long be alive after my father and I have rotted away in our graves. She's already more than a hundred years old, and her magic has the power to give her many centuries more."
"But in my time she has long been dead," said Esther. "No one knows how, but she was destroyed or she weakened and died, one or the other, but there was no trace of her until she followed you here."
"I refuse to believe in false hopes," said Katerina. "Even if you came back with us, no one could stand against her and break her power."
"She can be killed," said Esther.
"How?"
"I don't know how. But Baba Tila said that no protection is perfect. There's always a way through."
Katerina raised her head and looked Esther in the eye. "Then there's a way through the protections on this house, yes?"
"Of course. I don't know what it is, but that's why I'm so vigilant."
Katerina pulled away from her, returned to her father.
"Ivan's mother is a witch," she said. "A good one. Not as strong as the Widow, but strong enough to withstand her here."
Matfei looked alarmed.
"Yes, she's here. That's why her armies haven't followed up on Taina's weakness, with you imprisoned and silenced as you are. Father, be patient. I will come back. You will be freed. And we will get this curse taken from you."
He closed his eyes.
"That's right, Father. Sleep. And pay no attention to what I will whisper now to the men who guard you."
He opened his eyes only long enough to wink at her. Then he closed them again.
She zoomed the vision back. Now the guards were visible.
"Shame on you," she whispered. "Shame on you."
Both men at once grew alert.
"Did you hear that?" one of them murmured.
"Hear what?" the other one lied.
"Dimitri made you do it," she said. "Dimitri is in the service of the Vile Widow. She comes to him by night and tells him what to do. She gave him the spell that keeps King Matfei silent. He is the servant of the enemy. But you are the servants of Christ."
Both men crossed themselves.
"I am Katerina, and I will return. I will have my husband, Ivan, with me, and he will teach you the wizardry of his strange and powerful land. All those who stand with Dimitri will be destroyed. All those who stand with me will live, and we will free our land from the shadow of the Widow. You have heard me. As loyal men, true Christians and sons of God, you will keep faith with the oath you made to my father. Prepare the others as well. Let no man move against Dimitri before I come, but let no man stand beside him when I do."
"Yes, Princess," they murmured. "I promise, Katerina."
"And let no further harm come to my father. Mercy will be remembered."
At once one of the men moved to Matfei's side and unfastened the bands that held his wrists together. The other quickly set to work on his ankles.
"Now I see you are true friends of the king, and true Christians. I watch you sometimes, from afar; Jesus watches you always, from inside your heart." She took a deep breath. "Look up, into the air above you, and see the face of her whom you will follow."
At once Esther stepped back, uncertain of what Katerina was going to do. She had never heard of such a thing.
Katerina spat into her hands, rubbed her hands together, then smeared the saliva on her face, rubbing, rubbing. Then, before it could dry, she lowered her face to the water and gently pressed through the surface tension. Esther leaned in, looked over her shoulder. The water shimmered, but the vision held long enough for Esther to see how the soldiers looked up and saw the face of their princess.
Then Katerina lifted her dripping face from the basin. The water spilled and sloshed. There was no more vision in it. Katerina raised her skirts to her face, wiped away the water and the spit. And then wept again into her skirts.
"It's a monstrous enemy you're fighting," said Esther, putting an arm around her daughter-in-law's trembling back. "But you're luckier than she is, for she has to face you, and I have never seen anyone so fierce."
Katerina only wept louder, and buried her face in her mother-in-law's shoulder.
Ivan stood in the front yard, waiting for Ruthie to arrive. The twelve-year-old boy across the street was fumbling with the string on a new kite. Not the most