Immortal Ash

Chapter 7

Lera could not sleep that night: she rolled around, crying into her pillow, frightened by the King's threats, listening for her cat's meow.

Auntie, of course, noticed that she was upset about something. But, immersed in her worries, she did not look into her niece's problems. It was only to Lera's advantage. At her aunt's question she excused herself that she was worried about the cat's disappearance and got the expected answer: "It won't go anywhere. If he wants to eat, he'll come." Thinking that her niece's problems were solved, Arina pushed the ledger over to her and began to check expenses against income. Lera silently cleared the table, poured tea and left, but not in the room, but outside.

She sat in the yard, swallowing her tears, almost until dark, and when she returned to the house, her aunt was already asleep. From the next room came snoring, in the kitchen the old clock ticked cozily that her grandmother had bought, sometimes the neighbor's dog barked lazily, but these familiar night sounds did not lull Lera to sleep, but on the contrary, added anxiety. Today - Vaska, and tomorrow the King will do something worse. And she could not prevent it, she could not even go to the police, because then the King would pull the main trump card out of his sleeve.

Lera didn't know what he wanted, and that was what scared her the most. Until yesterday, she thought he wanted money, but it turns out Dima was taking everything for himself. Then why did the King need her?

...The first time Lera had seen him was when she was five. That day, dry and warm, she remembered not so much the details as the sensations. She was happy because she was wearing bright yellow wellies for the first time. They were saved until the first puddles, but it didn't rain for a long time that fall. Her grandmother was worried that her granddaughter would grow out of her new shoes without wearing them, so she pulled out a cherished box from the shelf. Lera sat on a bench near the porch and, squeezing the kitten, admired the boots on her outstretched legs.

Suddenly the gate opened, and an unfamiliar young man walked confidently into the yard. He was already on the porch when he noticed Sonia. The stranger immediately descended and loomed over the girl, shading her from the sun.

"What's your name?"

The man smiled, but his overly bright eyes remained as cold as ice. Could he be an enchanted Kai? The stranger held out his palm, but Lera only recoiled.

"What's your name?" He repeated, straightening up. The sun peeked out from behind him, but it didn't seem as bright as before to the frightened girl.

"Lera," she said. The stranger grinned and entered the house without knocking.

People always came to them, as her grandmother used to say, for stories. She really knew a lot of stories, so Lera believed her, though she resented the fact that guests were invited into a special room. Lera was drawn there like a treasure house: it smelled pleasantly of dried herbs, sweetly and dryly of her grandmother's perfume. Against the wall was a cupboard with books in paper-wrapped covers. Grandmother used to read these books, standing by the window and moving her lips silently. But what Lera liked best of all was a high table with a heavy mortar for rubbing herbs, vials, dark glass bottles, and bottles with lapped caps. Grandmother had said that the time would come when she would teach her granddaughter many things. But when would that time come? Lera had only to listen to fairy tales, which in her imagination got mixed up, grew new details and lost their original finales.

That day, looking at the door closed behind 'Kai', the girl thought that he came for a very scary tale. The stranger did nothing, did not offend her, only asked her name and even smiled, but Lera somehow every time she met him became afraid. This fear froze her, making her freeze on the spot or hide if she saw the man from afar. Every time she saw him, her mood soured, and the day lost its color, even if it had been bright and sunny before.