The Shining Falcon

«There doesn't seem to be much of a choice. I'm the only one who can go. You couldn't go back up into the palace yourself, Father! Someone would be sure to recognize you.» She glanced quickly at her wild-eyed sister. «And Lissa can't go, either. We—we certainly can't leave her alone down here. Father, it has to be me!» She took his silence for consent and hurried on, «It'll be all right, you'll see," and prayed she was right.

Clad in stolen peasant garb, aching from days of unaccustomed labor, Maria moved slowly with the marketday throng filing out of the city. Somewhere up ahead were her father and sister. They'd decided it would be safer to split up, but now Maria wasn't so sure. Overwhelmed by loneliness in the middle of that crowd, she clenched her hands to stop their shaking, and fought back the urge to simply bawl like a babe. The guards were still looking for them. And what if some ambitious soldier recognized the missing boyar in that filthy, limping beggar? What if Lissa's nerves gave way completely?

Akh, Lissa…

That dark world of tunnels had terrified the young woman, keeping her from sleep. And when sleep came, it brought such foul dreams that her father and sister had been hard put to muffle her screams. God, and she'd grown so silent lately, so… empty.

The great gates were right ahead. Maria edged sideways a little, trying to look as though she were part of a large, rowdy family group. But now the guards were stopping them, checking their faces with bored inattention. Maria held her breath. They shouldn't be able to recognize her, but if they did… The menfolk of the group were complaining loudly, the womenfolk— Ah, but one of them was a beauty, a true beauty, and the guards were all paying rough, gallant attention to her, and no one was aware in all the confusion of the one dirty little peasant girl slipping carefully past them…

And she was out! Out of Stargorod, and on the road that wandered through the fields till it vanished into the vast forest. No place to stop, not here, not out in the open… But she couldn't see her father or sister ahead of her. Could they have already reached the forest's shelter? Or had they been caught? No; she'd have heard the outcry if that had happened. She must just keep trudging along, never looking back, never daring to hurry lest she draw attention to herself…

Head down, Maria didn't realize how far she had walked, until suddenly the sunlight was cut off, and she glanced wildly up to see forest all around. She was safe!

But a strong hand closed about her arm, and pulled her from the road into darkness.

Chapter VI Exile

Even as Maria opened her mouth to scream, she recognized the man who'd caught her arm, and gasped instead, «Sasha!»

The servant hastily released her. «Didn't mean to frighten you, young mistress. But I figured the sooner we get you out of sight, the better. Your father and sister are waiting, lady. Follow me.»

He led the way down a narrow, twisting forest path that Maria guessed must surely be a deer trail. It seemed to go on forever, but at last came out in a small glade. And there, indeed, were her father and sister, seated on a weatherbeaten wagon, to which was harnessed a stolid workhorse Maria recognized as belonging to the estate. Her father, holding the reins as though he'd done this sort of thing all his life, gestured to her. «Hurry, child. Get in.»

As she scrambled up to sit beside Lissa, she glanced back at Sasha, who was watching as though he might not approve. «But this is marvelous, Sasha! How did you manage it?»

He grinned. «Well, getting the rig and old Brownie off the estate wasn't hard. Not with all the fuss that's going on there now. No one's going to miss either of them. Not that boyar who thinks he can just come in and take over, that's for sure! He wouldn't know how to run an estate if— Eh, don't mean to go running off like this.»

«But, Sasha," Maria cut in, «what about you? The guards we drugged wouldn't have admitted they'd been drinking mead on duty, but surely they would have remembered you… We've endangered all the servants, haven't we?»

The man laughed. «Not a bit, young mistress. Oh, naturally, I was questioned; we all were. But no one from the palace could identity me. Folks at court don't really notice servants' faces. And of course, all of us on the estate have been covering for each other. Guards or no guards, work had to go on, right? Misha and Ivan brought the wagon out into the fields. They brought back a cart—and the guards, being cityfolk, never noticed the difference. Didn't even notice when Serge took old Brownie here for a ride‑making sure the blacksmith did a good job on his shoes, we told them—and came back leading a black pony instead. Well, this sort of thing went on till the guards gave up on keeping track of us. I snuck out while Anna and Katia were having a nice, loud, distracting fight. And no one even tried to follow me.»