LITMIR.BIZ

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never had dignity.” The flat but loud voice from behind startles us both. Morok must have come closer during my conversation with Daniel and overheard part of it, if not the whole thing.

      He says no more but for a while. And Daniel keeps silent, too. I pull myself together and decide to ask him the last questions that have been on my mind since I was raised from the dead.

      “Does Serat still exist?”

      “Unfortunately, it does.”

      “Who is ruling it now?”

      “The younger son of the late king Aleksey, Severin Lasnetsov.” The prince looks almost pensive now. “Actually, it should have been the eldest son, his name escapes me, but he died when he was still a child.”

      “What are the relationships between the kingdoms?”

      Daniel cocks his head a little and gives me a searching look. I tried to keep my voice steady while asking the question but I’m not so stupid as to believe he won’t suspect the reason for my curiosity.

      “Araken and Serat are at war. After what they did, my ancestors had no choice. At the beginning, it was a full-fledged war, but now it has turned into a protracted conflict. There are occasional clashes on the border but no real battles. However, we keep a close eye on the enemy and shoot on sight whenever anyone crosses the border from Serat.”

      I can only nod as my voice fails me. I grit my teeth and tighten my grip on the reins. My leather gloves creak in protest.

      “Not to worry, my dear Agatha. One day, we will wipe Serat from the face of the earth. I will not rest easy till I do. And when I do it…” the prince waits for me to look up at him, “…it will be for you.”

      6

      “Anna, that is a pretty dress but it won’t do for training. You should wear trousers and a shirt.”

      It’s not the first time I have to tell my little sister off for wearing the wrong outfit for her training. She hates working out. I’m not a big fan of running, push-ups and pull-ups myself, but it’s part of our job. Our duty is not only to worship and serve Morana, but also to look beautiful in our scarlet cloaks. Strangely enough, our looks play an important role, too, and there is a host of rules we must obey. But be that as it may, I still believe that our ability to kill evil spirits remains our main asset. Yes, we can see and sever threads of life but to be able to get to them we must fight, and for that we need training, just like common people.

      I can understand my sister though, I loved pretty dresses too. I used to try to make myself more beautiful, wanted to draw admiring glances of both men and women, like the ones they cast at my sister now whenever we enter a town or a village. But soon enough, I abandoned those attempts and started dedicating more time to mastering the art of swordplay. So, my go-to outfit became figure-hugging trousers and shirts and caftans the color of blood. These are normally men’s clothes, but a few sisters dress in a similar fashion, as it is more convenient for horseback-riding and for battle. The temple keepers sew more feminine fits for us so that we can wear them both at work and at court, if need be.

      “What help will your sword be if you get entangled in your own skirt?”

      I’m chiding her right out in a light temple hall, where any Mara can see us, or hear us for that matter because I’m making no effort to keep my voice low. Though my loud tirades may also be the reason other sisters prefer to steer clear of this particular hall. When I turned fifteen, other Maras re-assigned me the task of looking after Anna as they were eager to create the best possible conditions for her, the ones none of us could have. I’ve always been nice to my baby sister, tried to protect her from any harm. I thought the transition to the life of a Mara was hard on her.

      Anna is slim and delicate and every time she’d told me she has trouble breathing after a few minutes of running or that she can’t lift a sword (though she is pretty good with stilettoes, fighting knives with long thin blades), I’ve believed her. When she came up with a hundred excuses for missing training and swore that she’d never do it again, I believed her.

      I believed everything she told me before I realized she was taking advantage of me.

      My little sister knows she has a pretty face and those big eyes you can’t say no to, so she very quickly learnt how to make the most of it by manipulating people and always getting her way. Even the eldest and strictest of sisters melt before her. I suspect they see a daughter in her rather than a younger sister. I know that Anna does not have ill intentions though, she’s just being selfish. She doesn’t want to do things she doesn’t like.

      In a month, Anna will turn seventeen. Her theoretical knowledge is excellent and she’s diligent when it comes to study, but she still can’t hold her own in a fight. And part of that is my fault, I’ve been too lenient with her. So, I have dug myself into a hole, which almost consumed me half a year ago.

      On that day, four sisters including me and Anna, were sent to one of the lakes to deal with the souls of drowned men. A few people from the nearby village thought they’d seen dead people walking near the lake. We found four of them.

      These souls are disgusting but they aren’t as quick as the ghouls in the woods around the lakes. Nevertheless, even souls were too quick for Anna. Years of training didn’t help much and she was standing there brandishing her sword without touching the dead. It was a sheer stroke of luck that I noticed just as a soul almost seized her. What I needed to do was to chop off its head but there was no time, so I just pushed Anna out of the way throwing myself in her stead. The creature sank its rotten teeth into my arm and dragged me off into the water. If it hadn’t been for sister Yana, who saved me, I would have drowned.

      Since that day, I’ve tried to be stricter with Anna: I’ve told her off more and indulged her less. I sigh every time Irina teases me for having turned grumpy and cranky. I don’t enjoy lecturing my sister but I don’t have much choice.

      She continues staring at the stone floor, sheepishly fidgeting with the long sleeve of her crimson dress and black corset. I refuse to be swayed by that innocent pose.

      “Anna!”

      “Sister,” she answers obediently, lifting up her sky-blue eyes to me. But as soon as she realizes her charms aren’t working, she drops all pretense. “Come on, you know I’m not cut out for this! It’s not that I don’t try! I’ve memorized every evil spirit and how to kill it!”

      “I know but…”

      “It’s when it comes to weapons… I just… can’t! I’m not as strong as you. I’d love to be… but I can’t!”

      “You know very well I don’t have any special talent. It’s the result of regular training and hard work.”

      Anna falls silent, she has nothing to say to that. And it’s not the first time we’ve had this talk either. I take in a deep breath and let it out, trying not to give in to anger. It works. I take my sister by the shoulders and make her look me in the eye.

      “Anna, I love you and I know you. If I could, I would send you home right now, I would spare you this fate. But I can’t…”

      The corners of her mouth turn down. She knows it but can’t accept it. She’s still clinging to a childish hope that I can somehow save her from this life. But I can’t, no one can.

      “Other sisters see I can’t keep you in check. I am sure it won’t be long till they re-assign your training to someone else. Do you really want that?”

      “I don’t.”

      “Then you will go change and come back for training.” I nod.

      “Okay.

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