~A Good or Bad Surprise~

Lara stormed inside the guest room.  "Mikhail?  Mikhail, I know you're in here!  No use in hiding!"

A pair of dark eyes peeked over the side of the bedspread.  "Now Lara, please, before you kill me, just listen..."

Lara grabbed Mikhail by the hair and yanked him up.  "I can't believe you!  Do you want to get caught?!  Do you know how much TROUBLE I'm in?  All for you and your childish pranks!"

"This from the Great Larenny of all people!  I thought you could take a joke!"

"Don't give me that!" Lara narrowed her eyes.  "I had to convince Emilie not to tell that you were here, then I had to clean up the entire dining room myself, apologize PROFUSELY to Duke Valja, and deal with Mother's wrath!"

Mikhail began chuckling, ignoring her anger.  "You have to admit he looked funny with bits of fish and meat soup stuck on his head."

Lara giggled a little.  "I...I suppose it was rather humorous..."

"Humorous?  It was hilarious!  And after I tied his boots together, the party really started!"  Mikhail plopped down on the bed, laughing until his sides ached.  "And that Emilie -- talk about ooh la la!"

Lara sobered.  "Humph!  You can't even speak French!"

Mikhail grinned.  "Don't be jealous, sweetie.  You're still my favorite girl."

Lara blushed.  "Really Mikhail!  Do be serious!!"  She stomped her foot a little in retaliation to his remark.  "Emilie can have you!  With all of her little French ways! 'Ooh, zhat Russian iz, how you zay, zo romantic!' " she mimicked.  "Sometimes she makes me sick!"

"Why, because it was her pink carnation lipstick on my cheek?"

"Mikhail, stop it this instance!" Lara huffed.  So she was a little jealous.  It was only because she had met Mikhail first, not Emilie.  She just felt a little...protective was a good word.  Yes, a little protective.  That was all.  "What do you have in your hands?"

Mikhail quickly shut the worn leather folder on his lap.  "Nothing.  Just some papers."

"Let me see them."  Lara tried to grab them but Mikhail pulled back.

"No, no, no!"

"Oh come now, don't be shy!"  Lara started to tickle him with one hand as the other inched ever closer to the book.  "Hand the papers over, Mikky!"

Mikhail was in hysterics but kept the pad close.  "Stop!  Really, stop!"

Lara wrangled the binder out of his grasp.  She quickly ran to the window seat and opened it.

"Lara please!  Come on, don't look!"

Lara looked down at the charcoal drawings now in her hands.  The top one was unfinished, the only things in place being the graceful neck, shoulders, and face shape of a young woman.

"My word.  Who is this to be?"

Mikhail's dark cheeks reddened.  He couldn't let her know who it really was.  "Uh...some girl I knew from France."

Lara pulled another sketch out, this time of a cat with a round, friendly face, and large eyes.  "This is lovely!  Are you an artist?"

Mikhail leaned back against the pillows.  "I guess you could say that.  It's kind of a hobby."

"A hobby?  This should be a career!"  Lara sat down beside him on the bed.  "Look at the detail in these pictures!  Each stroke is like...a beautiful note of music!  Do you have anymore?"

Mikhail pulled out a stack of papers from his travel bag.  "Here's some.  I have some more spread around in my bag.  I don't exactly take good care of them."

"You should!  They're gorgeous."  Lara flipped through the drawings.  "So many beautiful scenic shots.  This must be Venice, with it's canals!  Oh, and Stockholm, Berlin, Milan, Oslo, Prague..."  She pulled out the next slowly.  "And London.  You really did go to London?  Oh, I've always longed too!"

Mikhail smiled.  "It's beautiful.  A perfect place for you."

Lara sighed dreamily.  "I wish I could see it, I really do.  Your drawing is almost like visiting it in real life, though."

"You can keep it."

She gasped.  "Oh no, I couldn't, really!  It's too lovely!"

Mikhail rolled his eyes. Women.  "Don't give me that.  I know you want it and I know your protests aren't real."  He leaned forward towards her.  "You and I may not be cut from the same cloth but I can see right through you!  Its a talent."

Lara blushed furiously. "Humph!  Accusing me of SCHEMING to get your drawing, are you?"  Her pout grew into a mischievous grin. "Well you're right!  I want it, and I'm going to keep it!"

"Lara?  Are you in there?" Both of their eyes widened at the sound of Vlad's jolly voice coming through the guest room door.

