Shadow and Bone

into my opponent’s eyes. I worked with them until they felt
almost natural in my hands, like extensions of my own fingers.
Botkin was still gruff and critical, and took every
opportunity to call me useless, but once in a while I thought I
glimpsed a hint of approval on his weathered features.
Late in winter, he took me aside after a long lesson in which
I’d actually managed to land a blow to his ribs (and been
thanked for it with a hard cuff across my jaw).
“Here,” he said, handing me a heavy knife in a steel and
leather sheath. “Always keep with you.”
With a jolt, I saw that it was no ordinary knife. It was
Grisha steel. “Thank you,” I managed.
“Not ‘thank you,’” he said. He tapped the ugly scar at his
throat. “Steel is earned.”
Winter looked different to me than it ever had before. I
spent sunny afternoons skating on the lake or sledding on the
palace grounds with the other Summoners. Snowy evenings
were spent in the domed hall, gathered around the tile ovens,
drinking kvas and gorging ourselves on sweets. We celebrated
the feast of Sankt Nikolai with huge bowls of dumpling soup
and kutya made with honey and poppy seeds. Some of the
other Grisha left the palace to go on sleigh rides and
dogsledding excursions in the snow-blanketed countryside
surrounding Os Alta, but for security reasons, I was still
confined to the palace grounds.
I didn’t mind. I felt more comfortable with the Summoners
now, but I doubted I’d ever really enjoy being around Marie
and Nadia. I was much happier sitting in my room with Genya,
drinking tea and gossiping by the fire. I loved to hear all the
court gossip, and even better were the tales of the opulent
parties at the Grand Palace. My favorite was the story of the
massive pie that a count had presented to the King, and the
dwarf who had burst out of it to hand the tsaritsa a bouquet of
forget-me-nots.
At the end of the season, the King and the Queen would
host a final winter fete that all the Grisha would attend. Genya