Page 11

“Later, I promise,” he said as he arrived in Marushka’s vicinity.

“Have to do my duty and have the first dance with my fiancée, y’know.

” He then proceeded to kiss them each on the cheek and finally the group went away giggling in search of other partners.

Vasili bowed to Marushka and held out his hand.

She stared at him for a moment. “You promised me Olgana and Svetlira wouldn’t be here. You swore after the last time you wouldn’t see them again.”

Vasili was unmoved, snagging a glass of feelgood from a passing servant and draining it in one gulp before casually setting the glass aside.

“Their families are old friends of my parents. My mother insisted—what could I do? This is still my parents’ home after all.

Now get off the damn sofa and dance with me. People are staring.”

In fact, the girls on the sofa next to Marushka were whispering behind their fans and giggling, although they quieted when Benet glared at them.

Marushka rose, shaking out her skirt a bit and took Vasili’s hand reluctantly.

He closed his fingers over hers so tightly Benet saw her wince but then the couple swept smoothly into the mix of dancers.

He watched them closely the entire time they danced and it appeared to him the prince was lecturing Marushka about something.

She maintained her calm demeanor but he noticed the signs of stress around her eyes and lips.

There was no time to talk to her though. Having danced with the prince she was now free to accept invitations from others and was whirling and twirling her way through complicated dance after dance while Benet and Dmitri watched.

If she was his woman, he’d spend the entire evening with her and etiquette be damned, Benet thought, watching Vasili dancing and flirting with yet another richly dressed girl.

And where on the seven hells did that fantasy come from?

He liked Marushka, enjoyed her presence at breakfast every day, and appreciated her support during the training sessions but he was focused on escaping.

Wasn’t he? And what did he have to offer an Outlier Grand Duchess even if he did find a way to get off the damn planet and go home?

Fiercely Benet ordered his cock to stand down as she came toward them after yet another dance, which she’d actually seemed to enjoy.

She’d been laughing and obviously comfortable with the young gallant who escorted her to the sofa when the song ended, which was a marked change from her previous turns around the floor.

Fanning herself, she sank onto the embroidered cushions and accepted a refreshing drink from Dmitri, while the young man bowed and continued their conversation.

Suddenly Vasili was there, shoving past the man with a curse, and grabbing Marushka by the wrist so hard she dropped the glass, spilling wine all over her dress.

He dragged her to her feet and pulled her in the direction of the nearest door.

Footmen were coming to escort her recent partner from the room.

Benet was in motion without conscious thought, hastening after the engaged couple, Dmitri at his back.

When he emerged into another of the endless halls, he hesitated. There was no sign of Marushka and her hot-headed fiancé.

“This way,” Dmitri said, moving to the righthand corridor. “His father’s library is up these stairs and he’s taken her there before for discussion, as he calls it.”

“What’s the guy’s problem?” Benet asked, catching up with Dmitri. “How can she let him treat her like that?”

“Marushka has been well trained in the social graces,” the Badari replied, scorn in his voice.

“She doesn’t make scenes and she understands she has to defer to Vasili, especially at his own home.

I’ve tried to support her in her independence but a woman can only go so far on Throne in asserting herself, unless she’s the Empress.

She’ll be his to do with as he pleases when they’re married.

You have to understand this. She’s as trapped as you are. ”

Benet ascended the stairs two at a time and at the top went toward the sound of raised voices, only to arrive at a pair of heavy, embossed doors at the end of the short hallway. He heard Vasili’s sharp tones in the room beyond and tried to open the door but it was locked. “Now what?”

“We wait. We guard the door. We’re here for her when their discussion is done.

She’ll have to stay through dinner and the concert in the garden afterward.

” With a shrug Dmitri leaned against the other half of the door.

“I’ve wanted to kill him at least a dozen times since they got engaged and he revealed his true nature but I can only kill on the command of the Empress.

And even more to the point, Marushka herself has forbidden me to intervene. ”

Nobody made me promise a damn thing. Benet’s mood was savage.

He and the other man stood awkwardly beside the door for a few minutes.

