Chapter 27
The Night
We climbed the steps up to a landing with three doors. One, a double door, was in the middle and two on each side.
“Lisa, you’ll stay in here.” Grayson pointed to the bedroom on the left. “And you’ll be in this one.” The wolf showed me the one on the right.
Both doors had keys sticking out of the keyholes, so that the rooms could be locked from the outside, which seemed unusual.
“Thank you very much,” I said and turned the key to my bedroom, opening the door on the right.
Everything there was decorated in different shades of green.
A large bed was covered with a jade-green spread, and a chair next to it had an emerald-green throw.
The room looked inviting, and I yawned in anticipation of falling right asleep.
“If you need anything, I’ll be downstairs, by the front door.” Grayson yelped and hastened down the steps without waiting for a response. I assumed it was because Martha had instructed him to hurry back and wondered what other tasks she had for the wolf that night.
Exhausted, I turned to wish Lisa a good night, to see her standing at the threshold, fumbling with the key in her hands.
“Vanya, come here,” she whispered. I walked over to her. “I don’t want to go in. Why do the doors lock from the outside?”
“I just took my key out.” I gave her a worried look.
“But doesn’t it seem strange to you? And then, why did she put us in different bedrooms? Without even asking,” Lisa said right into my ear. “She had Grayson take us upstairs, as if she didn’t want to show us the rooms herself.”
“I guess she just didn’t want to put us in an awkward situation,” I mumbled.
“But she could have asked me. We’ve known each other for a long time. I just feel like there’s something she’s not telling me.” Lisa bit her lip.
“What is it?” I took Lisa’s hands in mine. They felt like icicles.
“And is this her bedroom?” Lisa darted her eyes to the door in the middle.
“Right here, between the two guest rooms? Doesn’t it seem very weird?
She’s got a whole space downstairs. I know we’re guests and everything, and I don’t want to sound ungrateful, but I just feel like something is off. I can’t explain it.”
I was certain Lisa’s intuition had told something was off because of the deal I’d made with the Mistress. But I couldn’t admit to what I’d done.
Isn’t that what you want? For Lisa to fall in love with you?
I could hear Martha’s voice in my ear. I’d made a deal with the witch, the Mistress of the Copper Mountain.
Another deal. For I’d already owed Baba Yaga the Firebird.
And now, once I’d captured the Firebird and brought it to Baba Yaga, I’d have to go back and fulfill my promise to Martha.
A gold mine. I wanted to scream.
In exchange for Lisa’s love, I’d agreed to do a favor for Martha without even knowing what it was first. I was truly a dimwit.
I’d never felt so foolish in all my life.
I stood, my mouth gaping open, as the full impact of what I had done hit me.
I was certain at that moment I looked absolutely ridiculous, but there was nothing I could do.
There was no one to blame but myself. The Mistress had set a trap, and I’d walked right into it.
“What is it, Vanya? What’s wrong? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.” Lisa gave me a compassionate look. She leaned in and kissed me on the cheek. I kissed her back as awful thoughts swirled in my mind. “Here, let’s talk in my room,” she suggested and walked into her bedroom. I followed.
Lisa’s bedroom had been done in shades of blue. A narrow bed with a cyan spread stood in the middle, but Lisa and I remained standing by the door.
At that moment, I wondered whether I should admit to Lisa what I’d done.
To tell my beautiful Vasilisa about the trade I’d made.
It wasn’t too late. If I tell her now, Lisa might understand, and it won’t be so bad, I thought.
But then I saw Lisa’s face, a crease of worry on her forehead.
How could I burden her with this information?
And could I risk it? What if, once Lisa found out about the deal, she fell out of love with me?
What would happen then? I would lose the woman I loved, and I’d still have to do the favor for the Mistress.
What then? I’d be a complete fool and really live up to my nickname.
“Please don’t worry,” I squeezed out, avoiding eye contact. “And you told me yourself, Martha is your friend, remember?”
“Maybe you’re right. I’m probably worried for nothing. It’s just that it’s hard for me to trust anyone after Quinn.”
At the mention of her ex-husband, I tensed.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, I think it’s because with us, things are moving so quickly.
I’m glad we’re together, but it makes me nervous.
So it might be that I’m just anxious about it and then I keep thinking something must be wrong.
And then I feel like maybe Martha is out to get me, but she kept talking you up earlier today.
It was a little weird.” Lisa shrugged. “I’m probably just paranoid. ”
“I love you, Lisa. Vasilisa,” I said, taking her face into my hands. “You have nothing to worry about.”
“I love you, too,” she responded.
I kissed her on the lips. This kiss wasn’t like the first one downstairs. It was deeper, sweeter. Just like the last time, a warm glow enveloped us, but this time it was a darker shade of yellow, growing into orange with red undertones. I wasn’t sure if Lisa could feel it.
“Lisa, will you marry me?” I asked.
“Marry?” She looked at me in wonder. “You want us to get married?”
“Of course I want us to get married. So we can live happily ever after.”
“Vanya, oh.” A tear rolled down Lisa’s cheek. “I forget how kind you are. What a sweet man you are. How unlike the men around here you are.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, the men around here, they’re mostly toxic. I could never show them my vulnerability. And with you, I feel like I can express myself. And I can really trust you,” Lisa said. “It’s hard, so please bear with me. I don’t know if I’m making sense.”
“But will you marry me?” I asked. “Is it your family? I’d like to ask your father for your hand in marriage.”
“Vanya, oh Vanya.” Lisa shook her head.
As I said those words, I realized Lisa had told me very little about herself.
I didn’t know one single thing about her parents, her brothers and sisters, her village, where she came from.
But none of it mattered because I loved her.
And the next natural thing was for us to get married.
I would do everything in my power to make it happen.
“Is your father really strict? Will he not let us get married?” I asked, kissing Lisa.
“Let’s talk tomorrow. It’s getting late.” Lisa smiled, kissing me back. “Good night, Vanya.”
“Good night, my sweet Vasilisa.”
I walked out of her bedroom, closing her door behind me.