“NECROMANCER!” The swirling gray mists of the cold light parted. I knew Konstantin was drawing near.
Had Sophia discovered a way to release him from his bonds?
The ground below my feet vibrated. The Koldun moaned as his body shifted. “Guard … the … throne …,” the dying man whispered. “Do not let him sit down.…”
I should have destroyed the throne when I first came across it in the Massandra caves. And if I could have done so now, I would have. “Your Imperial Highness, do you know a spell that could destroy the throne?”
His eyes opened immediately. “Impossible! You must leave now and the throne will disappear from this place.”
“But the wizards will be waiting for me.”
“Would you rather face the Black Magi or the lich tsar and his daughter?”
The Koldun had a very logical point.
I held my hand out to him. “Your family needs you, Your Imperial Highness. The Graylands are not for you. You cannot become a ghoul if you do not die. Come back with me and we will take you to my father’s hospital. Dr. Ostrev is a brilliant physician. And we will consult the Tibetan doctor, Badmaev, as well. He seems to have an uncanny knowledge of supernatural ailments.”
Recognition flashed in the grand duke’s eyes. “Dr. Badmaev took excellent care of Miechen when she lost the twins.”
The roar of the lich tsar grew louder, along with the shrill laughter of a young girl. The air was becoming unbearably cold.
“Come with me,” I said. Slowly, I helped him to stand. We had to get to the throne of Byzantium before the lich tsar reached us.
But Sophia reached us first. She grabbed my arms, tearing at my sleeves. “Katerina Alexandrovna! You must not leave me!”
I fought her off and helped the Koldun to the throne, where he slumped into its seat. “Hurry,” he said, his voice weak. “But do not let her come with us.”
I turned around. “Sophia, you must stay here, this is where you belong now. With your father.”
“And you must stay with me!” She was very strong. As hard as I tried to stay near the throne, she pulled me away.
“No. I do not belong here. Let me go.”
“Katerina Alexandrovna!” The Koldun cried out and fainted. I had to hurry if I was going to save his life.
Sophia would not loosen her hold on me. Her icy fingers dug into my shoulders, and I shoved against her as hard as I could. “Konstantin Pavlovich is coming, Duchess,” she said. “He will come and make you stay with me. You must do as he says. He is the tsar.”
“He is not my tsar. Nor will he ever be.” I finally had enough leverage to push her away. She stumbled back, and I ran for the throne.
“The path to the light travels straight through the darkness,” I shouted, and grabbed hold of the Koldun’s cold hand as the shadows began to swirl around the throne. There was barely room for me to sit down, and I was improperly close to the Koldun, but at that moment, propriety was not my concern.
Sophia’s screams lingered in my head as the throne took us away from the Graylands. I breathed a sigh of relief as the mists cleared and I once again found myself in the Great Hall of Vorontsov Palace. The room was full of the tsar’s imperial guard.
CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT
I jumped up, checking the Koldun’s wrist for a pulse. There was still one present, barely. “Someone help us please!” I cried. “We need a doctor immediately!”
“Katiya? Mon Dieu, we thought we’d lost you!” It was my brother, pushing through the crowd of soldiers.
Close behind him was George Alexandrovich. He stopped when he saw the Koldun. “Duchess, what have you done?”
I couldn’t meet his eyes. “The Koldun needs a doctor, right away. Can you send for the Tibetan?”
He left without another word. Petya called for his men to find a cot for the Koldun. They helped make Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich comfortable as we waited for Dr. Badmaev. “Good God, Katiya,” my brother said. “Why would you do such a dangerous thing?”
“What else should I have done? Where are the crown prince and Sucre?”
“They have been arrested and taken to the Fortress of St. Peter and St. Paul, along with Papus. The tsar will see them in the morning. Do not worry. They are held at the fortress by strong magic. They cannot hurt anyone anymore.” Petya embraced me tightly. It was as if he did not want to let me go. “I never thought I would see you again, brat,” he whispered.
I smiled and sniffed back a few tears. “You couldn’t be so lucky.”
“Katerina Alexandrovna?” Princess Alix pushed her way through the imperial guards and would have pushed Petya away if he hadn’t smartly stepped aside. She threw her arms around me. She whispered in my ear, “Thank you, for everything you did tonight. I will never forget that you risked your own life for mine.”
The tsarevitch was standing behind her, and bowed smartly. “Nor will I, Duchess,” he said softly. Alix stepped back and allowed him to take her arm. “I am escorting the princess of Hesse back to Smolny. Will you be joining us?”
I shook my head. “I want to look after the Koldun until Dr. Badmaev arrives. But thank you kindly, Your Imperial Highness.”
“I will talk with you tomorrow, then,” Alix said, squeezing my hand once more. “God bless you, Katerina Alexandrovna.”
“Thank you,” I said, not knowing what else I could say. I did not know if God looked favorably upon any of my actions that night. I had upset the natural balance, and defied death, by bringing the Koldun back.
Dr. Badmaev finally arrived sometime after Alix and the tsarevitch had left. I might have fallen asleep briefly, because Petya shook me gently to get out of the doctor’s way. I stood up and moved away from the sleeping Koldun.
The Tibetan doctor smiled at me. “You have done a very brave thing, Duchess. Why don’t you return to Smolny and get a good night’s rest?”
I shook my head, stifling a yawn. “I want to stay. Please.”
A pair of arms wrapped gently around me, steering me toward the hallway. “You need rest, or you will make yourself ill.” George led me to a leather settee in an empty sitting room a little way from the noise of the Great Hall.
I got a good look at him under the gaslight lamps. “George, you need rest more than I! You’re pale as a ghost!” It filled me with alarm. “Were you injured?” Without thinking, I grabbed his coat and went to open it. “Did Danilo hurt you?”
He gently grabbed my hands with his and pulled me off of him. “Duchess, please refrain from undressing me. And no, Danilo did not injure me.”
I ignored the sarcasm in his voice. “But you are hurt. What is wrong? Can Dr. Badmaev help you?”
“I will be fine. Do not worry about me, Katiya. I will have your brother take you back to Smolny.”
My heart sank. I knew I had to return to the institute, but I had hoped that the grand duke would take me in his own carriage. I should have realized he had more important things to tend to.
“Katiya, I want nothing more than to accompany you. But I’m afraid if I had you in my carriage I would take you far away from all of this and never let you go again.”
I almost laughed as I realized he was reading my thoughts again. I threw my arms around him, laying my head on his chest. “George, you’ve come back to me.”
“I never left you.”
“But you were in Paris, and I was behind the empress’s spell at Smolny, and you couldn’t hear me. And I was hearing such terrible things about you.” My fingers curled around one of his golden buttons.
“From Crown Prince Danilo?” He pulled back from me, an eyebrow raised.