6
Despite her low opinion of the man, Ana found herself thinking of John Shelby.
She was irked by his arrogant confidence and the unspoken test that he had seemed to give her when in her own home. The way he smirked anytime he thought he had gained an upper hand bothered her to no end. But she still thought of him. She wondered why he had felt the need to visit her in person.
Anastasiya stood in the bottom of the hallway. She had used it so much as a basis of observation, that it had almost become more familiar than the room in which she slept. Even the garish emerald wallpaper had become more tolerable on her eyesight and the placement of ornate mirrors on each wall didn't seem to aggravate her as much as they did upon first arrival.
In fact, she almost liked it. It was exactly what she imagined when she thought of her mother.
Seeing Tatiana at the end of the hall, Ana disbanded her thoughts. Her feet were moving forward quickly before she had even contemplated what she would say, and she caught up to her with a hand outreached to her elbow. Her sister turned cautiously before she had even stepped close, gazing at her with narrowed eyes.
Ana smiled, pulling her pearls out and tilting her chin. Tatiana scoffed. The sight was too obviously sentimental and it was a smile of cloying sweetness, that made her stomach turn. Ana wanted something, and Tatiana had a feeling that this time, she would give it.
"Don't give me that look." She snapped, glaring daggers at the sickening grin on her sister's lips.
"I'm not giving you a look." Ana said, continuing to smile at her sister, toying with the fake innocence that laced her words and slipped against her tongue.
"You are. The one where you think you can pull something out of me." Tatiana insisted. "Stop."
"I know you think you can't trust me, but I am your sister." Ana assured, taking her elbow in her hand and guiding her to the library harshly.
Tatiana ripped her arm from Ana's grip, moving to glare at her once again. "You should have thought about that before your outburst."
"I apologise, but I felt invisible in the presence of my own family." Ana scoffed. "You being part of the reason."
Tatiana shook her head, dismissing her with ease. Ana pleaded, "Just let me in, Tatiana. You were always the one I could trust."
"Why do you want to know?"
Had it not have been a matter of gaining answers, Ana would have laughed. Tatiana had always been a one for pointless questions. Though, most of the time, it was for her own gain.
"I don't want to be on the sidelines."
Tatiana tilted her head, glaring slightly at the smile that was swiped on her sister's lips. Nonetheless, she nodded, sighing as she chose to answer, thinking of her words first. She knew her aunt would not like it, given her obvious hatred for anything related to her sister, their mother, but she gave in, letting her sister into their politics and business.
"The priest, he is the middle ground between a transaction. With the Shelbys." Tatiana began, pausing as she chose her information carefully.
"But what are you buying, Tatiana? That is what I want to know."
Ana's eyes trailed across her sisters face. Her expression was cold, as it mostly always was, but her eyes were narrowed further, almost as if it was twitching slightly.
"You're helping in this fight more than I thought." She stated, and Tatiana finally nodded.
"We are using the Shelbys as a vessel to buy tanks and weapons as support." She explained. Ana nodded in comprehension.
"So why do you need father Hughes? You have your men to help you get the tanks, why would you need the help of a priest?" Anastasiya asked.
"He is a member of the Economic league. They want to help us, without being in the public about it." Tatiana said. "To keep everything, and everyone, in line."
"I don't understand how you can trust a man like him." She exclaimed, thinking of all the times she had caught him lurking and switching about his coat pockets, as if scared that something would fall into the wrong hands.
"And we don't understand why you don't trust him." Tatiana pushed. "He is a holy man."
Ana scoffed in disbelief. Her family were known sinners- the irony almost killed her. Tatiana would be last on her lift of people who would be respectful toward a godly figure, and her sister's behaviour worried her to a certain extent.
"You've never believed in the word holy." Ana snapped. "You shock me, Tatiana."
"Things have changed, Ana." Tatiana interrupted.
"I know, you told me."
"More than you've realised." She trailed off, glancing toward the door as she heard footsteps approaching. "I never wanted to leave you in Russia. But I couldn't stay with our mother. Not any more."
Their aunt appeared in the doorway, her greying hair pulled tightly back from her face, which stuck out from behind the large, white wood. She looked between the two, hesitating, as if she had to force the simple, two words from her mouth.
"Girls, dinner." She ordered, before leaving as swiftly as she came.
"I'm invited now?" Ana asked, brow raised, as she turned to her sister accusingly. "That was you, wasn't it?"
The silence that she was greeted with was answer enough. She snorted as she watched Tatiana raise to her feet, heading toward the door of the library without another word said.
"Don't expect me to thank you." Ana called after her.
"Don't speak of it." Tatiana snapped.
"Never." Ana whispered after, pausing as she waited before following after her sister.
Though neither would comment upon it, the invisible barrier that constantly stood between the two was slowly dissolving, with evidence being as clear as day. The rooms around Ana no longer seemed as confining and claustrophobic as she walked through them. A new sense of trust had been built back up, but it was thin and brittle, just waiting to be broken into unfixable shards.
Ana entered the room shortly behind her sister, stopping dead as she saw the extra seat at the table. She glared at the priest as he faced away from her, and she sat at the table, refusing to look back.
"It seems like he's more apart of the family than I am." She hissed to Tatiana, as she sat beside her.
"Don't you dare say a word, Ana." Tatiana warmed.
"How could I not?"
Anastasiya set her sight on the priest once again, noticing that he had turned to look at her too.
"Nice of you to join us, Father Hughes." Tatiana said.
"Thank you, Miss Petrovna. Your uncle was kind enough to invite me after a small word with him." He answered, a sly smirk on his face. "Miss Anastasiya, it is a pleasure to finally be in your company again."
"And you." She said, turning her sights on the food that was placed in front of her.
For the rest of the meal, Ana didn't speak. Yet again she could feel eyes on her, but unlike the last time, she didn't know who's. It was interchanging, one minute coming from her right, the next up ahead, and lastly to her left. It left her whole face tingling and numb, like the feeling she would get when she knew a hit was coming, even though it wasn't.
She excused herself early as Father Hughes was getting himself ready to leave. Managing to slide from the room quietly, she headed through the hallway, meeting the dusty banister of the stairs lightly with her fingers, before they were ripped away by an unforeseen touch.
The priest stood in front of her, trapping her between the coats on the wall and himself. If he had pushed any harder, she would have disappeared among the material, sliding away with his snarl being the last king in her line of sight.
"Miss Petrovna, I know you don't like me, but there is no need to be spreading lies to your family." He snarled.
His face was so close that she could smell the dusty voice that fanned against her brow. She felt sick. His hand was pressed against her arms as she glared to him.
"I don't-" she began but he chuckled lowly, shaking his head.
"I can see through your lies just now." He said. "You will make haste to stop your negative talk of me and my business, Anastasiya. You may find that I have more power than you think."
"What makes me think that your empty threats will make me think any different of you?" She said, lifting her chin and taking her confidence back in stride.
"Check under your pillow, the book that you stole from me. You'll see that I know enough to have an effect." He said, and Ana's face dropped. "Say a word more of me and my party, and you'll know what will happen."
He left without a word more to say goodbye to her family, who were still sat in their dining room. But Ana was preoccupied. How had he gotten to the book? He couldn't have- and that was what scared her. He knew she would take it, and she had missed a threat that was aimed at her all along.
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