I stopped in front of the vanity in the corner and took the earrings from my ears, planting my palms against the carved edge of the table. “If you barely know Alessandra, then how did a twenty-year-old get hired to captain this ship?” I demanded. “You can’t tell me there weren’t more experienced—”

“Because I was the only one willing to go into the Imperiya!” Lang hissed. “I was the only one. That’s why I was chosen. Now, can you keep your voice down?”

I stepped out of my shoes, pressing my hands to my temples, and sank onto my bed in silence.

Everything came back to the Imperiya. Its gray mass at the center of the world was a weight, dragging me down, pinning me to this place when my heart longed for home.

“Do you think Alessandra knew?” I finally said.

Lang stood stock-still, hands on his hips. “I don’t know.” He shook his head. “I guess we know now why there was no portrait.”

I chewed the inside of my cheek. “How is he unmarried?”

“Could be a widower.”

My pulse rose. I took a fevered breath, staring up at the chintz curtains. “I’m not ready to be someone’s second wife.”

“Calm down,” Lang said, approaching slowly, palms up as though I were a spooked horse. “Look, this is one visit. You’ve got infinite chances to make this work. There are a lot of profiles in that folder.”

“Lang, I don’t have infinite time,” I seethed. “Did you see my father? In that meeting?”

His silence was his assent.

“I have England, and I have Norge, and one of those has to work,” I said through gritted teeth. “I can’t go into the Imperiya. I can’t.”

Again, Lang said nothing. His dark brows drew together as he took in the truth.

“And that’s not even addressing the fact that that whole stack is made of firstborn sons,” I added, impetuous. I twiddled a loose thread on the drapes. “My stepmother hopes I won’t come home, Lang.”

“I’ll make sure that you do.” He knelt in front of me, palms on one knee, dark eyes intent. “Nothing will happen to you.”

I wanted—I wished—to believe him.

But he didn’t know the end of this story, either.

“You can’t convince a crown prince to leave his throne any more than you can promise me safe passage through the tsarytsya’s territory,” I said heavily. “No one can. In Baba Yaga’s land, there is no safety.”

Lang rose, bracing a hand beside me on the counterpane. “I can keep you safe, Selah,” he argued. “And as for making someone fall for you—” His smile was grim, lingering just overhead. “Well. You wouldn’t want my help with that.”

I swallowed hard, glancing down at his hand, its lean fingers and knuckles flexed impatiently.