The Winds of Khalakovo - Bradley P. Beaulieu [105]
“I am sure.”
Bersuq had returned after dragging the men’s bodies into the forest. He motioned to Soroush. “Toward the westward shore.”
Soroush glanced in that direction, and then faced Rehada squarely. “Return to Volgorod. Wait for word.”
They left, trudging through the forest undergrowth carrying two shovels and a pick. When the two of them could no longer be seen, Rehada stepped inside Gierten’s simple home. A wooden table and chairs occupied one corner, a potbelly stove another. The hearth was made from rounded stone and aged mortar. The mantel held several pieces of carved bone, a hobby of Ruslan’s, perhaps. A hand-woven rug covered the floor nearby, and a rocking chair sat by the window near the front door.
An entire home, wiped away in an instant. What had they done to deserve it?
They’d done nothing. They had had the misfortune, as Soroush had put it, of being born Landed. When would all of this end, she wondered. And what would come of the rift? If Soroush had his way, Nasim would be back in his hands soon. Would he wipe away the life on Khalakovo as he’d done in this simple fisherman’s home? Would they return enlightened? Or would it continue the cycle of discontent that seemed to have gripped the world?
She took a deep breath, readying to leave, when she noticed movement among the trees. A woman dressed in Landed riding clothes was moving stealthily through the forest. She moved with a certain grace, but she was no woodsman, and her raiment was fine. Fine enough for royalty.
It struck her all of a sudden. This woman was strikingly similar to the pale, blonde-haired beauty she’d seen in the halls of Radiskoye. And for good reason. This was no other than Atiana Vostroma. What would she be doing here, and what would have possessed her to follow two Maharraht?
Rehada nearly let her go, nearly let her walk into the jaws of the wolf that would meet her on the nearby shore, but too much blood had been spilled this day, and she realized with a numb sense of horror that she was jealous of this woman. She had taken something of Rehada’s, no matter how tenuous her hold had been, and she didn’t like it. Those were the exact emotions she had been trying all her life to root out.
So she followed this foolish Vostroman woman to see what she was about.
CHAPTER 30
The coach taking Atiana and her sisters to Volgorod jumped as it struck an excessively large hole in the road. Ishkyna pounded the roof, her expression making it clear she would gladly have replaced the roof with the driver’s head.
“I don’t see why you couldn’t go by yourself,” Ishkyna said as she settled herself back into her seat.
“You can walk back to the palotza if you’d rather.”
Ishkyna rolled her eyes. “You’re as sensitive as an open wound these days, Tiana. I was only wondering why you couldn’t just ask Father for permission.”
Atiana nearly unleashed her bottled up anger on Ishkyna for telling Borund of Nikandr’s disease, but Ishkyna would only deny it. Atiana would bide her time. She would even the scales.
Borund had kept it quiet until after his hunt with Nikandr, then he’d told everyone who would listen, acting as if it were the greatest insult imaginable. Many supported his position—largely, she suspected, because Father was the one everyone assumed would take over the mantle of Grand Duke. The wasting was often hidden by royalty—some for reasons of vanity, others because they perceived it as weak. Stasa himself had hidden just how bad the disease had become.
Grigory had been only too pleased to hear this news. He spoke longer and louder than even Borund, telling everyone how craven Nikandr was. He stopped short of demanding a duel, however—even Borund would think twice over that. Nikandr was known by everyone to be an expert shot.
Atiana didn’t like hearing their words. Though she and Nikandr hadn’t been formally married, she felt as if she were honor-bound to defend him. There was also the feeling that it had been something she and Nikandr alone had shared. As far as he knew, he hadn’t told anyone else, and even though she