Once a Princess

Chapter 35

"It began with the execution of Yuri Stamboloff. He was the oldest son of a very powerful baron, which was perhaps why he felt he was above the law. He killed his mistress only because he suspected her of being unfaithful. It was an act committed not in rage or passion, but calmly, coldbloodedly, and stupidly, before five witnesses. Because he was a baron's son, he was brought before your father, King Leos, for judgment and was executed. There was nothing else to be done. But Yuri's father, Janos Stamboloff, didn't believe his son was guilty of this murder. You see, the dead woman had first been the mistress of your brother."

"I had a brother old enough to have a mistress?" Tanya asked in surprise. "Wasn't I supposed to have been a baby at this time?"

"You were not even born yet when the murder took place," Stefan explained, adding, "Though you were expected. And you had three brothers. The oldest, the Crown Prince, was sixteen that year."

She was no longer surprised, but horrified. "Sixteen and he's discarding mistresses!"

"There are some women who would seduce a baby to advance their circumstances. At court, it doesn't matter who you use, as long as you use them to your advantage, and a sixteenyearold boy would be a prime target for manipulation."

"I suppose you've discovered all these conscienceless women for yourself?" she asked tersely.

He smiled for the first time that day. "Of course."

Tanya couldn't believe how angry she suddenly felt, imagining hordes of women fawning over Stefan, seducing him, just to see what they could get out of him. And that damn smile of his said he had enjoyed every bit of it, whether the women's ploys had worked or not.

It was all she could do to keep from glowering at him, so she didn't dare pursue that subject any further. "So the dead woman was first my brother's mistress. Why would that lead Janos to believe his own son was innocent?"

"Because he couldn't believe Yuri was capable of such a crime. In his mind, someone else had to have committed it, and your brother was the most likely candidate. Janos claimed the boy killed the woman in a fit of jealous passion when she wouldn't return to him, then bought witnesses to blame Yuri for the crime. He also claimed that Leos had Yuri executed instead of banished because Yuri could prove he was innocent, and Leos was protecting his own son."

"Is it possible that Yuri was innocent?"

"No. One of the witnesses was a bishop of the church. Another was Yuri's own servant. Only an enraged father would doubt them. Besides, your brother was well accounted for the entire day of the murder."

"So then what happened?"

"Janos had your brother killed."

"How?"

"How he did it doesn't matter, Tanya. Suffice it to say—"

How?"

He stared at her for a long moment, his scars quivering as he ground his teeth together in protest at her persistence. She almost took back the question. But she already knew the end of this tale, so the details couldn't make it any worse. Her whole family had been killed. This was a known fact and she considered it tragic. But she had yet to actually feel anything personal about them. They simply weren't real to her because she had no memory of them. If she was going to grieve, it would be for that lack of memory.

She tried to explain that to Stefan. "If you're hesitating because you think I'm going to get upset over any of this, don't. These people might be related to me by blood, but for twenty years I didn't know anything about them, and I still don't know anything other than what you tell me. And from what you've told me so far, I have as much sympathy for the Stamboloffs as I do for the Janaceks — with the exception of Yuri."

"Then let me see if I can correct that, Princess. Your brother, innocent in all of this, was taken from his own bed one night, dragged before the entire Stamboloff family for a mock trial, and found guilty. Janos then had him tied to a wall in his courtyard, and each member of that damn family put a bullet into him, even Janos' eightyearold grandson. His body was left on the road outside the palace. The bloodsoaked note attached to him said, 'A son for a son.' However, this wasn't enough proof against Janos — not until one of his daughtersinlaw had too much to drink at a party and happened to brag about it to the wrong people."

"I hope Janos was shot on the spot!"

Stefan raised a brow at her. Color came back to cheeks that had gone quite pale.

"You have no sympathy left for that fanatic?"

"None," she said more quietly.

"Well, he wasn't shot on the spot. He was tried and sentenced to hang. The day after the execution, Leos' only brother, sisterinlaw, and their two children were found in their home with their throats cut. The note left behind this time was explicit. Èvery Janacek dies now."'

"But that was a wanton act of vengeance. How could they justify it?"

"They didn't have to. Two of their own had been killed. Those remaining now saw this as a personal war with the king, a blood feud, and there were a goodly number of them remaining — Janos' second son, five grandsons, two younger brothers, and three nephews. Janos had also called for revenge, his very last words on the scaffold before he was hung. But it was now treasonous, this revenge, with Leos himself being threatened. The five older men were killed resisting arrest. The grandsons and one remaining nephew, all under eighteen years of age at that time, were merely banished."

"You didn't mention the women. What about that daughterinlaw?"

"There were two Stamboloff wives, and Janos had one daughter. They were eventually banished from Cardinia, along with the men, when it was suspected that one of them drowned your sister in her bath. "

"I had a sister, too?" Tanya asked in a small voice.

"She was fourteen, the second oldest child. But getting every Stamboloff out of the country still didn't stop the killings. Ion Stamboloff, Janos' oldest grandson, was caught attempting to kill Leos' cousin, the only living son of your greatuncle, who was already deceased."

