Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo (z-lib.org).mobi

itch furiously and, as I watched in amazement, my flesh seemed to shimmer and
move as the two sides of the cut knitted together and the skin sealed shut.
The itching stopped and the Healer sat back. I reached out and touched my
arm. There was a slightly raised scar where the cut had been, but that was all.
“Thank you,” I said in awe.
The Healer nodded.
“Give her your kefta” Ivan said to her.
The woman frowned but hesitated only a moment before she shrugged out of
her red kefta and handed it to me.
“Why do I need this?” I asked.
“Just take it,” Ivan growled.
I took the kefta from the Healer. She kept her face blank, but I could tell it
pained her to part with it.
Before I could decide whether or not to offer her my blood-stained coat, Ivan
tapped the roof and the coach began to slow. The Healer didn’t even wait for it
to stop moving before she opened the door and swung outside.
Ivan pulled the door shut. The oprichnik slipped back into the seat beside me,
and we were on our way once more.
“Where is she going?” I asked.
“Back to Kribirsk,” replied Ivan. “We’ll travel faster with less weight.”
“You look heavier than she does,” I muttered.
“Put on the kefta” he said.
“Why?”
“Because it’s made with Materialki corecloth. It can withstand rifle fire.”
I stared at him. Was that even possible? There were stories of Grisha
withstanding direct gunshots and surviving what should have been fatal wounds.
I’d never taken them seriously, but maybe Fabrikator handiwork was the truth
behind those peasant tales.
“Do you all wear this stuff?” I asked as I pulled on the kefta.
“When we’re in the field,” said an oprichnik. I nearly jumped. It was the first
time either of the guards had spoken.
“Just don’t get shot in the head,” Ivan added with a condescending grin.
I ignored him. The kefta was far too large. It felt soft and unfamiliar, the fur
lining warm against my skin. I chewed my lip. It didn’t seem fair that oprichniki
and Grisha wore corecloth while ordinary soldiers went without. Did our officers
wear it too?
The coach picked up speed. In the time it had taken for the Healer to do her
work, dusk had begun to fall and we had left Kribirsk behind. I leaned forward,
straining to see out of the window, but the world outside was a twilight blur. I