Page 42 of Sanctuary

“It’s the act of the dragging,” Farhang said.

“I don’t understand,” Finn muttered.

“You need the context.” Roman shifted the harness, situating it better on his shoulders. “Chernobog and Morena have a solid marriage, but occasionally, like right now, they quarrel.”

“Why?” Finn asked.

“For various reasons. This time they fought because Morena wanted to kill one of Svarog’s volhvs.”

“Svarog is the Sky Father, the Fair Judge, the Craftsman,” Andora explained. “He is the one parents pray to when they are having issues with their children, which is ironic as hell when you consider his record on parenting. He is Morena’s father. Long ago, Skiper-Zmei, the Void Dragon, kidnapped Morena and her two sisters, transformed them into monsters, and forced them to commit atrocities.”

Finn blinked.

“Eventually their brother Perun, the Thunderer, put together a divine squad and rescued his sisters,” Roman continued. “But the gods took their sweet time getting around to it. The sisters suffered. Morena never forgave her family for abandoning her. That wail you borrowed is the sound of the anguish she felt. Her sisters, Spring and Summer, returned home, but she held a grudge, so she went into Nav, met Chernobog, they fell in love, and she married him. Your goddess has a temper. There are times when she loses it, and her husband has to…”

He eyed the woods in case they decided to turn angry, but the snow lay placid.

“Talk her off a cliff,” Andora finished for him. “A week ago, one of Svarog’s volhvs made a speech during the early Koliada rites, went off on a tangent about children and parents, and called Morena ungrateful.”

“She isn’t ungrateful. She was abandoned,” Finn growled.

“True,” Roman agreed. “Svarog’s volhv has issues with his son. I don’t know what Alexander did this time to piss his father off, but his old man apparently decided to get some things off his chest and used Morena to do it. It was unwise. Your goddess wanted to remind them exactly where they stood. Chernobog kept her from doing something rash. Now he is hoping to calm the winter storm with a gift. But it can’t be any old gift. It has to be something special.”

“So, the tree is special?”

“No, but I am,” Roman said.

“And so humble.” Andora looked to the sky.

“For the first five years I served Chernobog, Morena found some reason for me to be summoned to the Ice Terem during Koliada. I’ve gone through the Glades four times. In my sixth year I did my god a great service.”

“What was it?” Finn asked.

“I killed a Void monster in his name. His power got a big boost, and he granted me a boon,” Roman said. “I’m not to be called upon during Koliada. Especially not on this day. He broke his promise to me to show his wife that he treasures her so much he would rather fight with me than with her. This tree is proof of his devotion and my obeisance.”

“What if you don’t do it?” Finn asked. “What if you just stop?”

“I can’t. The tree is the price of invoking Chernobog’s name. He lent me his crown, his bow, and his power. In return, I will drag this fir all the way to the Ice Terem, and I will not complain. I have many faults, Finn, but I am a man of my word.”

Roman grinned and pulled harder.

* * *

The woods had lost their grimness. A godfire sunrise played across the sky, glowing with pink, then lavender, then a gentle purple with gossamer trails of turquoise brilliance stretching across like shimmering veils. It was neither night nor day, but a magical time in between, and the farther they went, the brighter the sky grew. Morena was in a better mood. He was bringing her a pretty tree, and her new priest was coming home.

They kept walking. Farhang and Finn had fallen slightly behind, Farhang trying to explain Zoroastrianism and a magav’s powers. Andora caught up with him and kept pace through the snow.

“Cold?” he asked.

She shook her head.

“About those two with the wheel and the weird magic,” he said. “Do you know where they came from?”

Andora shook her head again. “Never came across anything like that.”

Another mystery to add to his to-do list.

They strode side by side. Now was as good a time as any.