Ilya reddened and looked at his boots.
Volkonsky stepped forward. “Your Imperial Highness, you may rest assured that the soldiers in all the regiments stationed in Saint Petersburg shall support you. We have fought with these men in battles across Europe. We have eaten with them in the camps, lay wounded with them in infirmaries, charged into enemy lines with them by our sides. The men are loyal to the commanders with whom they’ve sweated and bled, not to a figurehead they hardly know. They will follow us tomorrow morning in rejecting the oath to your brother. I have no doubt.”
“And how many soldiers do we have?”
“Twenty thousand,” Obolensky said, confirming the number Ilya had provided.
Nikolai picked up a pistol and weighed it in his hand. The military portion of the coup was meant to establish Nikolai’s legitimacy among not only the soldiers, but also the people of Saint Petersburg. They wouldn’t understand or rally behind him if he simply deposed Pasha secretly by magic. But if some military might was shown, and the large numbers of the Decembrists overwhelmed Pasha’s smaller forces—which they ought to, given the element of surprise—then Nikolai could securely ascend the throne.
Securely, but not simply. For there was also the complication of magic.
“We must be ready for a blizzard,” Nikolai said, pistol still in hand. “I have no doubt Pasha will allow his Imperial Enchanter use of her powers again once we march against him. She’ll command the elements against us.”
“We’ll see to it that our men are prepared,” Obolensky said.
“All right,” Nikolai said. “Unless there is anything else, I will see you in Peter’s Square in the morning.”
Obolensky, Volkonsky, and Ilya bowed. “Until morning, Your Imperial Highness,” Volkonsky said. They left the armory.
When the door shut, Nikolai set the pistol down in its place. He surveyed again the walls lined with muskets, and the swords hanging, points down, blades gleaming.
Yes, he would have twenty thousand men marching for him tomorrow. But he could not leave his future solely in the hands of those men.
Nikolai threw a commanding look at the muskets. They leaped off the walls and floated in the air, barrels pointed forward, all in a neat row, as disciplined as the soldiers who would carry them in the morning. He nodded to the pistols, who sprang from their shelves and lined up beneath the muskets, like another regiment ready for battle. And then Nikolai looked to the swords, and they sliced through the air in a satisfying metallic swish, ready to come to the artillery’s aid.
“Another marvelous thing about being an enchanter,” Nikolai said aloud to himself, “is that I don’t even need guns in order to use their bullets.” He charmed open the drawers in the armory, revealing all the ammunition inside. He’d be able to command them as easily as he gave orders to the weaponry. Vika might be able to create a storm of snow, but Nikolai could direct a blizzard of bullets.
“Well done,” Nikolai said to the guns, swords, and ammunition. “I shall see you, too, in the morning.” They relaxed and returned to their racks and shelves and drawers, like soldiers at ease, going back to their barracks for a good night’s sleep.
As for Nikolai, there would be no rest. Adrenaline swirled through his veins and stirred the energy within. And although he didn’t think Vika would try to find him again in his dreams, he didn’t want to risk sleeping. Dancing with her once, hearing her utter the three words he’d longed to hear, had been enough to make him falter in his resolve. But she had not agreed to join him, and she was still on Pasha’s side, so Nikolai could not return to his dreams.
There was entirely too much at stake.
CHAPTER SIXTY-SEVEN
Renata carried a breakfast tray up to Nikolai’s room quite early. She knew he was already awake; in fact, she was sure he’d never gone to sleep. He’d been pacing since before she woke at four, his footsteps on the floorboards keeping her company as she dusted downstairs and tidied the house to be worthy of a grand prince.
His pacing stopped when he heard her knock.
“Nikolai, it’s me.”
Immediately, the five locks unlatched and his door swung open. Not terribly wide, for he was not the type to fling open doors, but enough that Renata knew he was glad it was her.
“I’m happy you’re back in this house,” he said.
“So I can bring you breakfast?”
“Because you shouldn’t be sleeping on the floor in a stranger’s apartment. You belong here.”
With you, Renata thought. But she shook the notion out of her head. The tea. I’m here to get him to drink the tea.
“I’m happy to be back,” she said, as she busied herself with unfolding a length of cloth to cover his desktop and placing upon it the teapot, cup and saucer, a bowl of kasha, and apple jam. She poured him some tea with a single squeeze of lemon and slipped a thread of saffron into the cup.
“Here,” she said, walking over to where he stood by the windows and pressing the cup into his hands. “You must be thirsty. You’ve been up for hours.”
“You always know what I need.” Nikolai sipped at it. “Interesting flavor. Is that . . . saffron?”
“A new blend the countess acquired just before she passed away,” Renata lied. “Imported from the Greeks. Or was it the Spaniards? One of those.”
I shouldn’t have said those last bits, Renata thought. It was so obvious that she had no idea what she was saying. She held her breath, waiting to see if Nikolai would drink more.
He took another small sip, then floated the cup back to the desk.
Don’t panic, Renata thought. He’ll drink more with breakfast. “Kasha?” she asked, offering Nikolai the bowl.
“Not right now, thank you. I’m not hungry.”
“Uh . . . all right.”
Nikolai quirked his mouth and came over to the desk. “You really want me to eat, don’t you?”
“It’s just . . . I’ve missed looking after you, is all. I was excited to bring you breakfast and forced myself to wait until a reasonable hour before I knocked, and even then, most would not call half past five in the morning reasonable.” It was mostly the truth, just bent to fit what Renata needed done. She shifted in place. Lying to her superiors was not commonplace for her. She actually couldn’t think of the last time—if ever—that she’d done it.
“You’re too good to me.” Nikolai sat down at his desk and spooned some jam into his kasha.