Page 73 of Tarnished Crown

About this strange new normal and how long it could possibly hold.

And, my personal favorite, about the long line of exemplary decisions I had made to land myself here, in Ava’s clutches.

The only distraction was when Kirill, Taras, or Yuriy came with daily reports or updates, or even sometimes to just have a drink with Evander at the end of the night.

They came to see me as well, and Taras even brought a deck of cards with him.

More shocking still, he settled onto the foot of the massive bed, crossing his legs. I would have thought he would die at that breach of all that is proper, but then, it wasn’t like I was offering to getoutof bed.

“Finally willing to sacrifice your pride?” I taunted.

He gave a rueful grin. “I’m just hoping it will be harder for you to cheat from bed.”

I didn’t bother denying it. “Well, the joke is on you, because the blankets make it easier to hide cards.”

“I knew that’s how she was doing it!” Yuriy called from across the room, much to Kirill’s amusement. Evander just shook his head, not pausing from whatever he was doing.

Taras quirked an eyebrow, dealing out our cards. I sat up as gently as I could and crossed my legs, pulling the covers up high enough to cover the scandalous shirt. I could probably have reverted to my own nightgowns now, but there wasn’t really much point when there was an endless supply of comfortable cream or black shirts at my disposal.

At least today’s was black.

We played a few hands before he spoke again, his voice pitched low. “You could have let my brother lie for you.”

Evander’s quill stopped, then started again. I cleared my throat.

“She would have punished me anyway.” I was pleased to hear that I sounded more casual than I felt.

Thatpunishmentwas one of the many things I tried not to think about every day.

“Perhaps,” Taras allowed. “But not as severely. Men take the brunt of the discipline here.”

“I never could have done that,” I said softly.

“I know that,” he said. “I suppose what I’m trying to say, badly, is, thank you.”

“Yes, well.” I cleared my throat. “Watching you lose to me at cards is really all the thanks I need.”

Though I was grateful for the occasional company, I still couldn’t bring myself to leave this bed or the safety it had come to represent. When they convened in the sitting room, I stayed right where I was.

Still, they always left the door cracked to the sitting room where they were, almost as if to let me know I was welcome to join them whenever I wanted.

Or maybe just so their voices would interrupt my new favorite pastime of sleeping.

Of course, sometimes it was useful.

This morning, the men were giving reports while Evander did his usual morning workout routine. Even if I hadn’t been able to see him, the measured huffs of his breath sounding between each push-up would have given him away. All that was visible through the crack in the door were the well-defined muscles of his arms and half of his torso as he lowered and then raised himself from the ground in endless repetition.

Kirill had just finished telling Evander about more Unclanned sightings from the other side of the room when Taras chimed in, his voice low. I strained my ears to listen, barely making out Lady Mairi’s name.

My heartbeat thundered in my chest. Evander froze, then sat back on his knees. Someone threw him a towel, and he wiped the sweat from his face and hair before responding.

I studied every nuanced expression in his face, terrified of what mention of her could possibly mean.

“Not a word,” he panted out, still out of breath from his workout. “The maids say she has been ill again.”

A dark, bitter laugh came from Yuriy. “More likely, she’s just waiting to strike.”

“A snake, hiding in her den,” Taras added.