Two for tragedy. Volume 1
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I walked towards them, but on the way I was surprised to find among the familiar faces two unfamiliar beauties. They did not belong to the Mroczeks, for all the members of that large family were golden-haired, and these strangers had dark hair.
– Mariszka, it's good to see you. – I gallantly kissed her beautiful thin hand.
She smiled indulgently.
– Isn't it time for us to switch to "you"? We've known each other so long that it makes me laugh when one of the Morgans addresses me as if she were seeing me for the first time," Mariszka said, her beautiful grey-blue eyes sparkling merrily.
– Whatever you say," I said with a smile. – Markus is in good hands now.
– You're wrong: Mariszka is in my hands! – my brother merrily parried, putting his arm round his beloved's waist.
– You scoundrel, always thinking only of himself! Cedric, your brother is an incorrigible possessive! – Mariszka said just as cheerfully at Markus's remark.
We laughed. But suddenly I noticed that Mariska was looking at the two strangers with a fleeting glance.
This caused me to smile slightly. I knew why she had brought them – to marry one of them to me, and I was unpleasantly surprised by these attempts to interfere in my life.
– These are my friends from Russia: Emma and Samantha," Mariszka introduced her. I greeted the girls delicately, saying all the appropriate words about the joy of our acquaintance and so on, but I did not kiss their hands. I felt unpleasant that they had agreed to take part in this adventure, and I let them know that I had figured out their plans, ignoring their beautiful, outstretched hands to me.
The guests tried, with mild surprise, to pretend as if they had no claim to a kiss at all, but they failed rather badly. I knew that in their hearts they were thinking that I was behaving badly to the ladies. But that was to my advantage.
– Cedric, we hear you're going to Russia? – Emma asked me, smiling sweetly.
I noted with annoyance that they must already know almost everything about me. Apparently, Mariszka or my mother had had an entertaining conversation with them about my humble persona.
– I'm going to," I answered coldly enough.
– If you have any uncertainties about Russia, you can ask us: we have lived there quite a long time and know a great deal about the Russian character. Russians are very different from other mortals," Samantha put in.
– How so? – Markus chuckled.
– All Russians are optimists. All of them. But words cannot express everything about the mysterious Russian soul: you need to spend many years on its research, but even then you will not understand it.
– And the blood of Russians? Does it have characteristics inherent only to it? – I asked, still relaxing a little. Talking about the country I had dreamed of travelling to had taken my fancy, and for a while I let my guard down.
– Naturally, but again, I can't tell you what it is – you just have to try it," Samantha smiled at me.
– How did you get to Russia? – Markus asked. Apparently he, like me, was seeing them for the first time, and I was relieved that he wasn't in cahoots with them.
– We're American, but we moved to Russia seven years ago," Emma told him. – It was Samantha who talked me into it, and I must say I have never regretted it.
– And how did you like Russia? – I asked.
– It's a wonderful place to live a modest and quiet life. We live in St Petersburg, but we have been to many cities. – Samantha smiled dreamily and sighed. – A paradise for vampires, believe me!
– How many of them are there? – The conversation was getting to my liking.
– One clan, but quite impressive and numerous. They live in Novgorod and almost never leave the country. It's the Kravitsky clan. Their head – Anton Kravitsky is considered to be a descendant of the Russian prince Alexei Kravitsky, but we know that he himself is.
– How do the Russians feel about us? – Mariszka asked.
– Oh, they love us! Books and films about us sell out instantly! – Emma said, and out of the corner of my eye I noticed that she was looking at me with interest, as if to see if I was listening to her beautiful melodious voice.
But I wasn't looking at either of the girls; I was watching the fire in the fireplace as it danced and twisted. And I noted with satisfaction that my coldness had repelled the unwanted strangers.
– We travel the world and live on our own. But this time Mariszka, an old friend of ours, invited us to Prague, for a couple of days, and we couldn't refuse her. – Emma smiled at Mariszka, and Mariszka smiled at her.
– Well, welcome to Prague," I said dryly, feeling a wave of irritation again. – Markus, can I talk to you for a minute?
Markus apologised to the ladies (I ignored their parting words), and we moved to another wing of the castle where no one could overhear us. When we reached the balcony, I leaned against the stone railing and gave my brother a hard, displeased look. I knew now for sure that Markus was aware of the girls and was playing along with them, helping their awkwardly transparent attempts to captivate me.
– And what's all this circus for? – I asked sternly.
Markus raised his eyebrows in surprise, as if he didn't know what he was talking about. But he was always a bad actor.
– Why are the girls here? – I said impatiently. – Don't play the fool! I don't like anyone prying into my life, and you know that as well as anyone!
– By the way, they didn't come just to meet you! Soon Mariszka will be your relative," Markus said, standing next to me and chuckling.
The meaning of his words came to me only after a few seconds. And I couldn't believe my ears.
– You're getting married? – From surprise, I temporarily forgot about my anger. – How long have you two been dating?