heartless | nikolai lantsov

\\ Chapter Twenty \\

Warning: Spiciness (but it's mostly implied, def not smut) 

Returning to the palace was like waking up from a dream, one where she had been a different person with a different past. Where she had friends, had a place.

A ridiculous dream.

The buzz of alcohol has long since left her veins, leaving only the old wariness that settled in her bones when she was shoved into the army.

After only one drink at the bar, the same can be said for Nikolai. She had seen the way he worked the room, seen the way he took one drink but matched the energy of every group he joined. The more she saw of him, the more she understood how he got so many people to follow him during the war. He hadn't done it out of a drive for power, she understood that now, he had seen a different future for his country. That, however, didn't minimize the way men and women alike seemed to bend toward him when he entered a room.

He was a sculptor but instead of clay, it was himself he molded. Into whatever would best suit his audience.

Best suits him.

Now he has his arm slung around Rani's shoulders as they walk through the deserted halls. Why on earth Tamar and Toyal both left her with their King will forever remain a mystery. She assumes it took cajoling on his part, that's no surprise, their agreement is what shocks her.

He's singing under his breath, one of those sea shanties from the bar. Rani is doing her best not to stare like she had before. Plausible explanations for the wealth of sailing songs spilling from his lips are failing her.

"You made me lose, you know."

Nikolai chuckles, raising an eyebrow, "Is that so."

"The King of Ravka singing in a bar. You're lucky I didn't keel over from the shock."

"It would have been a shame to lose my favorite advisor."

It's clear in his eyes he can tell what she wants to know but he's very much enjoying making her ask.

Fine then, she won't.

Instead, she takes the moment to study him. It's impossible now, without the hatred for him, to deny the attraction that's been there since the beginning. He is beautiful, but it's more than that. It's the confidence, the one that's so carefully crafted to deflect everything in the world without leaving a mark.

Rani has always been able to read people, to find out what keeps them spinning on in the world, but he's blocked her at every turn. There's something more, something beneath what he shows the world. She can feel it. She wants to break it open, to see what's beneath that perfect veneer. See what drives him, what makes him.

And she wants to let him break her in return, let him see what drives her.

It's a terrifying thing to want.

It lights her blood on fire.

"I'm not really your favorite advisor."

Nikolai laughs, and the sound rolls through Rani like the tide. "You are, but most of them are old windbags with more wrinkles than original ideas so it's not a hard position to earn."

"You like me better than old men, how flattering."

"I like you better than a whole cohort of old men, and some young ones. And quite a few ladies too."

Rani shoves at his shoulder, trying to keep herself from grinning. Nikolai catches her hand, spinning her until they are chest to chest. His breath tickles her skin as he leans in, "And you don't find me lingering in dark corners with any of my other advisors."