Mikhail quickly crawled under the bed as Lara kicked some of his clothing into the closet.  She threw his art on top of it, wincing at the harsh treatment she was being forced to give.

"Coming, coming!"  She quickly let him in.

"What are you doing in the guest room?"  Vlad sat down on the bed.  "I expected to find you in the bedroom."

"I was just...well I'm planning a surprise," Lara lied.

Her older brother's eyes brightened.  "A surprise?!  You know I love surprises!  Tell me!"

Lara grimaced.  "Well, it's not really a...telling surprise...because uh...then it wouldn't be a surprise anymore!"  She looked down.  Mikhail's face was peeking out from between Vlad's feet.  She rolled her eyes and motioned for him to go back under.

"Lara, what is it?  Are you hurt?"

Lara blushed and quickly drew her hands behind her back. "Oh no, no, just swatting at a fly!"

Vlad raised an eyebrow.  "Lara, is this a good surprise or a bad surprise?  Because I've seen you bring both about, and the last bad surprise was NOT pleasant at all, what with the birds you brought in flying around the house everywhere.  The upholstery had bird, well, excretion, stuck to it for months!"

Lara laughed. "Trust me, I know every spot that a bird relieved himself on.  I had to help clean it all out, remember?"  She looked down and saw Mikhail with his tongue out and eyes crossed.  She tried to hold in a laugh.

"Vlad um...look at the view!  You can see the River so clearly!"  She pulled him over to the large window.  Mikhail shifted positions so he could continue to tease her.  He slowly reached out and grabbed her ankle.  She jumped.

Vlad turned around. "Lara, you really are acting jittery.  Is something wrong?"

Lara quickly stomped on Mikhail's hand.  She smiled innocently at Vlad.  "Nothing's wrong, Vlad.  I promise.  Things just have gotten a little," she kicked Mikhail's head back, "troublesome, that's all!"

"Well I do hope whatever trouble it is clears itself soon."

"AS DO I."  Lara made sure to stomp closely to his hand to emphasize each word.  Mikhail rolled his eyes.  It wasn't like he was in plain view or anything!

"Vlad, I really must go back to working now.  I'll see you at dinner tonight."

"But Lara..."

Lara quickly shoved him out into the hallway.  "Ta-ta!"  She slammed the door in his face and locked it.  "Mikhail!" she hissed, lifting the bedspread as she kneeled down.  "You have to stop being so playful!"

Mikhail laughed. "But teasing someone is a sign of caring where I come from!"

Lara blushed.  "Well care later and be safe now!  Really, you have absolutely no consideration for organization and a good plan."

"Oy, you're just like my father!"  Mikhail crawled out.  "He was always so busy worrying about when his next dollar was coming in!  Always kvetching!  Such a nudnik!"

"Don't lapse into Yiddish on me.  You know I don't understand!" Lara pouted.  "Besides, this isn't the whatever you call the neighborhood you grew up in!  Shetl?"

Mikhail raised an eyebrow.  "Typical of a Gentile to think I grew up in a poor Jewish neighborhood."

"You didn't?"  This was certainly a surprise.  Most Jews were only allowed to have certain jobs, usually not ones that made any money to speak of.

"My father was a banker.  I grew up in one of the ritziest neighborhoods in Moscow!"  Mikhail wiped his pants legs off as he stood.  "I even got to eat caviar.  Imagine that!"

Lara bushed.  "I...I guess I sort of...didn't think about the possibility of you...not having always been poor...not that you're now, I mean, I, uh, am speaking of --"

Mikhail put his hand over her lips gently.  "I understand."

He knew he had every right to be angry at her for immediately assuming the stereotype, but it was hard for him to keep his animosity going.  She was so innocent, yet so much wiser than even he was at times!  It was confusing to him.

"Oh, my leg!" He sat down on the bed.  "I can hardly move it."

"What can I do?  Here, lay back!"  Lara carefully laid him back on the bed, then propped his foot up under a pillow.  "Anything I can get you?  Here, let me fan you a bit.  You look absolutely peeked.  Need the window open?  Do you want something to eat?"

Mikhail was shocked by her willingness to help.  "Maybe some cheesecake.  It DOES hurt SO much."

"I'll get some right now!"

She soon reappeared with a thick piece of cheesecake, smothered in strawberry topping.  Mikhail's mouth watered.

He savored each bite. "Mm, can I have some water too?"  It was promptly brought to him.  Lara was certainly accommodating.

"So what's there to do around here anyway?  Sit and watch the grass grow?"

