The Morning Star (4 page)

I hated to make a scene, but Xenia knew Alix and I were not enjoying the pheasant. Perhaps we would find better food in the kitchens. Alix was already trying to help me stand up. She was eager to escape the empress’s gaze as much as I was.

“Can you walk, Katerina Alexandrovna?” she asked with a grave face.

The shocked looks around us led me to worry that Xenia had cast a glamour over my appearance. I was too terrified to glance at the empress’s table. If she saw me, she would certainly see through whatever Xenia had done. “We’ll speak later,” I told Xenia, and grabbed Alix’s arm.

As we left the enormous white dining hall, we passed an ornate mirror that rose up from the floor to the ceiling. I did look a ghastly shade of pale. No wonder no one had tried to stop us from leaving.

We reached the grand hallway and paused. Alix looked at me again and shook her head. “You truly look awful. Perhaps you should find some water.”

“I’m perfectly fine,” I said, waving her concern away. “It’s just Xenia’s glamour. Do you wish to find the kitchens?”

“I just wanted to leave the banquet,” Alix said, sitting down on a plush velvet-upholstered bench. “I should have a few minutes free before Ella realizes I’m missing.”

“Maman won’t notice that I’m gone,” I said, sitting next to
her. “She’s next to your sister.” It continued to amaze me how Maman belonged to the Dark Court but walked that delicate balance to stay friendly with the empress’s court as well. They were family, after all. My mother was a first cousin of the tsar.

We heard someone coming up the grand staircase. Heavy boots clicked smartly against the marble stairs. Hushed male voices carried up ahead of them. Alix glanced at me worriedly. “Your glamour is gone,” she whispered.

“What does Papa say?” a familiar but tired voice asked.

“He wants to speak with you this evening, before he and Mother leave for Denmark.”

The tsarevitch had reached the top of the staircase with his brother George Alexandrovich. My heart did a little dance. How long had it been since I’d seen my grand duke? Almost a month. The tsarevitch looked surprised to see Alix. And not all together pleased. “Your Highness?” he asked.

Alix stood immediately and curtsied. “Your Imperial Highness.”

George smiled when he saw us. But he looked awful. His skin was pale and he had large shadows under his eyes. I stood and curtsied as well.

Nicholas Alexandrovich offered his arm to Alix. “It has been ages since I’ve seen you. Would you like to step into the red parlor with me and have tea?” His charming smile worked, and Alix was led away before she could refuse.

George offered his arm to me. “We could join them in the parlor. Or,” he whispered as I linked my arm in his and his left hand covered mine with a tender squeeze, “we could have tea in the library?”

His touch sent a warm, happy tingle up and down my arm. “I
believe Princess Alix has something she wants to discuss with the tsarevitch,” I said. “Perhaps we should give them some privacy?”

“Excellent idea,” he murmured. The library was not a far walk, and he did not bother to ring for tea. The moment the door closed behind us, George’s hands were around my waist, his lips on mine.

“How was Paris?” I asked when he paused for breath.

“Hot.” His kisses traveled up my neck.

“I missed you,” I said, my own kisses clumsily reaching his earlobe, his cheek.

“And I’ve missed you.” His voice was husky. The familiar rush of my cold light spiraling around both of us gave me a dangerous thrill. I felt his magic rising to meet mine and relaxed just slightly. He was truly a stronger mage now, and yet I still worried I could overpower him with my cold light. Or my love.

He groaned. “Katiya,” he said, slightly winded. He pulled away from me, searching my face. “Your year is almost up, Duchess.”

“My year?” My thoughts came crashing back down to earth. Why couldn’t he just let us enjoy the present moment?

“Remember our promise?” Last August when I tried to refuse his proposal, he’d asked me for a year to receive his parents’ blessing. But a year ago, he was just beginning his Koldun studies. And I’d believed I was going to medical school.

“But nothing has changed your mother’s mind,” I said. If anything, I thought she disliked me even more. “Georgi, you’re as pale as a ghost. Sit down.” I pulled him over to one of the library chairs. Gently pushing his hair off his face, I asked, “What have you been doing to yourself?”

