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Chapter Four

A few hours later he had to forcibly remind himself of his earlier acceptance of the evening’s assignment.

He’d showered, shaved and gotten dressed in the most ridiculous uniform he’d ever seen outside of a historical trideo—the black pants were okay except for the gold ribbon down the sides, but the jacket was a scarlet nightmare, with fringed epaulets and gold buttons, a sash and of course the crest emblazoned on his left chest in red and black.

There was a hat too, which was covered in shiny black fur, weighed a ton, gave him an instant headache and smelled faintly like anti-moth crystals.

“I’m glad I’m not the only one who looks ridiculous tonight,” he said to Dmitri as they made their way to the main residence on the estate.

“If the lady gets into any serious trouble tonight our first fight will be getting out of these damn costumes.”

“The event will be decorous in public,” Dmitri said, adjusting his hat. His badge was stitched on gold thread, with tiny jewels set around the edge and a two headed roaring feline in the center, on its hind legs, a crown on each head. “Vasili has his own security. We must play our parts.”

“A girl couldn’t ask for more handsome escorts,” Marushka said and Benet turned to watch her descend the grand staircase, moving gracefully despite her massive dress, which was pale blue, with ruffles and a train and covered in floral patterns picked out in pearls and diamonds.

She had an empress’s ransom in jewelry on and her hair was piled high into an elaborate do with birds and flowers woven into it.

Benet gave her his best bow and extended his hand. “Allow me to escort you to the groundcar, my lady.”

She rested her hand on his arm and this time he saw the giant engagement ring, eyeing it with distaste.

“You’re a fairy tale princess,” he said to her as he brought her outside to the waiting limousine.

“Don’t let appearances fool you.” Her answer was tart. “This dress has ten petticoats and stays and weighs more than I do, I think, yet I must remain graceful at all times and dance and mingle. If we were at Court I’d be in an even fancier costume.”

Benet found that hard to believe but he took her word for it.

Living in Outlier seemed to be a head spinning mix of modern and medieval, in an uneasy blend.

He and Dmitri got her and the dress into the luxurious groundcar and then took their seats at the rear of the vehicle.

There was a partition between them and Marushka, but she lowered the glass so they could talk as the human chauffeur drove them off the estate grounds and onto a modern road.

“Has Dmitri briefed you on what’s going on tonight?” she asked Benet.

“I have,” the Badari answered for him.

“You won’t try to escape, will you?” The intense stare from her blue eyes drilled into him.

Benet wasn’t going to admit anything but the idea had crossed his mind.

Dmitri could take care of Marushka without his help and had been doing so for years.

He could steal a groundcar, head to the spaceport, sneak aboard a ship or steal a small ship…

oh yes, he’d considered the possibilities thoroughly.

She held out her hand and he took it. “You must promise me you’ll stay with us tonight.

The consequences if you try to escape and are caught would be horrendous.

It makes me sick to think of it. Dmitri would be in trouble and so would I.

I requested you for this duty tonight—I’ll feel better with you there. ”

And now he was stuck. He hadn’t realized she’d asked for him to protect her.

Benet swallowed hard. “I’ll give you my word for tonight, my lady, but I do intend to find my way home at some point.” Or Kyden will come and extract me from this nightmare.

“So, a promise for one night only?” she asked, clasping her fingers around his.

He was so tempted to lean forward and kiss her but Dmitri’s bulk in the seat next to him was a reminder of his place in this costume drama of an evening.

He was a bodyguard, not the prince, despite all the gilt on his ridiculous uniform.

“I’m sure you have better things to think about than me tonight.

I’ll be there the whole evening and in the morning I’ll hit the obstacle course like your father wants me too. Okay?”

She squeezed his hand and withdrew hers. “I accept.” Busying herself getting a bottle of feelgood out of a compartment beside her seat, she turned to Benet. “Would you care for a drink?”

“I’m on duty.”

“So am I, in a way, and I’m only going to get through this if I’m on my way to being drunk,” she said, her expression forlorn. “Fine, I’ll drink alone.”

“Go easy, devochka ,” Dmitri said. “You need your wits about you to handle Vasili and the crowd of jackals and vultures he attracts.”

