Chapter Thirty-Six: Temptation
I had no clue how to preoccupy myself now that I was stuck at Court for more than a month. I spent every morning running and soon became acquainted with those who I ran past on a daily basis. I felt like some character on a kids' show who would greet everyone as I ran by. Of course, this caused quite the scene - why was Maya Schoenberg here? Why was she so friendly and happy when she had just been assigned to Abe Mazur? I simply laughed off the rumors I heard. Moroi politics could sometimes be so petty.
However, there was one thing I couldn't laugh off. I knew Mikhail Tanner was somewhere at Court and the least I could do was visit him, especially since I was the reason he was here. For the first few weeks, I avoided the situation altogether, but I knew I couldn't keep away any longer. There was only one guy I could go to in order to find Mikhail: Hans Croft.
Hans Croft was the head guardian here at Court, and, fortunately, a close friend of my father's. I hadn't seen him since I was a child, and I wasn't sure if he was going to recognize me or not. Either way, I needed to see Mikhail.
Luckily, Hans remembered me and hugged me when he saw me. "Maya, you've grown up so much," he told me.
"Well, I would hope so, considering I was barely three feet tall the last time I saw you," I replied.
He smiled and let go of me, but I could sense a sadness in his aura. "...I'm really sorry about your father..."
I became somber, knowing he could understand the same emptiness I felt. "...It was just so unexpected...I mean, he's Arthur Schoenberg, he should be able to take down any amount of Strigoi...but..I guess he's not as invincible as everyone made him out to be...and I just...I just wish I could've had one last conversation with him..."
He nodded. "Me too..." He hesitated before saying anything else, "And I know he wouldn't approve of me making you Abe's guardian, but I couldn't let you continue to be some unpromised guardian..."
Right, I had forgotten Hans was in charge of assigning guardianships. "You did the right thing. Plus, you have to know the queen has an ulterior motive to make me Adrian Ivashkov's guardian anyway."
He perked up. "What?"
Dammit, me and my big mouth always gave away too much. "Do you happen to know where Mikhail Tanner is?" I asked, completely avoiding the subject I had introduced.
He smirked. "I'll let you by this one time, but next time you slip up, you'll have to follow through. Mikhail is in the..." He paused as he looked past me. "Well, today's your lucky day because he's right there."
I turned around and, sure enough, Mikhail was walking past. I quickly thanked Hans and caught up to Mikhail. "You're not going to church again, are you?" I asked.
Mikhail glanced over at me. "Weren't you suppose to be working at Court, say, two years ago? You're a little late."
"Were you missing my company? I hurried as fast as I could," I teased.
He simply rolled his eyes, which signified he didn't miss my company. "Maya, no offense, you're the last person I want here."
"Actually, I'm kind of offended. There are plenty of worse people."
He stopped and stared at me. "You're the reason I'm here in the first place and everytime I see you, I'm reminded of Sonya. Those two things alone make it impossible to be around you."
"Not necessarily. You're around me right now."
He glared at me for a couple seconds before moving on. I had to quicken my pace to keep up with him. "Listen, I didn't purposely try to get you caught and sent here. I'm sorry about what happened, but there's nothing I can do about it now."
"Just stop, okay? ...I realize that...and maybe it was for the best I ended up here. What you said to me before...about freezing up the moment I saw her...you're probably right. Maybe it's just time I moved on, but it's hard."
I watched him, completely understanding what he was saying. It had been two years and I still hadn't gotten over Dimitri. It was the very reason I couldn't fathom being with Abe, no matter what advances he made. "Mikhail, maybe you're not suppose to get over her until you know her fate...and I shouldn't have stopped you from hunting her down."
He remained silent as he continued his fast pace to his destination. "Mikhail, please-" I reached for his arm, but he shook it out of my grip.
"Maya, don't throw yourself on me like this."
I stepped back. "...Throw myself? I'm just trying to apologize, okay? ...I guess you don't have to accept it, but it would be nice if you did."
Mikhail sighed. "Do you realize the effect you have on men?"
I temporarily stalled, surprised by what he just said. "...Excuse me?"
"...Maya, do you realize that a beautiful girl like you can make men fall to their knees with a simple blink of an eye? I can't have that sort of temptation around when Sonya could still be out there..."
I blinked a couple of times. Temptation? The thought of Mikhail thinking of me in that way made me blush. "...I...I didn't mean to..." What was I trying to say? It wasn't my fault that I was 'beautiful'. "...I'll just get out of your way." Flustered, I walked past Mikhail.
I really hoped the rest of my time at Court wouldn't be like what I had just experienced.