He was not going to be distracted with me fussing over his health. He took both of my hands in his. “I’ve spoken with my father. I’ve told him my plans.”

My heart stopped in my throat. “And?”

He pulled me closer and his hands settled on my waist once again. I was very aware of the fact that I was standing between his legs as he looked up at me. “He would like to speak with you.” George smiled up at me. “Don’t be afraid. He does not bite.”

I didn’t smile back. Something in my stomach tightened nervously. What was the name of that muscle again? “When?” I asked.

“I will send a carriage for you tonight. My parents leave for their villa in Fredensborg in the morning.”

“And you?”

“I must stay in St. Petersburg for the present. I have business with the Inner Circle. And the Koldun.”

“Can you tell me—”

“No,” he said, stopping my question with another kiss. His hands cupped my face. “There is nothing for you to worry about.”

I pulled back from him. “But
you
are worried about something. You aren’t healing as fast as you should.” The supernatural wound he’d received dueling with Danilo must not have responded to any of the Koldun’s spells. And the Koldun was recovering from his own brush with death. “I wish you would let Dr. Badmaev examine you.”

“I’ve had my fill of doctors and wizards. I am well enough, Katiya.” His hands slid up and down my arms slowly. “Leave it at that.”

“You’re not getting enough sleep,” I said, kissing each of his eyelids. His blue eyes looked sunken and hollow. The silver sparkle was not there. He was still my beautiful boy, just more fragile. I would have to discover a cure for him on my own.

He pulled me down onto his lap sideways. “No meddling, Katiya.” His lips were soft and warm against my ear. It tickled.

“You’re in my head again,” I said, putting a hand on his chest. George’s fae abilities allowed him to hear my thoughts, but not I his. I could feel his heart pounding.
Mon Dieu
, his skin was hot.

“Your thoughts are too loud to ignore.”

“What am I thinking now?” My hand crept up to his collar and my fingertips brushed against the smooth warm skin of his neck peeking out from his shirt. His lips touched my hairline. It sent nice shivers all over my scalp. “You are thinking that it is a very good thing I’m not going to Denmark with my family.”

I smiled. “Yes, it could be a very good thing if I get to see you.”

“I’ll find a way, Katiya. I promise.” He kissed me once more. “But I think you should probably get back to the luncheon.”

I sighed heavily as I slid off his lap and tried to smooth my skirts. He laughed and stood up, reaching over to tuck one of my wayward curls behind my ear.

“I’m certain no one has missed you,” he said, grinning. “Except probably Xenia.”

I put my hand on the doorknob and stopped. “Should I go and find Alix?”

He shook his head. “You left because you were feeling ill, did you not? Now you’re feeling better. You have a much healthier glow.” His smile was mischievous.

I rolled my eyes and turned to go, but he grabbed my arm and pulled me back for one last kiss. “I’ll see you tonight, Katiya. And we will speak with my father.”

I wasn’t sure if I should be frightened or excited at the prospect. I felt a little of both.

That evening I was sitting down to dinner with my parents when my brother, Petya, came home. He was still dressed in his regimental uniform, having been on duty all day at the Order’s headquarters. “Katiya, I am to escort you to Anichkov Palace for an audience with the tsar.”

Both Papa and Maman looked shocked. I stood up quickly. “Do not be alarmed,” I said, throwing my napkin onto my chair. “It is probably nothing.”

“Petya, is this about the Order?” Papa asked.

“I’m not certain” was all my brother said. He was probably as mystified as my parents.

I grabbed my wrap and followed my brother into a black-and-gold-trimmed carriage. Anichkov Palace was not far from our house on Millionaya Street. As the carriage rolled through the ornate iron gates and past the wooded park surrounding the palace, my brother frowned. “What have you done now, Katiya?
I won’t tell our parents, but I must know what sort of trouble you’ve been causing.”

