The Ranger of Marzanna (The Goddess War #1) - Jon Skovron Page 0,25

He turned in his chair to gape stupidly at her. “Wh-what are you doing here?”

“I’m breaking you out, Bastuchka. Obviously.” She said it in that nonchalant way she knew would irritate him.

“But I’m not leaving,” he said.

“Of course you are.” She peeked out the window. Sebastian was neither swift nor stealthy, but at the moment they had a clear shot back to the staircase up the side of the wall. “Do you know where they’re keeping Mom? I’m going to get you out, then come back for her. I’m pretty sure that’s what she’d want.”

“No…” He shook his head, looking flustered. “I—I won’t go.”

“Don’t be stupid. Whatever they told you, I’m sure I can find Mom before they do something to her.” She snatched the parchment he was holding—a map of some kind—and tossed it aside. “So come on. Let’s get you out of here while we have the chance.”

She grabbed his wrist and pulled him up out of his chair.

“You don’t understand.” He yanked his arm from her grip. “I don’t want to leave. Father was wrong. This is where I belong. In fact, I’ve already enlisted in the imperial army.”

She stared at him for a moment as the succession of crazy statements he’d just uttered slowly bored into her brain.

“Hold on a moment…” She noticed that while he was only wearing a thin cotton undershirt, his trousers were the bright green of an imperial officer and they were tucked into tall, black, brightly polished boots. Hot anger seeped into her gut as she began to comprehend the full enormity of it. “You did what now?”

“Please, Yasha.” He held up his hands placatingly. “Calm down.”

“How can I possibly be calm?” She grabbed his shirt and pulled him close. “Are they threatening Mom? Is that why you’re doing this?”

“Mother is perfectly safe and content.” He carefully pried her hand loose from his shirt. “If you don’t believe me, go ask her yourself. She’s staying as Lady Prozorova’s guest at Roskosh Manor.”

“I just…” She took a step back from him. “How could you do this? Why would you do this?”

“Because it’s the right thing to do.” He picked up the map she’d knocked out of his hand and showed it to her. “Have you ever heard of the Uaine Empire?”

“That place with the blue-skinned demons on the other side of the tundra?”

“Yes, the ones who can raise an army of the dead? Well, they’re massing their forces, and Commander Vittorio believes there’s a good chance they will try to cross the tundra during the next thaw. If they succeed, they will sweep in and decimate all of Izmoroz. But the commander believes I can stop them. I can save us all!”

“Save the empire, you mean,” she said. “While wiping away the last traces of the true Izmoroz culture.”

“God, you sound just like Mikhail when you say things like that.”

“You mean Mikhail who gave his life trying to stop you from being abducted by the empire?”

“He did?”

“You didn’t even notice?” She shook her head in disgust. “Of course you didn’t, little genius. You were too busy getting your ego stroked by these imperial snake charmers. I can’t believe you would betray everything Father sacrificed just so you could feel important.”

He drew himself up and glared at her in a way she’d never seen before, like he was trying out a new posture. “I didn’t ask Father to sacrifice anything for me. I didn’t even know he was doing most of it, and if I had known, I probably would have begged him to stop. So why should I be bound by it? Look, I’m sorry he’s dead. But he broke the law, and if we’re going to reap the benefits of living in the empire, we need to follow its laws, or pay the consequences.”

“My God,” she said quietly. “You’ve already become one of them, haven’t you?”

“Maybe I was all along, and just didn’t know it,” he retorted.

“Maybe you were,” she said.

He took a deep breath, as if to calm himself. “I know that you don’t agree with me, but can’t you at least try to understand?”

She could only stare at him and think of how ashamed their father would have been.

“Please,” he whispered. “Yasha…”

She shook her head when he spoke the nickname he’d given her when they’d been little. “No. You don’t ever get to call me that again. Got it?”

He nodded sadly. “You should go, Sonya. Civilians aren’t allowed in the garrison without permission, and I don’t know if I