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"Did you tell Nikolai?"
Zoya does not turn from the fireplace. Nikolai is still with ministers, and the armchair in Zoya's sitting room has been a place of comfort for Genya ever since David died. She idly sips her wine. “Tell him what?”
“That you love him.”
Now she turns. Her heart jumps at that special admission, that secret she has kept to herself for so long, that truth she had indeed said to him yesterday afternoon.
“What?”
“I thought so.” Genya holds her glass at her lips, her sly red smile amplified by the wine. “I thought so.”
Zoya folds her hands behind her back. It's as if the change in their relationship is as natural as the weather, and as trifling as a pretty bunch of flowers. “Does this have anything to do with that ridiculous bet?”
Genya actually has the audacity to laugh. “No! Well, a little. Tamar was reminded of it yesterday; did she tell you?"
"Unfortunately." A few moments, strolling down an empty corridor, free from paperwork and discussion, and Tamar had used the peace to bring up a joke. Though Saints knew they needed the relief.
"Hm. She was reminded when you fell out of the sky.”
“How on earth does falling out of the sky remind you - “
“You caught him, remember?” Genya raises her eyebrows. It takes a moment for Zoya to recall. She had stopped Nikolai from falling to the ground, back when Alina had killed the Darkling. He broken, dishevelled and bloody, with dark tendrilled scars under ripped sleeves. Despite that, he had smiled at her. Called her Nazyalensky. Asked if she had any brandy near.
That won't help, she’d said.
You’d be surprised how good brandy is for monster transformations.
Zoya had rolled her eyes. Not for the last time.
“That’s hardly the same as yesterday,” Zoya argues. “I didn’t break any ribs.”
"No, but Nadia thought it was just as romantic. All those years ago, when he was recovering...I think I said something flippant, about Nikolai falling for the most gorgeous one of us. Tamar said to watch out, he's strategically seductive where it counts - I said that though you were, let's say, 'adept at tumbling', you were far too pragmatic to fall for a king. And so. Tamar wins."
A long glaring stalemate. Zoya places her wine-glass on the mantelpiece. "Right."
"Come to think of it, technically he was still the king when you fell. And to be honest, there was a moment, when Nikolai was holding you, and you finally opened you eyes - I thought you would ravish him then and there."
Another unwelcome stomach swoop. "Right."
Genya laughs again. Her legs are neatly crossed under herself, and she looks blissfully at ease. It’s wonderful. There is no reason, Zoya realises, to hold up a barrier.
"You'd better pay up. Though not for the wrong reasons. I was not seduced. Nikolai..." But there are no words for it that aren't trite, no explanations that could embrace the full truth.
Tell her about the door.
Not now, she tells Juris, once again. Not just yet.
Genya looks up from her drink with a knowing grin. "Nikolai fell out of the sky first."
"Hm. He did." It's not the full truth. It's not even close. She finds she does not mind. The tears wetting Genya's lashes are a sign she understands.
"Don't you worry," laughs Genya, "I'm not upset."
“Good,” says Zoya.
“Good, indeed. I would hug you again, but I’m practically spent. And rather comfortable.”
“I’m not upset by that.”
“Good.” She turns her glass up a final time, stretches her legs out and brushes her hair behind her ears. “Zoya?"
"Yes?"
"I'm enjoying being wrong. I’m so, so happy for you. Both of you."
Tears sting her eyes, too, and in reaching for her drink off the mantelpiece, she can stare into the flames rather than into Genya's heart. She knows there is something she needs to say, though, because even if she is a queen, a soldier, and a dragon, she is still Zoya, the girl in the garden, the snow, and the ruins.
"Thank you," she says to the fire. A gulp of wine burns the lump in her throat.
“You know, David was always on the positive side of that bet. I’m afraid I became a little pessimistic.”
Zoya takes a deep breath. She goes to Genya, takes her glass, places it on the side-table and her hand on her shoulder. A tear escapes down her scarred cheek, but the same happens to Zoya. They stay a few moments caught in warmth, before Zoya brushes at her face and straightens her back.
“If you let any word of this infernal 'bet' nonsense get anywhere near Nikolai’s hearing, I will have you arrested for treason."
She will never tire of Genya's laughter. “And would you like to bet on whether he’s already heard of it?”
Zoya shakes her head, but despite herself, she smiles. "Three days ago I was in ghastly Ketterdam with that rat Brekker. Since then, I've stopped a war, became the queen, and now, apparently, multiple people know I'm in love with Nikolai Lantsov."
"I wonder if Kaz Brekker knows."
Zoya cannot think of anything more mortifying.
"After all," says Genya, giving Zoya's frozen arm a little shake, "We've always known."