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  “He won’t have to have anything to do with your lifeline if you stay away from him,” the sirin told her. “And I do urge you to stay away from him. You have the voice of your rusalka grandmother, but don’t think for a moment a pretty tune will have any effect on Kirill. He may find it pleasant, but it won’t be nearly enough to stop him from killing you if you get in his way.”

  Raising her wings, the sirin turned, preparing to fly away.

  “Akilina, please. Tell me what you saw between me and the prince,” Irina insisted. Her mind hovered in a sort of limbo, not certain what emotion to settle on. Dread? Hope? What sort of effect would the prince have on her life? Considering her politics, she didn’t think he would be all that thrilled to meet her…

  Akilina paused. For several long moments, silence dragged out, unbroken by even a rustling feather. The sirin sat in the window, facing the trees beyond the cottage, not a single syllable falling from her beautiful lips. Just when Irina had given up hope for an answer, the sirin drew a deep breath.

  “I see you in a coffin with the vampire prince beside you. Please, Irina, stay away from Prince Kirill. His attentions will only bring you harm.”

  Before Irina could beg her for anymore information, Akilina leapt off the windowsill and sailed into the forest. She propped her elbows on the windowsill and stared into the woods without really seeing anything. It was a mild day and she’d opened the window to air out the cottage while she could. She hadn’t meant to leave it open for so long, but a roaring fire would soon take the chill away. She sighed and straightened up, preparing to close the window.

  “Irina!”

  Irina paused and leaned toward the sound of the voice, smiling when she saw the dwarves trudging along the path to the cottage. Ivan was rushing ahead of the others, his face its usual stormy fury.

  “What are you doing talking to a sirin?” he shouted. He bolted up to the cottage to stand in front of the window. Irina tried to wipe the smile from her face as he stood there frowning at her with his arms crossed. “Don’t you know anything about sirins? She’ll sing you a right good tune and then before you know it you’ll be dead!”

  “He’s loud, but he’s right,” Sasha admitted, shuffling up behind Ivan. “Sirins are bad news for humans.”

  “They’re not good news for anybody,” Ivan growled.

  Irina leaned out the window and planted a kiss on top of Ivan’s head. The dwarf nearly fell over in shock before staring up at her.

  “Wh—I—y—what was that for?” he sputtered.

  “For being so concerned about my welfare,” Irina said, amusement lifting her spirits in the wake of the sirin’s cryptic prophecy. “I’ve only known you a few weeks and already you take better care of me than any family I’ve ever had.”

  Ivan’s face turned beet red and he dropped his gaze to the ground, kicking a clump of dirt. “It’s no bother,” he mumbled. “You’ve been good to us too, cooking and cleaning.” He straightened his spine and met her eyes. “It wouldn’t be right if we didn’t look out for you.”

  “Well, I adore you for it, all of you.” Irina peered out the window as the rest of the dwarves arrived, dragging their sacks of diamonds behind them and in the door. They looked so tired, each and every one of them. Irina pursed her lips. She wasn’t educated enough in the art of diamond cutting to be of any real help. However, she did know something about assessing the color and quality of the final product. Serafina, in the beginning, had spent a great deal of time trying to turn Irina into a “proper lady of the court.” Perhaps Irina could lend an eye.

  Ivan and Sasha plodded along behind their brothers into the house. Irina turned and watched their faces light up when they came in to find a hot dinner waiting for them in a cauldron over the fire.

  “Irina!” Sasha gasped.

  Joy filled Irina’s heart as they scurried to the table, their bags of raw diamonds abandoned on the floor. She went to the stove and started filling bowls with the thick stew. One at a time, the dwarves came up and got their dinner before taking it back to the table.

  “I may have gone a little overboard,” she admitted. “I used three times the meat I usually do, but you’ve all just been so tired lately, I thought you could use a bit of extra protein.”

  Ivan looked up at her, his mouth so full his little cheeks bulged. He mumbled something around the food, but Irina couldn’t for the life of her figure out what it was. She just smiled and turned to their bags, gathering them up and carrying them over to the massive cylindrical bin that took up one wall. One by one she emptied the sacks into the bin, wrinkling her nose at the scent of the strange potion that splashed around inside. When the last of the rough diamonds had plopped into the mixture, she sealed it tight and hooked it up to the latch on the windmill. Creaking and grinding filled the air as the bin began to turn, slowly, rolling the diamonds around in the potion. In a few days, the diamonds would be clean and ready to shape.

  “You don’t have to do that, Irina,” Sasha objected.

  “Oh, I don’t mind. In fact, if you’ll permit me, I’d like to help a little more. I have somewhat of an eye for color. I’d be more than happy to go through the finished diamonds and sort them for you.”

  “Sorting diamonds for the royal family is no laughing matter,” Ivan spoke up between bites. He shook his head. “I wouldn’t want to put you in the king’s sights if you were to make a mistake.”

  “Well I’m sure if he finds one that’s not to his liking, the people in the village would be more than happy with his castaways.”

