Maxim drew a winged cat. Katya drew a tiny dragon that smelled like cinnamon. As they worked, the classroom felt less like a room in a city and more like the edge of a Russian fairy-tale forest.
"The Golden-Maned Mares!" shouted Maxim, nearly falling out of his chair. "And what did they leave him?"
The students spent the hour debating whether Ivan was actually "foolish" or just incredibly lucky. They laughed at the Tsar, who was so vain he thought he could jump into boiling milk and come out a handsome prince.