And in the dimming, bleeding light, Marya Morevna knelt at his side, put her hands on his broad cheeks, and kissed the leshy just as the first star came on in the sky. It was a real kiss, a deep one, and she meant it. When she pulled away, Zemlehyed’s craggy face was wet with tears. “Remember this when you are queen,” he whispered hoarsely. “I moved the earth and the water for you.”
