Chapter 26
The Reckoning
Harry’s mane was disheveled, and his eyes were bulging out.
His ears were pressed to his head closer than I’d ever seen before.
The humpbacked horse was completely out of sorts.
Harry neighed, opening his mouth wide, but he wasn’t speaking.
Only then did I remember that we had been concealing Harry’s magical abilities from Martha and Grayson.
Lisa was about to step outside, but I stopped her.
“Let me, please,” I told her and rushed to Harry, walking out on the porch. The second the door closed behind me, Harry spoke.
“I heard a howl. A wolf’s howl! Ivan, this place isn’t safe—we must leave right now. I had a terrible dream, too. Something awful is about to happen.”
“Harry, please don’t worry, I can explain. They know you’re magical, and you heard a howl because Grayson is a wolf.”
“What?!” Harry stumbled back, moving his hooves so that he almost jumped off the porch. “I don’t understand. Why would you let that beast near me? Are you trying to kill me? You betrayed me, Ivan.”
“No, no, it’s not like that. He’s safe. He’s not like the others—he actually comes from Zorya, like me,” I noted, trying to speak slowly so as not to alarm Harry any further.
But I knew it would take more than this to win Harry’s trust back.
I’d been too busy focusing on my relationship with Lisa and had ignored the pony’s feelings.
Now, I was paying the price. Poor Harry was terrified.
“You left me alone with a wolf and didn’t even check on me to make sure I was safe?” Harry shook his head in indignation.
“But Lisa was with you, wasn’t she?”
Harry pouted.
“She was, yes, but didn’t you worry about me?
I don’t recognize you anymore. After all we’ve been through.
After I helped you get the Fabergé egg. After I stayed by your side this whole time.
If it weren’t for me, you wouldn’t have even met Lisa!
” Harry gave me a cold stare. I reached out to pet him, but he pulled away from me.
“I’m sorry. I just got so carried away with everything.”
Harry was right. I was a bad friend. I remembered how Grayson had mocked Harry’s role in helping me capture the Firebird and felt even more ashamed.
“Doesn’t loyalty mean anything to you?” the little horse asked. His words cut like a knife. I’d always considered myself a good person, but now I saw how easily I could be swayed.
“Harry, it’s not like that. Please, listen to me,” I said. “I need to explain. It’s not what happened. I just thought that you were fine, and you got fresh hay, and—” I was about to say something else, but Harry stomped his hoof so hard, the porch railing shook.
“Hay? Do you think I would take hay over friendship? I considered you a friend. I guess I was wrong.”
“Please, let me make it up to you. Please accept my apology, Harry,” I said, and for the first time, there was a glimmer of hope.
Though Harry was still pouting, I noticed a twinkle in his eyes, and so I persisted.
“How about you come inside? And we all talk. I’ll introduce you and your magical abilities to Martha, and to Grayson. ”
“I’m feeling incredibly insulted at being left out. I hope you realize that.”
“Come on, let’s go in. Will you please join us?”
“All right.”
I made a move for the door so that Harry wouldn’t change his mind. He followed, stomping his hooves on the floor.
“Martha, I’d like you to properly meet Harry,” I said, opening the door and letting Harry walk in first. I didn’t know what to expect, but to my surprise, the Mistress had been prepared for the meeting. She was holding a platter with freshly cut carrots, offering it to the pony.
“It’s a pleasure,” she cooed. “Please make yourself comfortable. I was thinking we could all sit in the drawing room.” She pointed to the right, to a large room with a burning fireplace, where she’d taken Lisa previously to change for dinner.
I hadn’t noticed this space previously, and a strange thought crossed my mind.
Had it just appeared? Was this another portal?
“And what about him?” Harry darted his eyes in the direction of Grayson. The wolf, having finished his meal, jumped off the seat and was standing by the dining room table. I noticed how large he looked. Even with his mouth closed and his sharp fangs hidden, Grayson looked formidable and dangerous.
“Please don’t worry about Grayson. He’s not here to hurt anyone. Right, Grayson?” Martha said.
