The young son of an experienced governor, Fyodor Basmanov, arrives at the royal court to serve the sovereign in word and deed. The country is being torn apart: the will of the ruler is increasingly being questioned by the people, and the guardsmen are sowing fear and death wherever they step. Fedor will have to accept the rules of the game and survive in the all-consuming flames of cruelty and violence. Will he be able to save his soul or is there no place for it in such a terrible world of royal will? The long-awaited publication of the first book of the popular blogger and ficwriter Jack Gelb! Her Tik Tok videos have over two million views and her fan base is growing exponentially. Jack Gelb writes in the genre of alternative history, taking on the task of describing a whole layer of human destinies in different centuries. “Goyda” tells the story of life at court during the oprichnina, showing the palette of Russian cruelty and mercy, suffering and revelations of tsarist power and inexorable justice. The cover for the book was drawn by the famous artist Coriander, who in total has about a million subscribers on all online platforms. Her style, inspired by the aesthetics of Russian fairy tales, accurately conveys the atmosphere of the dark Russian Middle Ages.