Page 103 of The Crown's Game
Ludmila stretched from where she had been asleep on the ground. Renata, however, had been standing with her forehead pressed against the bars. She jumped at the sound of his voice.
“Nikolai!”
“What has Pasha done?”
Renata shook her head. “Not the tsesarevich. His sister. She’s the one driving his decisions. She wants an Imperial Enchanter for him.”
“Damn it, Yuliana,” Nikolai muttered.
“What?” Renata pressed against the bars.
“Never mind, it’s not important right now. I need to get you two out.” He raised his arm.
“No, stop! Save your energy.”
“I don’t want you locked up like animals.”
“The grand princess promised our safety if we remained in the cages.”
“But why . . . Oh.” Nikolai sagged against the bars. “She means to remind us to finish the Game quickly.”
Renata cast her eyes downward and nodded.
Ludmila pulled herself up from the floor of her cell. “We will try not to watch you fight. Think only of the silver lining. With us here, we are at least able to say good-bye.”
“Good-bye?” Nikolai shook his head.
“Yes,” Ludmila said. “Good-bye. Just in case.”
At this, Renata took Nikolai’s face in her hands and touched their foreheads together in the space between the bars.
“Nikolai . . .”
“Oh, Renata—”
“Don’t say it.”
But he had to. After all she had done for him. “You’ve been the best companion I could have hoped for on this strange journey. I could never thank you enough. Take care of Galina, all right? And if there’s anything in my room that you want—”
“Stop.” She shook her head against his. “I refuse to say good-bye. And I will not say good luck either, for there is neither good nor luck in this duel.”
Nikolai nodded. She was, as she often was, right. Even in these last minutes.
“But I can’t let you leave without this: I have said it before, and now I say it again—I love you. I loved you even before I knew of your magic, Nikolai, and I have loved you ever since. And I will continue to love you, no matter what you choose to do.”
She leaned forward and pressed her mouth against his. Her lips parted, and there was such soft courage in her gesture, his lips parted, too.
She lingered, but eventually she pulled away. She caressed his cheek. And then she whispered one more time, “I love you. Now go. And don’t forget to be you.”
CHAPTER SIXTY-EIGHT
Vika arrived on an ice sleigh as the sun rose over the frozen horizon. She made her way toward the center of the island—it seemed the right place to start—and stepped onto the promenade just in time to see Nikolai kiss Renata.
Vika stopped mid-stride.
It took another moment for Vika to realize that next to where Renata and Nikolai gazed at each other, Ludmila stood locked in a cage. In fact, Vika had been so fixated on Renata’s and Nikolai’s lips, she hadn’t noticed that Renata, too, was imprisoned.
“Ludmila!” Vika flew to the bars.
