The Dreaming Land I: The Challenge (The Zemnian Series Book 5)

by E. P. Clark

Princess Velikokrasnova looked back and forth between us. It was plain that she knew something was up, that there was something funny about Ivan’s sudden invitation to become Ruslan’s companion, and that there was more to our insistence that Ivan go East with me than we were letting on, but she couldn’t figure out how to argue against it. I once again found myself feeling sorry for her. Watching her move her head from me to Sera and back to me again was like looking at a bull that had been cornered between two assailants, and then didn’t know which one to attack first or how to extricate himself from a situation he had always thought himself too big and strong to fall into.

  “The honor you do us is immense, Tsarina, even if the way it has been sprung upon us is a little abrupt for my taste,” she said tightly, snapping her head away from me and back to Sera. “Of course we will be delighted to accept. But I fear that, regarding this proposed…expedition, it is out of the question for Ivan Marinovich to leave Krasnograd just now. You see, next week I expect to begin marriage negotiations on his behalf.”

  “Of course you do,” said Sera agreeably. “Who could expect anything less from such a caring mother as yourself? Who is the young lady in question, if I may be so bold to ask? I hope you have found someone suitably amiable and noble, for I am sure that your son deserves no less.”

  “The matter is too delicate to be discussed publicly as of yet,” said Princess Velikokrasnova, shaking her head irritably, like a bull shaking off gnats.

  “I understand,” said Sera, nodding. “I only hope that when the time comes, I will show the same care and discretion for my sons! But you see, dearest Marina Yekaterinovna, I fear that I really must insist that Ivan Marinovich go on this expedition. Ruslan has such a longing to hear about the East, you see, and he’s quite wild for his companion to bring back enough first-hand stories on the subject to fill an entire winter’s worth of boredom…”

  “I understand, of course, Tsarina, I do, but you must understand that I cannot just agree to this sudden proposal without considering it properly. And so many arrangements have already been made…it will be such an inconvenience to put off the betrothal and marriage…”

  “Of course,” interjected Sera smoothly. “But if the young lady is truly set on him, then no doubt she will be happy to wait.”

  “But you see, Tsarina,” said Princess Velikokrasnova, raising her voice and speaking more quickly in an attempt to drown Sera out, “I am afraid that her family might not look upon this journey with favor. To go out, an unmarried man, with women out of the family, some of whom,” she gave me another sour look, “may not have the best reputations…”

  “I am sure that whatever chaperone you provide will make sure that nothing happens to jeopardize the match,” put in Sera before Princess Velikokrasnova could finish.

  “Yes, of course, Tsarina, of course, but it is not just the danger of actual impropriety that concerns me so much as the appearance of it. You must admit…”

  “I must?” asked Sera, raising her brows at Princess Velikokrasnova. “I must admit? What must I admit, Marina Yekaterinovna? Do you have something to say against any of my agents—or my kin?”

  “No, Tsarina, no, but…”

  “I’ll hear no more buts, thank you very much, Marina Yekaterinovna,” said Sera. “I believe the matter is now closed for discussion. If you care to revisit it later, you may do so in the Hall of Council along with all the other petitioners.” She turned to her guards and to Vyacheslav Irinovich. “I feel I have walked enough this evening,” she announced. “Let us return to the kremlin. Gather up the children, if you would be so kind.”

  “Very well,” said Princess Velikokrasnova. “I will bring it before you tomorrow, Tsarina, if it pleases you. Ivan!” she called sharply, making as if to stride away from us in anger. “We’re leaving!”

  “The tsarinovich hasn’t given me permission,” said Ivan in a low voice.

  Princess Velikokrasnova stopped in the middle of an impetuous stride. “What?” she demanded.

  “The tsarinovich hasn’t given me permission to go,” said Ivan, straightening his shoulders and speaking more firmly. “And neither has the Tsarina. Since I am under their command now, until they do, I can’t go anywhere.”

  “Of all the…” said Princess Velikokrasnova, while Sera said simultaneously, “I see you will be all we hoped and more, Ivan Marinovich! If you would do us the honor, we would greatly desire to bring you back to the kremlin with us this evening.”

  “It will be an honor and a pleasure, Tsarina,” said Ivan with a bow.

