“It’s a monkey,” Mikhail said, laying his knapsack on the floor.

“Is that a type of monster?” I asked.

“No, an animal. I’ve seen them before at the imperial menagerie.”

“Can you eat them?”

Vanya shot me a horrified look. “Don’t tell me this makes you hungry, Toma?”

I huffed. “I’m sorry, but back home, I didn’t exactly come across freshly baked bread or Svetskiy chocolates in the wild. If I see a ‘monkey’ in the forest and there’s nothing else to eat, it’s ending up on my dinner table.”

Mikhail glanced over from where he was busy dusting off the worn sofa in the corner. “They aren’t native to our lands, only warmer climates beyond the Black Steppe.”

“Oh.” I settled onto the bed, testing it beneath my fingertips. Ah, an actual mattress instead of a bedroll. And it wasn’t even straw-stuffed.

“You can take the bed, Toma.” Vanya grinned. “In case you get hungry during the night.”

My brow twitched. “I’m beginning to see why Mikhail doesn’t like your sense of humor, Vanya.”

He chuckled. “Forgive me, I couldn’t resist.”

Along with the cot and broken sofa, there was a leather-padded examination table that Vanya claimed as his own. He stole a pillow from the bed and rolled out his bedroll atop the lot.

“Are you sure you don’t want the bed?” I asked Vanya as he settled down with a contented sigh. “You let me use yours at your apartment.”

“Who needs a bed when you have this? I mean, it even has a footrest.” Stretching out, he propped his feet up in the elevated stirrup-like holders at the foot of the table.

“I don’t think that’s a footrest,” Mikhail said, looking up from untying his boots.

“Well, whatever it is then.” Vanya sat up and swung his legs over the side of the table. “Anyway, the bed’s all yours, Toma. If I get any closer to Mikhail, I won’t be able to fall asleep.”

“How so?” Mikhail asked dryly.

“I hate to break it to you, Tsarushka, but you snore in your sleep.”

Mikhail scoffed. “I don’t snore.”

“You’re noisier than a horse,” Vanya said.

I laughed, because it was true.

Aghast, Mikhail turned to me. “Wait. Do I?”

“I’m afraid so,” I said, once I had gotten my helpless giggling under control. “But you’re not noisier than a horse. You’re noisier than a train!”

Vanya burst into laughter. “Isn’t he?”

“You’re a terrible influence on her,” Mikhail said to Vanya.

“Don’t look at me.” Vanya lifted his hands. “This is all Toma.”

I smiled, secretly pleased that I had made them laugh. It felt like I had broken through a barrier somehow, becoming a part of their world. I wished Galina was here. She would love them too.

“You know, for the Tsar, you really ought to have some manners,” Vanya teased, and was about to say more when we heard the shatter of glass.

I turned to find Aergul standing in the doorway, a tray at her feet. Broken teacups littered the floor, their contents already soaking through her wool slippers.