The Valkyrie (Russian: Валькирия), alternate title The One I'm Always Waiting For (Russian: Тот, кого я всегда жду) is a 1995 historical romance novel by Maria Semyonova (best known for her The Wolfhound series). It is set in 9th-century Russian Northwest.
Tomboyish, proud Zima has never really fit in with her family in a small Slavic village. When her uncle arranges her a marriage with a man he knows she despises, she snaps and decides to leave home and go to the Varangian fort nearby, hoping to get accepted into the army.
Not to be confused with Wagner’s opera of the same name.
The novel contains examples of:
- Action Girl: Zima is a skilled hunter and later becomes a full-fledged warrior.
- Affectionate Nickname: "Valkyrie" is a nickname given to Zima by one of her admirers, a Danish captive Hauk.
- All Amazons Want Hercules: Action Girl Zima longs to marry a brave warrior. She gets her wish.
- Anger Born of Worry: Mstivoy constantly hints to Zima her place is to Stay in the Kitchen and calls her stupid on a daily basis, and don't you even remind him she wants to fight in his army. It turns out he is deeply in love with her and doesn't want to lose her like he lost his first wife.
- Beaten By A Girl: Many of Zima's potential suitors are beaten by her in battle or in intellectual games, causing her to lose interest.
- Big Brother Instinct: Never ever try to harm Veleta in any way. Her two warrior brothers would do anything to protect her.
- Cool Big Sis: Zima is adored by her two youngest half-sisters, and she loves telling them fairytales.
- Dead Guy Junior: Zima believes that one of Yarun’s sons isn’t just named after Slavomir but is actually Slavomir reborn.
- Death of the Hypotenuse: The nicest Romantic False Lead of all and the only one whom Zima seriously considers marrying gets killed.
- Dude Magnet: For someone Showing Up Chauvinists in a patriarchal culture, Zima sure has no shortage of suitors.
- Friend to All Children: Mstivoy may be harsh and intimidating towards his warriors, but he dotes on all the village children, and they love to play with him.
- Green-Eyed Monster:
- Mstivoy certainly has a jealous streak.
- When he thinks Zima came to Neta-dun because of a romance with Nezhata (in fact, Nezhata proposed but she rejected him), he is utterly mad with rage. Zima can’t understand why.
- He flares with anger even at his own brother Slavomir.
- Goluba is quite jealous of Zima, though Zima, clueless as ever, isn't sure why exactly that could be.
- Mstivoy certainly has a jealous streak.
- Handicapped Badass: Despite having lost both his eyes (not just his eyesight, literally his eyes) and being elderly, Hagen is a brilliant fighting teacher and strong enough to bodily throw Zima on the ground.
- Hopeless Suitor: A female example in Goluba, who spends a lot of time eagerly trying to get Mstivoy’s attention, but he is by that point already deeply in love with another woman.
- Important Haircut: Zima cuts off her braid and gives it to Mstivoy, effectively promising to be his wife. She does it without the necessary ceremony so that he can hold onto something while she runs to seek help for him.
- Life-Saving Encouragement: While Mstivoy is near death, Zima promises she will marry him, which gives him enough strength to wait for rescue.
- Love at First Punch: Downplayed – it’s “love at first warning arrow shot”.
- Multinational Team: Slavs, Galatians, Danes, Vepsians, a Saxon... practically everyone from Northern Europe of the time either appears or is name-dropped.
- Oblivious to Love: Zima never realises that Mstivoy is madly in love with her; in fact, she is sure he can barely stand her. That’s in spite of her Exact Eavesdropping on a conversation where he recalls the first day they met and says he would have asked for her hand then and there, had it not been for an evil omen (she thinks he is talking about another girl), and in spite of his younger brother, also interested in Zima, spelling it out that they have a Sibling Triangle (she thinks the former is just being ridiculous). It only dawns on her what’s really going on when Mstivoy is badly wounded and feverishly says he shouldn’t have allowed his beloved to go to battle at all – since Zima is the only Action Girl around, it’s impossible to misunderstand this time.
- Old Maid: Thanks to Deliberate Values Dissonance, Zima is considered a nigh-hopeless case of the trope at twenty.
- One True Love: Zima feels her true soulmate is somewhere out there and knows she will recognise him at once – hence her rejection of other potential suitors. As time goes by, she starts to get gradually disillusioned in the concept. Turns out that her soulmate is out there, but she has spent the entire book right by his side without recognising him.
- Outliving One's Offspring: Mstivoy’s children were killed by the Danes, along with his wife.
- Reverse Psychology: Zima thinks her uncle must have arranged her betrothal to a suitor he knew she won't like on purpose, to make her leave home for good and clear the way for her half-sisters.
- Rewatch Bonus: If, on your first reading, you haven’t realised Mstivoy and Zima are in love but hiding it and clueless respectively, upon rereading, you can see all the clues that point to it.
- Romancing the Widow: Gender-inverted. Goluba pretty openly expresses her interest in Mstivoy, and Zima thinks he might actually be reciprocating. In fact, he is in love with Zima herself.
- Scylla and Charybdis: Mstivoy has a Geas never to refuse offered food or drink and another never to drink milk. One day, he gets offered milk (by a welcoming Slav who has no idea about the geasa), which means he'd break a geas either way. He decides on drinking the milk, accepting the Slavs' hospitality.
- Settle for Sibling: The fiancé Zima’s uncle picked for her, Zvanko, ends up marrying Zima’s half-sister Belyona because she’s the one most similar to Zima herself.
- Shipper on Deck:
- Zima’s mother is so desperate to see her tomboyish daughter married off that she’d be happy to see her with anyone.
- Hagen insistently ships Mstivoy and Zima.
- Sibling Triangle: Doubles as Fire and Ice Love Triangle. Friendly, sweet Slavomir and aloof, abrasive Mstivoy are both in love with Zima, though only the former confesses his feelings, while the latter does his best to hide them. Zima is fond of Slavomir and actually considers accepting him, but he gets killed. Eventually, she has a Love Epiphany about Mstivoy.
- Sworn Brothers: Yarun and Zima have an official ceremony of adopting each other as siblings.
- Tomboy and Girly Girl: Warrior girl Zima and her eventual best female friend, shy and tender Veleta.
- Tomboy with a Girly Streak: Zima is pretty good at handicraft and also is quite proud of her beautiful braid.
- Took a Level in Kindness: Zima's brothers tell her that her sister Belyona, previously a vain, lazy Spoiled Brat, has become gentle and kind after getting married.
- Unknowingly in Love: Zima doesn't realise she has fallen in love with Mstivoy until he nearly gets killed. To her credit, it's not just her being clueless: he has previously done everything in his power to push her away, believing he was doomed to die.
- Younger Than They Look: Mstivoy is grey-haired with a weatherbeaten face, but he's actually only thirty-four. He's simply been through a lot.
