Then, ashamed of the bloodthirsty thought, he stepped forward. "Matfei, my father, my king, and my lord," said Ivan, "may I have Dimitri's sword?"

Matfei lowered the sword, then laid it across Ivan's hands. Ivan made no effort to put his hand on the hilt. Rather he kept the sword as he had received it, lying across his hands. Ivan turned back to face Katerina. "May I give this sword to the king's true servant?"

"You may," said Katerina. "When we hear his oath and his plea for pardon."

Dimitri did not hesitate. Weeping, he gave his fervent oath of loyalty to King Matfei, and to Katerina and Ivan too, for good measure. Then he begged for pardon for his dire offenses, and swore to be true to Christ as well, whose atoning sacrifice would make him clean again, if only the king would pardon him. King Matfei, speechless still, nodded gravely. "Let my husband, Ivan, return the sword of a true knight to you," said Katerina.

Ivan knelt before Dimitri, so their eyes were nearly level, though Ivan had the advantage of height, even kneeling. He held out the sword.

Dimitri took it from him. Tears flowed down his cheeks. He looked sincere. But beyond appearances, Ivan had no way of measuring Dimitri's heart. He had been humiliated here today. If he was a good man, he would now be the most fervently loyal soldier in Taina's army, the most faithful of King Matfei's druzhina. But if he was not a man of honor and goodness, he would already be plotting his revenge for this humiliation. Someone would die for this day's work. There'd be no more talk, if he betrayed the king again.

But for now, the appearance was all that counted. The king reached down and raised Dimitri up. Katerina did the same for Ivan. The four of them together turned to face the crowd. Only one more step was needed. Katerina reached out her hand to Father Lukas. The priest came forward and took his place between Katerina and her father, with Ivan on the other side of her, and Dimitri on the opposite end of the line, beside the king.

Katerina raised her voice and let it ring out across the crowd. "In the holy name of Christ our Savior, the kingdom of Taina is whole again!"

The cheers were deafening, as the people shouted. Taina! King Matfei! Katerina! Dimitri! Even the name of Ivan could be heard.

Their first victory together. And Katerina had chosen to heed his counsel. Now Ivan could only hope that his counsel had been wise, or, if he was wrong, that the price of Dimitri's pardon would not be too high.

Baba Yaga

"It's so good to be home, my love," she said to Bear. "Did you miss me?"

"I felt your absence every moment you were gone," said Bear.

"How ambiguous you are," said Baba Yaga. "But I'm content, for here you are, and here I am, and this is our happy home."

"I see a familiar thirst for blood in your eyes," said Bear.

"But not your blood, so you shouldn't mind," she said. "The pretty little princess and her husband have just defeated my puppet."

"You always said that he was just a toy to you," said Bear.

"Oh, I know. I didn't expect much. But I thought at least he'd go out with a splash of blood. That he'd kill the king, or at least that annoying Ivan, before he went down."

"It's always tragic when you don't get your way, my love," said Bear.

"Never mind. No loss. The fools haven't even killed him. They've given him back his sword—because he promised to be loyal. Don't they know that once I've won a man's heart, he's mine forever?"

"You know, you haven't actually tested that proposition," said Bear.

"Do you doubt it?" she asked. Her temper was ready to flare, for despite the unconcern that she affected, Bear knew that it bothered her very much to have been defeated in the first skirmish of the war.

"I merely point out that in order to know a man is yours forever, you would have to wait an infinitely long time."

"Not infinite," said Baba Yaga. "Only until the man is dead. That's forever as far as he's concerned."

"Ah," said Bear. "I see your point."

"And I see yours, don't think I missed it. Let me assure you, my dearest darling swatch of fur, that the spells that helped you discover your deep abiding love for me will never dim with time, and there is no one alive with the power to break what I have bound."

"Technically speaking," said Bear, "I have that power."

"But since I have bound your power to my will, and I don't will you to be free of my binding, I can't think how your power could ever be used to break those bonds of affection and devotion and humiliating servility that make us such a perfect couple. So the word forever seems to apply in your happy case, as well. Aren't you glad?"

"I am as happy as you wish me to be," said Bear.

She cackled with delight at the deftness of his answer. "Oh, Bear, the best thing I ever did was give you speech! Only you are worthy of me! I shall be entertained forever, because I have you!"

"No doubt you'll strive to keep me entertained as well."

"Why yes," she said. "For instance, I have all these useless people that came along with my flying house. I have no interest in feeding them. They're not good at any service I require. So you may sport with them however you like. In fact, I resolve not to feed you again until you've rid me of them all."

"I don't require food to live," Bear pointed out.

"But you like to eat. And winter will come, and you'll wish to be nice and fat, won't you? Be a dear, and kill at least a few of them tonight."

"Do you really, truly want me to?" asked Bear.

"Oh yes, I do."

"And may I really, truly choose whether to eat them now or not?"

"Of course! It wouldn't be entertaining otherwise."

"Then I choose to take a nap. If you want to eat them, go ahead, but I'm not interested in doing your bloody-handed work right now."

She almost said the words that would compel him to obey. But instead she laughed. "Play your games with me, my pet. There's one enemy I think you'll want to kill."

"Which one is that?" he asked.

"Why, the one who took your eye," she said.

And she was right. That one he would gladly tear to bits. "When will I have him?"

"As soon as their little army moves against us," said Baba Yaga. "Soon. Now take your nap, my dear."

17

War

They held a council of war that night, all the soldiers, all the elders of the villages of Taina, Father Lukas, and King Matfei and his family. No one questioned Ivan's right to be there, but he was wise enough to speak only when spoken to. His prestige was high right now, but few would take him seriously when it came to any aspect of war but bombs and Molotov cocktails and the ungainly hang glider they were already building.

It was unnerving to have the king so silent. But every word he did not say was a reminder of Dimitri's treason, so Dimitri, at least, was not the one to fill the gap. Instead, Katerina quietly led out in the conversation, calling upon each man for counsel who seemed to want to speak, and then deferring to her father whenever a question was raised. He wrote his answers to her in a tray of dirt that rested before him on the table, but his writing was slow and inaccurate, for literacy was only somewhat within his grasp.

Of course the command was reorganized, with those most loyal to Dimitri replaced by those most loyal to the king. Everyone understood, and beyond that there was no punishment or recrimination. It's not as if the peasant portion of the army would be expected to stand against anything but other peasants, while knights would fight only other knights.

Then it was time for Ivan to explain what his new weapons could do. To his surprise, there was vehement opposition to the use of fire against men. At first Ivan thought it was some misguided notion of chivalry and fair play that was causing the druzhina to object. Then he realized that the problem was using peasants to attack knights. They didn't like the precedent.