Mishen'ka. It was what my mother used to call me. But this woman was not my mother. She was . . . I swayed.
“Misha!” Konstantin jumped up from his seat to steady me.
I grabbed Kon's shoulder as I stared at the woman. “Va-va?”
“Oh, my sweet boy!” The woman raced around the table to hug me. “You remember your Va-va.”
I fell into the woman's arms as my world reeled around me. Memories swirled to life like snow eddies, whisking me into the past. My parents featured predominantly, but this woman was also there—rocking me, singing to me, feeding me. My Va-va. I hadn't been able to pronounce her name, so that was what I'd called her. I started to sob, and she rocked me as she used to, strong arms around me and her whole body swaying. She hummed a song that I hadn't heard since I was a child.
“You survived.” I pulled back to look at her.
“Yes. When we settled in Kirvenia, I refused to live in the village. It was too exposed for me. I was still frightened of the Australians. I knew they'd find us eventually. So when they did, I wasn't there.”
“The Australians?”
“The Kemarre King and his people—the Black Swans.”
The breath left me, but I managed to stay on my feet. “The Black Swans? Are you saying that every black swan at court is . . . what?”
“They are invaders and their king is a usurper.” She nodded.
“And their king was named Kemarre?”
“His family name, yes.”
“And who are you? How do I know you? Are we related?”
“No, Mishen'ka, though you are the child of my heart.” She stroked my cheek. “I am Valeriya, the Royal Midwife. I brought you into this world, and when the Lebedevs fled, I, like many of their loyal subjects, went with them. Most of Kirvenia's residents were members of the Lebedev Court.”
“The Lebedevs? Then it's true? Nikolay's parents took the throne and stole the name of the last rulers?”
“They stoleyourthrone andyourname. You are Mikhail Alexeiovich Lebedev, the last living Lebedev and our true king.”
There went my legs. I would have toppled over if Konstantin hadn't caught me. He propped me with his shoulder and helped me to a chair.
“No,” I whispered. “No, my name is Vasiliev.”
“No, swanling, it's not,” Konstantin said. “That is yet another lie that you've been forced to live.”
“When we fled from the usurpers, I took this with me.” Valeriya waved at one of the men I didn't know.
The man pulled a book out of his satchel and handed it to her. I saw the cover before she took it—Births of Larch Castle and Lukavia.
“Lukavia?” I asked.
“That was the name of our village,” Dmitry said. “In honor of your grandfather, the great King Luka. Grigori changed it to what it is today, but we never used that dumb name. We just started calling it the village.”
“And those are the missing birth records?” I waved at the book. “Timofey didn't take them?”
“No, Lord Timofey took the birth records of Kirvenia,” Dmitry said as he produced another book.
Both Dmitry and Valeriya opened their books and laid them on the table before me.
“I took the royal birth records as proof of who the true rulers of the Larch Kingdom were,” Valeriya said. “And I continued to enter the names of the babies born to members of our court.” She tapped an entry. “And to our beloved monarchs.”
I read aloud, “On this fourteenth day of June, in the year 1986, the second heir of the Lebedev throne was born and named Mikhail Alexeiovich Lebedev, son of King Alexei Lukanovich Lebedev and Queen Taisiya Ivanova Lebedev.”
Second heir. My older brother had been first in line for the throne until he was killed along with my parents. Heir to the Larch throne. Oh, dear Goddess.
