She broke contact first, as he knew she would, but she didn’t let go of him. Her teeth worrying her lower lip, she rested her head against his shoulder. “By the time the Mongol horde reached Kiev, we knew they were going to besiege the city for as long as it took to break our spirits, and we swore—my sisters and I—that we would never submit. We would never, willingly, open our gates to the Mongols, and the Virgin heard our prayer. They breached Kiev’s gates and ravaged the city completely, but the walls of our citadel held. We took in too many refugees, and if the Mongols had been patient, we would have starved to death. But Batu Khan was too eager to press farther west. He thought the destruction of the city would be enough to break our spirit. But we didn’t falter. We were skjalddis. We would never surrender.
“And then I took my sisters out of the city. I took them away from the Virgin’s protection, and the Mongols found us.” Her hand closed to a fist on his chest. “I killed my sisters as readily as if I cut their throats myself.”
Raphael shook his head. “You can’t blame yourself. Every commander feels responsible for his troops. They would not be a good commander otherwise. But you can’t carry that burden. It will crush you.”
“It won’t crush me, Raphael.” She raised her head and looked him in the eye. “My sisters guide my arm. They give me strength. They will be with me when I kill the Khagan.”
“Vera...” He faltered. Her gaze was too guarded, too hard. His words would not be strong enough to penetrate her armor.
She kissed him lightly. “I’m sorry, Raphael,” she whispered, her breath light on his cheek. “I wish there was more room in my heart.” Her lips brushed his cheek as she squeezed his arm, and then she was gone.
He would have preferred an opportunity to play with the ratios of the various powders that he had found in the satchel, but Feronantus had been disinclined to let him go off and conduct explosive experiments on innocent trees. Time was limited; the resolution of their quest was upon them. He had one chance to get the mixture right.
He would have thrown his hands up at such an impossible challenge six months ago, but as a companion to the Shield-Brethren who looked upon the impossible as a noble challenge, he had become inured to the insurmountable. Creating an explosive reagent from an untested oddment of powders, tinctures, and salts was exactly the sort of conundrum God would put before him.
Especially after he had complained—somewhat incessantly, he was now willing to admit—about that damned Livonian stealing his horse back in Kiev. He had stumbled upon a veritable treasure hoard of alchemical ingredients in the ruined city. He had collected an entire bag of smooth stones that were nearly all the same shape and size, not too small and not too large—nearly perfect, in fact, for a balneum cineritium. The large grains of sand would have retained their heat so evenly. The idea of a portable balneum had been so tempting.
The jugs of aqua ardens had been an unexpected blessing. The two bottles weren’t as volatile as a recipe he had made several years ago, but, as evidenced in the tunnels, the fiery water burned readily enough. The other jug could have been distilled further—he was certain he could have done it—and having several vials of purified aqua ardens would alleviate his current dilemma.
“Attend to your mind,” he whispered to himself. The aqua ardens was gone; the treasure trove he had collected during the early days of their journey was gone. Dwelling on the materials he had lost was to engage in wistful daydreaming like an ale-addled simpleton. He had to keep his mind focused. The company was depending on him.
They had stumbled upon the location of the bear’s cave late in the day after they had said good-bye to Cnán, and Feronantus had kept them busy, exploring the two-pronged valley, until well after moonrise. They had argued for several hours around a meager fire about the best way to entrap the Khagan. In the end, the simplest stratagem won out: let the Khagan’s party enter the valley, but don’t let it leave.
The last part fell squarely upon Yasper’s shoulders, and shortly after sunrise, he had surveyed the rocky terrain on either side of the western entrance of the valley. An avalanche was clearly the best solution, but how to move all those rocks? After an hour of clambering about less sure-footedly than a mountain goat, he thought it was possible to bring down a number of rocks.
However, he would need a few supplies.
Feronantus had been loath to let him go wandering off into the forest, especially when they expected the Khagan’s hunting party late in the day. All the more reason Yasper had to find his alchemical ingredients sooner than later. Without these ingredients, he had argued, I can’t bring the hillside down. You’ll have to come up with a different plan.
Early the following morning, Yasper, Istvan, and Raphael went scouting again with two goals in mind: finding Yasper’s alchemical ingredients and discerning the location of the Khagan’s hunting party. Consensus among the companions was that the Khagan had simply waited a day before leaving, but they needed to be sure.
Shortly after midday they found the hunting party and Yasper found his alchemical supplies, albeit in an unexpected fashion.