"Well, if you walk to the town you've already visited, which is quite a bit away, there's...there's um...well, there used to be a place to play chess..."

"Play CHESS?"

Lara played with the end of her collar.  "I said USED to be.  It got shut down because the Marquise Vandridiev got a little tipsy there one night and, well what happened really isn't proper to speak of..."

Mikhail looked at the ceiling sadly.  "I'm stuck in Boringsville!  There USED to be a place to play CHESS for entertainment!"

Lara pouted.  "Well I'm SORRY if it's not Paris, but it's a nice relaxing countryside for the upper crust of Russian society."  She paused.  "That sounded just like Mother, didn't it?"

Mikhail nodded.

Lara sat down on the bed. "I'm going to go crazy, absolutely nuts!  I'll do anything not to turn into Mother!"

"What about Sobriat Griby?"

She looked up.  "Mushrooming?  You want to go mushrooming?"

"Doesn't EVERYONE in Russia?  I haven't gone since I was a kid!"

Lara blinked, pondering this idea.  "We have excellent mushrooms a few miles away.  Vlad and Kos -- I mean, I used to pick them for Sobriat Griby all the time.  But it's not late summer yet!"

"What does it matter?"  Mikhail placed his cheesecake plate to the side.  "We have nothing else to do!"

"You couldn't walk there with that leg," Lara pointed out.  "In fact, you couldn't do a lot of walking around period, Mikky!"

Mikhail leaned forward.  "Are you saying you can't figure out a way?"

Lara rose indignantly. "Of course I can figure out a way!  Is this a challenge?"

Mikhail shrugged, trying to hide the grin on his face.  "I guess you might say that.  But if you're not up to it..."

"I am VERY up to it!"  Lara stormed to him.  "Leave the planning to me, and I'll leave the fun to you!"

He laughed, not at all surprised by her proposal.  They made the perfect team, a ying and yang pair, one ordered and scheming, the other free and unconventional.  "Alright, it's a deal!"

Lara shook his hand firmly.  "Let the adventure begin!"
~*~

"Have I ever mentioned I really, really hate horses?!"

"Oh come on, Mikky!"  Lara kept the reigns of Sakhar in tight control.  "You aren't even having to do any work!"

"I'm on the back of this horse, Lara!  What if it hits a bump in the road and I fall off?"

"Then hang onto me, silly!"

Mikhail blushed and slowly slid his hands around her waist.  It felt nice to hold her, and he pulled her a little closer.  The thick strands of red hair that tickled his nose smelled wonderful, like a beautiful garden of flowers, full of roses, lilacs, and gardenias.  Ignoring the bumping of the horse, it wasn't a bad experience at all.

Lara stiffened a little at the feel of his strong hands.  She blinked and took a deep breath.

The night was charged with electricity, the atmosphere thrilling.  She had never been on an adventure before, and true sneaking out of the house to pick mushrooms was hardly one, but it was something!

Mikhail acted like it would be boring, but he hadn't been cooped up inside of a single house for his whole life, either.  She had been to St. Petersburg only a handful of times, unlike his venture all across Western Europe.  She would have to ask him how he had managed that.

"We've been riding forever!  Aren't we almost there?"

"Sakhar is the fastest horse we own, and Father is a stickler for his equines.  She's a thoroughbred, the child of a mare named --"

"I don't CARE who her parents were!" he snapped.  "I want to know if we're almost there!  I hate horses!"

Lara laughed, her musical giggle falling nicely on his ears. "We're close, yes!  We've been traveling for around an hour."

"An hour?  You mean this idiotic horse has been jostling me for an hour?!  Lara!"

She smiled and slid her hand back into his.  "I see the patch up ahead, don't worry!"

Mikhail studied their hands together for a moment before looking aside.

"We're here!" Lara jumped down and grabbed the baskets from him.  "Maybe there'll be a few to choose from.  I'm going to get more than you!"

"You will not!" Mikhail unsteadily climbed down from the horse.  "I used to get the most of my family!"

"Just watch me!"  Lara got on her knees and started to frantically pick the small mushrooms.  Mikhail laughed and ran over, doing the same.

"HA, I got a large one!" He held it up triumphantly.  Lara snatched it and tucked it in her basket.

"Not anymore!"

"Lara!"  He jumped up and started to chase after her.  Lara ran for a few minutes, enjoying the game, then turned on her heel angerily.

"MIKHAIL!  YOU SAID YOU COULD BARELY WALK ON THAT LEG!"

