“This baby is named Lev,” Dimitri reminded his father, holding the child out for Koschei as Roman looked on, rigid with apprehension, and their father kept his hard gaze turned away. “He is called Lev, as Mama asked for him to be. Lyova, like a lion. I’m this lion’s brother. I will protect him with my life, Papa, but I am not his mother, and I am not his father. If you will only be his father for me,” Dimitri pleaded, “then I will be his brother. If you will not fail him, Papa, then neither will I.”
