1.2 | The Prince of Thieves

Chapter 36

A/N: Added Leon and Hana's reaction to each other in ball attire (17 Jan 2020)

To clear up the issue about Hana and Leon's ages; When Hana and Leon marry, they are 19 and 22 respectively. At the start of TPOT, Hana is 23 and Leon is 26. As of 2020, Hana is 24 and Leon is 27. This will fit in with their respective birth years of 1996 and 1993.

~

Stanislav had called them into his study. There was something, he had said, that he wanted to give to Hana. What it was, he had neglected to mention, and Leon didn't know either. Her father-in-law's study was a room she had yet to enter, therefore it was with mixed feelings that she knocked on its door some time after dinner. A laid back 'come in' was issued from within, and giving her husband a glance, she murmured an 'excuse me' before pushing the door open.

As she passed through the entrance, she allowed herself a quick glance of the spacious room. Two couches and two armchairs were placed around a polished coffee table in the middle of the room. Floor-length windows lined one side, while glass-topped cabinets lined the opposite side. Framed photos had been positioned on the cabinets, but the largest frame hung behind the owner of this study. It was a portrait photograph of the whole family. Stanislav, Lidiya, Vera, Leon and Mosay; all much younger. Lidiya, healthy and smiling, was sitting in a wicker chair, little Mosay in her lap, Stanislav behind her with both hands on her shoulders, and Vera and Leon by either side.

Stanislav had been sitting behind his desk, a behemoth piece of furniture, but had risen when they entered. To his left and right, and wherever else there was empty space were bookshelves.

'Good timing,' he said with a smile lining his face. He tapped his fingers against something on his desk but she couldn't see it behind the pile of neatly stacked files. 'There's something that I would like to leave in your care. I have checked with Vera, and it matches your gown for the ball.'

As she and Leon approached, she saw with widened eyes the velvet box that Stanislav lifted. Jewellery? Leon seemed to recognise the box for a startled sound had left him.

'Leon has seen them before,' he murmured as he lifted the lid, and orange and yellow sparks jumped out, dazzling her eyes.

Resting on a black cushion was a chain of brilliant white and blue diamonds arranged into a pattern of slim, down-turned petals. On the bottom-most petal was attached the largest and deepest blue of the diamonds, shaped into an oval. A pair of drop earrings accompanied the choker with the same white and blue crystals. She wondered if this was what Vera had meant by a technique to draw the eye up.

'This belongs to the family,' Stanislav explained with a touch of reverence in his tone. 'I would like you to wear this to the ball.'

Hana couldn't remember much of what she had said after a solemn 'thank you', but she remembered the box being passed into her hands, herself murmuring about its weight and its brilliance, Stanislav saying that it would suit her and Leon nodding his assent. Then Stanislav had chased them out.

'You,' Leon said with an arm around her shoulder, his voice brimming with fondness, 'Are going to be the wealthiest woman at the ball.'

'Oh dear,' she said under her breath. 'You are setting me up to be robbed, aren't you?' 

They continued down the hallway, the box of jewels in her hands. She felt on edge keeping such a priceless gift in the safe in her dressing room even though she knew armed guards patrolled the grounds and the staff had been with the family for years. Leon had told her this was an heirloom, worn only by the lady of the house. To add to her anxiety, he had said it was rumoured to belong to a long-dead Russian Grand Duchess.