Chapter 20
Nebesta’s True Power
On the evening of his victory, Knyaz Parfyon of Nebesta rested. His new room didn’t have a hearth, but instead half the wall was a stove decorated in blue-and-white tile. In the next room, a steam-room was being prepared for him. Already the enticing aromas of oak and birch leaves teased his aching body. He had not had a proper steam in many months, and his head throbbed in anticipation of the cleansing heat. A host of desires and questions crowded him—visions of Alienne’s body first among them—but he willed them all away. First, a bath, then everything else.
A delicate knock on the door. “Enter,” Parfyon said. Alienne Dolgoruk, in muted blues and greys, flowed in. Parfyon was not decent, with only a coarse linen cloth wrapped around him.
“Ah, I see this
