Ustinia: The Return
16 hrs. 42 min.
Language
Russian
Author
Galina Goncharova
Author
Galina Goncharova
Narrator
Ekaterina Vecherkova
Narrator
Ekaterina Vecherkova
Ustin’ya Alekseevna’s life is over. First her husband divorced her and sent her to a monastery so he could marry a foreign woman. And then he accused her of betrayal and condemned her to the stake.
Veraea, the young seer, is also doomed. Across all of Russia there is a roar—old faith is being eradicated, sacred groves are cut down, and the sorcerers and seer-women are destroyed. What could these two women possibly do together? Maybe nothing—yet if one of them gives everything: her life and death, the power of her sisters, and even what comes after death—then perhaps the other will be able to turn the wheel of fate. Perhaps she can correct something in the past, so that the age of Great Rus can stand for a century. Can she?
1. Visit an ancient city—the great Ladoga. Walk with the heroes at the autumn fair and taste rowan preserves. 2. Meet the heroes, listen to their stories, admire their deeds—let each one tell about himself, never hiding the truth! 3. Learn who weaves intrigues behind the sovereign’s back, who sharpens claws on Rus and keeps teeth at the ready. 4. Hear about the kind of love there is—yours for each of you, but it turns out to be one for all. 5. Plunge into the atmosphere of Old Rus—the one that could have happened if not for the fashion for everything foreign. 6. Learn what seer-men and seer-women are capable of—visit the sacred grove, bow to the Ancient Tree. 7. Find out what payment is required for witchcraft, what one may be asked for—and what must be given. 8. Check which is stronger: ties, money, witchcraft—or a heart that has crumbled under black ash.
Veraea, the young seer, is also doomed. Across all of Russia there is a roar—old faith is being eradicated, sacred groves are cut down, and the sorcerers and seer-women are destroyed. What could these two women possibly do together? Maybe nothing—yet if one of them gives everything: her life and death, the power of her sisters, and even what comes after death—then perhaps the other will be able to turn the wheel of fate. Perhaps she can correct something in the past, so that the age of Great Rus can stand for a century. Can she?
1. Visit an ancient city—the great Ladoga. Walk with the heroes at the autumn fair and taste rowan preserves. 2. Meet the heroes, listen to their stories, admire their deeds—let each one tell about himself, never hiding the truth! 3. Learn who weaves intrigues behind the sovereign’s back, who sharpens claws on Rus and keeps teeth at the ready. 4. Hear about the kind of love there is—yours for each of you, but it turns out to be one for all. 5. Plunge into the atmosphere of Old Rus—the one that could have happened if not for the fashion for everything foreign. 6. Learn what seer-men and seer-women are capable of—visit the sacred grove, bow to the Ancient Tree. 7. Find out what payment is required for witchcraft, what one may be asked for—and what must be given. 8. Check which is stronger: ties, money, witchcraft—or a heart that has crumbled under black ash.
