Chapter 31

I want to know what is going on. I can ask for that, right?”

“Katya, you should not worry yourself with things like that. You’re supposed to be here, safe and worrying about other things.”

“Things like what? Cooking? How many bandages do we need for the men that come in injured almost everyday? If you’ll go out and come back with your left arm intact?”

Michal laughed. His woman- he’d begun to think of her as that, was a feisty one. She bargered, bothered incessantly for days, wanting to know everything that went on outside the house. But, he could not tell her.

Not because he thought she wasn’t strong enough to handle it- she took care of the men, and nursed them back to health, but because he knew how she felt about her father.

When she first came, there were doubts. Doubts that she had no problem voicing. She told him how she did not believe his truth, and shoved his hospitality back in his face. Michal knew the moment when she began to have doubts about her father’s true identity- he saw the light in her eyes go dim.

Lately, it was hatred. She could not stop talking about how she hated the man responsible for her birth. She hated the life she thought she once had- even her governess was not spared from the tongue-lashing.




Yes, Michal hated the man, wished him dead even. But, he could not bear to see the pain in her eyes every time she cursed him. He wondered how she truly felt- having reality snatched from underneath her feet, without giving her a moment to land properly.


He had always known who his father was, what he was like, before he met the man. His mother warned him and filled his young ears with tales of despicable acts, not like she was any better, but it helped Michal cope when his father finally showed up.



But, Katya. Michal waited for the moment when he would need to catch her. He waited every hour they spent together, watched her eyes for signs when they made love and hoped that when she did, he would be there to break her fall.

A nasty fall- he knew. One that would only be worse if he told her of the things her father continued to do. The men that came back worse than any other fight they’d engaged- the ones with widows and little children.

She would blame herself for her father’s actions, she could see herself unfit and unworthy to be treated like a human being.


“Michal?”

“Hm?“

“What are you not telling me?”

“Nothing important.”

“I know when you’re lying,” Katya came to stand in front of him, looking down with a serious expression and one eyebrow raised. “Spill.”

“My tea?” He dangled the mug in his hand. They were having breakfast when she decided to bring up the issue. Thankfully, his brother and wife had gone to take care of their baby. The little thing cried too loud for a girl with tiny lungs.
But, it was a reminder that life still existed in the house. New life. A symbol of hope.

Not that his father would agree at that conclusion. The older man repeatedly told Michal how he would have made his mother abort him if he had gotten his way. Telling that to a boy and having no sense of empathy while doing it… it begged the question of why he decided to come back.

“Not your tea!” Katya stamped her feet. “Tell me what is happening with that man.”

It was how she referred to her father now. That man. He knew it was her way of denying the bond they shared. The same blood that ran through their veins.


“Alright, then. What do you want to know about him? Be specific.”

“Are you going to kill him when you catch him?”

The question threw him off guard. Did she mean it? He searched her eyes for a better explanation, but found none. Did Katya really want her father dead?

“What do you mean?”

“Do I have to explain? It’s a question. It’s simple. Are you going to kill him when you get him? Because I know you will catch, lure or whatever.
I’m just curious as to what you’d do afterward. Why don’t you indulge me and answer?”


“Because you should not concern yourself with things like that. It’ll only lead to headache and inconclusive results. Let me do all the worrying while you take care of your pretty head, okay?” He patted her hair, using a hand to pull her closer and on his legs when she tried to pull away.

“I want to know what is happening, Michal. I can stomach whatever it is you have to say. What did my father do?“ Katya asked again.

“Why?”

“Why, what?”

“Do you want to know? He has caused you nothing but heartache.”

Katya shrugged.
“I don’t know, to be honest. I just keep thinking a lot. Trying to wrap my head around a lot of things. I have been shielded for all my life, being told half-truths. Maybe it’s fine I face the real world for what it is.
My father is a monster, I know. But how bad of a monster is he?
I need to know.”

“I wish I could protect you from the truth,” Michal placed the mug on the table, “I want your life to be free from the bloodshed that has tainted mine. If I can do this, if I can keep you safe…that is all I ask.”


“You do that already,” she kissed him briefly. “You patiently told me the truth and waited until I was ready to believe it. But, I can’t remain in the shadows and fill my mind with endless speculation. I need to know.”

Michal knew she was right. He could not keep the truth from her, not when he knew everything would come to light at the end.
“You father,” he said, “deserves nothing more than death.”