George finally put me back down but kept a protective arm around my waist. “What is required of me?” he asked. “I’d been led to believe only a necromancer could carry the Morning Star.”
Papus looked at me. “If you are correct about the sphinx’s riddle, it sounds as if there must be both a mage and a necromancer to retrieve the sword.”
“I thought it took years of study in order to be initiated past the seven gates,” I said. “George, how did you push through so quickly?”
“Russia is in danger. My father is in danger,” he said, his blue eyes boring into mine as he squeezed my hand. “You are in danger. I needed to finish my studies and return to St. Petersburg as swiftly as possible.”
Papus looked guilty. “I told him it was foolish, but he was stubborn, Duchess. Even when his health seemed at the brink of collapse, he refused to quit.”
I gave a little cry and looked from the Frenchman to the grand duke. “What have you done to yourself?” I demanded. If he was truly as powerful as Papus now, what was the cost to his health?
“We know where to find the seven gates, Your Imperial Highness,” Papus said.
I looked behind him and noticed the Grigori had regathered. They seemed tense. And excited.
I was grateful that George had found me. But I also hated that he and Papus had been searching for me instead of the Morning Star. I did not want him distracted from what was important. Stopping Konstantin and protecting the tsar was most imperative.
“Let me go to the Graylands with Papus, then,” I said. “He can get me through the seven gates and I will bring back the sword.”
“Fine. I’m going with you.” George spotted the bundle containing my clothes and picked them up for me.
“You can’t,” I said. “It’s too dangerous.”
“Too dangerous for you to travel without me, Katiya.” He pulled me close to him once more. “I can’t lose you again. I am not letting go of you until we are husband and wife.”
A hot flush crept over my skin. “You still want to marry me? No one will believe that Danilo did not compromise me. Even if Mala was with us, pretending to be my chaperone.”
“I don’t give a damn about that. Unless you’ve changed your mind about us?” he said, his faerie blue eyes shimmering with silver specks. He was trying to read my thoughts.
I stood on my tiptoes to kiss him. “Never.” I would never stop loving my grand duke.
“Then we should be married now,” he said. “Before we leave Egypt.”
I held out the folds of my theatrical gown. I was wearing white already, but the hem was stained with Mala’s blood. “This can’t be a good omen,” I said.
George was not superstitious. “You look beautiful,” he reassured me.
“But we should stop the lich tsar and Princess Cantacuzene first,” I said. “They will come after Papus. He’s in danger.”
The French mage only smiled at this and shook his head.
George took my hand and raised it to his lips. “Marry me first, Katiya. Papus and the sword are both safe from Konstantin, I swear to you.”
There was a Coptic monastery between the ruins of Abydos and the riverside town of Belianeh, where a much nicer priest than the one in Riga listened to our confessions. He looked at my odd dress curiously but thankfully did not notice my bare feet. George showed him the papers he’d brought from St. Petersburg: copies of both of our baptism records and the letter the priest in St. Petersburg had written, stating that we were both of legal age and unmarried to anyone else.
Brother Ananias looked younger than his fellow priests, but his beard was still peppered with gray. He was dressed in a simple black cassock with a black turban covering his head. His dark brown eyes were kind as he gestured for me to sit with him in the empty, quiet kitchen. “I can see that your heart is troubled, Duchess. And you have the Grigori with you. Are you in danger?”
He knew about the Watchers, I realized with a start. Could he know about the other creatures that walked among us? Since the monastery was built just outside the ruins of an ancient pagan temple, I wondered how often the priests had encountered mages searching for lost knowledge. Did he know of the blood drinkers and the fae as well? “Have you encountered any members of the Order of the Black Lily?” I asked tentatively.
“You are safe here, Duchess,” he said, smiling. “No creature can harm you within the walls of our sanctuary. Now, tell me what burdens your soul.”
I breathed a sigh of relief and before I could stop myself, everything tumbled out. I’d been holding it all in for so long. My terrible gift, the undead creatures I’d made, and the lies I’d told to hide my secret from my loved ones. And worst of all, the terrible things that Danilo had made me do in the ancient crypt. I’d been an accomplice to a murder. I confessed it all to the Coptic monk.
Brother Ananias frowned when I finished telling him about Konstantin’s plot. “For the Grigori to be divided and fighting against each other is not right. They chafe under the bonds of the Morning Star.”
“I’ve been told the sword cannot be destroyed,” I said. “Is that true? Would destroying the Morning Star free the Grigori?”
“It would free them from the bindings of the sword,” Brother Ananias said thoughtfully, “and they would no longer have to serve the bearer of the sword, but it would not end their curse. Because of their rebellion, they can never return to heaven. But without the sword urging them to fight, they would remain only as Watchers and would no longer be compelled to interfere in our petty human battles.
“I’m afraid, however,” he continued, “that a sword forged in Heaven is indeed impossible to destroy. Besides, you need to carry the sword and lead the Grigori if you wish to defeat Konstantin.”
“It’s the sword of Lucifer,” I said. “I don’t want to stain my soul any more if I can help it. If we can prevent Konstantin from using the sword, won’t that be enough?”
Brother Ananias took my hands in his. The skin on his palms and fingers was rough, and I imagined him working in the monastery gardens, patiently tending the roses that grew in this harsh land. “I do not feel you have to worry about your soul, Katerina Alexandrovna. The ancient Egyptians believed when a person died, his or her heart was weighed against a feather. The heart that was judged pure would not weigh more than the feather. I do not believe there is any malice in your heart, Duchess. I am certain it is pure.”
“But I have brought the dead back to life and disturbed their rest,” I said in protest. I could not possibly be forgiven for these things, could I? “I belong to the Dark Court.”
“God dwells in both the thick darkness and the unfailing light,” Brother Ananias said. His words were eerily close to those of the sphinx. It made the hair stand up on the back of my neck. “Your gift was given to you by God, and no one can fathom what God has planned for him or her. Not even you, necromancer.”
My heart did feel lighter after our talk. Even if I knew there was still darkness ahead. Brother Ananias made the sign of the cross over me and together we recited the Lord’s Prayer. I left the kitchen with a new sense of hope, and George gave my hand a gentle squeeze as he passed me on his way to confess to the monk. He did not take nearly as long this time as he had with the priest in Riga.
Following the Coptic tradition, George and I entered the simple chapel together, holding hands. I carried a small bouquet of Nile lilies and damask roses, picked for me by one of the men in the monastery’s sunken garden. The scent was heavenly.
Nicholas Alexandrovich was happy to stand up for his brother. Amin, my donkey, and the little boy from the village waited outside the monastery with the Grigori. Papus stood quietly in the shadows in the back of the sanctuary. I knew he was anxious to find the sword. I was too, and I was worried about facing Konstantin and Johanna again. But George stood beside me with a reassuring smile. Everything was going to be all right in the end. Or so we hoped.