Page 55 of The Belle and the Blackbird

“What doesthatmean?” she demanded.

“He suspects something.” Grigor ground his teeth and paced in the melting snow. “You’ll get him killed.”

“Nien, Grigor. He suspects nothing,” Ana replied. “He’s hurt and confused, but he’s far too rational to ever think Nessa is me.”

“Did you knowshe’sbeen to see him?”

Ana felt herself paling. She backed into the cold wooden siding and pressed her hands to the cracks. “She doesn’t know.”

“Ack, girl. She knows everything. If he’s still alive, it’s because she has use for him still.” Grigor blew out a rough breath and shook his head at the sky. He paced, gripping his neck. “I should have come home sooner.”

Ana tossed her head and laughed. “Why? To do what? You did nothing when she took hold of my father... my brother. You did nothing when she spread her evil over the staff. Come to think of it, Onkel, you did nothing when she destroyed my mother—”

Grigor grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her against the building. “Do not speak of my sister around me. Ever.”

Ana shrugged him off and stepped sideways. “Why? Does it call to your guilt? Or your apathy?”

He turned away and spat on the ground.

“Apathy then.” She sniffled and rolled her eyes.

Grigor spun back around. His eyes glowed with intensity. “I couldn’t save Ksana. But Isworeto her I would save her daughter.”

Ana’s flesh turned to fire. “What do you mean... swore to her?”

“She knew.” Grigor palmed his face and shook it in his hand. “She knew what that koldynawas the day she showed up. I didn’t believe her. I told her she was being absurd. Histrionic. But when I watched her burn upon the funeral pyre, I promised her spirit I’d not make that fatal mistake a second time.”

“It wasn’t your fault.” Ana exhaled, digging her boot toes into the muddy snow. “We are all powerless against her. You couldn’t have saved my mother even if you’d believed her. Just like I couldn’t save my father and Niko. Like I’ll never save all the ravens she takes. I know that now.”

“You’re still here. Still breathing. Still thinking your own thoughts, making your own choices,” he said.

“So?” Fat tears spilled from her eyes and ran down her frozen cheeks. “All that means is I’ve had a clear mind to watch her destroy everyone I love.”

Grigor returned to looking at the sky. He fell into a heavy, breathless silence.

Ana sucked in a gulp of cool air and decided to tell him about the letters. “Onkel, I’ve come across something terrible.”

He turned just his eyes her way.

“There are these... these letters.” Ana pushed off the wall and paced away from him, trying to decide how best to approach her secret. “They’re old. Hundreds of years. But they speak of Ravenwoods disappearing, even back then. Of a sorcerer from Duncarrow, Mortain—”

Grigor charged toward her and clapped a thick hand over her mouth. He shook his head wildly. “Say not another word.”

Ana wrapped both her hands around his to peel it away from her. “Youknew.”

“This is bigger than you, Anastazja. Bigger than all of us.” He broke away and pulled a hard breath through his nose. “You think you’re fighting a war now? You’ve never seen war. You start this one, you’ll find you lack the power to end it.”

Ana’s heart raced and raced, alongside her thoughts. Grigor knew. Why had he donenothing? “If you know—”

“All battles are wageable but not all are winnable.” Grigor returned to her side. He towered over her, casting a shadow wide enough to block the last of the day’s sun. “The only one that matters to me now is keeping my promise to Ksana.”

Ana shuddered a laugh. “So that’s it? We just... let her win? Let them both win?”

Silence stood as his answer.

“Ludya said I should ask the archivists.”

His eyes flared. “Nien, Ana.Nien. Do not engage them. They are not on your side.”

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