*Anastasia* The carriage groans as it climbs. It is not a sharp complaint of something about to fail, but it’s low, thick, like wood protesting between iron asked to do too much more than what it was used to, in weather it was not built for. The sound matches the rhythm of the horses outside. Even through the walls, I can hear them.The poor things.They trot on in the brittle winds and snow. Heavy, rhythmic in their effort as they push hooves on packed snow and grit, the occasional snort of breath that sounds almost human in its exhaustion. They don’t stop, even as the whole vehicle sways slightly with each gust that comes off the mountain face, a long, lateral lean that makes the brass lantern overhead swing in small, pendulous arcs, sending its amber light traveling slowly across our faces and away again.I lift my hand to the small carriage window on my right.My gloved fingers smear a clear patch through the fog that has gathered on the glass to make a tiny view beyond the co
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