«It, uh, yes. It will.»
Maria hesitated, licking suddenly dry lips. «You—you're the challenged party, so you have the right to choose the first riddle.»
«Do I, indeed? Silver living, silver dead, upon me are others fed.»
She'd said it so smoothly, it took Maria a second to realize that the rusalka had just spoken a riddle. «Silver living, silver dead…» The first thing that came to mind was her necklace. But: «… upon me are others fed.»
Oh, good Heavens. It was simple enough, almost too simple. «A fish!» cried Maria. «The answer's a caught fish!»
There was the faintest of whisperings among the clustered rusalki. One of them moved smoothly forward, and Maria hastily said, «My riddle! My first riddle:
«I speed through city, forest, field,
Before my touch, the strongest yield.
I stir the wheat and bend the tree.
I am the one no man can see.»
For along moment, there was silence. Then her opponent laughed softly. «The wind, little human. The answer is the wind.»
«Uh… yes. That's right.» It had been an easy riddle; it had also been the only one Maria could think up in her haste. «Your turn.»
The rusalka smiled sweetly. «So, now:
«An emperor of wide renown,
Pale of face and horned of crown,
Rules in darkness all alone,
Cold as winter, cruel as stone.
But a usurper comes in golden crown,
To cast the silver emperor down.
The golden tyrant's loved by men,
Until the darkness comes again.»
She drew back in the water, watching Maria with such an unblinking stare that the young woman had to turn away—only to find herself facing the other rusalki, all of them with eager, hungry faces. Fighting down a shudder, she turned back to her opponent, trying desperately to think. An emperor with a horned crown… ruling darkness… a usurper king… Oh, it all sounded like a history out of some sorcerous land! What hope could she possibly have of solving a riddle based on such a—
«Have you no answer, little human?» crooned the rusalka.
«Of course I do!» snapped Maria. «Just give me a chance to think!»
An emperor of darkness… a golden‑crowned usurper…
Wait a moment! Here she'd been thinking in terms of actual rulers, flesh-and-blood kings, but what if… ? Yes, that must be it! Trust a rusalka, a creature of night, to see things in reverse to the human way! A «golden tyrant» — ha!
«The moon," said Maria. «The pale emperor is the horned moon ruling the night. And the golden tyrant's the sun, ruling the day till the night falls again!»
The sound the rusalka made could have been a soft laugh or a hiss of disappointment. «Clever, pretty maid. You will do well among us.»
«I have no intention of joining you, thank you! Besides, I still have two riddles left.»
«Come, speak. We are waiting.»
All right, she'd have to come up with something beyond a rusalka's experience if she was going to get out of this fix… But her mind seemed to have gone blank, quite blank…
«Come, little human! Speak!»
«I will, I will! What, are you in such a rush?» Maria asked in sharp humor. «You, to whom mortal time means nothing?»
«Perhaps it's that we ache to have you share our timelessness.»
«Cute. Very cute.» Dear God, she had to think of something, and quickly— Aha! «Here's my second riddle:
«I stand all day in empty space.
I move, but never leave my place.
One head, one crest, one body, one wing,
One leg in all on which to swing.»
The rusalka blinked, plainly taken aback, plainly going down a hasty mental listing of fantastic, magical creatures. Search all you like! thought Maria triumphantly. You'll never find this beast!
Time passed. «Come, come," prodded Maria. «You didn't give me this much time to think!»
The rusalka smiled at her, an unnerving flash of sharp white teeth. «No need for more time, little human. I, too, was human once. And I have not forgotten all the trappings of humanity. Your little one‑legged creature is noth‑ing more than a weathervane in the shape of a cockerel.» She tossed the wild, wet hair back from her face. «Am I not correct?»
«Yes," Maria admitted reluctantly.
«So now! One more riddle to go for each of us, then you shall die, and your spirit live again as rusalka.»
«Don't be so sure of that. I guessed the answers to your first two riddles.»
«Ahh, but you haven't guessed the third one yet! And even if you should, by chance, by luck, by wit, guess the answer, you are still bound to us unless I cannot guess the answer to your third riddle, remember that!»
«How," murmured Maria, «could I forget?»
«Come, now, enough delay! Here is my third riddle, little human. Listen welclass="underline"
«I am the silent, stalking one.
If once I want you, no use to run.
No prey eludes me, none win free.
I am the doom of those I see.
I end all longings, end all fear,
Bring final peace when I draw near.
King or peasant, fear my cry.
Rank is nothing to such as I.
I stalk you, be you boyar, slave.
No one escapes me, no one save
The one who dares to play my game,
Who dares risk all to call my name.»
With that, the rusalka fell silent, dipping smoothly beneath the water, surfacing again without a ripple, smiling at the human through a veil of hair. «Well, maid? Can you answer?»
«Give me a chance to think!» Maria snapped, but she was thinking, What an ill-omened riddle. What a deliberately ill-omened riddle! She hesitated, considering. Could the answer be Death? The seemed too obvious. And the answer could just as easily be Plague! She fought down a shudder. I'll only have one chance at this, and if I pick the wrong answer…
«Why, what's wrong, little human? Why so silent? Do you yield?»
«No, damn you, I do not yield!»
«Oh, pretty maid, we are already damned! Your little curses cannot harm us! Come, choose! Answer— or die!»
At least it would be quick. The rusalka had promised her that it would be quick, the lake waters closing over her head, a few moments of fear and pain, swiftly over.
And then an eternity spent as a soulless lake spirit? Learning to hate the mortal folk? Learning to stalk them, deadly and inevitable as—
«Good God!» Maria cried out, and the rusalki stirred uneasily. «That's it!» She broke off, staring defiantly into her challenger's empty green eyes, and began again, deliberately, «The answer to your riddle, rusalka, is you, you yourself, you, rusalka!»
The lake-woman's eyes were full of malice. She said nothing.
Oh, no! You're not getting away with that! thought Maria, and insisted, «Well? Isn't that right? Don't just look at me! I know enough about riddling games to know that you must answer me, or forfeit the game! And I did guess the proper answer, didn't I?»
«Yes.» It was almost a hiss. «Oh, wise little human, let me hear your third riddle now. Be sure that I shall guess its answer before you can take a dozen mortal breaths!»
You want me to fear you, don't you? Maria asked silently. Well, you've succeeded. I do fear you—but not so much that I'm going to let myself be rattled! «No…» said Maria aloud. «No, I really don't think you shall. Here it is: