you know.”
He didn’t respond directly, but he did at least remove the knife from her throat and take his hand away so she could stand. Once she was back on her feet, she was finally able to get a look at this Ranger. He was an older man, though not quite as old as Mikhail had been. He was tall and thick, with a burly white beard and small brown eyes that looked like a bear’s.
“Tatiana!” he called to the Ranger who still crouched near the entrance. When he spoke, Sonya could see his large, sharp canines. “Leave that one and come here.”
Tatiana swiveled her head without moving her body, reminding Sonya of an owl. Then the rest of her body followed as she stood. “Ah, I see you were right, Andre. She was on to us after all.”
“Little foxes like to play games,” said Andre.
“Yes, and old bears like to grumble,” said Tatiana teasingly as she walked toward them.
“And fussy owls think they’re better than everyone else,” retorted Andre.
“That’s because they are, my dear.” As Tatiana drew near, Sonya saw that she was around the same age as Andre. She walked with a curious, birdlike strut, and her large owl eyes almost seemed to glow in the moonlight.
Sonya sighed happily at the sight of two Rangers with such bold favors from the Lady. “It’s so good to see more Strannik. I worried that I was the last of us.”
“Who was your uchitel, fox cub?” asked Tatiana.
“Mikhail Popov Lukyanenko.”
“Mikhail Popov survived the war?” Andre looked surprised. “I thought he was captured and put to death by the empire.”
Sonya shook her head. “He posed as the stable hand for a farm outside Gogoleth.” She didn’t want to deceive these Rangers, but she also thought perhaps it was best not to bring up the complicated relationship between Mikhail and her father until she got to know them better.
“You see, Anya?” asked Andre. “A similar fate would have awaited us if we hadn’t fled.”
Tatiana merely shrugged.
“So you both have been out on the tundra since the war?” asked Sonya.
“Anatoly as well,” said Tatiana. “But he is older than us, and these last few years have been hard on him. He does not hunt very often anymore.”
“You mean not at all,” said Andre.
Tatiana opened and closed her mouth rapidly a few times, making a sharp clicking sound with her teeth, then said, “What can we do if the Lady is not done with him yet?”
She reached out and brushed Sonya’s hair back to reveal her pointed ears.
“So young and already you bear the Lady’s favor. Interesting…,” she said in a way that sounded neither judgmental nor particularly complimentary. “Did you ask for a boon, or merely die before you had fulfilled an oath?”
“I died,” admitted Sonya.
“It is the way of foxes,” said Andre. “Always reckless and too clever for their own good. This one thinks she will bring foreigners into Izmoroz to help her drive out the empire.”
Tatiana again merely shrugged.
There was a quiet hiss as snow tumbled from the lip of the cave’s main entrance. All three Rangers turned to see Jorge’s head peeping out of the hole.
Tatiana laughed, a loud and shrill birdlike sound that again showed just how much more of the beast these older Rangers had taken in than Sonya. “What an adorable little lemming you bring with you, Lisitsa. Are you saving him in case you run out of provisions?”
“Jorge is my friend,” Sonya said. “He may not be a Ranger, but he has a vast knowledge of herbs, potions, and medicine.”
“I can see how that might be handy.” Tatiana beckoned to Jorge. “Come, little lemming. I promise we won’t hurt you. Bring your packs and we will take you to our cave, which is much nicer and more spacious than this.”
“Really?” demanded Andre. “You trust them so soon?”
“She bears the Lady’s favor. What other proof do you need?” asked Tatiana. “Besides, a bad storm is coming.” She yanked playfully on Sonya’s ear. “And I would not see our little Lisitsa beg another favor of the Lady quite so soon.”
31
As Sonya might have expected, the entrance to the Rangers’ cave was undetectable until they were nearly on top of it. They had been walking for over an hour through the glittering, moon-drenched snow when they suddenly came upon a hole in the ground. It was not even a particularly big hole. In fact, it looked barely large enough to accommodate Andre.
“I thought she said this cave would be bigger