  “Such manners!” cried Sera, her face glowing with what, I thought, was genuine joy. “It will do Ruslan such good to spend time with you! Ruslan! I am delighted beyond words by your choice of companion. Come, Ivan Marinovich, walk with me and the tsarinovich.”

  Ivan gave his mother, and then more briefly me, an uncertain look, and then went to follow Sera, leaving the both of us behind to stare at each other, which Princess Velikokrasnova did with rather more venom than I did. I still couldn’t help myself from feeling sorry for her. After all, one day it could be me standing there, watching as my own child chose to leave me for someone I neither liked nor approved of.

  “He will be well taken care of,” I said suddenly.

  Princess Velikokrasnova’s face pursed in even deeper dislike.

  “I know you don’t like me or trust me, and with good reason,” I said. “But you have my word as a Zerkalitsa and a Stepnaya that I will do everything I can to make sure that no harm comes to him. Including the harm that you have most reason to fear that I might cause.”

  “Why?” she cried, sounding almost in despair. “Why are you doing this?”

  “We need the loyalty of the black earth district.”

  “And you think you can gain it by these…cheap tricks and underhanded maneuvers?!”

  “No,” I said. “We think we can gain it by firming up our alliances with our old allies.”

  “You…you mean…” She trailed off as a sickening comprehension spread over her face.

  I bowed. “Anything is possible, Marina Yekaterinovna,” I told her. “But I swear to you, by anything you wish me to swear by, that your son will come to no harm by my hand, and that I will do everything I can to keep any harm from befalling him.”

  “Because your word is so good!” she cried scornfully.

  “Marina,” said Nika softly, stepping up beside her. She gave him a look that would have shattered glass, but he—in a surprising display of courage—pressed on. “In this it is.”

  “I cannot believe it!”

  “Will you swear, Valya?” asked Nika. “Swear before the gods that you will do all you can to keep him from harm?”

  “Of course,” I said. “Let us go right now.”

  “You won’t get me to agree that easily!” Princess Velikokrasnova snapped out.

  “You don’t have to agree to anything for me to do this,” I told her. “I demand nothing in return. Come, let us go now.”

  If I had thought that would soothe her suspicions and ease her animosity—which I hadn’t—I would have been sorely disappointed, since it obviously only made her distrust me more, but I set off before she could refuse me, turning down a narrow side path that led to one of the park’s smaller and less visited prayer trees. At first I was alone, but after a moment I heard two sets of footsteps coming behind me, and the hissing of Princess Velikokrasnova’s angry whispers, which blended in with the wind in the trees until I could not make out the individual words.

  The tree was as I had remembered it, a small fir in a thicket of firs, hidden from the main path. There were only a few faded ribbons on it, left from other people’s prayers. Except for one that—I walked over to it and looked at it without touching it—was my own. I had tied it there the day I had first suspected I was carrying Mirochka. It was now worn and tattered, and the bright red blood I had drenched it with was no more than a few brown streaks.

  “But it worked,” I said softly. “I pr
ayed for her to be healthy and happy, and so far she has been. It worked.” I stepped back. Should I put my new ribbon next to it? Sure, why not. It might seem barbaric to these black earth princesses—but it had worked. I pulled my knife from my belt, and cut off part of my sleeve. Behind me, I heard Princess Velikokrasnova gasp in surprise, and then gasp even louder when I used the knife to cut the vein in the crook of my left arm.

  “What are you…” she cried.

  “They still believe in blood, on the steppe,” Nika told her quietly. I had told him that myself, after…after he had been so shocked by the bloody aftermath of our first tryst. He had almost cried or been sick or both, but I had laughed and told him that on the steppe we still believed in marking all the really important things in blood. I wondered if he were remembering the same thing just now. Probably. Probably best not to think about it. I pressed the strip I had cut from my sleeve against the blood flowing from my arm.

  “What are you…” said Princess Velikokrasnova again, but Nika hushed her. I held the strip of cloth against my arm until it was well soaked with blood, and then walked back over to what I thought of as my side of the tree, and knelt down in front of it.

  I will never harm him, I thought. And if others try to harm him, I will prevent it, and if I fail, then I will bring them to justice or vengeance.

  A breeze lifted the branches and brushed the fir needles against my face. The ribbon I had hung there nine summers ago fluttered against my eyelashes. I ripped the bloody cloth in two and tied one of the pieces next to its sister on the branch. Then I got back up and walked over to Princess Velikokrasnova.

