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October 11 - October 16, 2024
An ordinary horse would have reared at such antics, or shied, or at the very least hit Marya in the face with his knee. Solovey only stood there, looking dubious.
the aunt who had a magic horse.
this is how I'm trying to be
Have you never thought that heaven and hell are both nearer you than you like to believe?”
And Vasya—you could not always predict Vasya.
“There are no monsters in the world, and no saints. Only infinite shades woven into the same tapestry, light and dark. One man’s monster is another man’s beloved. The wise know that.”
“You gave me tears and a flower. I will follow you, and not the Bear.
💞
If men are unchecked, one day there will be no chyerti, no road through Midnight, no wonder in the world at all.”
“Are you never silent?” Vasya demanded.
She set about making soup, as though it were not midnight.
This witch and that were woven into a single fairy tale. Perhaps I am one of the witches.”
“Will no one credit me with common sense?” Vasya demanded,
“I am going with you anyway,” he said. “I am on your side, remember?
🥺🥺🥺
“The Bear can make chyerti angry, stronger with wrath. But you can make us more real.
“There used to be villages of men on the borders of the magic country. Sometimes if they were brave, men and women would go in, seeking adventure.”
“Do I look like I am hiding a horse in my hat? I
Vasya spoke as composedly as one could, clinging to a rock in a current.
The midnight-demon stalked into the firelight behind her horse, looking sour. Vasya knew that look. She had worn it herself, when Solovey badgered her into something.
“There are farther, stranger countries,” said Midnight. “Places you would have to journey long in the dark to get to. Places that you might never be able to get to, for your soul could not comprehend them. Places that are not a part of your lifetime of midnights; they are from when your earliest ancestor was born, or when your furthest grandchildren will die. Even I cannot get to all of them. By that I know that one day I will cease to exist, and not every midnight in the life of the world will know my hand.”
“And yet, I will think of the future,” Vasya retorted. “To remind me that the present is not forever.
“I have plucked snowdrops at Midwinter, died at my own choosing, and wept for a nightingale. Now I am beyond prophecy.”
this is a raw line
I am getting used to spiting people by surviving.”
In a life littered with questionable decisions, she wondered if she was doing the most foolish thing she’d ever done.
“I have never met a maiden who looked less like she meant to die.”
that's Vasya🤣
“But my horse would have called me foolish to give up. So, I changed my mind.”
💔
“Love is for those who know the griefs of time, for it goes hand in hand with loss. An eternity, so burdened, would be a torment. And yet—” He broke off, drew breath. “Yet what else to call it, this terror and this joy?”
“You are not alone, anymore.” “I know,” he whispered. “Neither are you.”
💞💞
“You needn’t make it cold in here to score a point,” said Vasya, resentfully.
Zimnyaya Koroleva, they said. The winter-queen.
!!!!!
“a girl alone rescued the winter-king from forgetfulness and stole him away with magic horses. That is miracle enough for one Midwinter.”
“There isn’t a God,” Vasya heard the Bear say. “There is only faith.”
First I needed men to help me defeat a devil, she thought. Now I will need devils to help me defeat men.
“I warn you, the road leads through darkness.” Sasha said, “Then we will go through darkness, sister.”
Sasha❤️
“I am damned already,” Vasya said. “By every law of God and man. But I do not wish to be alone.”
“God be with you,” Sasha said, cautiously. “I certainly hope not,” returned Polunochnitsa.
LOL💀
“Is it black sorcery to defend the soil that bore us?”
Vasya had had enough. She wasn’t dazed with a blow to the head now. She set the tent on fire.
I love her
Somewhere, perhaps, there was an answer, somewhere there were secrets of magic beyond the setting of fires, the seeing of chyerti. One day, perhaps, she would learn them, in far countries, beneath wilder skies.
The mare looked as though she were considering saying no, just to remind them that she could.
mares🙄lol
“You shouldn’t have told them I was a girl. Then they might have believed that I was dangerous.”
this is a good line
It occurred to Vasya that a chyert might be persuaded to try any unusual thing just to relieve the boredom of eternity.
She patted the horse comfortingly, and Pozhar bit her on the shoulder.
“What black devilry is this?” Happily, the Bear said, “The worst kind.”
They grinned at each other, like children contemplating adventures, instead of a witch and a monk on the cusp of battle.
Sasha had never seen the likeness between Dmitrii Ivanovich and his sister. But he saw it now. Passion, cleverness, restless ambition.
“Men are also wicked,” Vasya returned passionately. “And good, and everything in between. Chyerti are, just as men are, just as the earth herself is.
“This is the price of my aid: Swear to me you will not condemn witches to burn. Swear to me you will not condemn those who leave offerings in their oven-mouths. Let our people have both their faiths.”
“I am becoming myself, brother. I am a witch, and I am going to save us.
“I will leave riding the horses of legend to you, witch-girl. It is like trying to ride a thunderstorm.”