I gave him a nervous shrug. What did the tsar plan to say to me? Would he approve of me as a wife for his son? I didn’t dare to hope. Perhaps he was ready to allow me to go to medical school in Zurich. But now that my studies were going so well with Dr. Badmaev, did I still want to leave St. Petersburg?

Petya stepped out of the carriage as it rolled to a stop at the palace entrance. He turned and offered his hand to me. I was shaking much more than I’d realized. “I won’t leave you unless I’m ordered to,” he said, his face stern and serious like any soldier’s.

I loved my brother, even if he did always think the worst of me. “I’ll be fine,” I told him.

To my embarrassment, we were taken to the tsar’s library. Only hours ago I’d been kissing the tsar’s son in this very room. I blushed and glanced around quickly, searching for George, but the library was empty except for the tsar. He was seated behind his handsome Hepplewhite desk. “Leave us, Commander Oldenburg.”

There was nothing Petya could do but click his heels and bow. With one last worried glance at me, he turned and left, closing the door behind him. I was alone with Tsar Alexander. As he stood up, the lamp on the desk cast long, menacing shadows behind him. “Katerina Alexandrovna,” he said, coming around the desk and sitting on the corner. “My son and I have had a long discussion about you.”

I said nothing. I was too frightened to speak. My entire future was in this man’s hands.

Even if he had not been such a large man, the tsar would have been intimidating. But there was a reason he was called Sasha the Bear. He loomed over me like a Kodiak. And this was without transforming into the bogatyr, the ancient warrior hero of Russia. I hoped he had not summoned me here because he needed me to perform the ritual. If such had been the case, we would have been joined in the library by several Orthodox clergy and wizards of the Inner Circle, not to mention the empress herself.

“George tells me the two of you wish to marry.”

“Yes, Your Imperial Majesty.” It came out barely above a whisper.

The tsar’s face finally relaxed into a smile. “My dear, nothing would make me happier. I’ve seen the way my son behaves around you. You’ve brought a light into his dark soul.”

I stared at him with relief and shock. Me? Bringing George light? “I-I’d believed it was the other way around, Your Imperial Majesty,” I stammered. Not that I wished to argue with the tsar.

“Nonsense. George has always been the serious one, tormented by his own demons,” the tsar said. “I’m happy that he has found someone who will not let him wallow in the darkness. I’ve watched you grow up, Katerina, as the daughter of one of my favorite cousins. The shadows of the Dark Court haunt you, but you’ve always longed to stay out of their grasp. You can keep my son safe from those shadows.”

“But my family,” I could not help myself from saying. “Maman is attached to the Dark Court, as striga.”

Tsar Alexander shook his head. “You are a princess of imperial blood, Katerina Alexandrovna, and I know you will make a
fine grand duchess. However, there is one sacrifice you must be willing to make. A daughter-in-law of the tsar cannot practice medicine. So I’m afraid medical school is out of the question.”

The happiness that had dared to bubble up inside me suddenly vanished. “I cannot become a doctor?” What sort of cruel joke was the tsar playing on me?

The tsar folded his arms. “You will have plenty to occupy your time raising a young family.”

“And my responsibilities as your necromancer?” I asked.

His smile was grim. “We pray to God your services won’t be needed any longer.”

“But it’s only a matter of time before Konstantin Pavlovich returns. Unless the Koldun has discovered a way to prevent it?”

The tsar frowned, and for a second I believed I had angered him. “I have faith that the Inner Circle will prevent the lich from returning, Katerina. That burden falls upon the current Koldun and will one day fall upon my son. You must only concern yourself with providing the empress and me with grandchildren.” His face softened again. “But not too soon, I should think. The empress believes she is much too young to be a grandmother.”

I blushed. “Your Imperial Majesty, I am only seventeen.” About to turn eighteen. I did not know what else to say. The tsar was asking too much of me. Give up my childhood dream or lose the boy I loved? How could he ask me to choose?

“No hurry, my dear. No hurry. In fact, I think a long engagement might be most suitable. The empress does need time to come around. She still thinks of her sons as little children. But it’s time Nicholas begins to think about marriage as well.”