Marushka turned away from them, sipping her drink. “I can handle myself and him.”

The rest of the drive was made in silence.

The house where the party was being held was huge, much like the estate where Marushka and Dmitri lived, and there was a great bustle of limousines coming and going. The Nichevsky chauffeur had to wait for several minutes for their turn at the grand entrance.

“Copy me, do what I do and you’ll be fine,” Dmitri said to Benet as they exited the groundcar and put their massive hats on again.

He opened the door for Marushka and then he and Benet walked behind her as she made her way through the crush of people, many of whom seemed to be there merely to gawk at the arriving nobility.

Benet had to shove a few overeager people behind the velvet ropes meant to contain the spectators.

He remembered what Dmitri had said about assassination and his gut tightened.

Marushka was completely vulnerable out here and didn’t seem aware at all of the danger she could be in.

He ramped up his situational awareness about a thousand times as she went to the rope to greet people she evidently recognized.

“Your grace, we shouldn’t linger,” he said, touching her elbow as she admired a rosy cheeked baby and exchanged pleasantries with the mother. “It might not be safe for you out here.”

“Nonsense, these are Vasili’s people, which means they’ll be mine as well soon,” she said, but she did move toward the stairs, which satisfied Benet.

“Medieval much?” he whispered to Dmitri as he climbed the imposing flight of stairs toward the house itself.

Dmitri merely shrugged. “It’s Outlier. This is how they do things here.”

There was a receiving line and Marushka accepted cold kisses on the cheek from various older women, who Benet gathered must be Vasili’s relatives and overly enthusiastic embraces from several elder men, one of whom tried to kiss her full on the lips but she gracefully evaded him.

Vasili was at the end of the line and he left his family to pull her in for a passionate kiss, while his mother protested the lack of decorum and his father loudly proclaimed the lovers should be allowed to reunite however they wished.

Benet kept his face expressionless but he was disturbed.

They hadn’t even made it into the damn house yet and already he didn’t like the way the evening was going.

When Marushka stepped away from Vasili, he and Dmitri got closer and escorted her inside.

Benet glanced over his shoulder to see the prince staring at him, eyes narrowed, obviously not happy Marushka had brought her bodyguards to his party.

“I need to freshen up,” Marushka said as the men handed off their fur hats to a uniformed footman. “This way.”

She seemed quite at home in Vasili’s mansion, leading them through a corridor to what she said was a lady’s retiring room.

She disappeared inside while Benet and Dmitri stood guard and prevented anyone else from entering.

He figured a place this big must have plenty of other retiring rooms for guests and Marushka needed a few minutes alone.

Eventually she reappeared, wearing a huge, fake smile and they followed her to the next destination, which was a giant ballroom.

Benet barely managed to repress a whistle as he entered in her wake.

As big as the room was, it was filled with people.

There was a live orchestra and people dancing energetically, while throngs of other guests sat or stood along the walls in small groups and chatted.

Waiters moved among the crowd passing out drinks and single bite appetizers.

Marushka made her way to a small group sitting on sofas, who made room for her to sit and immediately engaged her in conversation in rapidfire Outlier.

Benet didn’t speak the language but he recognized cattiness when he heard it and guessed there was a lot of gossip going on.

Marushka said little but watched the couples whirling across the floor with barely disguised longing.

“She can’t dance until Vasili gets in here,” Dmitri said quietly. “He insists on being her first partner but he’s in no rush.”

Benet kept his negative opinion of the prince to himself.

He checked out the room, realizing the walls were covered in slabs of pure amber, broken up by long gilded mirrors and elaborate paintings the likes of which he’d only seen in museums or historical trideos.

There were candles in golden holders everywhere, but more modern lighting subtly illuminated the party as well.

The ceiling was one huge painting, of what he couldn’t be sure, but perhaps a depiction of a myth or a legend, given all the clouds and winged figures. These people have credits to burn.

Dmitri nudged him in the ribs and Benet saw the prince finally making his way into the room. He was surrounded by a bevy of women, who seemed to be flirting heavily with him and trying to get him to dance.