Checking Out Belizna

[Zhenya]

“You will find your own path, Rachel. And we shall be by you every step of the way.” She held the young woman’s hand for as long as she needed the support, pressing her other over top to squeeze softly too. The words could have applied to Rachel’s quest to learn seidr or to the lingering ghosts of her trauma, and honestly Zhenya meant them with equal sincerity in both cases. Auri was already an unusual little girl, and Zhenya would not see a world where she grew up alone and overburdened by whatever gifts she might one day possess. The women of Belizna would be as family to Zhenya, as much as her operators at Pervaya. And woe betide any that threatened them. Rachel was a part of that, now.

She let the other woman find her breath without calling attention to the slip in her composure. It needed no apology, of course.

“He was not so bad as all that,” she said after a moment, her tone soft. And he had given her the most precious thing in her life before he left for the last time. She never spoke about Sören without a certain amount of fondness, even with their differences. Any wounds between them were long since healed. It was a long time ago now. “Rather, he believed he knew better, and it was the push I needed to prove him wrong.” She smiled a little, self-reflective – privately amused by whatever memory stirred in the back of her mind. There was a story there, and maybe one day Rachel would hear it.

They continued speaking freely as the car continued to wind through the traffic, finally moving faster once they left the city behind. Zhenya was a relaxed conversationalist, both warm and curious. Natalie called her a gossip with the sort of brow-raised bluntness that suggested she kept her walls intact, despite their friendship. But Zhenya only called it networking and intuition. People made this world, and there was no detail of a life she was uninterested in. She liked to know people well. And they had plenty of time to kill.

There was still no road to the estate itself, so when some time later the car began its rumbling journey off the tarmac she glanced out the window to see the castle loom from the overgrown grounds with a small smile. The scaffolding was mostly gone now, as were the chainlinked fences that had marked it a construction site. Though amidst the peaceful birdsong as they exited were the ongoing sounds of building work. None of the workmen would be in the habitable parts of the building, though.

Snow quilted a heavy blanket, though the main steps had been cleared ahead of their arrival. The air puffed in little clouds in front of their mouths. Zhenya turned to observe Rachel’s first impressions. Frankly Zhenya felt something beautiful bloom in her chest every time she looked at the potential. “Welcome to Belizna,” she said, with a beauteous smile.