Page 46 of Tiger's Tale
Pausing, he glanced around, expecting to see Stacia at least, but no one was nearby. When he looked down, he found he couldn’t even see Danik’s footprints any longer. In fact, he couldn’t see more than two arm lengths beyond his body now in any direction. Panic grabbed hold. He was lost. Nik was about to start cursinghimselffor being a glupec when someone grabbed his arm from behind.
“There you are!” Danik said. “Good thinking shouting like that. The tigers have exceptionally good hearing, even in the storm.”
Nik saw a flash of gold and red next to the man. Both the tigers were heavily covered with snow. Stopping near Nik, they shook themselves hard and snow splattered on both him and Danik.
“Best stick close to each other now,” Danik said. “Easy to get lost in a storm like this. What were you shouting anyway?”
“Nothing important,” Nik said.
Stacia, who kept herself pressed close to Nik, forcing him to walk next to Danik, looked up at him, and despite the freezing temperatures, his face turned red under her scrutiny.
“So where is your next campsite?” Nik yelled above the wind.
Danik shrugged. “Don’t have one in this area. I just usually find whatever works.”
“No cave? No supplies? No stream or river? Nothing?” Nik screamed incredulously.
Shaking his head, Danik said, “This one came on quick. We’re out in the open here with no trees, mountains, or hills, for at least a day in any direction.”
“We’re not going to survive out here in this. Where’s your next shelter?” Nik asked.
Danik rubbed some snow off the golden stubble on his cheek. “There’s a small farming town about three days northeast of here called Polensk. When I trade there, the priest will often let me sleep in the stables behind the church. It’s the closest shelter.”
Shivering, Nik glanced down at Veru. Her entire body was once again covered with snow. Quickly he whipped off his pack and crouched down. Pulling out his magic boots, and with only a moment’s hesitation and a single curse, he thrust them at Danik. “Okay, here’s how this is going to work. Since you know where we’re going, you put these on, and they help you walk or run very, very fast. You’ll also be invisible—that is, we won’t be able to see you either. We can move at the same speed you do, at least I think we’ll be able to, but the catch is, you have to be touching us. Otherwise, you’ll lose us like we lost Veru, and out here, that will be a death sentence.”
Danik took the magic offering with a raised eyebrow, then quickly slipped off his snowshoes, handing them over to Nik, who stared at them a minute, knowing he’d never run quickly in them, but put them on anyway. After shoving his foot into the first boot, Danik realized they were too small for him. He was about to yank them off, when, somehow, the fur and leather stretched and reformed itself, covering his foot perfectly. Danik laughed. “This is amazing!”
“Yeah. I know,” Nik said grudgingly. To his surprise, Danik didn’t disappear. It seemed that part only worked in tandem with his tunic, which was still in his bag. Nik wasn’t going to complain about that or offer anything else. “Huh,” he said. “Never mind about the invisible thing. I can still see you.”
Taking Nik at his word, Danik put on the second boot, held out an arm, and wrapped it around Nik in a half bear hug so tight, Nik wished with all his might he could push the hunter’s arm away, but he knew it was the safest thing for the moment. Since Veru was on the hunter’s other side, the man bent his lanky form in an uncomfortable position, tugging Nik along with him so he could wrap his other arm around her neck.
Nik wasn’t sure how they’d travel that way, but he went ahead and put his arm around Stacia, too, hoping the boots would work with the four of them. “Take a few steps at first,” Nik said, “to see if it will work with four. It might be that you have to be touching all of us. In that case, I’m not sure what we’ll do.”
Together the group walked awkwardly and then tried trotting a few steps, but it quickly became apparent that Stacia could not keep up. Even wearing snowshoes, Nik was moving faster than Stacia as a tiger, that meant the magic only worked with the person being touched by the boot wearer.
“It’s not working,” Nik said as they ran back to her.
“It was worth a try,” Danik replied, bending to remove the boot. He’d gotten one off and was hobbling in the snow, trying to balance to slip his foot back into his old boot, when a powerful wind knocked him down on his back. Veru stuck her face near his, and when she did, her paw touched the forgotten magic snow boot. Instantly, the fur and fabric began knitting itself around her paw, and the laces lifted of their own accord. They stretched out, encasing her other legs, then broke off, creating three new boots.
When her feet were covered with the new magic snow boots, now colored gold and white, the laces continued to move up her body, enclosing her chest and circling her belly. Quickly they molded and hardened, becoming a gold leather saddle encrusted with diamonds and gemstones.
Instead of a bridle and reins, the laces created an elaborate carved handhold made of gilded copper wire. Thin gold-leaf panels fanned out behind the saddle, unrolling along her flanks and down her back to her tail. Each one looked like a peacock feather with a large silvery gemstone, the same color of her eyes, placed at the tip.
Nik stood still, amazed at what he saw, while Danik sat frozen in the snow, his hand gripping the second boot. It was Danik who moved first, quickly pulling off the second boot. “Tsarevna Anastasia? Would you mind coming closer?”
Swallowing, still not moving, Nik said only, “She... she prefers Stacia.”
“Stacia, then,” the hunter said as the red-striped tiger approached, blowing a puff of warm air into his face. “If I may, Tsarevna,” he said, and held out the magic boot for her front paw.
She lifted a paw gingerly and barely touched it to the boot when the same amazing enchantment began its work on her. This time the boots and saddle changed to a new color. Instead of the white, silver, and gold like her sister, Stacia’s saddle was made of the finest black leather, sable, and mink fur.
The back portion also fanned out but in a different shape—less featherlike and more geometric. It was also a bit more intricate than her sister’s, and it gleamed with sparkling opals, pearls, diamonds, obsidian, and onyx. In the center, where the black braided handhold wove itself, the saddle created the largest, most brilliant emerald either of the men had ever imagined.
When Stacia turned toward them, Nik noticed for the first time just how green her eyes were. They were the same color as the emerald. The black suited her, too, he thought. It was dignified. Regal. Also, she was still in mourning for her mother, so it was appropriate. Not for the first time he had the impression that he was looking at the next tsarina and that he should bow. Instead, he just dipped his head in a respectful nod, but he didn’t think she noticed.
“Obviously we are meant to ride,” Danik said. “Is such a thing proper?”
“I don’t know about proper,” Nik said. “You’re the hunter. Are they strong enough to carry us?”
