The Tsaritsa

Their story

On the night a blizzard seals the capital, the Tsaritsa signs the order abandoning the outer districts — and summons her enemy, the Traveler, into the Winter Palace alone. No one in the palace dares read names to her face; an enemy, she says, will not lie for the sake of power. When ancient black ice locks the gates, she takes the silver deputy seal from beside her throne and places it in your palm. Entrusting the palace doors to an enemy — a thing she does exactly once.

Story themes