Page 13 of Benet

“We wait. We guard the door. We’re here for her when their discussion is done. She’ll have to stay through dinner and the concert in the garden afterward.” With a shrug Dmitri leaned against the other half of the door. “I’ve wanted to kill him at least a dozen times since they got engaged and he revealed his true nature but I can only kill on the command of the Empress. And even more to the point, Marushka herself has forbidden me to intervene.”

Nobody made me promise a damn thing. Benet’s mood was savage.

He and the other man stood awkwardly beside the door for a few minutes. Benet could hear the rise and fall of angry voices inside the room but couldn’t make out any words. Then he heard the sound of a blow, Marushka screamed and there was a heavy thud. Turning to the door, he raised his booted foot and kicked it open, splintering the lock. He rushed into the room to find Marushka on the floor, hand to her face, eyes wide in shock with Vasili standing over her, hands fisted. Benet didn’t hesitate for an instant but grabbed the prince by the shoulder and sent him spinning across the room, to slam into a heavy reading table.

“How dare you break into this room,” Vasili shouted. Gathering himself the Outlier noble rushed to attack Benet.

He heard Dmitri behind him attempting to get Marushka to her feet but he kept his concentration on Vasili. It took him one blow to knock the prince out and send him toppling to the floor in a heap.

“You killed him?” Marushka cried.

“Hells no, simply gave him a taste of his own medicine,” Benet said in satisfaction.

“We must get out of here before the household is alerted and comes,” Dmitri said. “Can you walk or should I carry you, devochka?”

“I—I can walk.” She sounded shaky and Benet was skeptical but he agreed with Dmitri’s estimation they needed to be gone. He followed them into the hall and Marushka directed them past several servants and down a set of stairs which were narrow and uncarpeted. They emerged in a room outside the kitchen, where more servants were hard at work, barely glancing up from dinner preparations to gawk as Benet and his companions made their way through, reaching a door which led outside.

“Stay here, keep an eye on her,” Dmitri said. “I’ll get the groundcar.”

“I can’t leave,” she protested. “It simply isn’t done. I have to be here for dinner and the concert afterward.”

Benet touched her swollen cheek gently, where a bruise was already forming, ugly and purple. “You want to sit at table with all these people bearing his mark on your face? You can’t be serious about staying—you need to be at home, have a cup of tea, put ice on your cheek and regain your calm.”

Dmitri looked at the two of them and nodded. “Benet talks sensibly.” Then he was gone, sprinting into the dark, presumably to find the limousine. Benet hoped he knew where he was going. There wasn’t much time before the alarm was raised. He wasn’t worried for himself— he was already in so much trouble just being here in Outlier he couldn’t concern himself with assault on a petty prince—but he wanted Marushka safely away from here.

She was trembling and it dawned on him she was probably in shock and chilled from the night air so he took off his fancy scarlet jacket and draped it over her shoulders. Putting his arm around her, he drew her away from the building to a set of wooden tables and benches close by. “You need to sit. Dmitri will be here soon.”

She sank onto a bench, her elaborate dress and petticoats poufing up, the hem now bedraggled and dirty. “I made him angry, dancing with Jervan,” she said after a moment of silence. “We’ve known each other since we were born practically because he lives on the next estate over. He’s like a brother to me, nothing romantic at all but Vasili accused me of flirting with Jervan and encouraging him to take liberties. He said I embarrassed him in front of his family and all his guests. That I was wanton.”

Benet knelt in front of her and took her hands, which trembled. “All of what he said is pure crap. I watched you dance with the guy and it was obvious you were friends and nothing more. Vasili is a bully and an abuser—you can’t marry a man like that.”

She stared at him, eyes wide. “I must, it’s all settled. My father has been paid the bride price and spent it already. There can be no thought of backing out now because Vasili had a bad night. Maybe he drank too much. I’ll be more careful of his feelings?—”

“I know you don’t want to hear this right now but nothing you do will ever be good enough for him. It’s a pattern I’ve seen before with my own mother and the man she married after my father died. He’s going to escalate his violence—you can’t appease him.”

Marushka bit her lip and averted her eyes. “Can we not talk about this right now, please?”

He had a lot more he wanted to say and he wished he’d killed the bastard when he had the chance. As a gladiator he knew exactly how much force to put into one of his blows and he’d deliberately aimed to knock the prince out, not execute him. Rising to his feet, he rested a hand on her shoulder and squeezed gently but stayed silent. Lights came around the curve in the service road running close to the building and a moment later the groundcar pulled up. Dmitri was at the controls and he popped the passenger door, making summoning hand gestures.

Benet brought Marushka to her feet, his anger rising all over again as she winced when he touched her arm and he noticed more bruises from where the prince had forcibly dragged her to the library. He carried her and the damn dress to the limousine and got her inside.

She caught his sleeve as he turned to close the door. “Please, sit with me?”

He slid into the seat and Dmitri had the groundcar reversing and roaring away from the mansion while the door was still closing.

“I sent a message to the prince’s mother in your name,” he said, keeping his attention on the controls. “I said you had a migraine and were indisposed.”

“I’ll follow up with her tomorrow. Thank you.”

Not another word was said for the entire trip to her home. Marushka leaned her head on Benet’s shoulder and he put his arm around her, hoping he could offer silent comfort at least. When they arrived at the estate the housekeeper and Marushka’s maid were waiting on the steps and the older women took charge of the duchess immediately, leading her inside.

Benet stared after her, his mind whirling. He hoped the women would take good care of her and he wished he could talk to her further. Dmitri tapped him on the shoulder. “I’m leaving the groundcar here,” the Badari said, waving a hand at the vehicle. “Not my problem to solve. We’d better get back to my house and get some sleep.”

“What’s going to happen next?” Benet asked as they walked across the manicured lawns in the direction of Dmitri’s dwelling. “Is the engagement broken now?”

“We’ll see. I expect there to be quite a bit of activity tomorrow,” Dmitri said ominously, “But don’t expect too much, my friend. This is Outlier and the aristocracy is old and rotten at the heart. I can attest to that after all these years living here. Individuals might be worthy, like my devochka, but give her a few years as the prince’s wife and she’ll become as hard and jaded as the rest of them. Or she’ll die. Survival in the imperial circles drains one of whatever gentle and good qualities might have been in your heart at the beginning.”

“You’ve stayed true to your Badari code of honor as far as I can see,” Benet said while he waited for Dmitri to unlock the door.

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