Crooked Kingdom (The Six of Crows Duology #2) - Leigh Bardugo Page 0,75

“She was a powerful Grisha. They’re not the same thing.”

“Are you so sure?” Nina said, feeling her temper rise. It was one thing for her to think Ravkan customs seemed backward, quite another to have Matthias questioning them. “I’ve seen the Ice Court for myself now, Matthias. Is it easier to believe that place was fashioned by the hand of a god or by Grisha with gifts your people didn’t understand?”

“That’s completely different.”

“Alina Starkov was our age when she was martyred. She was just a girl, and she sacrificed herself to save Ravka and destroy the Shadow Fold. There are people in your country who worship her as a Saint too.”

Matthias frowned. “It’s not—”

“If you say natural, I’ll give you giant buck teeth.”

“Can you actually do that?”

“I can certainly try.” She wasn’t being fair. Ravka was home to her; it was still enemy territory to Matthias. He might have found a way to accept her, but asking him to accept an entire nation and its culture was going to take a lot more work. “Maybe I should have come alone. You could go wait by the boat.”

He stiffened. “Absolutely not. You have no idea what might be waiting for you. The Shu may have already gotten to your friends.”

Nina did not want to think about that. “Then you need to calm down and try to look friendly.”

Matthias shook out his arms and relaxed his features.

“Friendly, not sleepy. Just … pretend everyone you meet is a kitten you’re trying not to scare.”

Matthias looked positively affronted. “Animals love me.”

“Fine. Pretend they’re toddlers. Shy toddlers who will wet themselves if you’re not nice.”

“Very well, I’ll try.”

As they approached the next stall, the old woman tending to it looked up at Matthias with suspicious eyes. Nina nodded encouragingly at him.

Matthias smiled broadly and boomed in a singsong voice, “Hello, little friend!”

The woman went from wary to baffled. Nina decided to call it an improvement.

“And how are you today?” Matthias asked.

“Pardon?” the woman said.

“Nothing,” Nina said in Ravkan. “He was saying how beautifully the Ravkan women age.”

The woman gave a gap-toothed grin and ran her eyes up and down Matthias in an appraising fashion. “Always had a taste for Fjerdans. Ask him if he wants to play Princess and Barbarian,” she said with a cackle.

“What did she say?” asked Matthias.

Nina coughed and took his arm, leading him away. “She said you’re a very nice fellow, and a credit to the Fjerdan race. Ooh, look, blini! I haven’t had proper blini in forever.”

“That word she used: babink ,” he said. “You’ve called me that before. What does it mean?”

Nina directed her attention to a stack of paper-thin buttered pancakes. “It means sweetie pie.”

“Nina—”

“Barbarian.”

“I was just asking, there’s no need to name-call.”

“No, babink means barbarian.” Matthias’ gaze snapped back to the old woman, his glower returning to full force. Nina grabbed his arm. It was like trying to hold on to a boulder. “She wasn’t insulting you! I swear!”

“Barbarian isn’t an insult?” he asked, voice rising.

“No. Well, yes. But not in this context. She wanted to know if you’d like to play Princess and Barbarian.”

“It’s a game?”

“Not exactly.”

“Then what is it?”

Nina couldn’t believe she was actually going to attempt to explain this. As they continued up the street, she said, “In Ravka, there’s a popular series of stories about, um, a brave Fjerdan warrior—”

“Really?” Matthias asked. “He’s the hero?”

“In a manner of speaking. He kidnaps a Ravkan princess—”

“That would never happen.”

“In the story it does, and”—she cleared her throat—“they spend a long time getting to know each other. In his cave.”

“He lives in a cave?”

“It’s a very nice cave. Furs. Jeweled cups. Mead.”

“Ah,” he said approvingly. “A treasure hoard like Ansgar the Mighty. They become allies, then?”

Nina picked up a pair of embroidered gloves from another stand. “Do you like these? Maybe we could get Kaz to wear something with flowers. Liven up his look.”

“How does the story end? Do they fight battles?”

Nina tossed the gloves back on the pile in defeat. “They get to know each other intimately .”

Matthias’ jaw dropped. “In the cave?”

“You see, he’s very brooding, very manly,” Nina hurried on. “But he falls in love with the Ravkan princess and that allows her to civilize him—”

“To civilize him?”

“Yes, but that’s not until the third book.”

“There are three?”

“Matthias, do you need to sit down?”

“This culture is disgusting. The idea that a Ravkan could civilize a Fjerdan—”

“Calm down, Matthias.”

“Perhaps I’ll write a story about insatiable Ravkans who like to get drunk and take their clothes