  There was a sudden cacophony as all the dwarves dropped their silverware and turned to stare at her with open mouths and wide eyes.

  “Irina, do not even joke about that,” Ivan said hoarsely.

  “The diamond mine belongs to the royal family. If they were to even suspect that you had thoughts about giving their diamonds away…”

  Irina crossed her arms. “And who exactly decided that the diamond mine was theirs? It runs under the entire kingdom! Just because they had that portal set up so that the mine can only be accessed from the cave in the side of the castle, doesn’t mean they own the entire system.”

  “Oh, but it does!” Sasha insisted. He put a hand to his stomach as if he would be ill. “Irina, you are too young to remember, but this particular royal family did not get to where they are now just by being born into power. The king started that way, true. He was a human king once, just the next son in a long line of entitled monarchs. There were people back then who thought the same way you do. They started to wonder what made the king better than them, what entitled him to have so much more than they. Those people organized themselves and rose up against the lords of their territories. They stormed the castle, dragged the royal family into the woods and—”

  “Killed them all,” Ivan interrupted. “The king, queen, and even the prince himself. They all lost their lives in the woods, and they were buried there as well. No respect was given to them, no fanfare…and no burial rights.”

  “The coup was a success and the people celebrated.” Sasha shook his head. “Foolish humans.”

  “The royal family rose as vampires and took the kingdom back,” Irina finished. “Believe it or not, I did know about that particular bit of history. It was part of what inspired me to fight for freedom.”

  “The people responsible for the coup were killed and burned. Their ashes were spread to the four corners of the world except for the heads that were kept on pikes until Father Time himself rotted them away to dust.” Ivan shook his head. “What about that inspired you to follow in their footsteps?”

  “That coup failed because the people were ignorant in the ways of the world beyond the veil,” Irina protested. “They had forgotten the old ways. If anything, that coup was a rebirth, an awakening for the people. Since then, the people have resumed their worships, paying respect and tribute to the fey, minding their paths in the woods, and watching their children even when they sleep. They’re smarter now and soon
their fear will lessen. Vampires will not be so terrifying and they will see them once again as an over privileged monarchy that—”

  “Vampires never grow less fearsome,” Ivan snapped. “You just wait until you meet one of them, then you’ll see.”

  “Why wait?” Irina stuck out her chin. “Perhaps I’ll pay the prince a visit. Thank him for rescuing me.”

  Ivan’s eyes widened. The entire cottage fell into total silence.

  “How did you know about that?” Sasha spoke finally.

  “Akilina told me. The better question is, why didn’t you?”

  “Irina, please don’t be angry. We didn’t think it was important,” Sasha pleaded. “And besides, we thought that the less interaction you had with the prince, the better.”

  “We were afraid if we told you, you might get some fool idea in your head that you shouldn’t fear the prince, that somehow he wouldn’t kill you just as dead as if you were any other woman who got in his way,” Ivan insisted.

  “You can’t seem to mention a member of the royal family without including death in the sentence,” Irina observed. “I’m starting to wonder why he saved me when his reputation makes it seem more probable that he would leave me to die?”

  “Well that wouldn’t make a lot of sense now would it?” Ivan muttered. “Vampires who go around killing all their subjects wouldn’t have much of a kingdom left after long, would they? Maybe Prince Kirill is just assuring that he has as many subjects as possible when he takes over. With all the effort he puts into wooing every species that populates this kingdom, it wouldn’t surprise me at all if he did a head count each evening to assure himself that no one has been poaching his future subjects.”

  Irina raised an eyebrow. “Wooing? Why is he wooing people?”

  “Well it’s not like he’s going to become king the old fashioned way,” Sasha pointed out. “The king is a vampire. He’s already dead and still ruling. If Prince Kirill wants to become King Kirill…”

  “Wait a minute, so you’re telling me that the prince…is planning a coup?”

  Ivan scowled. “How do you not know that? Everyone knows that.”

  Lifting her shoulder in a half-hearted shrug, Irina turned her concentration inward. If Prince Kirill was planning a coup against his father, and wooing all manner of creatures in the process, then now was her chance. She had to find out what sort of man Prince Kirill was, what sort of ruler he would be. Perhaps if he was negotiating with people now, the groundwork could be laid for a more egalitarian system.

  The wheels in her head whirred as she reluctantly thought back to her early days with Serafina. There had been a time when the sorceress had actually groomed Irina, when she’d treated her stepdaughter like her own child. There had been lessons back then, careful instruction on politics and manipulation.

  Perhaps it was time for Irina to come out of hiding and meet the prince that had saved her life.

  Chapter 4

  Kirill blinked. The brain that he so relied on for plotting and planning seemed to fail him, offering him absolutely nothing that would help explain what he was hearing and seeing. Nothing that made sense anyway. He narrowed his eyes.

  “I’m sorry, could you say that again, please?”

