Fortune's Fool - Mercedes Lackey [130]
“So tell me, what has been happening?” Katya asked, allowing herself to be pulled inside the Castle by her friend.
“Since you cheated us of a wedding here by having it underwater, Marina had hers right here,” Klava replied, taking them to the old throne room, which was now, by the heavy tables and benches, the Chapter refectory. It clearly made a lovely place to eat, what with all the windows. The old battle banners of the Katschei’s conquests had been taken down and replaced with new ones, presumably representing the victories of the new Chapter.
“So she married that bashful boy from her village? I hope he knows he’s to do all the cooking,” Katya replied. “One touch of a fire—”
“No!” Klava exclaimed. “That’s the wonderful part! Do you remember that delegation of Flora’s people, the ones that came in this winter on reindeer-drawn sledges?”
“I remember you writing me about them. Why?” Katya was momentarily distracted by the arrival of what looked like a child bearing bowls of meat-filled borscht and cups of wine. Except it obviously wasn’t a child….
“She and the youngest fellow, Flora’s cousin, I think, took one look at each other and simply fell head over heels! Here’s the best part—he’s from so far north, the snow never melts!” At Katya’s astonished look, Klava clapped her hands and laughed. “It’s true! Can you think of anything more perfect for a snow maiden?”
“Not unless she married Father Frost! That’s lovely, but what about her poor old parents?” Katya nearly swooned when she tasted the borscht; she hadn’t had any soup that good in—well—a very long time.
“They are very happy for her, but I think it was a relief for them to know that they were not going to have to guard against her melting anymore,” Klava told them.
“It’s a definite consideration,” Sasha put in. “Good saints, Klava, who is your cook? This is amazing!”
Klava chuckled. “We have Brownies now. Wait until you taste the bread!”
So that’s what the little person wa—ah, is! Katya thought, as the small fellow returned with a basket of bread so fresh-baked it was steaming, and a pot of butter.
“We’ll have to spend more time here, that’s clear!” Sasha said, cutting a slice and buttering it. “Oh—my—” he added around his first bite. “Definitely.”
“The advantages of being an apprentice Godmother—though Elena keeps threatening to turn me loose on my own!” Klava didn’t look the least bit unhappy about that idea however, which made Katya take a longer look at her.
Hmm, I should think so. It’s time.
“Good. It’s about time Led Belarus had a Godmother, what with all of this going on.” Sasha waved his hand wide to indicate the entire lake complex. “A Fortunate Fool can only do so much, you know.”
“I know, believe me, I know.” Klava rolled her eyes. “The Baba Yagas alone could keep a Godmother busy. It’s a good thing that they tend to do as much good as evil.”
“And speaking of evil, we met with Sergei on the road,” Sasha told her. “He’s just back from the City of Brass. They have the bottle and have agreed to keep it, but he told us they were playing very aloof and not terribly communicative, so heaven only knows what they plan to do about the Jinn.”
Klava pursed her lips. “Well…he’s their problem now. Or their Godmother’s, if they have any such thing.”
“Definitely their problem,” Katya said firmly, getting the last little bit of broth from the bottom of the bowl. “After we bottled him, I saw that the writing had changed. Now he’s bound in there until he reforms. If he does, he gets out, and then they will have to deal with him.”
Klava gave her a long look. “You know, I don’t know that I would have taken that generous a hand with him. I still like ‘Until the twelfth of Never.’ Or ‘Until all frogs become princes.’ Something like that.”
Sasha thoughtfully ate his last bite of bread. “We do have to deal with the repercussions of being a Fortunate Fool,” he said, as Katya nodded.
“Then I’m glad I’m a Godmother. I can be vindictive on occasion.” Klava laughed. “Now that you’ve had the edge taken off your