“He should be ambitious,” Mika said, “but not want the empire for himself. Someone strong enough to hold together a huge state and hold the line against the Fire King, who can govern well but who puts the empire above their personal ambition.”
“We need anotheryou,” Ludmila said. “Do you have another one in your treasury somewhere? Because we need another you.”
“We need another you.”
Oleg was still thinkingabout Ludmila’s statement later that night when he and Tatyana went to a dinner hosted by his brother Pavel, the governor of the North Ingria region and their official host in Saint Petersburg.
Pavel had invited a wide array of humans and vampires from his administration that reflected the mixed history of Ingria. There were Russians, of course, but Finns and Estonians as well.
Pavel had also invited the Scandinavian vampire leader from Sweden, Jetta Ommunsdotter, who rarely attended anything Pavel hosted because she quite frankly hated Oleg.
Tatyana leaned over to Oleg and spoke in a low voice. “Why is that vampire from Sweden glaring at you?”
“That is Jetta. She hates me. She puts up with Pavel, which is one of the reasons that I’ve convinced him to remain governor here, but she hates me.”
She nodded. “I can see that.”
“Do you?”
“Scandinavian culture is usually quite mild, and they don’t care for extreme types of personalities, isn’t that correct?”
“Yes. Are you saying that I’m an extreme person?”
“Oh no, my husband, you are as mild as a summer breeze.” She lifted her glass and sipped the bubbling champagne that had been served with the first course of caviar. “What a mystery that she dislikes you.”
She was doing it on purpose, trying to make him laugh while they were supposed to be playing at being indifferent allies who happened to be getting married to formalize an alliance.
Oleg and Tatyana were sitting at the head of one table with two long tables stretching out from either side in a U shape so all the vampires could see each other clearly and no sudden movements could be hidden. The formal dining room was paneled by mirrors, another security feature that was quite beautiful combined with all the flickering candles in sconces around the room.
Oleg corralled the intrusive thought of grabbing control of those little flames and sending them shooting around the room to burn off the beards of all of Jetta’s tall Danish guards.
The idea put a smile on his face.
Human servers moved among the guests, filling glasses and refilling the dishes of caviar Pavel had provided, and a band of Poshani instrumentalists were playing traditional folk music at the end of the hall, which was both entertaining and a slight mask to keep conversations more private.
“Why do vampires like caviar so much?” Tatyana asked.
Oleg tried to keep his expression blank. “Is this a joke you are telling me?”
“No, I honestly don’t know because it tastes so strong to me, but the Poshani love it too. Maybe even more than your people.”
“Hmm.” Oleg didn’t know. “Perhaps because it tastes as if you are eating something real when you are mostly consuming water.”
“Yes, that makes sense.”
Vampire appetites for human food were notoriously light. They needed some food in their stomachs but very little.
“Did Pavel’s social secretary send over a profile of the guests tonight?”
“Yes,” Tatyana said. “But she also said I would not need to speak to most of them, so I didn’t learn all their names. She did highlight the important people like Jetta and the German duke, who I am supposed to dance with. Is he really a duke?”
“He really is.” Oleg sipped his champagne. “He was just married himself, but his wife is probably still in Bavaria. They also have a political marriage. His long-term partner is the man sitting on his left.”
“Another political marriage?” She pursed her lips. “Don’t tell me we are jumping on a trend, Oleg.”
“You should call me ‘my lord’ in public.”
The corner of his mouth turned up as she said something in Poshani that would have made her blush if she were human.
