Page 57 of Crimson Oath (The Firebird and the Wolf #2)

Oleg

O leg strode toward Tatyana’s trailer, but there was already a company of Hazar stationed outside.

He halted and addressed the one who seemed to be in charge. “Please tell Tatyana le Tala that Oleg Sokolov requests an audience.”

The Hazar inclined his head. “Yes, Lord Oleg.”

Things were moving very fast. The night was still young, and Vano was being tried within hours. The vampire would be dead by dawn, and Oleg needed information.

And he needed to see her.

Oleg didn’t know what he was feeling, but there would be time to sort all of it out later. Right now he had a unique opportunity with the new terrin of the Poshani people, and he couldn’t?—

“Oleg?”

The moment she opened the door, he rushed inside.

“It’s fine, it’s fine!” She reassured the Hazar seconds before she slammed the door in their faces, and then she completely collapsed in his arms .

Oleg picked her up, carrying her to the sofa as she sobbed silent cries into his chest.

“They cannot hear me,” she whispered.

“I know.”

“I cannot let them hear me.”

His little wolf didn’t want to admit her fear to those who had chosen her.

“Shhhh. I have you.” Oleg held her in a fierce embrace, kissing the crown of her head, pressing his lips to her golden hair. “I have you. You’re fine.”

She could not stop crying, her body heaving with silent sobs.

He whispered, “Tatyana le Tala.”

Tatyana the Gold.

Someday she would appreciate the beautiful name they had given her, but as she wept in his arms, he felt her fear and her grief in the blood he carried within his own veins.

No one knew their connection, and they would have to be very, very cautious.

“Milaya,” he whispered, “you did the right thing.”

That only seemed to make her cry harder.

She was wrung out, and he tilted her face to his, hoping his kiss would give her strength. The kiss grew from a gentle reassurance to a desperate joining as she threw her arms around his neck and held him in an iron grip.

When their lips parted, she buried her face, wet with bloody tears, into his neck.

“What did I do?” she whispered. “Oleg, what have I done? I can’t do this.”

“Yes, you can.”

“I can’t. They picked the wrong?—”

“They picked wisely.” Oleg took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Then another. “Breathe with me.”

After a few moments, her breathing matched his. She was so precious. And so very, very human still .

He kissed her forehead. “You were presented with an impossible situation, and you took the lead.”

“You asked me to?—”

“Now is not the time to talk about that.” He pressed a quick kiss to her temple, refusing to think about the questions hanging between them. “Your fellow terrin are going to execute Vano tonight for betraying the clan, and I need your help.”

She perceived the situation immediately. “You need to ask him about Ivan.”

“Radu and I reached an agreement the other night, but in the heat of the evening’s revelations, I don’t want to take a chance that they will kill him before I can interrogate him.”

She sat back and took another breath, steadying herself. Her lips were trembling, but he saw the steel enter her spine as she stood up and wiped her face. “We should go.”

“Give yourself a moment,” he whispered. “You have a moment. They will not judge him without your presence.”

Her mouth settled into a line. “They’re going to kill him.”

“They might ask you to kill him yourself,” Oleg said, “as you are the one taking his seat.”

Her eyes went wide. “But he didn’t hand it over. I didn’t… I didn’t take it. I didn’t battle him for it.”

“Exactly. The goblet was taken from him because he betrayed the clan. If you were the one to execute justice, it would cement your position.”

“They chose me,” she whispered, “but I never wanted this. Oleg, you have to know I never?—”

“Vecchio was right.” Oleg kept his voice low. “Often horrible things happen to the wrong people. This time something good happened to the right person. Take it, Tatyana.”

The irony was not lost on him. She had been without a clan, without aegis of any kind, and now the woman he loved and wanted above all others was the leader of an ancient and powerful clan known for their fierce loyalty.

For the rest of her eternity, Tatyana Vorona—Tatyana le Tala—would be a valued and protected member of the Poshani clan. She would have the family she wanted. The clan she deserved. She would belong to a family as devoted to her as she was to them.

There was nothing that Oleg could offer greater than that.

“You can bring the Poshani into the new century,” he continued. “Modernize their businesses, lift up those who have been overlooked, and provide guidance to a proud people that will last centuries. You are the leader that they need right now.”

Her eyes cleared, and the lip that had been trembling steadied.

Purpose. His mate needed purpose to be happy.

“Yes.” She nodded. “I can do that.”

“And you won’t do any of this alone.” Oleg stood and held out his hand. “Come, milaya. Let us go meet your fellow terrin.”

