Chapter 11 introduces Stepon’s perspective as he sets forth to find the Mandelstams without the usual guidance from his “Mama in the tree” (157). Miryem’s mother takes him in without question, feeding him, treating him kindly, and offering him a home with them for as long as they have one to offer.

Irina returns to her room and sleeps fitfully. In the morning she goes to prayers, worried about what Mirnatius will do. The chapel has an image of Saint Sophia, who was bound in chains and beheaded by a pagan tsar for preaching the gospel. Coincidentally, her chains were used to bind Mirnatius’s mother to the stake when she was burned. Thinking of her husband, Irina grows more and more worried, thinking, “I could try to draw borders around his power, but they were terrifyingly wide: he was my husband, and he was the tsar, and he was a sorcerer with a demon of flame, a demon that wanted me” (161). For her continued safety, she acts as though all is well, forcing Mirnatius to play along, at least in front of witnesses. As soon as she can, Irina escapes to the woods through the mirror.