“Right,” Grayson growled. “Not unless you order me, Mistress.”
“Exactly. See, you have nothing to worry about, Harry.”
The expression on Harry’s face softened. He followed the hostess, leaving Lisa, Grayson, and me together. The wolf turned to face me, then said, his voice low, “Is he always like this? What’s gotten into him?”
“Harry’s just stressed out.” Lisa was quick to jump to the pony’s defense. “It’s all the new things. We all process things differently, and we shouldn’t have lied to him.”
“You mean about me?” Grayson lifted his paw in the air, as if trying to shake Lisa’s hand.
“Yes.”
“Most animals can tell right away I’m a wolf. I think Harry knew, he just didn’t want to admit it to himself. But I hope he gets over being upset.”
“Why don’t we go ahead and join them,” I suggested.
“Sure thing.” Grayson moved to the drawing room, and Lisa and I followed, staying a few steps behind.
“Vanya,” she said softly. “Promise me you’ll be okay.”
I knew she meant Zorya. I whispered, leaning closely, “I’ll be fine, Lisa.”
We found Harry in the corner, munching on carrots, while the Mistress sat in one of the plush armchairs by the wall opposite. A rug in the shape of a bearskin was on the floor at her feet. Fire was burning, and the room felt cozy and inviting.
“Is that from IKEA?” Lisa asked, pointing at the rug.
“Oh, that?” Martha smirked. “No, that’s a real bear. Grayson killed it last year, and I had a rug made to mark the occasion.”
Harry flinched, almost spitting out his carrots.
“Oh, how awful. How did it happen?” Lisa gaped at the wolf.
“Just life in the wilderness,” Grayson said as an uncomfortable silence fell over the room.
I didn’t know what to do. It was as if Harry was in one camp and Grayson in another, and I had to choose between a loyal friend who’d proven himself already and a potentially indispensable ally who could save me if my life were in danger in Zorya.
Martha’s voice broke the silence.
“Well, now that we’re all here, I wanted to discuss what we’re doing to help Ivan.”
Everyone turned in my direction.
“Vanya, come here,” Lisa called, taking a seat near the fireplace. I sat down next to her and took her hand in mine. It comforted me to be near her. The warmth of the fireplace spread over me, and I suddenly felt very tired.
“We’ll travel to Fernwood first thing in the morning and set up the trap for the Firebird tomorrow evening.” Martha spoke, and I perked up.
“We need to wait until the full moon to capture the Firebird. We figured it out last time,” I said, pointing at the window. It was dark outside and the sky was covered by treetops, but everyone in the room looked out the window, where I was pointing.
“What about the moon?” Grayson fidgeted. He was sprawled next to Martha, with his paws on the bear rug.
“The full moon.” Martha tilted her head and turned to the window. “That makes sense. So, this is the humpback phase. We’ve got a couple of days until the full moon still.”
“What did you say?” Harry stopped munching, and a half-chewed carrot nearly fell out of his mouth.
“The humpback phase of the moon.” Martha raised her eyebrows. “Haven’t you heard that expression before?”
“No.” The little horse shook his head. His face took on a wounded expression. “When I hear humpback, I only think they mean me.”
“Not everything is about you,” Grayson snarled, baring his fangs. Harry spat the carrot on the floor and stomped his hooves. The situation was heating up, but before I could react, I heard Lisa’s voice.
“Please, can we just talk about what we’re doing here? Ivan needs our help. Urgently.”
“Yes, I agree.” Martha gave Lisa a nod of approval. “Let’s do some planning. Did you come here during the full moon, Ivan? Is that when the portal opened?”
“Yes, I did.”
“And it was three weeks ago? Is that right?”
“No, it was the full moon before last,” Lisa corrected her.
“Oh, that’s right, didn’t you say it’s been fifty-five days?” Martha said.
“Yes,” I noted hesitantly, starting starting to doubt myself.
It wasn’t like Martha to forget this type of information so quickly.
Time moved much quicker in Virginia—at least, it seemed that way.
