“Shocking,” Glebovicha sneered, glancing at her husbands, who snorted in laughter.

“But I have not come empty-handed,” Elina continued.

“No, she hasn’t,” Ivanova cut in. “She’s brought you a Southlander man to warm your bed.”

The thought of Celyn warming anyone’s bed but her own had Elina speaking without thought. “Like hells I have!”

“Sister,” Kachka warned.

“Well, I haven’t. He’s with me,” she told Glebovicha plainly.

“Is he now?” Glebovicha asked while pulling more meat off the bone with her hands. “You bring an imperialist dog to my home, but you won’t let me play with him? How is that fair, Elina Shestakova?”

Determined to get her off the subject of Celyn as quickly as possible, Elina simply dove in to the true intent of her conversation. “I’ve been given a task, Glebovicha. One that I think you’ll find quite important.”

“More important than what I have told you to do?”

“Yes. Because it involves the future of the Steppes Tribes as a whole. I know how important that is to you,” Elina lied, because everyone in their tribe knew Glebovicha’s ultimate goal was to one day be the Anne Atli. It was all she dreamed of, and the safety of the tribes had very little to do with it.

“Oh, really?” When Elina nodded, Glebovicha laughed, her head thrown back in a hysterical cackle that ended in a cough because of the lamb that was caught in the back of her throat.

Elina ignored that dismissive laughter and went on. “And I need to speak to the Anne Atli about it.”

The laughter and coughing stopped instantly. Glebovicha’s cold eyes locked on Elina. “Do you now, Elina Shestakova?”

“It’s important.”

“Important? What is so important that you must speak to the Anne Atli?”

“I have a message from Queen Annwyl the Bloody. And I promised her I’d deliver it to Anne Atli directly.”

Meat hanging from her mouth, Glebovicha snarled, “You fail to bring me my head, you dare show your face after such a failure—”

“Pardon, Glebovicha, but—”

“Do not interrupt me!” Glebovicha bellowed.

Elina fell silent, and Glebovicha went on. “You run tasks for some spoiled imperialist dog who lives off her people like a leech, and you dare ask to see our great leader so you can spread your imperialist lies?”

“Queen Annwyl is not a leech.”

Next to Elina’s ear, Kachka whispered, “Watch your step, sister. Watch. It.”

Elina didn’t have time to watch her step. Nothing she said or did would ease Glebovicha’s disgust at Elina’s failure so she might as well get this over with so she could see the Anne Atli and move her mission forward. What was the point of dancing around it when the end would be the same either way?

“Queen Annwyl,” Elina went on, “does much for her people. If you’d let me tell you—”

“You defend that monstrous whore to me? To me?” Glebovicha exploded.

“It’s not that simple, Glebovicha.” She took a calming breath. “I understand that I have failed you. I regret it. But I must talk to Anne Atli. I’ve made a commit—”

“You will do, idiot, what I tell you to do. You have no power here, no say. You are a worm, and like a worm, you will hide yourself from the sight of others until I decide that you’re allowed to speak to the weakest of my husbands, much less the mighty ruler of our tribes.”

Knowing that would mean a solid hundred years if Glebovicha had her way—and she would—Elina did something she’d never done before. She said, “No.”

Elina heard Kachka’s quick, surprised intake of breath, and saw the grin that spread across Ivanova’s face.

And in that moment, she realized she’d gone too far.

Glebovicha got to her feet and stepped over the pit fire in the middle of the hut. As she moved in, Elina tried to step back, but Ivanova grabbed her shoulder and held her in place, which was when Kachka stepped in front of her. Ready to defend Elina as she’d been doing since they were children. But Glebovicha expected that and she backhanded Kachka out of the way with a hand still holding greasy pieces of lamb.

Elina understood fully then. She hadn’t simply gone too far here. No. To her horror, she’d given Glebovicha exactly what she’d always wanted. Something that she’d hoped a ridiculous quest to kill the Dragon Queen would eliminate the need for. It hadn’t, so now Glebovicha was taking it upon herself . . . and Elina had given her all the reasons she needed to justify whatever she did next.

Understanding that fully, Elina was about to run, to try to escape her fate. She pulled away from Ivanova, but before she could turn, Glebovicha kicked Elina in the center of her chest, sending her flying out of the hut to land hard on the ground.

Celyn slapped off the fourth hand that had grabbed his ass in the last ten minutes. He’d never thought he would tire of female attention, but he had to say, being pawed like some piece of meat, as if he were being judged at a horse auction, did get tiring quite quickly. And he was moments from making that sentiment clear when he heard flesh hit flesh. He turned and saw Elina fly backward out of the tent she had disappeared into only minutes before.

She landed hard, the wind knocked out of her, but she was still trying to get to her feet.

Celyn rushed forward to help, but a rope was wrapped around his neck from behind, yanking him back.