Page 56 of Crimson Oath (The Firebird and the Wolf #2)

Tatyana recognized them. They were some of the humans who were tasked with moving the trailers during the day. Tatyana knew from her own experience with these men and women that the darigan were deadly serious about security.

“I am one of those whom Vano ordered to burn the caravan.” The man pointed at Vano.

“He told us the vampire inside had murdered a Poshani girl. That she was a murderer and the terrin had ordered her death for betraying our hospitality. He showed us a paper signed by all three. That is the only reason we followed his orders.”

“What an idiot.”

Tatyana turned and saw that it was Darius who had spoken.

Everyone in the stands turned to look at the old Persian in shock.

“Vano.” Darius shook his head, then stilled again, appearing more like a statue than a man.

“I think that’s the first time I’ve heard him speak in weeks,” Tatyana whispered.

Mika said, “His sense of timing is impeccable.”

They all turned around to see how Vano would respond to the accusations the human darigan leveled at him.

Kezia spoke plainly. “The terrin made no such order.”

“I know of no murdered girl,” Radu said.

Tenzin shouted again. “This is a mystery easily solved. Is anyone missing a daughter?”

Tatyana leaned toward Mika. “She really likes to make a scene, doesn’t she?”

“This is like watching a soap opera.” Mika kept his eyes on the stage. “But I am pleased. This is the best outcome for Oleg. ”

Ah yes. It was all about Oleg for Mika.

She leaned closer as the vampires argued on the stage. “I know about his dealings with Ivan, but did Oleg know of the stolen goblets?”

“I’m not sure this wasn’t all a stunt to take Vano’s goblet from him.” Mika nodded at the stage. “You notice that the little thief still has it in her hands.”

“She probably wants to keep it.”

Mika let out a dry laugh. “But then she’d be Poshani terrin for a century. You think she wants that?”

Oh no. Tatyana’s heart sank. She looked for Rumi and Desiree in the crowd.

This was going to throw everything into chaos, wasn’t it?

Yes, they were getting rid of a cruel terrin who was probably stealing from them, but Tatyana knew from experience that the devil you knew was often better than the devil you didn’t.

“She’s lying!” Vano screamed out. “They are thieves! I would never?—”

“Why would she lie?” Radu lifted his goblet. “Our goblets have been returned to us. Only yours is withheld. Would thieves do that?” Radu spoke to the Hazar. “Take him.”

A fight erupted in the air, and once again, everyone in the stands rose, watching the violence.

Swords clashed, Poshani screamed and ran, and punches of wind battered the assembly.

There was chaos on the ground as many tried to flee, and even some of the vampires in the stands seemed to disappear, melting into the woods around the meadow.

Benjamin Vecchio was the one to capture Vano, and the two wind vampires moved so quickly that Tatyana almost felt ill trying to watch them.

The fight did not last long. A few moments later Vano fell to the stage with a hard thump, and the waiting Hazar overwhelmed him.

Vecchio landed next to his mate, and a few words passed between Vecchio, Tenzin, and Radu, but Tatyana couldn’t hear anything until Kezia stepped forward again.

“Tenzin, you possess the ruby goblet of the Poshani terrin! You are an old friend, known to the kamvasa.” Kezia addressed the Poshani crowd. “Tenzin of Penglai, commander of the Altan Wind, daughter of the Kali, protector and bearer of the ruby dishana!”

“Huh,” Mika said. “I didn’t think she’d take it.”

Tatyana looked at Oleg again, but she could read no expression from him, and the bond between their amnis was deadly quiet.

This wasn’t over.

“He’s hiding his feelings,” Tatyana said. Why was he hiding his feelings?

“Oleg?” Mika shrugged. “He has no say in this. To interfere with the election of the terrin in any way would create distrust within the Poshani. If you interfere in the internal matters of an ally, are you truly an ally?”

Tatyana kept her eyes on Oleg, wondering what was going through his mind as he leaned farther forward, his harsh gaze intent on the stage.

The vampires on the stage seemed to be arguing in whispers as the Hazar led Vano kicking and screaming away, but a few moments later, Tenzin—the new Poshani terrin—stepped forward.

“Poshaniya,” she said. “You are kind and hospitable. You honor your guests and your history, and I would travel with you for a century if I could. But I am not suited for the honor of serving on the terrin.”

Mika muttered, “So they’ll have an election after all. Well, that’s not a bad?—”

“But there is among the kamvasa guests a woman of honor and cunning!” Tenzin continued.

“Madina?” Tatyana whispered to Mika. “Is she handing the goblet to Madina?”

“No.” Mika’s expression went carefully blank. “I don’t think she’s talking about Madina. ”

“—a vampire who respects your traditions and has learned your language and your history.”

Wait… what?

Tenzin turned and looked straight at her. “Tatyana Vorona.”

Oh no.

Oh no no no no no.

Hot fear flooded her chest.

Mika was whispering furiously. “You have to answer. Tatyana, you have to answer.”

