In the first part about the Vila, I recounted the story of the rebellion. Now, I invite you to learn more about the progenitor of the Vila and the distant ancestor of Vesna, Vaselisa Strivozha.
The Vila are the wind Fae, among the first to join the Belyi Tsar when he resolved to unite the tundra and found Snezhnaya. The most renowned Vila and the matriarch of their lineage is Vaselisa Strivozha, “The Pure One,” ruler of the Vila. Over 6000 years ago, the Archangel Koitar seized the essence of life and bestowed it upon the Fae. This fragment passed from hand to hand until it was ultimately entrusted to the Vila lineage, into the keeping of Vaselisa Strivozha.
Fae from various clans praised the Lady of the Vila merciful ways, hailing her as a saint who had banished the bitter cold and soothed their pain. Even during the Fae War, when blood stained the frozen rivers, Vaselisa Strivozha was never the enemy of any. All sang praises of her purity, compassion, and sincerity, as gentle and warm as the soft breeze of spring.
Yet, though Vaselisa was acclaimed as a Saint, she was not always honest or noble. Once, during the Fae War, when the Silver Court of the Veneter stood as a sanctuary renowned on par with the legendary Kitezhgrad, Alrekr Jarizleivich, a commander of Miscislav’s Alliance, came knocking at their gates. He was a celebrated commander who had been stripped of all ranks and titles after pleading with Miscislav Blood-Devourer to spare the Water Imps. His wife and children had been executed by the "blood eagle," and his lands plundered. The commander turned to the Vila, asking for their aid in swearing allegiance to the Belyi Tsar. The saint of Veneter listened quietly to his tale, and soon tears of pity glimmered in her jade-green eyes. She bade Alrekr Jarizleivich bring all his surviving subjects to her domain, so that they might find peace there.
In the garden of the Vila, Vaselisa Strivozha had cultivated a unique "flaming fern," a plant found nowhere else in the world. Millennia ago, she had distilled a perfume from its leaves and gifted it to Emperor Monomakh, thereby earning eternal renown. This fern symbolized the purity, kindness, sincerity, and immortality of the saint Strivozha and the lineage of the Vila. Yet, no one knew that a deadly poison could also be brewed from this very plant.
Vaselisa, a master of crafting fragrances, personally filled the weary commander’s goblet with aromatic mead and knelt to remove his boots. As the drink constricted his throat and his silver blood gushed forth, she wiped the tears of sorrow from her face with divine composure. Days later, a coffin draped in scarlet and white silk was placed upon a sleigh and, under guard, transported to the court of the Pale Star. The saint of the Veneter accompanied the coffin herself, and upon arrival, fell before the young Emperor Monomakh, weeping inconsolably. She was so overcome with grief that she could not utter a word, only tears, like pearls, rolled down her cheeks and fell onto her snow-white dress.
Glowatza, the eldest daughter of the Strivozha family, told Monomakh how Vaselisa had taken in the surviving subjects but failed to protect the valiant commander from being poisoned by the Blood-Devourer’s spies. She saw a merciful hatred in the Belyi Tsar’s eyes, and he welcomed the surviving Volkodlak into the Court of the Pale Star.
As Vaselisa returned home with Photius, a young attendant of the Vila, he questioned the wisdom of Strivozha’s decision. He feared the Belyi Tsar would discover the deception, yet Vaselisa trusted in his mercy, thus, Monomakh had no reason to doubt the sincerity of her tears and grief. On the one hand, the king of the Volkodlak would have the wind become a blade that cleaves bone. On the other, the Emperor of the Pale Star would have it become a holy sword to cleanse all that is corrupt. Yet in the end, they both wish the wind to bend to their will, to follow the banners of the mighty and blow where they would have it go.
Around 500 years ago, when Anastasya Feodorovna became a ruler of Snezhnaya, Grand Duke Photius died suddenly of a stroke, and his devoted advisor and the eldest daughter of the Strivozha family, Glowatza, then claimed his title. It was she who had slipped poison into Photius’s mead in order to take his place. The Strivozha family had long been renowned for its loyalty to the Belyi Tsar, thus, rebels dissatisfied with the Tsaritsa’s rule sought to win the Princess over to their cause in order to overthrow the usurper. Glowatza Strivozha readily agreed to help oust the despised pretender for the sake of the Vila clan’s future. Over the following months, the Vila Princess publicly denounced the Tsaritsa’s cruelties. She first expelled envoys from the Zapolyarny Palace from her lands and subsequently began raising a militia without seeking the throne's permission.
Although the rebellious Fae were divided by feuds and suspicion, they willingly shared their secret intelligence with the Vila, trusting her to weave it into a unified plan. Only when every last one of them had been captured did they realize that their supposed ally had long been on the Empress's side. In their fury, the rebels accused Glowatza of betrayal and of violating the oath sworn by her mother, Vaselisa, “The Pure One.” Glowatza replied, however, that had Her Majesty truly deserved to be overthrown, the Vila would indeed have sided with the rebels. Yet, had the wind ever carried news to them, they would have known that Anastasya Feodorovna was their one true sovereign, and thus, the Princess of the Venter had not betrayed her lineage.
Once the uprising was quelled, Glowatza asked the Tsaritsa to relieve her of the noble name that had become a shackle to her. Even though she had mustered the rebel force as a ruse, raising of a force without sanction, even if it was done to deceive the rebels, remains an unforgivable act of treason. Glowatza begged to have her lands confiscated, to be stripped of her surname and title, and to have another obe appointed in her stead. By the grace of the Tsaritsa, the princess was freed from her shackles:
"Glowatza. From this day forth, let none remember you by your last name.
In the histories of days to come, your title shall be no more. May your gravestone, in the end, bear witness to the convictions you held so true."