Benet could hear the rise and fall of angry voices inside the room but couldn’t make out any words.

Then he heard the sound of a blow, Marushka screamed and there was a heavy thud.

Turning to the door, he raised his booted foot and kicked it open, splintering the lock.

He rushed into the room to find Marushka on the floor, hand to her face, eyes wide in shock with Vasili standing over her, hands fisted.

Benet didn’t hesitate for an instant but grabbed the prince by the shoulder and sent him spinning across the room, to slam into a heavy reading table.

“How dare you break into this room,” Vasili shouted. Gathering himself the Outlier noble rushed to attack Benet.

He heard Dmitri behind him attempting to get Marushka to her feet but he kept his concentration on Vasili. It took him one blow to knock the prince out and send him toppling to the floor in a heap.

“You killed him?” Marushka cried.

“Hells no, simply gave him a taste of his own medicine,” Benet said in satisfaction.

“We must get out of here before the household is alerted and comes,” Dmitri said. “Can you walk or should I carry you, devochka ?”

“I—I can walk.” She sounded shaky and Benet was skeptical but he agreed with Dmitri’s estimation they needed to be gone.

He followed them into the hall and Marushka directed them past several servants and down a set of stairs which were narrow and uncarpeted.

They emerged in a room outside the kitchen, where more servants were hard at work, barely glancing up from dinner preparations to gawk as Benet and his companions made their way through, reaching a door which led outside.

“Stay here, keep an eye on her,” Dmitri said. “I’ll get the groundcar.”

“I can’t leave,” she protested. “It simply isn’t done. I have to be here for dinner and the concert afterward.”

Benet touched her swollen cheek gently, where a bruise was already forming, ugly and purple. “You want to sit at table with all these people bearing his mark on your face? You can’t be serious about staying—you need to be at home, have a cup of tea, put ice on your cheek and regain your calm.”

Dmitri looked at the two of them and nodded.

“Benet talks sensibly.” Then he was gone, sprinting into the dark, presumably to find the limousine.

Benet hoped he knew where he was going. There wasn’t much time before the alarm was raised.

He wasn’t worried for himself— he was already in so much trouble just being here in Outlier he couldn’t concern himself with assault on a petty prince—but he wanted Marushka safely away from here.

She was trembling and it dawned on him she was probably in shock and chilled from the night air so he took off his fancy scarlet jacket and draped it over her shoulders.

Putting his arm around her, he drew her away from the building to a set of wooden tables and benches close by.

“You need to sit. Dmitri will be here soon.”

She sank onto a bench, her elaborate dress and petticoats poufing up, the hem now bedraggled and dirty.

“I made him angry, dancing with Jervan,” she said after a moment of silence.

“We’ve known each other since we were born practically because he lives on the next estate over.

He’s like a brother to me, nothing romantic at all but Vasili accused me of flirting with Jervan and encouraging him to take liberties.

He said I embarrassed him in front of his family and all his guests. That I was wanton.”

Benet knelt in front of her and took her hands, which trembled. “All of what he said is pure crap. I watched you dance with the guy and it was obvious you were friends and nothing more. Vasili is a bully and an abuser—you can’t marry a man like that.”

She stared at him, eyes wide. “I must, it’s all settled. My father has been paid the bride price and spent it already. There can be no thought of backing out now because Vasili had a bad night. Maybe he drank too much. I’ll be more careful of his feelings?—”

“I know you don’t want to hear this right now but nothing you do will ever be good enough for him. It’s a pattern I’ve seen before with my own mother and the man she married after my father died. He’s going to escalate his violence—you can’t appease him.”

Marushka bit her lip and averted her eyes. “Can we not talk about this right now, please?”

He had a lot more he wanted to say and he wished he’d killed the bastard when he had the chance.

As a gladiator he knew exactly how much force to put into one of his blows and he’d deliberately aimed to knock the prince out, not execute him.

Rising to his feet, he rested a hand on her shoulder and squeezed gently but stayed silent.

Lights came around the curve in the service road running close to the building and a moment later the groundcar pulled up.

Dmitri was at the controls and he popped the passenger door, making summoning hand gestures.