Page 5 of Vicious Knight

“Up until now I didn’t have to worry about the Ivanovs.” I bring my hands together in my lap.

“And you still don’t.”

“Really, Mom? Aleksander Ivanov will be on campus all the time. Raventhorn is the Knights’ headquarters and Aleksander is the leader of the Knights.”

Most of all, he’s the man who put my father behind bars for life. He also linked Dad to an attack years before where Aleksander’s brother and family were butchered. He pinned that on Dad because there were striking similarities between the two incidents that made it seem like he was involved in both attacks.

Aleksander is a nasty piece of work who wouldn’t hesitate to skin me alive and unearth my secrets if I drew the wrong kind of attention to myself, so of course I’m worried.

Mom has gone silent so I continue speaking.

“When I went to Raventhorn over the summer for registration, I was told Aleksander’s son, and his nephew—as in the guy whose father, Dad is in prison for killing—would be attending the college for the next two years. I’m likely to see them and I don’t even know what they look like.”

Caspian—the son, and Thorne—the nephew were talked about like celebrities. Most of the students went to high school together in New York, so they all know each other. “I tried to Google the Ivanovs, but other than details of their billion dollar technology company nothing else came up. It wasn’t surprising given who they are. So I guess I’ll meet them when I see them.”

I’ve spilled all my worries and Mom is still just staring at me.

“I hate that your father put us in this position.” She eventually speaks after another minute passes. Her voice is whisper soft, as if she’s scared the very walls will hear us. Her eyes are glassy too, full of regret, disappointment and the deepest sorrow.

“Mom. Dad didn’t?—”

“No. Don’t say it.” The finality in her tone severs everything I want to say in my father’s defense.

That what happened wasn’t Dad’s fault.

That he didn’t mean to hurt us.

That he’s innocent.

Mom doesn’t want to hear any of those things because she believes he’s guilty.

My father was set up to take the fall for a crime he didn’t commit, but no one can prove it and no one believes him but me.

I was there on that night when disaster struck. I just didn’t see enough to help him.

I couldn’t help anyway because Mom and I had to flee for our lives by pretending to be dead. If Mom hadn’t gone to Levgen we would have been executed as punishment for my father’s crimes. In the Knights, part of the punishment for unauthorized killing is death for your family.

The worst thing is, like everyone else we once knew in Russia, Dad believes that my mother and I are dead.

“If not for what he did you wouldn’t be worried now. You’d be excited to go to college and study music like you should be. You’d see the value of attending Raventhorn instead of fearing it.”

There’s no point arguing. One, because she is technically right, and two, I’d only end up sounding like the lost little girl again. The lost little girl who continues to hold onto her belief in her father’s innocence.

“I want you to stop worrying.” Mom’s voice is firmer now, reflecting the determination in her expression. “Worrying is only going to hurt your success. We’ve been through too much for that to happen, and I just want you to live your dreams.”

She presses her finger on the middle C key on the piano twice and guilt washes over me. I think of what she’s had to do to keep me safe and make this moment possible for me. She married my father’s best friend, moved across the world and literally became someone else, for me.

“I’m sorry. You’re right. So I’ll get my head together.” I drag in a deep breath to clear my mind. “I have too many dreams to allow fear to stand in my way.”

“Exactly, my dear girl. Exactly. You’re going to be absolutely fine. I promise. Okay?”

“Okay.” I try to sound more sure of myself and give her a small smile.

“Come on, let’s go help Levgen. You know he’s going to whip up the best sundaes ever.”

“He always does.”

She smiles back at me and lowers to plant a kiss on my forehead, then we make our way to the kitchen.