The Destined and the Deathless

Part 1

The tsarevna Marya Morevna was brought into the world in a bathhouse like many others before her, after a difficult birth, but she never so much as cried. While the servants cleaned her off and the tsaritsa delirious with happiness and blood loss, Marya stared into the murky corner where the bathhouse spirit watched closely.

When no one but the tsaritsa could hear, the Bannik spoke a prophecy with a voice as soft as mist.

"She is marked for the chyerti. Her life will see much suffering and turmoil, but magic will know her, greatness will shower her, and Death as you know it will never come for her. Teach her the old ways. She will need it."

The tsaritsa knew enough to heed the Bannik's prophecy, nodded, and the Bannik vanished into steam.

So Marya Morevna was taught to see below the surface of the world before she could even talk. While her father, the tsar, was often away fighting Russia's wars in the south, the tsaritsa showed her daughter the old ways so her eyes would forever be open.

After dinner, the tsaritsa would help Marya's chubby fingers hold out the scraps of food to the Domovoi, the spirit of the house, as an offering. When Marya grew older, they would venture to the courtyard and make offerings to the Dvorovoi and play with the horses and the Vazila, the protector of the stables and livestock. From the terem windows, she was able to catch glimpses of the Vodyanoi and Rusalki in the river and wave to them.

Each night, the tsaritsa would lull Marya to sleep with stories of magic and witches and maidens and chyerti. She grew so familiar with Baba Yaga, the Firebird, Ded Moroz, the Sea King, Snegurochka, Vasilisa, and Ivan that she regarded them as friends, instead of characters.

Marya, already growing to be a peculiar girl with odd, unladylike notions, disliked the stories of maidens being rescued by their princes. She would even become cross at how many titles Ivan and Vasilisa had.

"Ivan the Brave, Ivan the Fool, Vasilisa the Beautiful, Vasilisa the Wise! What am I, mamochka?" She would cry.

The tsaritsa would laugh, smooth Marya's shining brown hair, and say, "why, you are Marya the Great!"

When Marya would question it, as she did most things, the tsaritsa would kiss her forehead and reply, "The Bannik told me so. He tells the future," and the tsaritsa would continue on with her soothing voice.

But no stories thrilled or scared Marya more than the ones that included Koschei the Deathless, the sly, evil wizard who was the villain of many tales. He wielded so much magic that he had been able to remove his death, or his soul, depending on the tale, and hide it where none could reach it.

Marya would chant the words with her mother, "in the eye of a needle, which sits inside an egg, which sits inside a hen, which sits inside a cat, which sits inside a dog, which sits inside a wolf, which sits inside a bear..."

But Koschei was the only one able to remove his death and become deathless, as Marya found out too soon.

* * *

She was only a girl when the plague came and started plucking away members of their court. The tsaritsa and Marya did their offering to the Domovoi, for good health, but the tsaritsa was already overwhelmed and exhausted by caring for the sick, and Marya slipped away, out of the terem, to the river where the Vodyanoi and Rusalki beckoned.

They waved and smiled from beneath the water, the sun shining on its surface, and Marya was wary enough to keep her distance and was distracted by the sparkling rocks on the shore.

A splash of water made her look up, to see them both fleeing into the depths of the river. A dark figure's reflection blurred in the water. Marya raised her eyes higher.