Page 36 of My Wild Horse King

When he gets like this, arguing is a total waste of time. “Yes, Father.”

I’m actually glad Leonid’s coming. He’s smart, and the more things I teach him, the more I realize that he might even be smarter than I am. He’s always insisted he was born to the Rurikid line, and maybe he was. He certainly looks the part—regal, assured, and commanding. Now that he can read and write Russian, English, and French, he actually sounds the part too. And every day, I find him reading more books that I didn’t even assign.

“I think it’ll be interesting,” Leonid says. “I’ve never been invited to accompany you during the palace weeks.”

“You know we’ll be practicing using our powers,” I say. “It’s not anything to do with politics or affairs of state.”

“But you said Rurik was supposed to be the first person who had these magical powers,” Leonid says. “I’ve always wondered whether I might be able to use them.”

It’s not the first time he’s pushed for me to show him what I can do. It’s clear he’s hopeful that he can learn to use magic. I even tried to help him once, more than a year ago, but nothing happened. It’s hard to know whether it’s that he’s never done something selfless that requires a sacrifice, or whether he has no ability to begin with.

I’ve grabbed my cloak—spring in Russia is still brisk—and I’m almost to the front of the house when our butler answers the door. My friend Sasha didn’t announce she was coming, but then, she almost never does.

“Oh, you haven’t left yet.” She claps. “I just wanted to wish you luck at the palace before?—”

Leonid has just walked down the stairs, his dark clothing bag in hand.

“Who’s this?” Sasha bites her lip and bats her eyes. “I’m one of Katerina’s oldest friends.”

She’s certainly not old, and we haven’t even been friends for that long. She is, however, quite wealthy. She’s one of the nobles in town that started coming around after Alexei expressed interest in me. In my mind, that makes her a little suspect. To my father, it makes her the very kind of person we should be interacting with more often. Her father’s one of the few Russian nobles who has actually grown his ample inheritance with good investments.

Not that anyone talks about wealth, honestly.

“This is Leonid Ivanovich,” I say. “He’s a direct descendant from Rurik himself.” I’m mostly teasing, since Father doesn’t even believe Leonid’s dad’s wild tales, but Sasha’s eyes widen all the same.

“How have we not met before?” She pretends to scowl at me. “You’ve been keeping him to yourself, haven’t you?”

Leonid’s eyes dart toward mine with alarm.

“I—I suppose I have.” I can’t help my suppressed smile. Irritating Sasha is too much fun. “I’m not very good at sharing.”

“Shame on you.” Sasha shakes her head. “You already have the future leader of Russia. You can’t have himandthe most handsome man alive.”

The most handsome man alive.

I suppose that might actually be true of Leonid. Alexei’s beauty is just as bright, in my opinion, even if it’s not quite as obvious. It’s certainly more unique than Leonid’s, whose beauty is classic and flawless.

I like someone who looksreal.

“Let’s go,” I say. “Leonid’s taking me to the palace.” I don’t say that he works for me, and Sasha about loses her mind that I’m traveling with my new, eligible bachelor friend, off to see my beau at the palace.

But that gives me an idea.

I’ve been wondering for weeks who I might use as a foil to inflame Alexei’s interest, and maybe the answer has been right by my side all this time. Leonid’s eager to spend time with all of us, hoping to discover whether he may fit in with us in more ways than one.

As we drive, I explain my predicament.

Leonid never knew that Alexei and I were faking, but he catches on quickly. “So he’s not interested in you, but the reverse isn’t true?” He quirks one eyebrow.

I sigh.

“And you think that you can somehow use me, a servant, to change his mind?” He doesn’t sound very confident.

“You’re a direct descendant of Rurik,” I say. “That means that Alexei’s actually your inferior.”

Leonid rolls his eyes. “Don’t say that around my dad, or he’ll go back to foaming and ranting.”

“He’s come a long way in the past few years,” I say.

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