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"It means every unmated gargoyle in Kitezh is probably going to want to date you, Zoria. Vladik is ensuring that he doesn't take the choice from you and is going to allow you to see the competition."
Zori choked on her vodka. "I don't even know where to start with that." She wasn't interested in anyone else. Kaspian was gorgeous, but she felt nothing towards him. She only had seen Vladik once, and she wanted to crawl into his clothes and never leave.
Irina smirked, as if she knew exactly what Zori was thinking." You don't need to worry about it. Your magic will tell you who is going to be the best person for you, darling."
"My magic that I have no idea how to use," Zori said. She put her head in her hands. "I don't know where to start."
"Don't worry, I will teach you. You are my granddaughter, and I know we don't know each other, but I am going to make up for lost time with you, Zoria. I want us to be a family." Irina reached across the table and gently tugged Zori's hands away from her face. "I'm so sorry that I didn't know you survived earlier. I had suspected Alisa was pregnant before she was taken, but she never said anything to me. I thought she was waiting until after the wedding to your father."
"What was he like?" Zori asked.
"One moment," Irina said, getting up from the table. She disappeared into another room before returning with a photo album. She passed it to Zori, and she opened it up. It was full of pictures of Alisa, smiling and healthy. She looked so different. Zori could see herself in the hair and lips. She turned a page to where Alisa was sitting in the lap of man with dark curly hair and Zori's blue eyes. He was looking at Alisa like she was the center of the universe.
Zori swallowed back her tears. "What was his name? Alisa never talked about him."
"Nikolai. He was a smart boy, very pragmatic and not easily flustered. He grounded your mother, who was always passionate and dramatic. From what Vladislav has told me, you're like Nikolai. Vladik was surprised that you were so calm when he explained everything to you," Irina said and smiled fondly. "I wasn't. You're just like your father."
"I was freaking out, just not in front of Vladik," Zori replied with a small laugh. "Having a meltdown wouldn't have helped me get the evidence I needed or escape from that tower any faster."
Irina smiled. "Definitely like Nikolai. He was good with languages and puzzles."
"And Alisa? What did she like?" Zori's memories were few, and she didn't have many that were good.
"She loved to tell stories and paint. She was a natural with earth magic and worked a lot with the other budding mages. Not all of us are priestesses, but we all have some kind of magic. Alisa's abilities could bring life to the plants that were sleeping at the end of winter. If she was any more of a green thumb, I would have thought she would be better serving Kostroma, our spring and fertility goddess." Irina gave Zori a warm look. "Looks like Morana is making up for that in you."
"I don't know about that. I couldn't find much about her online. I don't even know why Maxim hates us so much. Vladislav said it was about magic," Zori replied. She closed the photo album, unable to keep looking at the pictures without crying. She was so tired of crying.
"It is about magic, but it's also about the conflict with the gods themselves," Irina said, topping up their glasses. "Morana is a goddess of winter, death, darkness, and magic."
"Sounds morbid," Zori said.
"Depends how you feel about death. It's a part of a cycle, just like everything else. The darkness is restful, peaceful. It's not like Chernobog's darkness. The conflict between him and Morana came about because he wanted her for a consort."
"I thought it was about Yelena, her high priestess," Zori interrupted.
"That came later, after the fighting between the gods had already begun. Morana and Chernobog have…similarities. Both are gods of winter and death. Chernobog isn't about a natural cycle, unlike Morana. He is a god of chaos, of a winter that never ends, a destructive and violent force, and a god of blood. Thevolhv'smain purpose is to make sure he is appeased. If he's not, Chernobog will destroy the world. Those like Maxim see the god as a way of getting more power, more magic." Irina shook her head. "It is foolish. He and those that follow him don't truly understand what they are dealing with. If Chernobog is communing with them, promising them things, it's to fuck with them, and it will blow up in their faces. He's not a giving god. That's more of his brother's nature. Belobog is the light to his darkness. His balance."
Zori drank her vodka. "So why would a god like Chernobog want to marry Morana?"
"They have a lot of similarities, even if they are on opposite ends of the spectrum, and that kind of combined power would be unstoppable," Irina said, resting her chin on her hand. "Chernobog wanted a powerful consort, one like him. With Morana on his side, he could destroy the world. She refused to do that to the humans that worshipped them. Chernobog has been trying to make her suffer for that refusal ever since. The business with Yelena was because he was trying to lure her away from Morana, and she refused him too. Morana couldn't let him get away with the insult, so she made sure her priestesses were protected after that."
Zori's brain was starting to melt. "And Maxim wants to prove his loyalty to Chernobog by finding a way to enslave us and destroy the gargoyles. I saw in his notes that he wanted to harvest Misha in his gargoyle form so that he can find a way to create a biological weapon."
Irina had gone pale as chalk. "We have to stop him. I knew he was an insane murderer, but to try and wipe us all out? It could start a war between the very gods themselves."
"Kaspian said that you would want to retaliate," Zori replied.
"Kaspian is a very smart male. All the time out in the Steppes turned him into a true masterpiece of a gargoyle." Irina laughed at Zori's expression. "I'm not dead yet. He's a fine male, and when he finds his mate, she will be very lucky. We will need him when we take out Maxim."
Zori yawned, the vodka and the warm food hitting her. "Taking out Maxim isn't going to be easy. I know him well enough to understand how tenacious he is."
"It's not something for you to worry about. It's up to others to plan the defense of the city."
That woke Zori up. "The city? You think Maxim will try and come here?"
"He has your blood, Zoria, and a lot of it. He's one of the most ruthlessvolhvI have ever seen. Maxim will be able to use your blood for tracking spells. He's not going to let the insult and the loss of you go unchallenged," Irina replied, her eyes going steely. Gone was the grandmother. This was the high priestess. "He also lost Misha, who he clearly had plans for. I don't believe it is a matter of if Maxim comes for you. It's a matter of when. He is arrogant enough to think he will win against us, and that will be his downfall."
Zori swallowed hard. She still felt such horrible conflict inside of herself when it came to her feelings towards Maxim. She knew she couldn't voice those to Irina. She wouldn't understand, and she was so confident, thinking he would be defeated.
