"But Stefan won't like—"
"You heard her, Lazar," Vasili cut in. "She insists. And she does outrank you."
Tanya turned to Vasili incredulously. "I do?"
"Certainly you do. Lazar is, after all, only a count."
Lazar was grinding his teeth by now. "This isn't the best time to point that out, your Majesty."
"Relax, my friend, and let Stefan handle the matter if he objects to it. He needs something to draw him out of his present mood, anyway."
Tanya was interested in only one thing right now. "Does that mean I outrank Stefan, too?"
"How hopeful you look." Vasili grinned. "But I must disappoint you. No matter Stefan's rank, responsibility for you is his alone until we return to Cardinia, so you must defer to him in all things. If you choose to argue... but you have dealt well enough with him so far, have you not? He is the one who seems to be having trouble dealing with you."
Tanya hid her disappointment well. She should have known they wouldn't go that far to enhance their tale.
"You think so?" she said in a neutral tone. "I hadn't noticed." But oh, how she wished it were true, because any difficulty whatsoever that she could cause Stefan would delight her no end.
Chapter 26
They came in behind Stefan and stood at his back, so he was unaware that they were there. That suited Tanya. She was in no hurry to confront him now that she was in the same room with him. And the anticipation was pleasant, all the more so because both Lazar and Serge were sure that Stefan was going to be quite annoyed at her being there.
They were so certain, they had refused to come along, so only Vasili stood beside her as her escort. Without his intervention, she would have been taken right back to her cabin after dinner. She grudgingly acknowledged she had him to thank, though she hated being grateful to him for anything, even a means for some sort of revenge.
Merely annoying Stefan wasn't enough, though she hadn't figured out yet what else she could do. But an idea came to her when she noticed that the gambler sitting directly across from Stefan was paying more attention to her than he was to the cards in his hand.
He was a big man, very wide across the chest, and from what she could tell, none of his bulk was fat. He wasn't bad-looking either, probably a few years older than Stefan, with dark brown hair and darker brown eyes. Like one other gentleman at the table, he had removed his coat and rolled up his shirtsleeves — possibly so no one could accuse him of cheating. At any rate, he had appeared to be taking the game in progress very seriously — until now.
There was a lot of money on the table, a very great amount, most of it before the brownhaired gambler. The other two players had modest piles in front of them. Stefan was throwing in his last two bills to call the present hand. The play went around, cards were drawn. The big gambler actually had to be reminded that it was his turn to bet, because his eyes were again on Tanya instead of his cards.
"Are you in or out, Mr. Barany?"
Tanya started when she realized the question was asked of Stefan by the man on his right. She had never heard his last name before, never even thought to ask what it was. Come to think of it, Lazar was the only one among them who had introduced himself fully to her. Perhaps there was a Thomas or a Johnson among them who would shoot down their story of being foreign nobles. Stefan reached inside his coat to draw out more money. More? The man didn't know when to quit, but she'd already learned that about him the hard way. Only this had to do with money — and losing it. Didn't he care? A glance at Vasili told her he wasn't the least bit worried. Of course, that man probably didn't know how to look worried, or anything else, other than bored or contemptuous.
She watched Stefan throw in more money to call the second bet. The man to his left dropped out. The big one turned his cards face-up on the table, revealing three fives. His eyes came back to Tanya yet again while he waited to hear if anyone could beat his hand.
It took a lot of nerve, but Tanya finally smiled at him, not timidly or coyly either. After all, she'd watched the tavern girls for years, knew their subtle signals and the way they moved their bodies when they were interested in a man and wanted him to know it. She wasn't sure if she was doing it right, however, but guessed she was when the man smiled back at her, a big, beautiful smile that made him look downright boyish and definitely interested.
But not to overdo it, she lowered her eyes — and just happened to see Stefan's three kings before he laid them face-down on the table, which declared without saying so that he couldn't beat the three fives. It didn't make sense. She didn't know all the intricacies of the game, but she did know three kings beat three fives. Didn't Stefan know he had the winning hand? She felt compelled to tell him. She held her tongue. Helping him wasn't in her plan.
Her eyes were drawn back to the big gambler as he stood up to rake in the winning pot. He was grinning, and looking straight at Tanya as he said, "You'll have to excuse me, gentlemen, but I feel compelled to sit out a few hands."
"It ain't wise to tamper with a winning streak, Corbell," the man to his right complained.
"Don't I know it." Corbell laughed. "But I'm merely going to direct that streak into other channels for a while."
The complainer followed the direction of his gaze and laughed, too. Stefan finally seemed to notice this interplay. Tanya tensed, expecting him to turn now. He didn't. He stood up and stepped into the path of Corbell, who was bigger than Tanya had guessed, a half foot taller than Stefan and much, much broader.
"I'm afraid you have made a mistake, Mr. Corbell," Stefan stated calmly. "She isn't available."
Tanya gasped. Stefan hadn't even looked at her, yet he knew she stood behind him, and knew what Corbell had meant with his subtle play on words.
But the mountain wasn't discouraged, though why should he be? A man would have to be crazy to tangle with someone his size.
"I'd say she feels differently," Corbell replied. "So why don't you step aside?"
Stefan didn't budge. "What she feels or wants is entirely irrelevant." Then, without turning around he said, "Vasili, return her to my cabin while I endeavor to convince Mr. Corbell of his error."
"Now hold on—"
That was all Corbell got out before there was the distinct sound of knuckles meeting flesh. Tanya only heard it happen. Vasili was dragging her out of there so fast she didn't even have a chance to look behind her. And then she was shoved into the arms of Serge, who had been waiting outside the gambling room with Lazar. Words weren't even exchanged. Vasili and Lazar went back inside, while Serge gave Tanya no choice but to return to her cabin.
"How much damage have you caused this time, your Highness?"
This time? Tanya tried to stop to address that, but Serge just kept walking and pulling her along behind him.
"Just what makes you think I am at fault here?" she demanded of his back.
"It was obvious even to me that you wanted to go in there expressly to make trouble."
That might be so, but how did he know it? And if he knew it, so did the others. Nor would it take Stefan long to figure it out. Well, so what? But she no longer objected to being returned to her cabin.
She thought about going straight to bed and pretending sleep. Of course, if Stefan was angry enough, sleep wouldn't prevent him from telling her about it immediately. She paced instead, and tried to think of a way to refute the allegations he was going to throw at her. And what if he was hurt? Was she crazy? Of course he was going to be hurt. That Corbell was a veritable giant of a man. But that wasn't what she had wanted. She had merely wanted to cause Stefan some difficulty, to get a little bit even.
The door opened much sooner than she had expected. Tanya whipped around with bated breath. Stefan was merely closing and locking the door as he did each night before retiring. Even when he glanced at her, he didn't seem to be annoyed with her or anything else. But in trying to assess his reaction to the way she looked, to judge his mood and if he was hurt, she was finally seeing him again, really seeing him without the red heat of her anger clouding her vision.