Mikhail stopped quickly.  "I...um...what a miracle!  Praise be to God!"

Lara crossed her arms. "Mikhail..."

He started to back away.  "Um...well...that cheesecake was so good..."

"You're going to get it, Mikhail!"  Lara started chasing HIM this time, and promptly tackled him to the ground under her.  "Mr. Never Tells a Lie, hmm?"

Mikhail grinned, enjoying this, no doubt!  "Come on, let me up!"

"Nope, nope, nope!" Lara laughed.  "You owe me!"

"Fine, fine, I owe you!"

"Say: I hereby swear that Lara Vasilovich is the most beautiful, graceful, smart, exciting, and stunning woman I've ever laid eyes on!"

"Lara!"

"Say it!"

Mikhail laughed.  Lara was full of so much energy and enthusiasm it was hard to remain cynical and aloof around her.  "I hereby swear that Lara Vasilovich is the most beautiful, graceful, smart, exciting, and stunning woman I've ever laid eyes on!  There, are you happy now?"

"Not quite.  Now you have to teach me to draw!"

"Draw?  Come on, you can't teach that!"

Lara jumped up.  "Well you better!  Or else you--"

Mikhail grabbed her and pulled her down close to him.  "Shh!  Did you hear that?"

Lara looked both ways around them.  The last glow of orange twilight was still in the air -- thanks to the white nights -- and illuminated the grassy patches, but only in certain spots where the clouds didn't blind it from view.

"I think it's the thieves," Mikhail whispered warmly into her ear.  "Just keep still."  He had his arms around her tightly now, trying to push them into the smallest area possible to avoid being detected.  Lara wrapped her arms around his neck, her blue eyes scanning the area until they rested on his dark ones.

They both hesitated, lost in the other for a moment, then looked to the side.

"Look!  It's a horse!"  Lara listened to the gruff voice with fear.  They had found Sakhar!

"Hmm, let's see what we have here.  A fine thoroughbred, carrying a ladies shaw that looks expensive.  Now where do you think that lady could be?"  That one sounded like the leader, a hostile tone laced to his words.

Lara crawled even closer to Mikhail's broad figure as the thieves discussed the possibilities to themselves.  It would only be a matter of minutes before the gang of rouges found them huddled behind the small hill, unarmed and at their complete mercy.

"I have an idea."  She whispered it quietly in his ear.

"No, absolutely not!" he hissed.  "There's no way that I'm going to let you do that --"

"You don't have much choice!"  She quickly stood up, her face and body glowing in the dusk like a ghostly apparition.  "Yoo-hoo!  Mr. Thieves!  Over this way!"

Mikhail reached out towards her.  "Lara!"

It was too late.  She was leading them on a chase through the trail in the dense forest.  Mikhail realized he had no choice but follow the part she had outlined to him.  He had to trust her -- she was trusting him to pull through.

Lara ran through the forest, knowing her way through it better then the robbers.  She didn't care when brambles tangled themselves in her hair, or when sharp branches scratched her face.  She had only one goal in mind: survival.

Come on, the tree was here somewhere.  The pounding of the boots echoed from behind, inching ever closer.  She kept running, her hair flying in her face, her dress snagging.  Where was the tree??

There!  She grabbed a branch and climbed, knowing every limb and offshoot by heart.  She settled herself on a thick bough.

Now there was nothing to do but wait.

"She must be here somewhere!  She couldn't have just disappeared!"

"What if she's a spirit?  They haunt these woods!"

Lara knew her heart must be loud enough to lead the attackers right to her.  Oh please, Mikhail, remember your part of the plan!

Hooves.  The sound of hooves.  He was coming!

The bandits ran to both sides of the trail as Mikhail charged through on Sakhar.

"He has the horse!" one of the brigands yelled.  "After him!"

Lara closed her eyes and jumped, falling into Mikhail's arms.  She grasped his shoulders and arms tightly.

Only fate would choose if they got away now.

Mikhail steered Sakhar clumsily out of the forest and onto the main road.  The town of Rybinsk was just ahead.  Lara already saw it's comforting lights, urging them to hurry into it's safety.

Gun shots were being fired towards them, but Lara knew they were far enough ahead by now.  Surely they couldn't reach them!  She placed her hands on his cheeks happily.

"Mikhail!  We did it!  We got aw-- Mikhail?"

He blinked once, then crumpled in her arms, passed out.  Lara struggled with his weight and moved her hand out from under him.

It was covered in blood.

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