Chapter 99 Anya
I woke to pain. My head throbbed. My vision swam. Everything hurts. I tried to move but could not. My hands were tied. My feet were bound.
Slowly my surroundings came into focus. I was in a basement. It was dark and cold and smelled of mold. Chains hung from the walls. Blood stained the concrete floor.
And Nikolai was there. Chained to the wall. Blood covered his face. A knife wound was in his shoulder . He was bleeding heavily.
"Nikolai," I tried to say. But my voice came out as a whisper.
His eyes found mine. "Anya. Thank God you are awake."
"What happened?" I asked.
"You fell," a voice said.
I turned my head slowly. Pain shot through my skull. Ivanov was sitting on a chair in the corner. Watching us with a knife in his hand.
"You tried to escape," he continued. "Tried to climb the fence. You fell and hit your head. My guards brought you back."
My memory returned in fragments. I was running through the halls. Guards were chasing me. But I made it to the gardens. I was climbing the fence desperately. But my feet slipped. I fell. And everything became dark.
"You are a disappointment," Ivanov said. He stood and walked toward me. "I gave you everything. A home. Status. Protection. And you repay me by conspiring with this trash."
"He is not trash," I said. "He is twice the man you will ever be."
Ivanov slapped me hard across the face. My head snapped to the side. Blood filled my mouth.
"Do not touch her!" Nikolai shouted, straining against his chains.
"I will do whatever I want," Ivanov said. "She is my wife. My property. Mine to do with as I please."
He grabbed my chin and forced me to look at him. "You belong to me," he said. "Say it."
I spat blood in his face. He hit me again. Harder this time.
"Say it!" He roared.
"Never," I said through broken lips.
Ivanov wiped the blood from his face. His expression was cold.
"Very well," he said. "If you will not submit willingly, I will break you."
He walked to Nikolai.
"No," I said. "Please. Do not hurt him."
"Why not?" Ivanov asked. "You care about him more than you care about me. So I will hurt him. And you will watch. And eventually you will break."
He raised the knife.
"Stop!" I screamed. "I will do whatever you want. Just do not hurt him. Please."
Ivanov paused. "Whatever I want?"
"Yes," I said. Tears streamed down my face. "Anything. Just spare him."
"Anya, no," Nikolai said. "Do not do this."
"I have to," I said, looking at him. "I cannot watch you die."
Ivanov smiled. "How touching. True love conquering all. Except it will not conquer me."
He drove the knife into Nikolai's other shoulder. Nikolai screamed. The sound tore through me like a physical wound.
"You said you would spare him!" I cried.
"I lied," Ivanov said simply. He twisted the knife. "Just like you lied to me. Every day. Every night. Pretending to be my loyal wife while plotting against me."
"I am sorry," I sobbed. "I am so sorry. Just please stop hurting him."
"Why should I?" Ivanov asked. "He tried to rob me. Tried to kill me probably. He deserves everything he gets."
He pulled the knife out. Blood poured from the wound. Nikolai slumped forward. His breathing was shallow. His face was gray.
"And you," Ivanov said, turning to me. "You deserve to watch."
"Please," I begged. "I will do anything. I will be whatever you want me to be. Just let him go."
"Let him go?" Ivanov laughed. "So he can try again? So he can come back and finish what he started? No. He diestonight. They all do."
"They?" I asked.
"Viktor. Dmitri. Pavel. Everyone who helped plan this little coup. I will execute them all. Publicly. As an example to anyone else who thinks they can betray me."
"You are a monster," I whispered.
"I am a realist," Ivanov corrected. "Power requires fear. Fear requires consequences. And the consequence of betrayal is death."
He walked back to me and crouched down so we were eye level. "But you," he said softly. "I will keep you alive. Because your suffering is far more useful to me than your death."
He laughed. "I will make you watch them die one by one. Starting with your precious Nikolai. And then I will take you back upstairs. Back to our chambers. Back to our bed. And I will remind you every single night who you belong to."
Horror washed over me. "You cannot," I said, my voice trembling.
"I can," Ivanov said. "And I will."
I swallowed hard. Tears streamed down my face.
"Who else was involved? Who knew about the plan? Who helped you?" He asked.
"No one," I said. "It was just us."
"Liar," Ivanov said. He grabbed my hair and pulled my head back. "Someone helped you get sick on command. Someone created the distraction. Someone arranged for light security tonight. Give me names."
"I do not know any names," I said.
Ivanov stood and walked back to Nikolai. He pressed the knife against Nikolai's throat. "Last chance," he said to me. "Give me names or I'll cut his throat right now."
"Anya, do not," Nikolai gasped. "Do not tell him anything."
I looked at Nikolai. At his bleeding shoulders. At his bruised face. At his eyes that still held defiance despite everything. He was willing to die rather than give up the others. But I could not let him die.
"Sonya," I said. The name was ash in my mouth. "She helped us to pass messages."
"Good," Ivanov said. He lowered the knife slightly. "Who else?"
"That is all I know," I said. "The rest dealt with Nikolai directly. I was never told their names."
It was a lie. But maybe it would buy time. Ivanov studied me. Then he nodded. "We will see about that," he said. "Guards! Bring me Sonya. Now."
The guards left. Minutes passed in terrible silence. Then the guards returned. Sonya was between them. Her face was pale but her eyes were fierce.
"Mrs. Ivanov," she said when she saw me. "Are you alright?"
"She will be fine," Ivanov said. "But you will not be. You helped them plot against me."
"I did," Sonya said without hesitation. "And I would do it again."
Ivanov smiled. "Brave. But foolish."
He raised his gun.
"No!" I screamed.
But it was too late. The gunshot was deafening in the enclosed space. Sonya fell. Blood spread across her chest.
She looked at me one last time. Her lips moved. Be strong.
Then her eyes closed and she was gone.
I could not breathe.
Wha… what just happened?
Sonya’s dead!
Ivanov turned back to me. "That is what happens to traitors," he said. "Now. Are there any other names you would like to share? Or should I start shooting people at random until you cooperate?"
I looked at Nikolai. At Viktor chained beside him. At the blood pooling around Sonya's body. This was all my fault.
"There is no one else," I said. My voice was hollow. "You have everyone."
Ivanov looked at me for a long moment. Then he smiled. "Good," he said. "Then we can move on to the executions."
He walked to the stairs. "Prepare them," he ordered the guards. "We do it at dawn in the courtyard. I want everyone in the household to watch. I want them to see what happens when you betray me."
The guards moved to unchain Viktor and Nikolai. Ivanov paused at the stairs and looked back at me. "And you, my dear wife," he said. "You will stand beside me. You will watch them die. And you will smile. Because if you do not, I will kill every single servant in this house. One by one. Until you learn to obey."
Then he was gone. The guards dragged Viktor and Nikolai out.
Nikolai looked back at me once. His eyes held everything he could not say.
I love you. I am sorry. This is not your fault.
But it was my fault. All of it. And in a few hours, the man I loved would be executed.