Page 102 of The Tsarina's Favorite
XXX.
“Kaylay!”Alaina embeddedher fingernails into my shoulder.
I roused, the urgency in her voice and the pain of her grip pulling me from the fitful dreams that plagued my night.Crashing and raised voices punctuated the darkness.I tried to leave the bed but could not extricate myself from Alaina’s hands as she held me close and lay half on my wing.
“What’s happening?”I rose on an elbow and put my hand over hers, trying to pry her fingers out of my flesh.
“We locked the doors, didn’t we?”
But locked doors would not withstand whatever came our way.
I fumbled, trying to get Alaina to release me.I needed to leave her bed, no matter what the situation.No good would come of staying, but she froze in terror, bound to me through horror and uncertainty.She had never been through this, but I had, and I needed her to let me go.
Boot heels clicked on the tile floors outside the bedroom.
“Alaina,” I hissed as I struggled to pry her from me, “please.”
But Alaina’s attention fixed upon the bedroom doors, leaving her insensible to my plea.Within moments, those doors burst inward, jambs splintering when the hinges did not give.One of them lay twisted back against a wall when the force of its recoil dislodged it from its hardware.
Guards filled the room, the firelight casting dramatic glints from their weapons.Whatever they expected to discover on our side of the door, they were unprepared for the princess, down to her nightshift, entwined with the tsarina’s pet.Although our tousled state suggested more than we had ever done, the guards cast doubtful glances at each other, recognizing our configuration as dangerous proximity.
Alaina clutched at the blankets, a feeble attempt at preserving her modesty, although to the eyes of all who gazed upon us, she had no modesty left to preserve as she huddled to me with the same damning ferocity.Feathers in her sheets and on her nightshift told a tale of its own, but her aggressive hold on me illustrated to all, even those who had never repeated the gossip, the likely truth of those rumors.
No one would believe our innocence now.
“By order of Her Royal Majesty, Empress of Ilyichia, Princess Alaina, you are hereby under arrest for treason against the kingdom and the crown.”
Alaina’s grasp stiffened, and I more easily dislodged her with the pronouncement.I pushed her behind me and set myself between her and the guards.I did not delude myself that I could change the outcome of this situation, but I could argue for her.I could remind them all that, if the tsarina thought to strip the princess of titles as had been done to me, the princess still maintained titles in Altania that required acknowledgment.She needed to be treated with more care than I had been afforded.
None of them stepped forward to enact the declaration.
Maybe the guards remembered too that the last person who harmed me lost his life because of it.
“What is she said to have done?”I asked.
Murmurs rose through the ranks, and several guards stepped backward.Those who maintained their ground looked to their compatriots.No one had anticipated my interjection.None of them knew I could speak.
