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of Yulian, whom they were evidently relying on a great deal if for nothing more than a diversion. Any
plan they’ve created since then would have to be rather slapdash, would it not? Besides, if we’re to
catch them, our own clock is ticking at the same speed. Forty eight hours from now the Romanovs
will be packing for the coast and we shall be sailing for London.”
“Very well,” Trevor said with a sigh. “Draw the traitors out we shall, but I refuse to use Her
Majesty as bait. I shall advise her not to attend the ball and to keep Alix away from the theater a
well. And in the meantime I suppose I must consult with that bald man, what’s the name? That Viktor
Prakov who appears to be head of the palace police. I doubt he will welcome my visit.”
“I shall come with you,” Rayley said. “For I’ve met him just a bit, you see. He was one of the
fellows in the sauna that day.”
“Good god,” said Trevor. “Who wasn’t in that ghastly room? Next you’ll be telling me that the
tsesarevich himself was in attendance.”
“Most certainly not,” Rayley said with a quick grin. “I don’t have the feeling Nicky Romanov
is that sort at all. He sticks to his room, does he not? And prays for the strength to be a better man.”
“Poor Alix,” Emma said. But she said it softly, and none of the men heard her.
The Café of the Revolutionaries
11:20 AM
“I cannot imagine why you felt the need to introduce me to that little British pip,” Filip was
saying in irritation as he finished his beer. His first beer of the morning, but certainly not the last.
The day ahead would likely prove challenging, the evening even more so. “It was not as if we were
at some sort of dinner party.”
“If I did not introduce you, he would have been far more suspicious,” Vlad said, his face
flushed.