Tatyana stared at Tenzin, a tiny vampire who had—perhaps unknowingly or perhaps not—blown up her entire existence.

She’d wanted to remain with the Poshani. She could admit that now. She wanted to remain. But she was no one’s leader. She was barely a vampire herself.

Mika hissed, “Stand up. You have to do something .”

She stood and turned to Oleg, but he said nothing.

Tatyana’s eyes went wide with a silent plea: Tell me what to do!

Oleg only gave her one infuriating raised eyebrow. Your decision, little wolf.

His silence was everything and nothing.

Oleg couldn’t help her. He couldn’t say anything. Any influence would be a sign of interference, and it would damage his alliance with the Poshani.

The crowd was quiet when Tatyana walked down the steps, her feet moving on a kind of autopilot.

She couldn’t do this.

There was no way she could do this.

She saw the Hazar who had greeted her at the bottom of the stairs.

“Surati.” He smiled and inclined his head. “Surati.”

She made her way forward as the crowd parted, her mind racing about what she should say. What she should do.

Surely they would pick someone else.

They had to pick someone else .

Other Poshani took up the address as she walked.

“Surati,” an older man said. “Surati!”

“My sister, you are called!”

This could not be happening.

She saw Rumi and Desiree at the end of the makeshift aisle the Poshani crowd had formed for her, and as she reached her friend, Desiree held up a hand and put another flower crown on her head.

The old women she had chopped onions with nodded and muttered their approval. “Good,” one said quietly. “Yes, it’s good.”

“Please,” Rumi whispered. “Tatyana, you have been called to this.”

“This was meant to be,” Desiree said from beside her. “Tanya, the Kali has spoken.”

Rumi continued her hushed encouragement. “If you take it now, no one will question it.”

Desiree whispered again, “It is the will of the Kali.”

With one last parting look at Rumi, Tatyana mounted the steps, the whispered entreaties of the people who had welcomed her into their community ringing in her ears.

Kezia said something, but she didn’t hear it.

Radu tried to speak, but it was as if he was mumbling through water.

Water.

She took a deep breath and called the mist in the air to steady her.

Yes.

She looked at Oleg, and the fierce devotion in his eyes nearly brought her to her knees.

A hundred years?

A century of service.

She looked at the hopeful faces spread out in front of her. Wide-eyed children and skeptical youths only a few years younger than she had been before everything in her life turned upside down. Mothers. Aunts. Uncles and grandfathers .

She wasn’t qualified to lead any of them.

But she did remember what it felt like to be human.

“You have opened your arms to me.” She choked back a sob that threatened to escape from her mouth. She could not cry. She would not. She would be strong for the people who had given her a place. A home.

The family that had welcomed her. Who had cared for her.

“You opened your arms to me,” she said again. “But you must be the ones to choose.”

The humans in the crowd kept their eyes on her.

She heard the word surati again.

Sister.

“If you want me as your terrin,” Tatyana continued, “I will do my best. I will devote myself to this even though I am young and I am learning. I will make so many mistakes, but I promise you that I will do my best.”

Someone in the crowd said again, “Surati.”

“Rusa Surati,” another said, and there was gentle laughter.

“ You must choose me.” Tatyana smiled. “Not anyone else. I will only accept the ruby dishana if it is the will of the Poshani people.”

“Surati!” a young woman shouted. “You are our sister, Tatyana le Tala!”

She had no idea what all that meant, but she lifted her eyes to Oleg’s.

His chin was lifted, and in his eyes, she saw both grief and pride.

Milaya . Her lover mouthed the endearment before his face settled into a stoic mask.

“Tatyana le Tala!” more of the Poshani shouted. They threw flowers on the stage. “Terrin of the Poshani! Terrin Surati, holder of the ruby goblet!”

Tatyana lifted her chin and touched the flower crown on her head as Tenzin, the fierce little thief who had put this knife to her neck walked over and held out a bright red goblet a little larger than a pomegranate .

“I believe this is yours.”

Tatyana looked at Vecchio, her hands hanging at her sides. “This was you.”

“Sometimes the wrong things happen to good people,” Benjamin Vecchio said. “And sometimes the right things happen to the right people.”

The goblet lingered in Tenzin’s hand, taunting her with its beauty, and all she could think was: Oleg couldn’t have made it more beautiful than this.

Tatyana turned to Kezia and Radu, the two vampires who would sit with her. Not as authorities but as equals. “I will never take this responsibility for granted. I will always look out for the most vulnerable.”

The corner of Kezia’s mouth turned up in a slight smile. “Then sister, take your goblet.”

Tatyana took the ruby dishana from Tenzin’s hand and lifted it to the cheers of the Poshani. She didn’t look at Oleg. If she did, she might burst into tears.

She glanced at Vecchio from the corner of her eye as they cheered. “I am never going to forget this.”

She wasn’t sure if that was a threat or not.

She was pretty sure it was a threat.