“What do you mean, what throne? How did you get to the Graylands?”
Papus and the tsar’s son frowned at each other before the grand duke sighed. “She should know,” he said. “She serves the tsar just as we do.”
Papus nodded. “As magicians, we can call upon higher powers to help us travel between dimensions,” the Frenchman said. “Are you sure you saw a throne?”
“Of course I saw a throne. I touched the throne. I read the Greek words: ‘The path to the light travels straight to the darkness.’ ”
Papus said nothing, but he and George shared a grim look.
I rubbed my pounding temples and looked back up at the French wizard. “Wait a minute. You’re talking about demons. Mon Dieu, that’s who you called upon to assist you.”
Papus’s face drew up into a sneer. “Demons? Mais non, Mademoiselle.”
“Katerina Alexandrovna, listen to me,” George said, grabbing me by the shoulders gently. “They’re not demons. I would never call upon a demon.” He looked me in the eye and lowered his voice. “Do you trust me?”
“Your Imperial Highness—”
His voice was low and calming. “Katiya.” Was he casting a glamour on me? The whole world could fall away and I would be safe as long as I was looking into his eyes. “Do you trust me?” he repeated.
The blue in his eyes deepened, and almost glowed. Finally, I nodded.
Papus was sitting on the arm of Maman’s favorite chair. “Duchess, could you describe the throne that you saw?”
“You honestly did not see it?”
He shook his head.
I sighed. “It was old, with faded and chipped paint. But dazzling. And it had the Maltese cross embroidered on the back, with two angels on either side of the cross. It must have been breathtaking to see in its day.” Not to mention the ruler who had sat upon the throne. I hesitated, not wanting to admit that I’d heard voices there, but finally I added, “The lich tsar mentioned Byzantium.”
“Of course,” George said, nodding thoughtfully. “Katerina the Great was Konstantin Pavlovich’s grandmother, and he was her favorite grandson. She had him named Konstantin with the hope that Russia would reclaim this area from the Turks and her grandson would rule the reclaimed Orthodox kingdom.”
“What about the throne I saw?”
“I don’t know what to tell you,” Papus said. “It could have been the throne of the Byzantine emperor, but why would it be here?”
George frowned. “My father just recently bought the Massandra property from the Vorontsov family. It belonged to a Polish count before then.”
George and I looked at each other. “Johanna,” we said at the same time. The vampire princess who had turned Konstantin into a lich had belonged to well-known Bessarabian nobility, but had been previously married to a Polish count.
Papus shook his head. “It could have been her family’s property. She probably kept the throne hidden in the caves all these years, believing no one would find it. And it must have been disguised with some sort of magic, since I couldn’t see it.” He looked at me thoughtfully. “Perhaps you could because you are a necromancer. You can walk easily between this world and the next.”
“But I couldn’t return on my own,” I said. “I don’t know if I would have discovered a way to escape eventually or not. How did you get me out of that place? You say you use magical guardians, but I saw no one else there other than you and Konstantin Pavlovich.”
“It’s … complicated,” Papus murmured. “A secret knowledge we are bound under oath not to reveal to the uninitiated.”
“But the throne …,” George mused. “If the Grigori are involved …”
“Let us hope for the tsar’s sake that they are not,” Papus said.
I had no idea who the Grigori were, but I was still fuming at the idea of returning to Smolny. And Elena. Mon Dieu. It took all of the good breeding and proper manners that I possessed not to stomp my feet in anger. Merde. “What makes you believe that the empress’s protective spell over Smolny will keep me safe from Konstantin? We don’t even know how I stumbled across him in the caves.”
George shook his head. “Do not worry. My mother’s spell is more than just a faerie glamour. It casts a protective shield over the entire institute. Nothing supernatural can get in. Or out. Once you are back at Smolny, you will not be able to leave.”
This made me like the idea even less. “I’ll be trapped! I cannot believe you would do this to me.”
George sighed. “Katiya, I want to know that you are safe. Why must you be so stubborn?”
“You don’t know that it will help at all, and what if the lich tsar gets in and I can’t get out?”
Papus stood up. “I am certain you will be safe, Duchess. And the members of the Order will be on guard outside of the institute. The Order of St. Lazarus.”
My eyebrows rose at that, and I repressed a shudder. Several members of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem, the elite imperial guard, had been turned into the walking dead by Princess Johanna. She’d been building an army of undead soldiers for Konstantin. Thanks to me, the unfortunate creatures were now sworn to protect Tsar Alexander as the Order of St. Lazarus. “The tsar is aware of this?”
“The tsar is the one who commands it.” George took my hand. “And he will command you to report to Smolny, if you do not go willingly.”
I stared at him angrily, trying very hard not to let the tears leak out. I jerked my hand out of his and turned toward the window.
“To the devil with this!” George muttered with an exasperated sigh. He stomped out of the parlor. The door slammed, rattling Maman’s china figures on the curio shelf.
“Duchess?” Papus said softly. “It is not difficult to see that he cares for you a very great deal.”
“He is being unreasonable. I cannot hide behind the empress’s magic spells. And why isn’t everyone more concerned with protecting the tsar? He is Konstantin’s main enemy. Not I.”
“The Order is protecting the tsar as well. The empress cannot, unfortunately, cast a protective spell around the tsar. But—”
“And why not?” I interrupted. “Why won’t her spells work on him?”
“She is forbidden by the church to cast any spell over the sovereign. But he is well protected nevertheless.”
At that moment, Maman came hurrying in with Anya, behind her, carrying a tea tray. “Katiya? We heard loud noises! Is everything all right? Where is the grand duke?”
I had no idea where George had gone. Surely he wouldn’t leave the French sorcerer here alone. I looked out the window into the street. George was standing next to the imperial carriage. He still looked angry.
“Perhaps I should go down to him,” I said, hesitating. I was afraid this would be the last time I would see him before he left for Paris.
I could have sworn Papus winked at me as he nodded slightly. “I am going to sit here and drink my tea, if you do not mind.” He settled himself in the stuffed chair and smiled at Anya and my mother.
I flew down the staircase and out the door before my mother could protest.
The grand duke turned around as I approached him. His glare softened. “I was expecting Papus to follow me,” he said.
I shook my head. “He is taking tea with Maman. I wanted to apologize to you. I should never have made you angry.”
“Don’t you understand how much I wish I could stay here and protect you myself?”
I sighed. I wished he would hold me, but there was no way we could touch, not here in front of my family’s dacha. The unhappy look in his eyes told me he’d read my mind and felt the same way. “Will you leave soon?” I asked.
“Tonight.” His smile was sad. “Please let me leave with some peace of mind, knowing you will soon be safe at Smolny?”