Leigh Bardugo - King of Scars

www.hachettechildrens.co.uk

A master of fantasy

THE HUFFINGTON POST

The best magic universe since Harry Potter

BUSTLE

This is what fantasy is for

THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW

[A] world that feels real enough to have its own passport stamp

NPR

The darker it gets for the good guys, the better

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY

Sultry, sweeping and picturesque Impossible to put down

USA TODAY

Theres a level of emotional and historical sophistication within Bardugos original epic fantasy that sets it apart

VANITY FAIR

Bardugo crafts a first-rate adventure, a poignant romance, and an intriguing mystery!

R ICK R IORDAN, BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF THE P ERCY J ACKSON SERIES

A LSO BY L EIGH B ARDUGO

The Shadow and Bone Trilogy

Shadow and Bone

Siege and Storm

Ruin and Rising

The Six of Crows Duology

Six of Crows

Crooked Kingdom

The Language of Thorns

Also available

Six of Crows Collectors Edition

For Morgan Fahey
wartime general
peacetime consigliere
dearest friend
(mostly) benevolent queen

DIMA HEARD THE BARN DOORS slam before anyone else did. Inside the little farmhouse, the kitchen bubbled like a pot on the stove, its windows shut tight against the storm, the air in the room warm and moist. The walls rattled with the rowdy din of Dimas brothers talking over one another, as his mother hummed and thumped her foot to a song Dima didnt know. She held the torn sleeve of one of his fathers shirts taut in her lap, her needle pecking at the fabric in the uneven rhythm of an eager sparrow, a skein of wool thread trailing between her fingers like a choice worm.

Dima was the youngest of six boys, the baby who had arrived late to his mother, long after the doctor who came through their village every summer had told her there would be no more children. An unexpected blessing, Mama liked to say, holding Dima close and fussing over him when the others had gone off to their chores. An unwanted mouth to feed, his older brother Pyotr would sneer.

Because Dima was so small, he was often left out of his brothers jokes, forgotten in the noisy arguments of the household, and that was why, on that autumn night, standing by the basin, soaping the last of the pots that his brothers had made sure to leave for him, only he heard the damning thunk of the barn doors. Dima set to scrubbing harder, determined to finish his work and get to bed before anyone could think to send him out into the dark. He could hear their dog, Molniya, whining on the kitchen stoop, begging for scraps and a warm place to sleep as the wind rose on an angry howl.

Branches lashed the windows. Mama lifted her head, the grim furrows around her mouth deepening. She scowled as if she could send the wind to bed without supper. Winter comes early and stays too long.

Hmm, said Papa, like your mother. Mama gave him a kick with her boot.

Shed left a little glass of kvas behind the stove that night, a gift for the household ghosts who watched over the farm and who slept behind the old iron stove to keep warm. Or so Mama said. Papa only rolled his eyes and complained it was a waste of good kvas.

Dima knew that when everyone had gone to bed, Pyotr would slurp it down and eat the slice of honey cake Mama left wrapped in cloth. Great-grandmas ghost will haunt you, Dima sometimes warned. But Pyotr would just wipe his sleeve across his chin and say, There is no ghost, you little idiot. Baba Galina was lunch for the cemetery worms, and the same thing will happen to you if you dont keep your mouth shut.

Now Pyotr leaned down and gave Dima a hard jab. Dima often wondered if Pyotr did special exercises to make his elbows more pointy. Do you hear that? his brother asked.

Theres nothing to hear, said Dima as his heart sank. The barn door

Something is out there, riding the storm.

So his brother was just trying to scare him. Dont be stupid, Dima said, but he was relieved.

Listen, said Pyotr, and as the wind shook the roof of the house and the fire sputtered in the grate, Dima thought he heard something more than the storma high, distant cry, like the yowl of a hungry animal or the wailing of a child. When the wind blows through the graveyard, it wakes the spirits of all the babies who died before they could be given their Saints names. Malenchki. They go looking for souls to steal so they can barter their way into heaven. Pyotr leaned down and poked his finger into Dimas shoulder. They always take the youngest.

Dima was eight now, old enough to know better, but still his eyes strayed to the dark windows, out to the moonlit yard, where the trees bowed and shook in the wind. He flinched. He could have swornjust for a moment, he could have sworn he saw a shadow streak across the yard, the dark blot of something much larger than a bird.

Pyotr laughed and splashed him with soapy water. I swear you get more witless with every passing day. Who would want your little nothing of a soul?

Pyotr is only angry because, before you, he was the baby, Mama always told Dima. You must try to be kind to your brother even when he is older but not wiser. Dima tried. He truly did. But sometimes he just wanted to knock Pyotr on his bottom and see how he liked feeling small.

The wind dropped, and in the sudden gust of silence, there was no disguising the sharp slam that echoed across the yard.

Who left the barn doors open? Papa asked.

It was Dimas job to see to the stalls tonight, Pyotr said virtuously, and his brothers, gathered around the table, clucked like flustered hens.

I closed it, protested Dima. I set the bar fast!

Papa leaned back in his chair. Then do I imagine that sound?

He probably thinks a ghost did it, said Pyotr.

Mama looked up from her mending. Dima, you must go close and bar the doors.

I will do it, said Pyotr with a resigned sigh. We all know Dima is afraid of the dark.

But Dima sensed this was a test. Papa would expect him to take responsibility. I am not afraid, he said. Of course I will go close the doors.

Dima ignored Pyotrs smug look; he wiped his hands and put on his coat and hat. Mama handed him a tin lantern. Hurry now, she said, pushing up his collar to keep his neck warm. Scurry back and Ill tuck you in and tell you a story.

A new one?

Yes, and a good one, about the mermaids of the north.

Does it have magic in it?

Plenty. Go on, now.

Dima cast his eyes once to the icon of Sankt Feliks on the wall by the door, candlelight flickering over his sorrowful face, his gaze full of sympathy as if he knew just how cold it was outside. Feliks had been impaled on a spit of apple boughs and cooked alive just hours after hed performed the miracle of the orchards. He hadnt screamed or cried, only suggested that the villagers turn him so the flames could reach his other side. Feliks wouldnt be afraid of a storm.