastime thatOleg actually enjoyed with his brothers. Any gathering of the Kievan Rus was incomplete without a chaugan tournament.
Mika murmured, “We could probably wait until after the chaugan matches to kill Ivan.”
Ludmila nodded. “He’s a good striker.”
“Are you actually debating when we should remove one of my governors based on his accuracy with a chaugan mallet?”
Mika and Ludmila clamped their mouths shut.
“Heisthe best striker in the family,” Oleg muttered. “But that’s not important.”
“Yes, Knyaz,” Mika said.
“Of course, boss.”
“So who do we put Ivan’s place?” Oleg said. “We need someone who can step into the role, who all of Ivan’s assholes respect, and who isn’t part of my druzhina.”
“Why not?” Mika snapped. “The druzhina is loyal to you. We can trust the druzhina.”
“I do not disagree, but remember the very elite and wonderful vampires of Moscow” —Oleg was thinking of Ivan’s entire region— “think they are just a little bit better than the rest of us.”
Ludmila snorted.
“Don’t forget,” Oleg said, “they were my father’s special boys.”
Ludmila nodded. “Make sure it is someone who has a dick.”
One of Mika’s eyebrows shot up. “This is coming from you?”
“You think Ivan’s boys are open-minded?” Ludmila asked. “If the boss wants stability, he needs someone to herd the sexist donkeys in that city. A vampire…” She spread her hands. “…with a dick.” She looked at her hands and muttered. “Maybe a good-sized one, I don’t know. It matters to you guys, right? That kind of thing?”
Oleg couldn’t stop his smirk. “It’s good you amuse me.”
Ludmila flipped him off.
