Chapter 33

Katya woke up to noise. The rush of feet going to and fro jolted her from her dream and to her feet.

They had come to ambush them in the middle of the night.
Her father had decided to make his move while they were asleep. Her thoughts went to Michal. Where was he? Was he safe? She could not bear it if anything happened to him.

She tiptoed gently to the door, panic threatening to come out in screams. If it was true that they were under attack, then she had to be smart about it. She was no longer the curious teenager who thought the world was black and white.

Katya gently opened the door, pausing when she saw feet standing just outside. Then the feet began walking closer to her door, a hand fitting through the open space…and she screamed, running to her bed and scrambling in the dark to find a weapon.

Why was her room dark?


“Hey. Hey. It’s just me. It’s just me,” a familiar voice called out.

“Michal?”

“Yes.”

“Oh God,” she ran to him and threw her hands around his neck, her feet leaving the floor. “I thought we were being attacked. I thought you were in danger. I was going to come find you.”

“I’m not in danger. I’m here with you. I’m here,” Michal whispered in her hair as he hugged her tighter, giving her the physical contact her fear needed to dissipate.
“If your father ever thinks of making a move, I want you to know that we will be prepared. Ready for him. Okay?”

She nodded.
He was safe. Everyone was safe. What was happening then?

“I heard footsteps, and I assumed. What’s going on?”

“Oh. That!”

Michal took her hand and they walked outside her room to see the men that had been camping for the past few days carrying towels and bottles, and one of them had a surgical bag.
Then Katya heard a faint scream. Followed by another. She glanced sharply at Michal.

He laughed, reading her expression and clearly understanding her thoughts.
“No, we are not torturing anyone. I would have come to get you earlier, but you’ve done a lot of running around over the past couple of days, so I figured you needed the strength.”

“Okay?” Katya prompted. It did not explain the screams.

“Freya is in labor. She went into labor about an hour ago,” Michal supplied.


Katya dropped his hand so fast…her eyes widening.

“And you did not think to tell me?”

“Like I said, you were asleep. I did not want to disturb you. You practically slept off while undressing last night. I walked into your room and put you to bed. I’m sure Freya would not mind if you slept a little longer.”



She knew that he was right. Her fingers had been too numb to move, and her eyelids too heavy to stay awake after helping out. She wasn’t used to doing so much work, and even though they had people helping out, Katya had insisted on being one of them.
Still, she could not sleep at a time like this.

Freya was the first person that made her feel safe, like she belonged. If the woman was having a baby, then it was Katya’s duty to hold her hand through it all, no matter how long it took.

Her mind set, she marched past Michal, walking in the direction where she heard the scream coming from.

“What are you going to do?” He called after her, his footsteps just behind. “Semion is there. I’m sure he can handle it.”


Katya turned around and gave him a cheeky smile. “All you have to do is say that you can’t deal with it. And we’ll understand. I promise.”

“Wait. I never said I couldn’t. I said-

“Oh?”

“Yes.”

Katya stopped walking and burst out in laughter. It was fun to see the tip of his ears show how embarrassed he felt.
“Well then, Michal. If you are strong enough and you don’t have a queasy stomach, then I guess you can watch as she pushes the baby out of her and the little crying thing comes out covered in blood.”

“I’ve seen a lot of blood,” Michal argued, falling into step and taking her hand in his.


Katya smiled at the warm feeling that spread from his fingers to other parts of her body. This…what they had now was a feeling she did not want to forget. A moment she desperately wanted to cherish.

If anything were to happen- today or tomorrow, she wanted to remember this moment as the day when she held the hand of the man she loved, and they watched as two other people that made up their family brought another loved one into the world.


“What are you thinking about?”
Michal kissed the top of her forehead and pulled her close again. She knew that he felt the same way, wanting to hold on to what they had now. He could not say for sure how things would end, but the time they had now was precious.

“How did I go from being that girl to this person?” She whispered.

The look on his face was one of pain.
“If I could shield you from all of this, I would. I don’t want anything to happen to you. At all.”

“And do all of this alone?”
Katya shook her head as they came into the room where Freya was pushing, and Semion was wiping her brow while a childbirth nurse urged them on and some of the men watched in awe.

“I’d rather be here than anywhere else.”

And in that moment, she meant it with all of her heart. What the next hours would bring, she could not have known.