The Tsarina's Legacy Read Free Page B

Besides, I believe our Tatar friends may already have a mosque or two in our Russian heartland. Catherine will no longer countenance such extravagant waste. I don’t care what you’ve gotten past her before.”
    Melancholy played tricks with his mind. In an instant, Grisha saw Zubov no longer as a silly boy speaking out of place, but as a powerful man who held the empress in his hand.
    â€œBesides, if you’re so in love with these people, why not look to the khans for inspiration?” Zubov assumed a grand academic tone that tore at Grisha’s already fractured patience. “They would show far less interest in construction and far more cunning in yielding tribute from their vanquished foes.”
    â€œThe empress is no khan,” Grisha said, “but you would do well to show her deference.”
    Zubov stepped toward Grisha, lips curving downward and a hint of menace darkening his gaze. As though sensing his master’s sudden shift in mood, the monkey emitted high-pitched chatter and covered his eyes with spindly fingers.
    â€œI only meant,” Grisha added in a louder voice, so any courtiers with an ear to the door could hear, “the empress should decide such matters for herself. I should like to hear her opinion. I came to you only as a courtesy.”
    â€œA courtesy?” Zubov laughed, handing the scroll back to Grisha before sitting back down on the chaise longue. He crossed one long leg over the other and pushed the jam closer to his monkey. The creature dipped his pink tongue into the jar. “You flatter yourself, Prince.”
    Grisha rerolled the delicate parchment. “Perhaps there is a better time to broach this subject?”
    Zubov flashed his white teeth in a youthful smile. His name meant “tooth” after all. Grisha found it irritatingly fitting. “I’ll let you in on a secret. I don’t care one way or another. Let the poor devils fall on their knees to a golden calf for all I care. But your presumption vexes me. You’ve been away from St. Petersburg nearly two years. Much has changed while you’ve been in your new Russia. And you return only to strut into my salon with this scheme at the very time our motherland faces serious new threats.”
    â€œI meant no disrespect, Platon Alexandrovich.”
    â€œCatherine thought it best I start to make the fiscal decisions. I intend to prove my worth, not throw precious treasure to the wind on your latest fancy. You had Catherine’s ear for a long time. I know this must be difficult to hear, but the time for every man to shine comes and goes. It is only now a matter of bowing out with grace.”
    Despair began to seep through the fragile cracks in Grisha’s ego. He wanted nothing more than to retire to bed and bury himself under blankets, taking comfort in hot chocolate, liqueur, and perhaps a warm female body. Better yet, he could call for his horse and force a gallop to Nevsky Monastery. He could grow a long beard and retreat from the world altogether.
    Except where would that leave Catherine?
    â€œI have never been asked to leave the empress’s side. That is the fate of her young favorites. Her temporary companions.”
    â€œTemporary?” Zubov made a mockery of a frown. The monkey crouched at Zubov’s foot, nibbling at the toe of his master’s boot. “I suppose my position might be temporary. But then again the empress gave me dominion over you.”
    â€œI truly doubt that was her intention,” Grisha said. “She means for us to work together.”
    â€œWhy work at all, Prince? At your age most men have fathered many children and look to the darlings for comfort. It must be difficult, having no progeny of your own. Perhaps it explains your meddling.”
    â€œI have been called to the empress’s side,” Grisha told him, gut twisting. “I won’t abandon her now.”
    â€œI can assure you Catherine’s