Page 33 of Rise of the Witch
Chapter 27
Vasilisa
Iwould have thought, after all this time, it wouldn’t cut so deeply. Nadia was never far from my mind, but it was probably thanks to the Rusalka’s recent taunts that the memory felt so raw. Some believed Rusalkas were the souls of those who died tragically, including unborn babies, so for her to imply my daughter had been transformed after death into a flesh-eating monster was a blow I would most likely never recover from.
“Nadia says hello from the depths.”
Asa had my face in his hands again, his touch soothing something wild that otherwise would have exploded out of me in fiery rage. “Is that who Nadia was, Vasi?” he gently asked. “I heard that creature at the pond say her name and saw how upset you looked afterward, so I knew she was someone dear to you. You don’t have to talk about it if you’re not ready...”
Of course, he would understand a loss of this magnitude.
Breathing evenly, I replied. “No, I want to. It’s time that I talked about it.”
He nodded grimly, a silent understanding passing between us. I briefly wondered when Asa would be ready to talk about whatever happened with his mother and whether sharing my pain may help him with his.
“After my stepfamily was gone,” I began, leaning against Asa to steady me. “My father convinced a local weaver to take me in, to teach me her craft and give me the means for livelihood. I became quite skilled, so much so that a cloth of mine caught the eye of the Tsar himself. He insisted on meeting the weaver who’d created it…” I hesitated, suddenly uncomfortable talking about the man who would be my husband with these three, as if I had somehow been unfaithful.
But they need to know how I ended up here.
How I became what I am.
Nox surprisingly cut in again, reminding me that he grew up with my tale, even if it was only a lovely bedtime story. “And the Tsar was so captivated by your beauty that he married you. The end.” He said the last part with a wry grin, knowing full well that real-life continued past the neat fairytale ending.
“Yes,” I winced. “I was a lovely trophy for the Tsar, and when I became pregnant soon after we wed, it seemed I would make an ideal Tsarina. Unfortunately, my beauty was so legendary that I caught the eye of a creature neither alive nor dead. Who survives by being deathless.”
“Koschei?” Nox’s eyes narrowed as he followed the thread of what I was saying. “Koschei the Deathless is real?”
I shuddered at his name, looking over my shoulder toward the cabin door as if my old enemy would come bursting in merely by being named aloud.
“Yes, he’s real. And you would be wise to not say his name a third time,” I warned, staring into Nox’s dark brown eyes intently. “I’ve managed to elude him for centuries, and I would like to keep it that way.”
“What happened next, Vasi?” Tan again reached across the table to take my hand, squeezing it comfortingly.
Meeting his hazel eyes, I saw nothing but patience. “He stole me from my husband’s bed one night, spirited me away in his magical whirlwind to wherever he was hiding at the time. He kept me there for weeks…” Asa possessively pulled me into his lap as I faltered, realizing there were still some things I couldn’t speak of. “The Tsar never would have found me except I managed to escape, thanks to the guidance of my mother’s doll, which was tucked in my nightgown pocket. I somehow found my way back to the palace, but due to my physical trauma...I lost the baby soon after I returned.”
The men were respectfully quiet as I relived those heartbreaking moments when my dreams for the future were taken from me. Asa’s arms tightened around me as Tan ran his thumb over my hand, and I marveled at the ease I had with both of them. For so long, I’d wondered if I would ever be capable of allowing a man to touch me again—when even the thought of it was triggering.
Leaning against Asa’s broad chest, I took a breath and continued. “When the palace midwife examined me, she saw the bruises left from my ordeal. It wasn’t long before everybody knew I had not only miscarried—failed at my one purpose as Tsarina—but I was a ruined woman as well. The Tsar cast me out of the palace with only the clothes on my back, but the midwife took pity on me. She smuggled me some food and made sure I could take my daughter’s tiny body with me, wrapped in the woven cloth that first captivated the Tsar. I walked all day until I reached the edge of this forest, and that’s where I buried Nadia, along with the doll. My mother had given me that doll with her blessing, but at that point, I had no blessings left.” I choked on my words, a single tear trailing down my cheek, which Asa gently brushed away. “And that was where Misha found me.”
“The bear shifter?” Tan asked, brow furrowed in confusion.
“Yes,” I slowly nodded, recalling the moment my fate changed yet again. “Just as I was finishing my burial prayers, an enormous bear appeared at the tree line. I thought for sure I was about to die—I welcomed the idea, actually—but then the bear turned into a man before my eyes. I must have fainted from shock and hunger, and when I awoke, I was in the bear clan’s cave. Misha took care of me for months and asked for nothing in return, but I was a human, and my presence made his clan nervous. He decided to approach Baba Yaga about taking me in. She refused...until he told her my name. I assume she remembered me from all those years earlier.”
This part of my history always gave me pause. While the Yaga was not inherently evil, she also never gave without expecting something in return. She provided me with light as a child—freed me from my stepfamily’s oppression—but that was after I completed my tasks and proved myself worthy. Yes, I was hers to command as she pleased, but she simultaneously taught me everything she knew. Besides extensive training on how to access my intuition and manipulate the forest’s energy, I learned herbalism, homesteading, and, of course, brewing dream tea for personal use and income. I became wholly self-sufficient. Never again would I need someone else to provide for me. On the surface, it appeared I was the one getting the better part of the deal.
Until she betrayed me.
Realizing it had been a few minutes since I’d last spoken, I brought myself back to the present. “Baba Yaga mentored me—included me in every aspect of her ancient rituals and daily life, for better or worse. I lived with her for 7 years before she announced I was ready to take over her role as guardian of this forest. She claimed the time had come for her to join the former Yagas in the Nav. But it was all a lie.”
Asa tensed beneath me, the aggression he’d been attempting to tamp down spiking as he gritted out, “What did she do to you?”
Surprised by his icy tone, I glanced at Tan and saw his face had darkened as well. Nox’s demeanor had also changed, his eyes narrowing as he waited for my reply.
This is just like when they thought Harbison meant to harm me!
Huffing a laugh, I patted Asa’s distractingly hard forearm reassuringly. “It’s all right, boys. It’s just like Tan said, I’m a very stubborn woman—too stubborn for the Nav to keep, apparently.”
“You...youdied?”Tan’s face paled as his gaze flickered to Nox for some reason.
