Part 18 (1/2)
”Roman!” Sebastian cried in shock, ”Look what you've done to my sweet sister. She never used language like that before you married her.”
”Don't look at me.”
”Maybe I never said it but I thought it,” she promised. ”And you, Sebi, you need to get your act together. You want to be King? You need to start thinking about the future, not just f.u.c.king.”
”You sound just like Kat,” he murmured, looking away. He missed the intrigued glance that pa.s.sed between Anastasia and Roman.
”I think I'm going to like this one then,” Anastasia piped in.
”d.a.m.n hard not to,” Sebastian replied gruffly, almost to himself. Another impressed look pa.s.sed between the married couple. Anastasia had to talk to this girl. Anyone that could keep her brother's attention for weeks instead of hours was worth meeting.
Chapter 17.
Kat tried to keep up but his brisk, no-nonsense stride kept her hurrying behind him. ”Is everything all right Sergei? You seem unnaturally quiet. And for you, that's saying something.” He stopped abruptly and she almost ran into him. His eyes bored into her. ”Don't worry. He'll be King,” she said after a moment, linking her arm through his to control the pace. She'd all but sprinted from the sunroom to follow him.
They had gone through two hallways before he spoke. ”Should he be? Does he truly want to be?”
”You know him better than me.”
”Longer than you. I don't know about better.”
Kat just shrugged. ”Who can even answer that? Not me. But I will tell you; in my experience spite is always a powerful motivator. Only something more important can reason with it.” Her thoughts s.h.i.+fted to her mother, then to Blaze, and the look on his face that made her realize she had to let it go, for both of them.
He didn't say anything else until they arrived. ”Your room, Miss. I trust you'll find it satisfactory.”
”Sergei?” He turned to leave but she placed a hand on his arm. ”It's a decision only he can make. All we can do is ensure he has the chance to make it.” He gave her that look again; the one that made her wonder if somehow Chinese had slipped out instead of English, and walked away.
Kat walked into her room, finally, but didn't get much farther than the entry. Maybe it wasn't the right room after all? She was destined to be a nomad even here, wasn't she?
”h.e.l.lo,” the lounging woman said with an easy smile, throwing her magazine down on the table and standing with a grace she doubted had been taught.
”Hi,” Kat replied hesitantly. ”Do I have the wrong room?”
The woman laughed. ”No, Katrina dear. This is your room.” She swept around Kat like she a mannequin and her the dressmaker, critical looks only.
”Kat actually, just Kat.” She tried to meet her eyes but was getting a bit dizzy. ”And you are?”
”Minus manners apparently. I'm Anastasia. Sebastian's sister.” She stopped in front of Kat, her hands clasped before her, and gave her a look that was equal parts suspicious and well-meaning.
”That's why you looked familiar. You're the picture Sebastian carries around in his wallet you know.”
Anastasia laughed. ”Does he still? So happy to be my brother's most endearing trick.” At Kat's puzzled expression she continued. ”I have been the sister that died for sympathy, the girlfriend to inspire jealously, the fiance back home for pity. I think once I might have even been the idealized version of the perfect woman as a challenge.”
”Yeah, that sounds like Sebastian. Well, all he told me was that you were his sister.”
”The truth. How refres.h.i.+ng. Maybe Sebi is growing up.” She let that thought hang in the air and retreated back into the lounge area, expecting Kat to just follow. She didn't want to disappoint her, Sebastian's twin sister, or a princess for that matter, so she did.
”Is there something I can do for you Princess?”
”Anastasia, please. Or Ana. Stas never really sits right with me. Sounds like a Sezynian beer. No, I just wanted to chat. Couldn't wait to finally meet Sebi's American.” Anastasia sat back in the armchair, ankles crossed, fingers entwined, and gave Kat a look more a.s.sessing than agreeable. She suddenly felt like she was on trial, one wrong word and it'd be an 'off with her head' the Red Queen would be proud of.
”Sebi's American? Is that what I'm called these days? Well, I guess I have been called worse, though I'd prefer Kat.” She smiled, the one she thought was eager and honest but kept getting repaid with incredulous looks she couldn't reason out. ”Ask away,” Kat continued. ”I've already been interrogated by your mother so I'm used to this part.”
”Mother interrogated you?” Anastasia asked in amus.e.m.e.nt, a little of her natural humor showing through.
”Oh, I'm sure she wouldn't call it that. Definitely not. But she did keep giving me a look I can only describe as Royal with a capital R and I almost did a spit take or two so yeah, interrogate fits.”
Anastasia laughed. ”Ha, I love it,” she said. And Kat couldn't resist liking her, a smile that nice, all those straight white teeth to distract her. ”Don't take it personally. You're an oddity around here.”
”An American?”
”No, a friend of Sebi's.”
It was Kat's turn to laugh. ”Really? I've spent quite a bit of time with your brother and friends don't seem to be something he has in short supply.”
”I was talking about the female variety.”
”So was I.”
”Let's just say my brother is very good at finding company but just dreadful at choosing it,” Anastasia said in a conspiratorial tone.
”I'm trying to help him with that.” At Anastasia's mild look she added, ”Did he really tell no one who I was? I swear, I might have to kill him.”
”He does stuff like that. You get used to it.”
”Do I really have to wear this?” Kat asked with a grumble from behind the screen.
”Yes,” Anastasia said with a twinkle in her eye that Kat couldn't see. ”The turmeric is traditional dinner attire.”
”And we're having a traditional dinner, right? I'm not going to go down dressed like this and everyone's wearing jeans and being served pizza from up the street, am I?”
”The pizza place isn't down the street. It's in the next town over.”
”That is not an answer. You're just as slippery as your brother.”
Anastasia laughed. ”Where do you think he learned it from? But I promise, we always go all out for our triumphantly returning royalty, don't you worry.”
Kat sighed in mistrust before turning to look at herself in the mirror. The traditional Sezynian tumeric seemed to be a cross between a Sari and a winter coat. The dress itself made her look like she was on fire deep oranges, rich reds, and vibrant yellows all swirling around to create a feeling of heat. It looked to her like pa.s.sion personified. She s.h.i.+fted restlessly even under her own gaze.
”Can I see it?” the princess asked. Kat took a deep breath and came out into the room. Anastasia laughed and Kat turned to flee but she grabbed her arm.
”I look ridiculous.”
”No, you look gorgeous.” Anastasia was making the second studious trip around her that day, taking her in from every angle, and Kat couldn't manage to keep still.
”Then why are you laughing at me?”