Back home, two months was a very long time, and a lot happened.
But in Virginia, it seemed like I blinked and a day had gone by already.
“Ivan and I went on a quest together during the last full moon,” Harry said proudly. “We extracted the Fabergé egg from Quinn.”
“And what exactly was your role?” Grayson asked, his tone half mocking.
“For one, we flew there together,” Harry noted casually, grazing on a carrot stalk.
“They let you on a plane? Please tell us more about this.” The wolf put one paw on top of another, as if settling in for a long conversation.
“Harry is a flying horse,” Lisa clarified.
“There’s no such thing. Do you mean to say this humpback can actually fly?” Grayson huffed.
“I sure can!” Harry gave Grayson a stern expression. “I’ve always known I have magical powers, and with Ivan, we got to test them out together.”
“It’s true. Harry even flew us out here,” Lisa added, looking at Martha tentatively.
“Now that makes sense,” the witch, who’d been observing the room in silence, muttered. “So that’s what you hadn’t told me earlier. That’s why I didn’t sense your arrival. And that’s why Grayson didn’t smell anything, either. Because you came by air.”
“Grayson didn’t smell anything, huh? Isn’t that something?” It was now Harry’s turn to take on a mocking tone.
“Are you trying to get on my nerves on purpose, or is it just part of your character?” the wolf asked casually.
“Grayson, behave,” Martha said in warning.
I felt incredibly tired. I hated listening to the bickering, even though everyone in the room was trying to help me. Being the center of attention didn’t suit me. I wanted out and to let them decide my fate without my presence.
“Can we finish this tomorrow? It’s still a few days until the full moon,” I asked tentatively.
I didn’t expect them to agree, but, to my surprise, it was as if I’d voiced something everyone in the room was thinking but was afraid to admit.
“I’m really tired,” Lisa said first. Then Grayson yawned.
“I’ve had a long day.”
“I could really use some rest,” Harry chimed in. All three of them looked at me with gratitude, and I wondered whether I’d suddenly discovered in myself a hidden ability to unify a crowd and calm it down. Now we all had a common cause, and we turned to Martha expectantly.
“Well, I’m a night owl, and I often forget others aren’t like me.” She noted playfully.
It was the first time Martha’s face had taken on a genuine expression, and it was as if a mask had fallen off.
Her green eyes shone, and she adjusted her dark braid, flipping it from one shoulder to the other.
It was just a brief moment, but in it, the Mistress looked captivating.
Earlier, I’d taken her to be an ageless woman, a witch, someone to avoid, but now I saw how attractive and powerful the Mistress could be.
The realization was unsettling. I averted my eyes, but not before catching her glance in my direction.
A barely perceptible smirk crossed her lips, and in a flash, her face was back to its original expression that was so hard to read.
Did I imagine it? I wondered.
Martha got up, signaling to the rest of us it was okay to leave the drawing room.
“Grayson, please show Ivan and Lisa their rooms,” Martha said.
“The two rooms upstairs?” Grayson clarified.
“Yes, the beds are made up there.”
I noticed Lisa giving me a strange look as Martha and Grayson were discussing our sleeping arrangements, but I didn’t get a chance to ask her why, because the pony opened his mouth to speak.
“And where will I sleep? Do I have to go back outside?”
“You’re a horse, aren’t you? You should be sleeping outside.” Grayson snorted.
“And you’re a wolf! Why do you get to sleep inside?”
“Harry, if you don’t mind, I prepared a place for you in the kitchen,” Martha said, interrupting the new fight that was brewing. “Let me take you there now. It’s a soft bed that I think you’ll appreciate.”
“Thank you, Mistress,” Harry said gratefully.
“Why are you calling her that? Only I call her ‘Mistress.’” Grayson bared his teeth.
“Now, Grayson, this is my last warning to you. Please treat our guests with respect.” Martha raised her voice for the first time, and Grayson pulled back obediently. “Now, that’s better. I’m going to show Harry where he’ll sleep, and you go upstairs with Lisa and Ivan.”
Again, a strange look from Lisa followed.