"You are a cunning devil, aren't you, Mikhail? But I think your cleverness may have gotten you into a bit of trouble." He watched her with hooded eyes. His teeth gleamed white in the firelight. "Did I happen to mention, Miss Whitney, that the last person impertinent enough to beat me at chess was thrown in the dungeon and tortured for thirty years?" "I believe that would have made you about two at the time," she teased, her eyes glued to the chessboard."