  “I will never harm him,” I said, pressing the bloody piece of cloth into her hands. “As the gods are my witness. And if others try to harm him, I will prevent it, and if I fail, then I will bring them to justice or vengeance.”

  Princess Velikokrasnova looked down at the cloth I had given her, which was now staining her hand with blood, and then back up at me. I had seen her give me many looks before. She had (like many older women) disliked the free-spirited child I had been almost as much as she hated the impetuous young woman I had become, who had seduced and gotten a child off of her future husband, and every look she had ever given me had held some mixture of annoyance, hatred, and contempt, but this was the first time I had ever seen her look upon me with fear.

  “What am I supposed to do with this?” she demanded, holding up the bloody cloth between her thumb and forefinger as if she were gripping a dead rat by the tail.

  “Keep it,” I said. “As witness to my vow.”

  “I don’t…” she shook her head in distaste and confusion, “I don’t believe in this kind of thing.”

  “But I do,” I said. I tore off another strip of cloth from my sleeve and used it to bind my arm.

  “And you expect me to…to just go along with whatever mad scheme you propose, after this little display?”

  “No,” I said. “You can do whatever you like. I didn’t do it for you. I did it for me. And for Ivan Marinovich. Because,” I leaned in a little closer to her face, “if anyone should cause him harm, including anyone from his own family, I meant what I said. I will bring them to justice…or vengeance.”

  “What is that supposed to mean?” she demanded.

  “Exactly what I just said,” I told her. “Come, let us return to the others.” I set off back towards the main path, pressing my hand against the cut on my arm to stop the bleeding. Princess Velikokrasnova trailed uncertainly behind.

  “I still don’t understand what you want,” she said after a little while. “What do you hope to gain from all this? Has the Tsarina,” suspicion rose in her voice, “has the Tsarina promised you Velikokrasnovskoye? Is that how she bought you off?”

  “Bought me off? Bought me off from what?”

  “From attempting to take the throne,” she said impatiently. “Is that what this is all about? The promise of Velikokrasnovskoye in exchange for your loyalty? You can’t have it, you know! I’ll disinherit him rather than see the province pass to you!”

  “The Tsarina doesn’t have to offer me anything for my loyalty,” I said, surprised at how peaceable my voice sounded. Perhaps it was the blood loss making me calm. “That she always has for free, despite what so many of you seem to think. And we never even spoke of who would gain Velikokrasnovskoye. I am a Zerkalitsa and the heir to Stepnoye. I have no need for more land. But what we do need, Marina Yekaterinovna, is your loyalty and your good will, and for that we are willing to pay quite a lot.”

  “What?” she asked, sounding almost interested in spite of herself. “What are you willing to pay?”

  “Why, me, of course, Marina Yekaterinovna,” I said, turning to look at her. “We are willing to pay you with an alliance with the Zerkalitsa family, made through me. One day your grandchildren could be members of the Imperial family, Marina Yekaterinovna. I know you have other alliances in mind, but think of the advantages this one could bring. Who else in all the Known World could make you that offer?”

  “And Velikokrasnovskoye…”

  “Would be yours to dispose of as you will,” I assured her. “Pass it on to your grandchildren, or your third-sister, or to whomever you wish. We only want your loyalty, not your land, and we only want what is already ours by rights anyway. There is no catch in this for you, Marina Yekaterinovna. I know you have little cause to love me, but in this you have no cause to mistrust me.”

  She shook her head and looked at me through narrowed eyes. I glanced away and inadvertently caught Nika’s gaze. He gave me a tiny shrug, as if to say he was powerless here, but (I fancied) he might try to convince her later.

  “Believe what you will,” I told her. “Think of me what you will. Hate me as much as you like. But the Tsarina and I are both serious in our intentions, and we intend to do you no harm—as long as you remain loyal to our family.”

  We came out onto the main path before she could reply. The others had stopped in a glade a little ways ahead, and the children were playing tag. Ivan was playing with them. I smiled. Princess Velikokrasnova gave me an even sourer look than before. I doubted I had won her over. I doubted I could ever win her over. Some women do not forgive and forget, not even after sincere repentance and long years. Funny. I had always thought I was one of those women. But already I was forgiving her, and Nika, and everyone else whom I had blamed for my sorrow, and without any effort at all. It was just happening.

