One evening, Yuri had drifted so deeply into the comfort of words, he didn’t realize that night had fallen and the shadows had pooled around his feet. He ran home but was late getting supper on the table, and Yuri’s uncle beat his nephew until his fists were tired.
In the morning, Yuri could not rise from his bed. His eyes were nearly swollen shut and his aching body felt as if it had been sewn together by a careless hand, the stitches pulling at every joint. His uncle left for work on the dry docks and vowed that if Yuri did not meet him there, another beating would be waiting that night. Yuri knew he would not survive it.
He dragged himself across the floor. He forced himself to dress and eat a bit of porridge. He limped down the street to the town square. Yuri knew he had to keep moving, but as he leaned against the fountain at the town’s center, trying to summon his strength, he heard a voice whisper to him, Do not go.
Yuri didn’t know if the voice was real, only that he couldn’t move his feet another step.
My uncle will find me here, he thought, and this is where I will die. For he knew that no one would intervene. They never had before. In the long months Yuri had been in Novokribirsk, they had always turned away, pretending not to see his bruises or hear his cries. The old man is harmless, they said. Some boys need more discipline than others.
Yuri looked down the street to where the dry docks stood, the Fold a high wall of seething shadow beyond it. He had to move, but again he heard the voice telling him, Do not go.
That was when the shadows seemed to move. The Fold shifted and swelled as if it were gathering breath, and then it was rushing toward him, a wall of darkness. It swallowed the dry docks, the buildings beyond. It flooded over the houses of Novokribirsk. Yuri heard screaming all around him, but he was unafraid.
The shadow tide rushed all the way up to the toes of Yuri’s boots, and there it stopped. He could hear the weeping of people trapped inside the Fold, their sudden agony as they were torn apart by volcra. He wondered briefly if he could hear his uncle. Then he fell upon his knees and gave thanks to the darkness.
That day, half of Novokribirsk was lost when the Darkling expanded the Fold. Many cursed the man responsible for this cruelty and celebrated his death when it finally came. But there are others who worship him still, the Starless One, patron saint of those who seek salvation in the dark.
SAINT OF THE BOOK
I don’t remember my own story.
I may have slept in a hayloft or on a featherbed.
I may have eaten from silver dishes or stolen scraps from the kitchen.
I may have worn summer silks and jewels in my hair.
Or maybe I went barefoot and clawed in the dirt, searching for roots, for gold, for shelter. I can’t recall. There have been too many stories in between, miracles and martyrdoms, too much blood spilled, too much ink. There was a war. There were a thousand wars. I knew a killer. I knew a hero. They might have been the same man. I remember only how I fell into books, never to rise from their pages, how I was never truly awake until I began to dream of other worlds.
I wander now, lost among the shelves. My hand cramps around the pen. I gather dust. But someone has to set down the words, put them in the proper order. I am the library and the librarian, hoarding lives, a catalog for the faithful.
Erase my name. Indelible is a word for stories.
About the Author
LEIGH BARDUGO is a #1 New York Times–bestselling author of fantasy novels and the creator of the Grishaverse, which spans the Shadow and Bone Trilogy, the Six of Crows Duology, The Language of Thorns, and the King of Scars Duology. Her short stories can be found in multiple anthologies, including Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy. Her other works include Wonder Woman: Warbringer and Ninth House.
Vist her online at leighbardugo.com and grishaverse.com, or sign up for email updates here.
About the Illustrator
DANIEL J. ZOLLINGER is an award-winning illustrator and painter. Born in Glens Falls, New York, and raised in Schenectady, he later earned his degree in art from the Art Institute of Pittsburgh. Dan cut his teeth as a Madison Avenue storyboard artist before transitioning to editorial illustration. His list of publications include the New York Times, the Washington Post, and Esquire magazine. He has had several one-man and group shows as a painter, and currently focuses on book illustration and painting. He resides in Holly Springs, North Carolina, with his lovely wife, Karen. You can sign up for email updates here.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Dedication
Epigraph
Sankta Margaretha
Patron Saint of Thieves and Lost Children
Sankta Anastasia
Patron Saint of the Sick
Sankt Kho and Sankta Neyar
Patron Saint of Good Intentions and Patron Saint of Blacksmiths
Sankt Juris of the Sword
Patron Saint of the Battle Weary
Sankta Vasilka
Patron Saint of Unwed Women
Sankt Nikolai
Patron Saint of Sailors and Lost Causes
Sankta Lizabeta of the Roses
Patron Saint of Gardeners
Sankta Maradi
Patron Saint of Impossible Love
Sankt Demyan of the Rime
Patron Saint of the Newly Dead
Sankta Marya of the Rock
Patron Saint of Those Who Are Far from Home
Sankt Emerens
Patron Saint of Brewers
Sankt Vladimir the Foolish
Patron Saint of the Drowned and of Unlikely Achievement
Sankt Grigori of the Wood
Patron Saint of Doctors and Musicians
Sankt Valentin
Patron Saint of Snake Charmers and the Lonely
Sankt Petyr
Patron Saint of Archers
Sankta Yeryin of the Mill
Patron Saint of Hospitality
Sankt Feliks Among the Boughs
Patron Saint of Horticulture
Sankt Lukin the Logical
Patron Saint of Politicians
Sankta Magda
Patron Saint of Bakers and Abandoned Women
Sankt Egmond
Patron Saint of Architects
Sankt Ilya in Chains
Patron Saint of Unlikely Cures
Sankta Ursula of the Waves
Patron Saint of Those Lost at Sea
Sankt Mattheus
Patron Saint of Those Who Love and Care for Animals
Sankt Dimitri
Patron Saint of Scholars
Sankt Gerasim the Misunderstood
Patron Saint of Artists
Sankta Alina of the Fold
Patron Saint of Orphans and Undiscovered Gifts
The Starless Saint
Patron Saint of Those Who Seek Salvation in the Dark
Saint of the Book
About the Author and Illustrator
Copyright
A part of Macmillan Publishing Group, LLC
120 Broadway, NewYork, NY 10271
THE LIVES OF SAINTS. Text copyright © 2020 by Leigh Bardugo.
Illustrations copyright © 2020 by Leigh Bardugo.
Series-related Artwork™/© Netflix 2020. Used with permission. All rights reserved.
Our ebooks may be purchased in bulk for promotional, educational, or business use. Please contact your local bookseller or the Macmillan Corporate and Premium Sales Department at (800) 221-7945 ext. 5442 or by email at MacmillanSpecialMarkets@macmilla
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Book design by Natalie C. Sousa
Illustrations by Daniel J. Zollinger
A special thanks to Fanni Demecs for her work on the cover.
Imprint logo designed by Amanda Spielman
First edition, 2020
fiercereads.com
eISBN 9781250810021
First eBook edition: 2020
The Lives of Saints Page 7