Page 36 of A Song of Saints and Swans
“What are you doing?” my brother hissed, slamming the door to his mind shut. “Stay thefuckout of my head, Rena.”
Goddess, he’s angry!
“Don’t talk to her like that,” Anthia snapped, stepping between us as if she could stop two gods from coming to blows. “If Rena’s poking around in that empty head of yours, it’s because you’ve been acting weirder than usual. If I’m going to be your consort, I expect there to be no secrets between the three of us.”
“Consort?!”the Gamayun squawked.
“Threeof you?” The Alkonost raised a brow, enjoying the show.
I sighed. The surrounding discussion had ground to a halt, with all eyes firmly fixed on us. Tan especially looked ready to join the Alkonost and grab the proverbial popcorn, but I was determined to end the spectacle.
Although the three of uswillcontinue this conversation in private.
“Yes, it’s called theDove Book,”I smoothly redirected back to Anthia’s question from earlier. “But not ‘dove’ like the bird. It’s a reference to the idea that the concepts come from thedepthsof all knowledge—the World Tree.”
And therefore, the Alatyr.
As someone with the ability to see the past, present, and future, I knew there were no coincidences. Anthia’s latest letter had invited her to the shores of the Baltic Sea. Instead of the mysterious sender waiting for us, we found messengers capable of guiding us to the one place on earth more heavily guarded than aRoyals and NoblesSotheby’s auction.
It’s simply best to let fate lead the way.
While I suspectedAnthiawas the one who needed to consult the stone, a little sleight of hand hurt no one.
Turning to face the birds still gawking at us, I laid my trap. “It sounds as if theAlatyris trying to tell us something. I’d be more than happy to lend my talents to the cause. Perhaps I can decipher its message before one of the older gods steps in and shuts it down again.”
Going in for the kill, I made a show of pressing my fingertips to my temples before adding, “And I’m getting astrong feelingthat both Jarilo and Anthia should join us as well. It could be nothing… or everything.”
As expected, two beady sets of eyes glittered with open interest, confirming I had their attention.
“Yessss,” the Gamayun chirped. “We will gladly lead you to Buyan to investigate, but be warned—bad weather is on its way.”
ThatI could believe. Besides the compounding synchronicities we’d discovered since beginning this journey, I couldfeelthe gathering storm clouds in my bones. It was still fairly early in the agricultural cycle, but the icy hold of winter seemed especially reluctant to let go this year.
Since the god in charge of bringing spring back to the land is falling behind.
The raw anger Jarilo had shown when I’d infiltrated his thoughts proved my suspicions were correct. He was hiding something from me. Something big.
Although I’d never been to Buyan myself, theAlatyrstone was known as “a mighty force that had no end”—leaving nothing in its wake but the truth. Considering there was still the matter of Anthia’s heritage to uncover, it made sense for all three of us to travel to the island and learn a few secrets.
Let’s see how many mysteries we can solve when there’s nowhere left to hide.
The Eye of the Storm
ANTHIA
It felt good to stretch my wings again.
For as suspicious as we were of humanity, many shifters spent a good amount of time in human form. Personally, I liked the freedom it gave me to move about the world unchecked, not to mention the opposable thumbs. But there was nothing like shifting into my swan and taking to the sky, knowing in my bones it was my natural state.
I wonder what the Sea Tsar’s daughters consider their true forms…
Vasi’sskazkiweighed heavily on my mind as Marena, Jarilo, and I followed the Gamayun and Alkonost across the sea. I occasionally peered into the depths far below—trying to glimpse the Tsar’s underwater kingdom—but the surface of the water was too choppy to see much besides foam.
A storm was definitely brewing, and I hoped we’d reach Buyan before it hit. More than anything, I prayed the answers I’d been seeking for almost my entire life would be waiting for me there.
Margo and Konstantin insisted on remaining with the others, apparently because the Rusalka’s death and Vasi’s investigation were possibly related. Marena hesitantly explained her theory, although I could tell she was trying to avoid the subject—probably more to protect me from reliving my trauma at the Facility than to keep secrets.
Unlike my other future consort…
