Page 79 of Fate and Fury

She was a liability as well as a pariah.

Moodily, Katerina prodded a loose floorboard with the toe of her boot. She was sure she knew what Baba wanted: to choose a new Shadow to whom to bind Katerina before the Kniaz’s emissary arrived to take her away. It would be far too dangerous to allow her to travel all the way to Rivki without such a thing. The idea made her sick.

Marrying Maksim or Konstantin was out of the question now, thank the Saints; aside from the fact that she didn’t want them, they regarded her with disgust and fear, and Katerina would never force herself upon anyone. This, at least, was her choice; if she chose to wed someone in Rivki for the sake of bearing a Dimichild, so be it. But being bonded to a new Shadow…that was Baba’s prerogative.

The thought both infuriated and terrified Katerina. As long as she wasn’t bound to another Shadow, the potential to rekindle her bond with Niko existed. How could she save him—call him back to her—if she were bonded to another?

But how could she travel to Rivki unprotected, her soul ripe for the picking? She owed it to Kalach, to Iriska, to Lara, Svetlana, and Natalya to stay strong. To be able to defend the realm against the Darkness.

It was a terrible conundrum, and one that Katerina had no idea how to solve.

But solve it she must. She couldn’t stay here. Throughout Kalach, the villagers had begun to look pinched and starved. Spring was usually a time of rejuvenation, of berries that grew tart and ripe tomatoes that bloomed bright and bursting. Nothing went to waste; whatever didn’t get eaten was canned, jarred, preserved, and stored. But now, little remained to eat, and the pitiful amount of grain left in the storehouses after the winter had been set aside for the Kniaz. There was barely enough left for Kalach to make its tithe, and if the village failed to do so, Katerina shuddered to think what the nobleman might do.

Worse still was what had become of the Blood Moon. With just five days left until its height, it ought to be growing fuller and redder each night, casting a crimson glow over Kalach. But instead, as it waxed, its color faded, blanching into a familiar pale shade that sent chills through Katerina.

The Bone Moon came but once a year. Yet here it was, rising again. Through the window of Baba’s cottage, Katerina could see the rim of it, peeking above the trees.

Whatever this boded, it was nothing good.

Shuddering, she stepped back from her pointless perusal of the shelves as the front door slammed open and Baba Petrova stepped through, her white hair mussed by the wind and her lined face thinner than Katerina had ever seen it. “Dimi Ivanova,” she said in greeting, taking off her shawl and hanging it on the hook by the door.

“You wanted to see me?” Katerina said. Her stomach growled again, and she pressed a palm against it, doing her best to suppress the sound.

Baba Petrova’s eyes softened with sympathy, but all she said was, “Kalach needs you, Katerina. Iriska needs you. Normally, after the death of a Shadow, we would give you time to mourn. Time, at least, until the next Bone Moon, so your bonding ceremony could take place under its sacred eye. But as you see…”

She gestured through her window, at the rind of moon that had risen even higher above the trees. “The Kniaz’s emissary arrives in less than a week. I hesitate to bond you beneath this waxing moon, as it has clearly been brought about by Dark forces. But what choice do I have?”

“Please don’t,” Katerina whispered. She thought she could bear this, had braced herself for it. But as she pictured the ceremony—Niko’s amulet being torn from her neck, repeating the vows she had sworn to her beloved Shadow to another—her heart crumbled into dust.

“You will do it, Katerina,” Baba said, drawing herself up to her full height. “Tonight. There is no time to waste.”

Katerina’s stomach dropped. “But…but who…?”

“You’ll see,” Baba said, her voice brusque. “I’ve chosen. Now go, and prepare yourself. When the moon is high, you will pledge yourself to another.”

Bonding ceremonies were private,sacred. Normally they took place in Baba’s cottage, with the ancient Dimi their only witness. But this ceremony was different. Baba and the Elders had decided to make an example out of Katerina, to quell some of the village’s anxiety by showing that she was, indeed, bonded to a new Shadow.

Dressed in her black mourning gown, runes of loss and sorrow embroidered into its fabric, Katerina stood opposite the man who was to become her Shadow: Valentin, who’d lost his Dimi in a Grigori attack eight months before. He was a good man, a kind man. But he might as well have been a houseplant for all the impression he made on Katerina.

Like her, Valentin was supposed to be allowed the traditional year of mourning for a Dimi or Shadow who had lost their match. He wore all black, and the expression on his lined face was one of resignation. Katerina could see he wanted to be bonded to her no more than she wanted to be bonded to him. Polina, his Dimi, had been quiet and dutiful, a waterwitch who was as unlike Katerina as a kitten and a snow leopard. Katerina was sure that, of the three unbonded, mature Shadows in the village, he had been chosen on purpose, to gentle her.

She would have laughed at the thought, if she wasn’t on the verge of crying.

Please,she begged the Saints, the spirits, anyone who would listen.Please don’t make me do this.

The villagers ringed the square. Inside their circle stood the Shadows, Dimis, and Vila, with the Elders beside them. And in the center stood Katerina and Valentin, with Baba Petrova by their sides. Next to her stood a pot beneath which a rowan-fire burned. The water in it bubbled high, waiting for Baba Petrova to spill the ink that would make a fresh Mark upon Valentin’s arm. Waiting for Katerina’s blood.

Her magic clamored inside her, desperate for escape. Grimly, Katerina clung to it, afraid of what would happen if it got loose with everyone watching. What if she hurt them? Killed them? What if she killedValentin?What would happen to her then?

“Katerina Ivanova,” Baba said, and silence fell over the square. “Valentin Kuzvim. We are gathered together today to witness the sacred joining of Dimi and Shadow. Both of you once cleaved to another; today we wash away the traces of that pairing. You will start afresh, and honor each other, and fight by each other’s side. And by so doing, you will honor the vow you once made to your Shadow and Dimi, who have passed beyond the veil. Do you swear this oath to me, before witnesses, so that you may begin the bonding ceremony with clear hearts?”

Katerina tried to speak and couldn’t. Her mouth was dry. When she opened it, all that came forth was a croak. The crowd murmured in disapproval, and Katerina could have sworn she heard a whisperedShadow-killerin its midst.

Giving her an alarmed glance, Valentin squared his broad shoulders. “I do,” he said, his deep voice carrying across the stones of the square.

Katerina’s teeth chattered. Her eyes roved the crowd and settled on Ana’s face. The other Dimi’s eyes were filled with tears, and she touched two fingers to her heart. But then she nodded, and Katerina knew what she was saying, as surely as if Ana had spoken.This must be done. For your soul. For Kalach. Don’t make it worse.

Katerina dug deep, praying for courage. “I—” she began, and bit her tongue so hard, she tasted blood. “I d-d?—”

---