Second mate, second path

After the ceremony, everyone was chatting with one another, making the place much livelier than Nikolai had intended. 

He was standing at the food table, a glass of red wine in his hand, and he was staring at the witch who was chatting to the people around her, grinning.

She seemed to know them, therefore she was definitely not one of the witches who had visited the inn. Interesting.

"Oh, who are you focusing your attention on so intently?" Vladmir enquired with interest, looking in the same direction as Nikolai. He grinned in admiration when he caught a glimpse of the witch. "She is stunning."

Nikolai twitched his lips. "Don't act like you don't know, Vlad," he said before taking a sip of his wine.

The threatening tone Nikolai employed when calling his name caused Vladmir to stifle a terrified laugh. "My baby cousin, I didn't mean to tell her so..."