Mistress of the Solstice by Anna Kashina

these centuries I had to be stupid enough to entrust a serious task
to a silly human boy.”
    “You think I’ll fall in love with
her?”
    Wolf shrugged. “Everyone else does. Gleb tried to tell
you, not that you really listened, of course.”
    “I am not in love!” Ivan protested.
“It would be utterly stupid to fall in love with
someone who kills people in cold blood. Even more stupid to fall in
love with someone you’ve never really
met.”
    “Exactly my point.” Wolf nodded.
“Exactly my point.”
    Ivan turned toward the looming castle wall. Wolf trotted beside him.
Sometimes he looked just like a dog—a monstrous one whose head
reached almost to a man’s shoulder, but a dog
nonetheless.
    “Just remember everything we
learned,” Wolf said. “Try not to
trigger the traps. Once you’re inside, go straight for
the box. Make sure you don’t get distracted with
anything else, you hear me?”
    “Mmm,” Ivan said.
    “Hey, boy! Are you still with me?”
    “I thought if I could just talk to
her—”
    Wolf sighed. “You already did, remember? Back on the
plaza? If you forgot, look at your arm. I’m sure it
couldn’t have healed this quickly.”
    “But out there I had no time to really say anything!
If I could only reason with her—”
    “Yes, right.” Wolf skirted a rowan
branch that hung low over the path.
“She’ll take one look at you, forget
all about her duties, and run off with you to your Twelfth Kingdom.
Quite a reasonable thing to do, considering her
situation.”
    Dejected, Ivan walked for a while in silence. “What
her father makes her do is wrong. She must see it
too.”
    “I’m sure she
does,” Wolf agreed.
    There was another pause.
    “There isn’t much risk in
trying,” Ivan finally said.
    “No risk at all. She’s a sorceress,
true, but she isn’t generally known for blowing
people’s heads off. She leaves that task to her father.
Who might do just that, if he happens to come to her chambers during
your little conversation—”
    “In the middle of the night?”
    “Marya and her father have a very close
relationship,” Wolf replied pointedly.
    “Well,” Ivan hesitated,
“if worst comes to worst, I could always ask for her
hand in marriage.”
    Wolf stared. “Oh, is that what this is all about, boy?
Why ever didn’t you tell me?”
    “It’s not that,”
Ivan blushed so deeply that his pale face turned dark in the waning
light. “It’s just that if I do, then,
by the rules, neither she nor Kashchey could hurt
me.”
    “Did Gleb tell you this?”
    “Yes, when you were out. He said the rule is as strict
as the code of the Immortals. He said Kashchey won’t
harm me if I call upon the rule, especially because he tries so hard to
be known as a real Immortal himself.”
    “Your charms must be going to your head, lover boy.
You forget, you’re not a Tzar’s son
anymore. You’re no match for her. Not in this
kingdom.”
    “I know,” Ivan said slowly.
“But I don’t think it matters. Anyone
can be a suitor if they fulfill her task.”
    “Did Gleb by any chance mention that if you fail at
her task, then, by law of this kingdom you must
die?”
    Ivan’s face lost some of its dreamy expression.
    “Yes, he did, but I’m only talking
about it as a way to retreat. If the situation becomes
dangerous.”
    “In case you haven’t
noticed,” Wolf growled. “Despite
the swarm of suitors that are drawn to this kingdom like flies to
honey, she is still unwed. Any thoughts why? Don’t you
forget this, boy. Marya and her father, Kashchey,
aren’t as easy as old Leshy. They play no
games.”
    Ivan eyed him uncertainly.
    “Just do what I tell you. Your only true advantage is
surprise. Get in, grab the Needle and run for your life.
Don’t even think of casting an eye on
her.”
    They stopped in sight of a large, gnarled oak, its
deformed roots jutting out of the ground, twisting toward them like
enormous fingers. In the waning moonlight, Ivan imagined he could see
the