"Why him?"

"He bore the name Janacek," Stefan said simply.

"But he survived?"

"No. A month later they went for him again and succeeded. It was Janos' daughter this time, found before she could leave the city. Then your two younger brothers were shot a few weeks before you were due to be born. This caused your mother to start her labor early. You were born small, but healthy. Your mother, however, never completely recovered. She had lost all of her children but you, and you were betrothed the very day of your birth. They say that Leos' insistence that the betrothal be finalized immediately was an indication he didn't expect to live much longer himself, and that contributed to your mother's decline. When you were three months old, she died of natural causes that a healthy woman could have easily withstood."

"And my father?"

"Leos was stabbed in the back at his own table while he was eating dinner. The assassin had slowly worked his way up through the kitchen and had finally been allowed to serve at the table. He had no hope of escaping. He knew that. A confession revealed that he was dying of some disease, that the money he had taken to kill the king was for his family, the only way he could leave them cared for."

"But did he reveal that a Stamboloff had hired him?"

"Not a Stamboloff, Princess. That family was so arrogant by then in their hate for the Janaceks that there had been no secrecy in hiring this man. He named each one of them, the two remaining women right down to Ivan, Janos' youngest grandson, and since they each had contributed something of value for the assassin's payment, they all shared in this victory. And for them it was a victory. A Barany was put on the throne because the last Janacek wasn't expected to live out the year if she remained in Cardinia."

"So I was sent away?"

"Not immediately, not until the first attempt was made on your life. Your nurse died instead. My father then devised the plan to send you away in secrecy, with only Baroness Tomilova to know of your whereabouts. He also put a high price on the head of each Stamboloff."

"Even the children?"

"They didn't quibble about killing children," he replied harshly. "Your youngest brother was six years old. You were five months old when your nurse took the bullet meant for you. This was a blood feud, Tanya. It would not be over until one family or the other was completely destroyed. They wouldn't stop until you were dead. We couldn't bring you home until the last one of them was found and eliminated. But they were no longer children. It took years to find just one of those remaining, for they scattered and went into hiding when you disappeared. And only one of them was captured without a fight and brought back to be executed for treason, the rest all fighting to the end. And the last, Ivan, wasn't found until this year. Even then, he nearly escaped in a ship. But he left port so quickly, he didn't have enough crew to handle the storm they met. His ship went down in the Black Sea. Sandor's men were close enough behind to pick up any survivors, but Ivan wasn't one of them."

"Are you sure he was the last?"

"The Stamboloffs weren't just enemies of your family. Their assassination of the King of Cardinia made them enemies of the crown. A unit of twenty men was formed for the specific task of hunting them down. These men didn't make mistakes. It may have taken twenty years, but they were thorough."

"But a child, grown to manhood and not seen for ten or fifteen years. Who could possibly recognize him and say for certain this is a Stamboloff?"

Stefan grinned at her. "An excellent point, little Tanya." He went on without noticing the blush that his near endearment caused her. "But the Stamboloffs were one of those unique families whose members looked alike — at least the men did. The remaining grandsons were each dark of skin, blond, and blueeyed, and all bore a striking resemblance to Janos and his sons when they were full-grown. And not one but five of Sandor's men knew the Stamboloffs personally. When they found one, there was never any doubt that they had found the right man."

Tanya shook her head slowly, denying the emotion churning inside her. "All those deaths, because one old man couldn't accept that his son was a murderer. Yuri must have hidden his true character well from his loved ones."

"It is human nature to do so."

"Is it?" she asked in a whisper. "I wouldn't know. I've never had any loved ones."

He couldn't mistake the mist forming in her eyes. His hand reached toward her, but drew back as the coach stopped. She didn't notice, turning her head aside to dab briskly at her eyes.

"Where are we?"

"At a house I have on the outskirts of town. We will spend the night here while everything is readied for the last leg of our journey."

His hand was offered again, but this time to help her from the coach.

"You own a house here, so far from home?"

"I merely leased it when we came through Danzig in the spring."

Tanya turned a look of amazement on him. "And you kept it all these months just so you would have somewhere to spend one night on your return? Lord help us, Stefan, someone ought to have a serious talk with you about the way you squander money."

He laughed because she was serious. "The house cost very little, Tanya. "

She looked up at the twostory edifice and exclaimed, "Sure it did!"

"And it was needed for the attendants who were left behind."

"Oh, well, that makes sense," she replied dryly. "Especially since it only takes a few weeks to reach Cardinia from here — but you've been gone, what, seven or eight months?"

He frowned at her now and took her elbow to lead her up to the front door. "The cost was negligible," he said with curt dismissal, "and my attendants chose to wait for me here. I fail to see—"

The door flew open, and a lusciously curved redhead threw her arms around Stefan's neck and plastered her lips to his mouth. Stefan could "fail to see" till his eyes fell out, but Tanya could see perfectly well why this attendant had chosen to wait for him here.