halt in front of her aunt’s dais.
‘Oh!’ her aunt called excitedly. ‘There you are, Ekaterina!’
‘Yes, Empress,’ she said with a deep curtsy.
‘Come,’ she said, beckoning with her pudgy fingers. ‘Come meet my new friends.’
Friends? Ekaterina shivered involuntarily. She knew that her aunt had no real friends, only supporters and victims. The question was: which type were these?
‘I found the most lovely man while I was in Italy,’ Empress Anna said, giggling like a schoolgirl. ‘An architect. I’ve commissioned him to complete the Hall of Light.’
She pulled a skinny man to the fore. He was elaborately dressed, his eyes darting about nervously.
‘This,’ she said proudly, ‘is Bartolomeo Rastrelli.’
Ekaterina dipped her head in greeting.
‘And he has the most brilliant apprentice,’ Empress Anna continued. ‘Where is he?’ She looked around, mumbling his praises. ‘Ah!’ she called. ‘There he is.’
A man stepped through the crowd, and Ekaterina’s heart stopped.
‘This is my niece, the Lady Ekaterina Romanova,’ Empress Anna announced to the men.
Her aunt’s nasal voice faded as Ekaterina met the eyes of the architect’s apprentice. She already knew this man—but evidently not as well as she had thought.
‘Ekaterina,’ the Empress said, ‘this is Andrey Kvasov.’
Ekaterina watched, dumbfounded, as Empress Anna placed a chubby hand on Andrey’s shoulder. She could feel Andrey’s glare, but her eyes were transfixed by the sight of her aunt’s bejewelled hand sliding down to his chest. When the Empress gave him a quick pat, Ekaterina lifted steely, challenging eyes to his.
‘It is an honour to finally meet you,’ Ekaterina said politely, enunciating each word with aristocratic precision.
‘Finally?’ her aunt exclaimed. ‘Have you also seen his magnificent work, Ekaterina?’
‘Why, yes, indeed,’ Ekaterina replied, her tone slightly sardonic. ‘I have seen his great skill in action in a very different setting. But I never thought he’d been applying his skills elsewhere, my honoured aunt.’
‘If I’d known I’d been courting such a noble audience, I can promise you that I would have given you due respect, my lady,’ Andrey stated, his voice flat.
Ekaterina lifted her chin, her eyes cold.
‘You don’t seem to be a fan of Andrey’s work,’ her aunt commented blithely. ‘Were you not impressed?’
‘It wasn’t worth remembering,’ Ekaterina said with a bitter slant to her lips.
A crease formed in her aunt’s brow. She turned to the architect’s apprentice and patted his arm affectionately.
‘Don’t take my niece’s words to heart, Andrey,’ she said reassuringly. ‘She’s an excellent girl, but she has little taste for the finer things of life. Why, just look at that shabby dress!’
Empress Anna laughed at her own joke, oblivious to the heated glares passing between the two people near her.
‘Now, go,’ Anna said, nudging Andrey’s shoulder. ‘Get me a drink, will you, my dear?’
His cold eyes sliding away, Andrey strode from the throne and into the crowd. As soon as he was out of earshot, Anna turned to Ekaterina with a conspiratorial wink.
‘Well, isn’t he quite the catch?’ she said with a suggestive waggle of her fat brows.
Ekaterina inclined her head, careful not to disagree but also not to show too much interest. Emotions were dangerous at court. Even so, she discreetly followed Andrey with appraising eyes. In fact, it was hard not to notice him, as he stood at least a head taller than most of the people in the hall. But his height wasn’t even his most striking feature. He was magnificent, with his thick shock of dark hair, his broad shoulders and his tapered waist. He was the picture of masculine perfection; yes, he was the perfect catch.
Manipulative, social-climbing fool, Ekaterina thought bitterly.
‘He will do well at court,’ she mused aloud.
‘Yes,’ her aunt agreed with a sniff. ‘Especially after I take him as a lover.’
‘I thought he was meant to be working here as an architect,’ Ekaterina said, trying to sound uninterested.
‘Oh, he’s already been instrumental in designing many parts of the palace. But I’m sure Rastrelli will be able to spare him now and again,’ the Empress replied with an indifferent shrug. ‘Besides, he couldn’t do better, really.’
‘No,’ Ekaterina murmured quietly. ‘He really couldn’t.’
After all, how could the niece of an empress compare to the Empress herself? Despite her determination to remain aloof, Ekaterina felt her throat constrict. She blinked back the mist in her eyes. It hurt, she admitted to herself. It hurt more than she could have imagined.
Aunt and niece watched as Andrey walked through the crowd with purpose, neither turning to the right nor the left. He didn’t even pause, except when a beautiful young noblewoman stopped him by putting her dainty hand on his arm. He turned slightly as she drew closer, her thick lashes fluttering. Andrey’s expression didn’t change; his facial muscles were like stone.
But the Empress was not amused.
Ekaterina had to resist the urge to take a step away as her aunt’s face grew nearly purple with rage. The Empress stepped forward, her chest heaving and a short finger pointed accusingly at the unsuspecting noblewoman.
‘You!’ she shrieked, her voice piercing. ‘Come here this instant!’
The noblewoman froze, her head slowly turning to face Anna, terror vivid in her eyes.
‘Yes, you,’ her aunt bellowed maliciously. ‘Move!’
The poor woman picked up her skirts and scurried forward. She hastened to kneel, her head bobbing up and down in a desperate apology.
‘Your Majesty,’ she stammered, frightened out of her wits. ‘Please forgive me. I had no idea he was of any interest—’
‘Silence!’ Empress Anna demanded. ‘You grovel like a pig.’
‘Empress, please—’
But Empress Anna stamped her foot, cutting her off. She lifted the hem of her dress, exposing the toe of one of her shiny shoes.
‘Apologise,’ she hissed angrily.
‘A
