Page 40 of Fate and Fury

Well, Katerina did not. Besides which, Dimi Zakharova would poison her every meal or slit her throat in her sleep. Let the Kniaz try to make good on the way he’d undressed her with his eyes in the arena. No matter what Niko threatened, she didn’t need him to protect her against a mere man, ruler of the realm though he might be.Spitfire,was she? If the Kniaz laid a finger on her, noble or no, she would show him what it meant to burn.

On the stones, Niko sat up, still looking furious. He stalked over to Andrei, blade in hand, and glowered down at him. “Not dead,” he reported. “Just an idiot.”

At this, Katerina laughed out loud. “You’re all fools,” she said to the man in the grove and the two on horseback. “The Kniaz wants me because of what I can do, yet you seek to insult me and suggest my place is in his bed rather than fighting by my Shadow’s side to defend Iriska? Perhaps you’ve confused me with my softer sisters.” She raised a hand and gestured at the Vila, who were clustered next to the Elders, as if seeking their protection. Elena’s eyes were wide, pupils dilated with fear. Perhaps, Katerina thought, she had truly feared for Niko’s life.

She shouldn’t be uncharitable to Elena. The Vila had never done Katerina harm, no matter how differently they saw the world. Katerina was the one in the wrong. She had to keep reminding herself of that.

Forcing her shoulders back, she watched as the man in the grove struggled to get to his feet. She had to strike now, while she still had the advantage, before his wounded pride got the best of him. “I won’t leave Kalach,” she said. “Not undefended like this, without their strongest Dimi and their alpha Shadow.”State your terms,Niko had said. Well, this was the best she could think of. “Let us hear back from the Magiya as to the nature of this threat. Then, once I’m assured Kalach can survive in my absence, my Shadow and I will go to the Kniaz.”

“No.” Brushing leaves and dirt from his clothes, Andrei strode toward her. The red-and-purple ribbons had come undone from his hair, and his face was scarlet with rage. “This is not a negotiation, witch. The Kniaz calls, and you come.”

Niko had followed him, blade still out. Now he came to stand by Katerina’s side. “Do Katerina and I need to teach you another lesson?” he said, his voice mild. He turned his knife idly, so the sun reflected off its blade. “My Dimi heels for no one. She serves the Light, and I’m proud to fight by her side. Would you like another demonstration of our skills?”

Andrei’s eyes narrowed. “You?—”

Before he could say another word, the man on the roan spoke up for the first time. “Have patience, Andrei. The Kniaz suspected she would resist, did he not? Offer her an alternative. It’ll all be the same, in the end.”

Andrei scowled at Katerina. Then he turned to face Baba Petrova and the Elders. “You,” he said, gesturing at Baba with one meaty hand. “Do you concur with the witch and her dog? You wish for her to defy the Kniaz’s command and stay here, for such time as His Grace might see fit to allow?”

Baba stepped forward. The light glinted on her white hair and deepened the royal blue of the gown that marked her as what she was: ancient witch and keeper of the village’s rituals. “Though I may disagree with Dimi Ivanova’s tactics,” she said in her cracked voice, “I agree with her opinion.”

Katerina’s eyebrows rose, relief washing over her. She had hoped Baba would speak on her behalf, but she hadn’t been certain of it. Defying the Kniaz’s wishes was no small thing.

Then again, neither was assaulting one of his emissaries and using witchwind to throw him fifty yards into a birch grove. Katerina couldn’t imagine that she and Niko had made any friends today.

Well, if the Kniaz didn’t care for her, so much the better. She would be his weapon, not his wench. Better she make that clear now, before she found herself having to bind him the same way she had this stupid oaf. And Saints forbid Niko got word of such a thing. She feared that if the Kniaz laid an unwanted finger on her, Niko would kill him. And then where would they be?

“I’m listening,” Andrei said in a haughty tone that made Katerina snort. Across the square, Baba Petrova sighed.

“Dimi Ivanova and her Shadow are the strongest protection we have,” she went on. “I apologize for her insolence, but you yourself have seen her strength, and believe me when I tell you she restrained herself.”

“Indeed.” Sarcasm clung to Andrei’s every syllable. He looked pointedly down at his sullied clothes.

Next to Katerina, Ana rolled her eyes. “Maybe I shouldn’t have stopped you,” she whispered. Katerina smirked at her, biting back a sarcastic reply.

“All of us know that a terrible force is among us, something unlike anything I have ever seen,” Baba went on, ignoring them both. “We have no answers, only questions. This is a dangerous time. I humbly request that the Kniaz give me the opportunity to train others as best I can to take Dimi Ivanova and her Shadow’s place, and to appoint another alpha for the pack.” She spared a warning glance for Katerina. “Though her attitude is regrettable, her abilities are…unprecedented. Should the threat that destroyed Drezna come our way, I fear that without Dimi Ivanova and her Shadow, we stand no chance against it.”

Katerina steeled her spine. She feared little, but the crater that had eaten Drezna whole, the Darkness that had swirled at the bottom of it, calling to her…could she have defended Kalach against such a thing? What if she had tried, and failed?

Niko shot her a concerned look, and she mastered her expression, settling her features into a neutral mask a moment before Andrei said, “His Grace gave us permission to grant you a month, until the full Blood Moon, when the next tithe of grain will be due.”

A murmur rose up from the villagers. Katerina was sure they were all thinking the same thing—that the harvest would likely not be nearly as fruitful as expected. Several times in the past week, waterwitches had had to take time away from training, summoning rain from the river to fall upon the fields, but it had yielded few results. The crop of wheat was failing, with little explanation as to why. There had been no invasion of locusts, no drought, no paucity of sun. But still, the fields weren’t yielding asthey should, and they had nearly exhausted the winter’s stores. If this kept up, they would struggle to make their tithe.

Andrei barreled onward, with no concern for the villagers’ distress. “The witch and her bastard Shadow”—he gazed at Niko with disgust that verged on hatred—“will bring the tithe, and they will stay. As for now, you will give us three additional Dimis and Shadows to take back to Rivki, to stand surety for Ivanova and her dog. We will release them to you when the witch and her Shadow deliver the tithe.”

There was a collective gasp from behind Katerina, where the rest of the Dimis and Shadows stood. Baba Petrova spoke for all of them. “Three? But that would leave us with only seventeen Dimi and Shadow pairs to defend ourselves in the event of an attack. The Kniaz has thrice that. Surely he doesn’t require three of our own?—”

Andrei’s features grew steely. “Either you send the witch Ivanova and her black dog now, or you give us three others. The choice is yours, Baba of Kalach.”

Baba was a small woman, barely coming to Katerina’s shoulder. But such was her authority in the village that she loomed much larger. She had the last word on which Dimis and Shadows bonded. Which Shadows and Vila married. Everyone, including Katerina, revered her. But now she looked smaller somehow, like the ancient crone she was. “Give me a few minutes, then,” she said to Andrei. “I need to confer with the Council.”

Andrei inclined his head. “I’ll allow it,” he said in an entitled tone of voice that made Katerina want to send him flying through the air all over again.

Baba stepped off the stones of the square, and the five members of the Elder Council followed. Katerina watched, her heart pounding, as they retreated down the path to Baba’s cottage and disappeared inside.

20

KATERINA

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