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Chapter 38

By the time Rossa returned, Boris and Igor had reached an accord, though the boy was currently hanging limp for the third time, looking for all the world like the corpse he'd been out in the clearing. Except with his head still attached, of course. Rossa would not like it if he turned her barn into a slaughterhouse.

"I brought some breakfast. I thought you might be hungry," she said, her eyes on the tray in her hands. When she glanced up, she nearly dropped it. "You're…not a bear!"

Boris grinned. "No. I'm not sure how it happened. Perhaps it's something about being inside your shield, but I feel…more like myself."

Rossa hurriedly set the tray down and laid her hand on his arm again. She shook her head. "Yet I can still feel the spell inside you. The bear isn't gone, only…sleeping, or something. As if waiting for the opportunity to emerge…"

Boris might not be a witch, but he'd come to a similar conclusion. "Oh, there's a purpose for it, all right. I will need its strength to drag that usurper off my father's throne and make him pay for the lives he's taken. After he's freed Igor from his curse, of course, which is why he's going to help me."

Rossa shot a sceptical glance at the lifeless boy. "You'll need to resurrect him, and get a few decent meals into him first. He's hardly in any shape to attack a king at the very heart of his power. Why, there'd be guards, knights, courtiers…he'd have no chance. Not even with your help. One bear against a company of guardsmen…I've never been to court, but even I know that is suicide."

"Come with me." Even as the words left his lips, he wished they hadn't. He'd lost the woman he loved once to Sviatopolk. He wouldn't put Rossa in danger as well.

A wry smile curved her lips. "A bear, a beggar boy and a maiden with a bow. Oh, the bards will make ballads about us, filling every court in the land with gales of laughter that anyone could do something so stupid." She took a deep breath. "And yet…you will need me, I think. But even then, we might not be enough. If you want the king to listen, without killing us on sight, you'll need someone else. What we need is my father. He'll know what to do."

Boris opened his mouth to ask what some country baron could do against a king, but Igor took that moment to suck in an enormous, gasping breath, drawing Rossa's eyes to him.

"Is it true? Will you swear to serve Prince Boris again, as you did before, and help him right the wrongs that were done to him? Even if it means killing the king?" Rossa demanded.

Igor wet his lips. "I will."

"Will you swear not to harm Prince Boris, or anyone else unless I order you to do so? Will you promise not to run away if I untie you?"

"To all of it, I swear, my lady," Igor said.

She snapped her fingers, and the ropes around the boy slithered away to coil themselves up like a nest of snakes in the corner.

"And if I ordered you to go get a meal and a bath and clean clothes, as befitting your station as Prince Boris's squire, would you obey?"

"Gladly, my lady." Igor bowed low.

Boris hadn't noticed, but the sulkiness that had annoyed him so much before was gone from Igor's voice and expression now. How long had it been? Had he been running for years?

Boris glanced down at his clothes. He hadn't seen this tunic since the day Lida and Vica died, and it still bore traces of their blood. "Lady Rossa, might I trouble you for a bath and a change of clothing, too?"

She eyed him thoughtfully. "I'll see what I can find. We don't see many princes here in the mountains, so it may not be as fine as you are used to. At least until the passes open in spring, and my father will return."

That was at least a month away, maybe two! Boris swallowed. As a bear, he might attempt to traverse snowy mountain passes, but as a man, he'd likely die in the attempt. Even Bisseni berserkers weren't crazy enough to cross the mountains in winter.

After so long as a bear, he felt somehow diminished to stand before her as a man. Yet he bowed as low as he had dozens of times before. "I will be most grateful for whatever hospitality you offer, my lady."

When he straightened, he found Rossa blinking at him in bemusement. "Yes, I'll have to find you a bed, too, I suppose." And with that, she led the way out of the barn, gesturing for them both to follow.