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

southern front to assume command positions in the Second Army. But the
greatest honour was to be asked to travel with the Darkling as Ivan did.
I did my best to pay attention, but my mind kept wandering back to my
disastrous lesson with Baghra. At some point I realised that Marie must have
asked me a question, because she and Nadia were both staring at me.
“Sorry, what?” I said.
They exchanged a glance.
“Do you want to walk with us to the stables?” Marie asked. “For combat
training?”
Combat training? I looked down at the little schedule Genya had left with me.
Listed after lunch were the words “Combat Training, Botkin, West Stables”. So
this day was actually going to get worse.
“Sure,” I said numbly, and stood up with them. The servants sprang forward
to pull our chairs out and clear the dishes. I doubted I’d ever get used to being
waited on this way.
“Ne brinite,” Marie said with a giggle.
“What?” I asked, baffled.
“To c´e biti zabavno.”
Nadia giggled. “She said, ‘Don’t worry. It will be fun.’ It’s Suli dialect. Marie
and I are studying it in case we get sent west.”
“Ah,” I said.
“Shi si yuyan Suli” said Sergei as he strode past us out of the domed hall.
“That’s Shu for ‘Suli is a dead language’.”
Marie scowled and Nadia bit her lip.
“Sergei is studying Shu,” whispered Nadia.
“I got that,” I replied.
Marie spent the entire walk to the stables complaining about Sergei and the
other Corporalki and debating the merits of Suli over Shu. Suli was best for
missions in the north-west. Shu meant you’d be stuck translating diplomatic
papers. Sergei was an idiot who was better off learning to trade in Kerch. She
took a brief break to point out the banya, an elaborate system of steam baths and
cold pools nestled in a birch grove beside the Little Palace, then launched
immediately into a rant about selfish Corporalki overrunning the baths every
night.
Maybe combat training wouldn’t be so bad. Marie and Nadia were definitely
making me want to punch something.
As we were crossing the western lawn, I suddenly got the feeling that
someone was watching me. I looked up and saw a figure standing off the path,
nearly hidden by the shadows from a low stand of trees. There was no mistaking