Oleg helped her dress in a dark frock and a cape that one of her human friends brought to her trailer. It was embroidered with a bright border of red and blue flowers. She washed her face, brushed her hair, and Oleg braided it in two long plaits that he wove together and pinned on her head.

“There. You look like a queen.”

She looked over her shoulder. “How do you know how to braid?”

“You doubt my skills? My hair used to be longer than yours.”

“I would have liked to see that.” She took a steadying breath. “I’m ready.”

He kissed her forehead. “Yes, you are.”

As they left the trailer and walked to the terrin’s tent, Oksana walked over to meet them, holding the gift that Oleg had quickly arranged .

“Terrin Tatyana.” Oksana paused and inclined her head. “A gift from the Kievan Rus to the new leader of the Poshani.”

It was a battle-ax in the Varangian style, forged with a single curved head and balanced for Tatyana’s weight.

Ludmila, being closer to Tatyana’s size and weight, had picked it from the weapons she’d brought from the citadel, and Oksana had overseen the quick construction of the guard and belt by a Poshani craftsman.

If Tatyana was going to execute Vano, she would use Oleg’s blade to do it.

Tatyana’s face revealed nothing when she held out her hands to take the weapon. “Thank you, Oksana. It is a beautiful gift.”

She handed the axe to the Hazar on her left, who looked at Oleg and gave him a nod of approval.

Oleg walked behind Tatyana, a little to her right, and watched as the frightened young woman who had wept in his arms put on the mental armor to face a century of leadership.

Mika came to walk beside him. “She will do well once she gets the feel for it.”

“I know.”

“You always did have a weakness for powerful women,” Mika muttered. “There was that queen in Spain for a while. Several Scandinavian princesses. That clan leader from Bohemia in the twelfth century.”

“Mika, shut up.”

As she approached, the Hazar guards pulled back the entrance to the tent, and then everyone except Tatyana stopped and she walked forward.

She turned and met Oleg’s eyes. “I will speak to my brother and sister first.”

The Hazar seemed to approve of this, judging by their pleased expressions.

Oleg stood next to the Hazar holding Tatyana’s weapon and asked, “Have you tracked down all of Vano’s people yet?”

His expression revealed nothing. “We have. ”

“And?”

“Hazar take an oath to the clan, not the terrin.” The vampire turned to Oleg. “If any of our number violate that oath, they are dealt with by their brothers and sisters.”

Oleg had a feeling that any of the Hazar who had knowingly cooperated with Vano were going to face the same fate as their former terrin.

After some time, Radu poked his head from the tent and pointed at Oleg, snapping his fingers as he motioned for him to come.

Oleg paused just long enough to hear Mika let out a sigh. “Oh, that is the most satisfying?—”

“Shut up,” Oleg said. “If you do not want me to kill you.”

Oksana snickered as Oleg walked forward, ducking his head underneath the entrance of the terrin’s tent.

Vano was bound by heavy chains at the neck, the wrists, and the ankles, and those chains were locked around the central tent support that had been carved with the terrin’s crests.

Oleg was already mentally designing Tatyana’s crest, which she would carve into the beam before the next kamvasa.

Vano sat on the ground, staring at the far wall with a slight smile on his smug face. One of his ears was missing, and blood dripped down his neck.

Judging by the blood trail, Kezia had been the one to take the ear.

The wind vampire couldn’t fly. He couldn’t reach any weapons. And he could not escape the condemnation of his clan.

“The terrin of the Poshani have come to a unified agreement now that our sister has joined us,” Kezia told Oleg. “Vano’s execution will be public as a warning to any and all who think to betray their clan.”

“A public execution?” Oleg nodded. “A wise choice for both your clan and your guests.”

“Yes,” Tatyana said. “A statement must be made that betrayal of the clan or the clan’s guests is punishable by painful death.”

Oleg locked eyes with her. “How will he die?”

“He will burn. ”

Oleg cocked his head. “Are you asking?—”

“Vano will face the sun,” Tatyana said, “chained to the ground until he burns to his death, and his ashes will remain visible until the kamvasa moves. Both humans and vampires must see that betrayal of the clan will not be tolerated.”

Radu added, “He will not return to his element. His ashes will be ground into the dirt where animals can tread on his remains.”

Oleg looked at his old friend. “It is a statement.”

“It is.” He held his hand out toward Vano. “You are welcome to question him about your brother if you would like. The Poshani value our alliance and trust that our relationship will remain strong in the future now that this cancer has been exposed.”