Princess Alix had not noticed the eerie change in Xenia’s eyes, which was most fortunate. The change in the tsarevitch’s eyes from a steely blue to silver was much more subtle. And she missed that as well, because she and Grand Duchess Elizabeth were talking to George Alexandrovich, who was still not wearing any skates.
With his brother and sister racing around the frozen pond at almost inhuman speeds, he was telling Alix and Elizabeth that one of his skates had a broken buckle and that he was more than happy just to stand and watch the rest of us. He glanced directly at me as he said this.
I turned away from him, preferring to watch the tsarevitch and Xenia. The ice sparkled as they roared past me. I smiled and waved to them.
On her next pass, Xenia let go of Nicholas and grabbed my arms. “Your turn to race me!” she cried. Once again, her eyes were their normal chocolaty brown. Had I imagined the silver earlier? She tore off with me at speeds I dared not contemplate under my own power. I wobbled and wavered but stayed upright.
I survived. I didn’t even fall. But nobody on the ice that day would have given me compliments on my style.
Thank goodness Elena had not been invited. I shuddered to think what kind of mischief she would have caused. Especially if she had seen the way Nicholas Alexandrovich looked at Princess Alix.
The tsarevitch did not leave the princess’s side for the rest of the afternoon. The grand duchess Elizabeth watched over them approvingly. George Alexandrovich watched them as well, with obvious dismay. He took a break every now and then only to scowl at me.
Xenia and I had fun racing back and forth from one end of the pond to the other. Our cheeks were red and chapped before long, our breathing heavy from the vigorous exercise and from laughing so hard. My ears were so cold they hurt. Xenia, of course, beat me every time, even without her fey gift. I was not destined to be an artist on ice, ever.
We stopped after what seemed like hours and sat down at the pavilion in front of the samovar the servants had brought with us. Instead of tea, we had steaming cups of hot cocoa with freshly baked pastries.
“Will you be coming to the ball at Anichkov Palace next week?” Xenia asked me.
“Yes, Your Imperial Highness,” I said. I took a sip of cocoa. “I will be attending with my parents.”
“Wonderful!” Then she pouted. “Maman says I will be able to attend for a little while but will not be allowed to dance.” Xenia still had a few years before she would be old enough to be out in society.
“But you will have a wonderful time nonetheless,” Elizabeth said. “You will get to wear your beautiful dress and hear the music. And you will see Alix in her lovely Worth gown.” Elizabeth looked at the tsarevitch over her cup of cocoa. “Alix looks lovely in lavender, don’t you think, Nicholas?”
“Oh, yes,” Nicholas said dreamily.
Alix blushed and smiled shyly.
“Have you ever written a love poem?” Xenia asked me in a whisper.
I smiled and shook my head. “No. I’ve never met a boy that inspired any poetry,” I whispered back. “Have you?”
She nodded, her eyes twinkling. “Many times! I adore poems!” She sipped her cocoa and looked at her brother thoughtfully. “Do you think Alix might write a poem for Nicky? They seem to like each other a lot, but Nicky is twenty. She is closer to George’s age.”
I almost choked on my pastry. A poem to the tsarevitch, I could understand. A poem to his surly brother, I could not. Everyone looked up at me. I could feel my face flushing. Why was I so socially awkward?
Grand Duchess Ella hurried to refill my cup. “Here, drink this, dear.”
I stopped coughing long enough to swallow the cocoa.
“Thank you.”
Xenia had turned to ask her aunt if she had a favorite poet. They were discussing French and English Romantics. I looked at Alix and Nicholas, still in their own little world across the table from us. Grand Duke George Alexandrovich would never do for her. I glanced over to see him staring thoughtfully at his brother as well. I could see the concern in his eyes. Xenia still believed in love. George was old enough to understand that tsarevitchs were not allowed to marry for love. And neither were most grand dukes.
The string quartet began to play again, and Alix and Nicholas stood up to return to the ice.
One of the imperial guards approached George Alexandrovich and bowed. “Your skate has been repaired, Your Imperial Highness.”
Grand Duchess Elizabeth smiled. “Excellent! Now you can skate a turn with Katerina Alexandrovna!”
It pained him, I could tell, but he put on his skates and bowed to her, then offered his arm to me. “It would be an honor, Your Highness,” he said.
I stood up and curtsied and took his arm, much to Xenia’s merriment. I heard her giggling as we glided out across the ice. The grand duchess skated with Xenia so she would not feel left out.
The grand duke was silent as we completed our first circuit, his arm stiffly linked with mine. Ahead of us, Alix and Nicholas were smiling and chatting gaily in English.
We managed to make our spins around the pond with no body contact other than our linked arms—something I was grateful for, but also a little sad about at the same time. “How kind of the grand duchess Elizabeth for organizing a pleasant afternoon for us,” I said finally, to break the silence.
“Are you truly enjoying yourself? Is this your idea of a pleasant afternoon?”
I immediately thought of a thousand better ways to spend my afternoon. Cleaning up after my brother’s horse came to mind. Instead, I said, “It is a beautiful day. I greatly admire the grand duchess and your sister is very kind. I never met Princess Alix before, but she seems kind as well.”
“You don’t find her enigmatic?”
“What do you mean?”
“In some ways, she is much like you. Her aura is also tainted with dark secrets.”
“Do you think my aura is really so dark?” I gave a little laugh, even though there was nothing amusing about his words. “And have you discovered what it is that I conceal?”
“I will discover your secret one day, Duchess.”
Something in me snapped. I pulled my arm away from his and skidded to a stop. “May I enlighten you, Your Imperial Highness?” I hissed, hoping no one could overhear us. “The princess Alix and I are witches from hell. We have come to collect the souls of both you and your brother to give to the devil himself.” The sad thing was that it didn’t sound quite as ridiculous as I had intended.
I stared at him, horrified that I could have said something so stupid to the tsar’s son. Why did I always seem to lose all sense of reason when I was around him?
Fortunately, he looked amused. “You are such an odd girl,” he said, taking my arm again and coaxing me to skate forward. I relaxed a little, knowing he was not taking my inappropriate jest seriously. “Be careful, though, Duchess.” His voice was hushed, but icy in my ear. “They still burn witches in Russia.”
I couldn’t keep myself from shuddering, though whether it was from his threat or just from the closeness of him I couldn’t be sure.
I tried to steer our conversation away from witches. “Anyway, I do not believe the Hessian princess conceals anything, except her own shyness,” I said. “Her infatuation for your brother shines on her face.” I saw nothing unusual in her cold light. It was the same intensity as the tsarevitch’s.
“Perhaps,” George said as we made one last turn around the pond. Alix and Nicholas had already returned to the pavilion, and they waved to us. “But I see a soul in despair when I look at the princess.”
“She lost her mother when she was eight, did she not? As well as her younger siblings? Surely that would cause a lasting despair.”