“Why don’t you just stay at Katinka’s place? I’m sure she’ll take you in even if I wouldn’t,” Petrushia mutters and Katinka scowls before a calculated look grows on her face.
“There’s a newly built hotel in the woods where you used to play as a child. Why don’t you try it?”
“Alright, that sounds good. I’ll try that...,” I trail off when Petrushia glares at Katinka who struggles to ignore her. Not wanting to just go and leave things weird, I decide to buy a silver, chiffon scarf.
Smiling, Katinka wraps it around my neck and gives my shoulder a squeeze. “When you see him, remember to be kind to him even if he has grown harsh.”
“Who? Balthazar? Oh, I’m not here to see him...”
That’s sort of a lie.
“He’s called Tsar!” Petrushia calls after me, kissing the amulet again and I roll my eyes before walking away. And now I see things differently. There are more people walking around with emblems and amulets, some of them buying small, poorly made statues of what I suppose is meant to represent this Tsar person.
Whoever he is, he can’t be Balthazar. The likelihood that he defeated the guerilla is about as likely as the tooth fairy being real. Shaking my head, I leave the chaos of the market place and walk up the trail to the woods. Its close by and it doesn’t take me long before I’m embalmed by frost covered birches.
It’s colder here though and I wish I had something else than my thin but incredibly chic coat. Maybe those old, hand me down pelts I used to wear as a child would have suited me fine just now. Rubbing my hands together, I groan when I notice the bluish tint on my knuckles. I should’ve bought some mittens instead of a scarf but it was so beautiful I couldn’t resist...
A gasp crosses my lips when the wind snatches my scarf. I reach for it but fail to clasp it, and it lands on the ground before me. Walking over to it, I bend down, about to clasp it when the wind yanks at it again, throwing it in another direction.
Growing impatient, I stomp over to it, confident that this time I’ll get it when the wind throws it in another direction with an ominous whistle. Shuddering again, I set off to chase my scarf and it changes direction four more times until I finally get a hold of it.
“Gotcha!” I say in triumph, wrapping it tighter around my neck this time but the triumph fades the moment I see what’s in front of me. A towering castle. Great and sharp and built in the same mountain stone, the village wall is made out of me. Maybe calling it a castle was too big of a compliment because it’s more like a fort.
And is this the hotel? Can’t be but there’s nothing else around. This must be it and I walk over to the dark, metal entrance. Knocking with the doorknob, I wait but there’s no response. Hesitantly, I try opening and I’m surprised to see that it’s unlocked.
It’s dark in there, save for the dim chandelier that weakly illuminates a sparse but still luxurious interior. Removing my scarf, I turn my head to the side and find no desk where I can check in. Where even am I?
“Hello?” I call. “Anyone here?” There’s no response and I’m beginning to wonder why Katinka would trick me like this when a harsh voice echoes,
“Who the fuck dares entering my castle?”
CHAPTER TWO
Tsarina
Flinching, I look up, my head turning in all direction as I try figuring out where that voice came from. I can still hear the echoes, still hear the rage in his tone and I’m beginning to think this is definitely not a hotel. At least I had the sense to leave the door open and I slowly back, twitching again at someone coming down the great staircase.
I gasp, lifting my face as my eyes take in a pair of black boots, grey military pants and a black t-shirt. My pulse begins drumming, my gaze rising until it meets eyes I’m very familiar with. They’re green like a poisonous concoction, hooded under black, frowning brows and I gasp, blinking just to make sure if I’m seeing this right.
“Balthazar?” I say in a low voice and I’m full of disbelief but when he crosses his arms over his chest, I realize that I’m right. It really is him! My heart constricts in my ribcage and I flash a wide grin. “Balthazar, it’s me!” I cry. “Tsarina!”
Without hesitating, I run over to him, wrap my arms around him and squeeze. Pressing my face into his chest, I wait to be hit by that familiar scent of his but now it’s not so familiar anymore. He smells of hardship and frost, he smells like a man and I dreamily look up at him.
He looks like a man too. Sturdy and brave with black hair that has a bluish tint and he keeps it gathered in a knot. A dark goatee covers his jaw, his face hardened and there’s no recognition in his eyes. Squeezing his shoulders, I breathe, “It’s me.”
I wait for him to pick me up, twirl me around and burst into laughter. Show some warmth, some softness but he just looks down at me with anger in his eyes. “I know who you are. What are you doing here?”
Glancing at him in surprise, I slowly withdraw and swallow. “Beastie, what is this?”
His eyes flash with rage, his lip curling over his teeth. “Do not call me that. I don’t take kindly to intruders but because you’re you, because you’re an old friend, I won’t cut your head off for trespassing. Now, I asked you what you’re doing here.”
Whoa, someone woke up on the wrong side...
“Pissing you off apparently,” I murmur and I’m stunned, not knowing what to make of this. Why is he being so hostile? He’s acting like he couldn’t care any less about my arrival and I mean, I would accept if he’d forgotten me a little and things were awkward but this is not awkward...
This is awful.
Putting my hands in my pockets, I shrug and try a smile. “I’m staying in Karthusia for a week before heading home again. I was down by the village and they told me there’s a hotel in the woods and so here I am.”