  “Mama, mama!” Mirochka cried, evading Ruslan’s grasping fingers and running over to me. “Where were you? We’re playing tag! What did you do to your arm?”

  “It’s nothing,” I told her. “Should I join you?”

  “Not till the bleeding’s stopped, silly!” she said, examining the cut. She looked over at Princess Velikokrasnova and Nika. “Hello,” she said, with a careless bow. “I’m Mirochka.”

  Princess Velikokrasnova looked as if a viper had suddenly reared up on the path in front of her, and Nika took an involuntary step backwards and looked away, as if searching for a hiding place.

  “Aren’t you going to introduce yourselves?” asked Mirochka in puzzlement.

  “In my family, children are trained to have better manners,” said Princess Velikokrasnova viciously.

  “In my family, children are trained to rule,” I said before Mirochka could blurt out something in justifiable but ill-timed anger. “After all, one day she may command us all. She must become accustomed to it now rather than later. This is Marina Yekaterinovna,” I added to Mirochka, “and this is Nikita Marislavovich. Marina Yekaterinovna is Ivan Marinovich’s mother.”

  “It’s an honor,” said Mirochka, bobbing with another little bow but eyeing Princess Velikokrasnova with something bordering on contempt. She gave the bloody cloth in Princess Velikokrasnova’s hand a long look, obviously full of curiosity, but then decided not to bother asking her about, and turned back to me and said, “Has the bleeding stopped now, mama? I think it has! Would you like to play with us?”


  “Of course,” I said. “Let’s go.” We began to walk over to where the boys were still running around the glade after each other. Mirochka waited until we were out of whisper-shot, and then said quietly, “They’re not very polite, are they, mama?”

  “No,” I whispered back. “But let’s not make a fuss about it, shall we? They don’t like us very much, but that’s their problem, not ours.”

  “I see,” she said. She looked at my ripped sleeve and the binding on my arm, and asked, “Why did you cut yourself and give Marina Yekaterinovna part of the bandage, mama?”

  “It was an oath. Remember I told you that’s how to make oaths?”

  “But you said it was only for very serious ones, mama.”

  “And it is. But this was a very serious oath.”

  “Oh. What was it about?”

  “I promised to watch over Ivan Marinovich and make sure nothing happens to him,” I told her. “And I gave part of the cloth to Marina Yekaterinovna because she’s his mother and now she keeps part of the oath.”

  “Oh, I see. Why did you promise to watch over him?” Her face lit up at a sudden thought. “Is he going to become another brother to me?”

  “Perhaps something like that,” I said. “You know Ruslan has taken him as his companion now, and he is to go with me when I go on my journey East. So it is like he is part of the family now, almost.”

  “I’m glad! I like him,” she confided, and then, seeing that the boys were all three of them trying and almost succeeding in wrestling Ivan to the ground and holding him there, she dashed off to defend him.

  Princess Velikokrasnova, still holding the bloody cloth between her thumb and forefinger as if it were a dead rat she had by the tail, went over to Sera and began an angry discussion with her, waving her finger in Sera’s face and shaking the cloth for emphasis. I wondered how many other princesses would dare to speak that way to their Empress. I wondered if part of our problem were not that Sera and I were younger than so many of the princesses, including Marina Yekaterinovna. Sera was older than me, but she was still not yet forty, while Princess Velikokrasnova was five-and-forty if she was a day, and most of the other princesses on the Princess Council were even older. Just our bad luck that to them, we were still light-minded girls or naïve young women. I wondered what I could do to change that. I wondered what I would have to do to change that. Bringing back a band of slave traders in chains might be a good start, I thought, watching Princess Velikokrasnova make another angry and dismissive gesture before turning away and marching off, her back stiff with outrage. Nika scurried behind her, shoulders slumped. I wondered if he would have developed that same submissive stoop and downtrodden expression if he’d married me instead. I hoped not, because it made me want to go over and kick him. The worry that preyed all too frequently on my mind that Mirochka might turn out to be more like him than like me rose up forcefully, and I worried about it as Princess Velikokrasnova, shadowed by Nika, went over to Ivan and began haranguing him. At first he hung his head just as Nika had, but as she continued, his head rose and his spine stiffened almost as straight as hers. He said something angry to her. Quick as a snake, her hand flashed out and slapped his face.