Piotr laughed at that. "That's how we got so many people involved in waging war—it used to be a skilled profession, but now it's within the grasp of unskilled labor."

The bonfire was too hot to enjoy on a muggy summer night like this. But they burned some marshmallows and made Polish-sausage hot dogs and ate them as far from the fire as they could get, right under the cardboard covering the kitchen window. "I think," said Ivan, "that the experiment is definitely a success. Everything works. And we know that if we had really wanted to, we could have blown up the house."

"Almost did anyway," said Esther.

"And the best news of all," said Ivan. "Tomorrow we fly."

"No," said Esther. "That isn't good news." Then she burst into tears and fled into the house, Piotr following close behind her.

"My mother worries about us," said Ivan.

"So do I," said Katerina.

They walked out beyond the fire and watched the fireworks bursting in the air over the lake. The boom of each explosion was carried over the water—it was deafening. Katerina covered her ears for a little while, but it didn't help, and she finally gave up and enjoyed the show. "Can you do that in Taina?" she asked.

"Theoretically, yes," said Ivan. "But people get killed sometimes setting off those rockets—I don't want to run the risk of having our weapons do more damage to us than to them."

"I can imagine the Hag working herself to death trying to duplicate those lights in the sky."

"But not running from them."

"She isn't much for running away," said Katerina. "She doesn't give up."

"Yes, well, you aren't a quitter either," said Ivan. "Nor am I."

"Maybe these firecrackers can make her army run away. Maybe the Molotov cocktails will burn out her fortress. Maybe the spells I've learned will get me face-to-face with her—"

"Get us face-to-face."

"I'm the one who has to match her, spell for spell. I'm the one who has the power of my people inside me. Their love for me. It gives me great strength."

"So you'll win. No one could possibly love her."

"Cousin Marek tried to explain it to us, Ivan. She isn't relying on the power that comes from her own people. It's the power of a god she's got under her control—the love of the people for him."

"The bear."

"Bear. The savage cold of winter. All the people have respect for him. Not just the people of one kingdom. Many kingdoms, Ivan. And he's a god by nature. Even if she can only use a fraction of his power, it's more than my people can give to me."

"Why does he let her?"

"Why do you think he has a choice? Spells of binding, that's what she does best. That's how she got her first husband to marry her. How she got the people of her kingdom to accept the idea of widow-right instead of electing a new king when her first husband died without an heir."

"But she can't coerce people against their will," said Ivan.

"It's not that simple," said Katerina. "She can find desires inside you that you didn't even know you had."

"Well, thanks," said Ivan. "For a little while there, I had some hope."

"There is hope, Ivan."

"Oh? You didn't mention any just now."

"You didn't find me just by chance, Ivan. Some force, some fate, wanted you to find me, brought us together, brought you to Taina, brought me here. Whatever that power is, if it wants us to win, then we'll have the victory."

"So why are we working so hard?"

"Why did you have to hit the Bear with a stone? Why didn't you just fly over the moat?"

Ivan shook his head. "I can't put my trust in some unidentified fate that's pushing us around. It wasn't fate that brought me back to you. It was my own desire."

"Yes," said Katerina. "And your goodness, and your purity. The very reasons you were chosen."

"And now?" said Ivan. "Are we weaker because we're not so pure?"

She shook her head. "It doesn't work that way. We're married, so our coupling isn't impure. In fact, it strengthens us. Makes each of us as strong as if we contained both souls within us. And... if we've made a baby, if I have a child inside me when I face her, then I have a power she's never had. Well, she's conceived babies, the people say, but the children were always born monsters who died at once, and now her husband isn't the kind who's likely to give her a baby."

"You never know, with gods," said Ivan. "There are tales of swans and bulls."

"If we've made a child," said Katerina, "there will be magic in it. Power."

He was silent for a while.

She understood the silence. "No, Ivan. That's not why I came to you last night."

He pretended that wasn't what he was thinking. "It would be all right if you did."

"No," said Katerina. "It would not be all right. A child shouldn't be conceived as a strategy in war. What do you think of me?"

He took her in his arms and kissed her, long and hard. "That's what I think of you."

"Is that what you call thinking?" Then she kissed him back, even harder.

"So," he said, when he could breathe again. "Even though we'd never do it as a strategic move in war, would you like to try again? Just in case we don't already have a baby started?"

"And miss the rest of the fireworks?" she said.

He grinned and dutifully turned back to look at the fireworks. A big one went off, red, white, and blue.

"All right," she said. "I'm done now."

"See one rocket go off, you've seen them all," said Ivan.

She almost dragged him back to the house. Piotr and Esther had to come out later to put the bonfire out. They didn't mind. They knew their son had finally moved on beyond them. Even if he made it back from Taina somehow, he would never again live as a child in this house. It was just the two of them now. But they were comfortable with each other. The prospect of sharing the rest of their lives held no dread for them. And the things they did dread—losing their only child, for instance—they did not need to talk about, at least not now, for every word and movement between them carried their history and their future, like background movement, shaping each moment even when they weren't aware of it.

Baba Yaga

She might not be able to get past their defenses, but she could still listen to their conversations, and so she knew they had a ticket scheduled for the next day's flight. Within a couple of hours she was at the airport, and a helpful clerk stayed late to arrange her own reservation on the same flight, though afterward he had a terrible time trying to explain to his wife why he was so late getting home from work, having no memory of the time he spent with Baba Yaga.

She spent the rest of the night at the airport, preparing the spells and charms for the next day's work. Ivan and Katerina were going back to Taina, yes, but on her terms, not theirs. Baba Yaga would not come home empty-handed. She'd get the princess because she had the scholar—for now that Ruthie had uttered his true name in front of her familiar, he would not be able to resist her when she put a binding on that name.

Not only that, but she was determined to bring back one of the huge flying houses that moved on chicken legs. All the kings of the earth would bow down to her when she had a castle that carried her wherever she wanted to go, even into the heart of their kingdoms.