  The woman standing in front of him scowled and planted her hands on her hips. Her dark eyes flashed at him as she pursed her lips. Kirill stared at her mouth, enchanted by the deep red hue that reminded him he hadn’t eaten yet tonight.

  “I came here with rather high hopes,” the woman said, slowly as if she were speaking to a dimwitted child. “But thus far, you have not impressed me. I’ve asked you a very simple question and you can’t even seem to hold it in your mind long enough to formulate an answer.”

  His eyebrows shot up. There it was. She’d insulted him. Again.

  “Didn’t I save your life less than a month ago?” he inquired. Perhaps his memory had failed him and it had been another fair skinned maiden he’d plucked from the snow. Surely this couldn’t be her. Not this sharp-tongued female with not even a hint of gratitude in her tone.

  The brief flash of guilt that flickered across her face surprised him by hinting that it was indeed the same woman.

  “Bringing personal matters up in the middle of a political discussion is rather a cheap shot, don’t you think?” she demanded.

  “We are not having a political discussion,” Kirill said calmly. “Not the least reason for that being, you are not a member of my court. You are merely a subject of my kingdom—”

  “Your father’s kingdom.”

  Shock widened Kirill’s eyes and anger erupted like a volcano inside him. He flew from his seat and snatched the woman’s wrist, tightening his grip until a tic in her jaw told him he was hurting her. To her credit, she didn’t whimper, just continued to bore holes through him with that black gaze.

  “You are a foolish girl,” he ground out. “You think that just because I saved your life I won’t kill you for—”

  “Why does everyone keep saying that?” the woman snapped. She tried to jerk her wrist from his grasp, clenching her teeth when he refused to loosen his grip. “I do not think you are going to give me special treatment just because you saved my life once. I am more than aware that you may kill me if it pleases you to do so, being the bloodthirsty vampire you are. What I am asking you, or trying to anyway, is what are your plans for the kingdom if you take over?”

  “When I take over,” Kirill snarled.

  “When. I’m a subject of this kingdom, as you so kindly reminded me, and I have a right to know what my life is to be like under your rule!”

  “No, you don’t. This is not a land of chaos where every person in the kingdom gets a say in how things are run. This is a monarchy, it will soon be my monarchy, and I will run it as I see fit. And however I decide to do so is no concern of yours!”

  “It is if you want me to help.”

  Kirill dropped her wrist and stepped back. His anger receded, chased back by the incredulity caused by this woman’s insistence on speaking nonsense. Never in his life or death had he been spoken to in such an insulting and perplexing manner. “What is your name?” he asked finally.

  “Irina.”

  “Irina what?”

  “Just Irina.”

  Annoyance flashed through Kirill and he clenched his hands into fists. The woman was trying his patience, a risky move at any time, but even more so now when he was fighting off the hunger he had ignored for too long.

  “You refuse to tell me your last name? Is there a reason you don’t want me to know who you are?”

  “Yes.”

  He waited, but she didn’t offer any more information. Instead, she stood there, staring at him. If he hadn’t been able to hear her pulse pounding just beneath her skin, he never would have suspected that calm expression was a façade. Kirill straightened, drawing his hands down his clothes as if he could smooth his emotions as easily as his garments. The woman was afraid of him, that was as it should be. She was not a threat. Though she spoke mostly nonsense, it wouldn’t hurt him to find out exactly how she thought she could be of value to him. And he could always use his own resources to discover her identity later if it behooved him to do so.

  “Tell me, Irina,” he said finally, offering her a political smile. “Exactly what makes you think I want your help?”

  “You want to take over the kingdom. To do that, you’ll need support from the creatures beyond the veil. You’re trying to woo them on your own, but that will only get you so far. There are creatures in this kingdom who just don’t like you and nothing you say or do will change that.”

  Sad but true, Kirill admitted to himself. His mind wandered to the trolls and the goblins. There were definitely fences to mend. “But you can change that?”

  Irina shrugged. “I’m not sure if I can make them like you. But they like me and having me on your side would go a long way to earning you a treaty with them.”

  Kirill rubbed a hand over his chin, considering Irina
with new eyes. As a general rule, Kirill did not partner with anyone. He had no intention whatsoever of sharing his power when he became king, not even with his own queen. One of the reasons his…relationship…with Serafina moved so slowly was because Serafina wanted more assurances than Kirill was willing to offer. The woman dangled information over Kirill’s head to try and lure him into a pact, but thus far Kirill had resisted. Still, it wouldn’t hurt to find out what Irina wanted…

  “And why would you want to help me?” he asked finally.

  “My people deserve to prosper,” she answered immediately, her gaze never leaving Kirill’s eyes. “Right now they are far too dependent on the lords and ladies of the territories, begging for whatever scraps the members of the court deign to throw their way. Dacia is a great kingdom, people from the other four kingdoms come here to trade and bring in new ideas, new medicines, new industry. The lords and ladies benefit from all of it, but the people themselves are too poor.” She sucked in a deep breath. “I want you to cease the tithes.”