Page 22 of Dark Princess Ascending

"That makes sense." She smiled sheepishly. "All this new technology just goes over my head."

As the door opened and Marina walked in with her parents, Peter walked over to greet them.

"Lara, Daniil. It's so good to see you again." He leaned to kiss Lara's cheeks one at a time and then offered Daniil his hand.

"How do they like the village?" he asked Marina.

"They love it," Marina said. "Did you get them the earpieces?"

"Yes." He led them to the dining table and explained how to put them in.

When it was done, Peter turned to his mother. "This is my mother, Catrina. Mother, this is Lara, Marina's mother, and Daniil, her father."

"A pleasure to meet you both." His mother offered her hand to Lara and then to Daniil.

So far, so good. Everyone was being polite, and his mother was making an effort to be civil and to not look down her nose at Marina's parents.

"I see that you've met my Peter before," his mother said.

"Oh, yes." Lara smiled. "Peter and Marina stayed in Safe Haven before they moved to the village, so, of course, we were introduced. And you met our Marina on the cruise, correct?"

"Yes." His mother forced a smile. "She was part of the crew and hard to miss with her blue hair and piercings."

Lara grimaced. "I don't like either of those things. But what can I do? When they are all grown up, they don't listen to their parents."

His mother laughed, and for a change, it didn't sound forced. "Tell me about it. Peter stopped listening to me when he was a wee lad of sixteen."

Peter lifted a hand to stop his mother from launching into more details about his rebellious teens. "Please sit down. You can keep entertaining Lara and Daniil while I help Marina serve dinner."

The house's open layout meant that they had no privacy in the kitchen, so he couldn't pull Marina into his arms and kiss her until the tension left her shoulders. All he could do was convey his feelings with his expression when his back was turned to the dining room.

Once the food was served and they'd taken their seats around the table, everyone got busy loading their plates.

Lara broke the silence first to compliment her daughter on the roast, and his mother echoed the sentiment, whether she was enjoying the food or not.

"Wine, anyone?" Peter asked.

Daniil regarded the wine with one raised bushy brow. "Do you have anything stronger?"

"I sure do." Peter got up and brought over a bottle of vodka. "Better?"

Daniil's expression brightened. "Oh, yes. Now you are talking my language."

Peter opened the bottle and poured the vodka into Daniil's wine glass and was surprised when his mother lifted hers.

"I prefer something stronger as well. I'm not a big fan of wine."

"Well." Marina lifted her glass. "When in Rome and all that. I guess I'll be drinking vodka as well."

"Not for me." Lara shook her head. "I'll have the wine."

For the next ten minutes or so, they ate in silence.

Daniil was done with his meal first. He pushed the empty plate aside, poured himself more vodka, and leaned back in his chair. "This was an excellent meal, Marina. When did you learn to cook like that?"

"The better question is not when but where, and I learned from the best." She lifted her glass at her mother.

"Oh, Marina." Her mother waved a dismissive hand. "You flatter me. You didn't learn from me. I never cooked just for my family. I always cooked for many people, and I still do." She glanced at Catrina. "That is what I do at Safe Haven. I work in the staff kitchen."