The Morning Star

by Robin Bridges

Chapter Thirty-three

 

  We reached Cairo by sunrise. At some point, George had wrapped a blanket around both of us. I awoke to his gentle kisses up and down the side of my face. "Good morning," he murmured. "We're coming into the station, Katiya. It's time to get up. "

  The Graylands awaited us. As did the Morning Star, hidden beyond the seven gates. I groaned and reluctantly stood and stretched. We did not stay on the train for breakfast. Instead, we took the electric tram through the city and headed east across the river, toward the necropolis. The Grigori loyal to Papus sat silently in the seats behind us. Nicholas and Papus were seated in front of us, also silent, each one wrapped up in his own thoughts.

  The great pyramids of Giza rose up out of the desert. I had a sinking feeling in my stomach as we drew closer to the ancient tombs. George seemed to sense this and took my hand in his.

  It had been decided that Papus would not go to the seven gates after all. He would accompany Nicholas back to Russia. Papus would use the Grigori portals and escort the tsarevitch through the Graylands swiftly so they could reach St. Petersburg before us-hopefully before Konstantin arrived. George wished his brother could travel the Graylands with us, but we both knew it was impossible.

  "But it would be safer for the two of you if Papus and I went along to retrieve the sword," the tsarevitch argued one last time. "We would make a formidable team. "

  George shook his head. "Out of the question. You are the heir. Go with Papus straight to St. Petersburg. And don't worry about us. " He squeezed my hand affectionately. "Katiya and I will be fine. We'll meet up with you as soon as possible. It should not take us long. "

  George embraced his brother as we stood at one of the temple walls near the sphinx. The two Grigori stood at attention, awaiting Papus's instructions. "Give Mother Dear and Xenia my love," George told Nicholas. "I hate that you will face Papa's wrath before I do. "

  Nicholas smiled and shook his head. "There will be plenty of wrath to go around when you get back. Take care of yourself, Brother. "

  "You too, Nicky. " George stepped back and wrapped his arm around my waist.

  "Be careful, Your Imperial Highness," I said. I dreaded the return to St. Petersburg. The tsar may have given his blessing for our engagement, but only at a price I was not willing to pay. The empress would be furious with us for eloping and depriving her of a wedding to orchestrate. I hoped her anger would not last. It would not be long before she would have Nicholas's wedding and Xenia's to plan. And many years in the future, the weddings of Olga and Mikhail.

  Papus murmured an incantation in a language I could not understand. A doorway appeared in the side of the temple, between the two Grigori. With a polite tip of his hat, the French mage stepped through the doorway with Nicholas following him.

  "Are we to use the same portal?" I asked George. The doorway remained open, but I could not see past its threshold.

  "No, we will use a portal you create," he said. "That way I can save my energy for the seven gates. " Before our eyes, the doorway between the Grigori faded. George motioned for me to follow him and we walked around to the main entrance of the temple.

  I paused to look at him anxiously. Had he lost more weight since we'd been in Riga? "Are you certain it's safe for you to go?" I asked.

  He answered with a reassuring kiss on my forehead. "Stop worrying about me. We're wasting time. "

  This area had been excavated decades earlier and then abandoned, as there had been nothing worthy of stealing within. A few carvings along the walls looked as if someone had tried to chip into the granite and remove the carvings. Images of pharaohs and other men wearing crowns lined the narrow entrance hall. And at the end of the hallway I saw a carving that alarmed me. A figure in a robe held his hands out as rays of light spiraled up around his body.

  "The sun?" I asked.

  "No, the cold light. The ka," George said. He told me to put my hands on the figure and push. I gasped in surprise when the carving turned into a door and opened. George took a dripping candle from its handle on the wall and followed me inside.

  The opening did not lead to another chamber but directly into the Graylands.

  "Are you certain it's safe for you to be here?" I asked. I clasped George's arm, feeling his solid warmth for reassurance. His heart still beat. He still drew breath.

  "I am to be the next Koldun, Katiya. I walk many of the same paths you walk. But it is a much greater price that I pay. Come, we must hurry to the seven gates. Before Konstantin finds us. "

  Not letting go of my hand, he led me through the swirls of fog for what seemed like forever. How could anyone tell where they were going in this strange place? How could you hope to find anyone in such fog?

  George began to hum a tune that sounded similar to the chanting of the monks at Abydos. I struggled to keep up with him, and finally we arrived at a wide river. "Is this the Nile?" I asked.

  "No, it's the river of the dead. " He took two coins from his pocket and set them down on the dock.

  It wasn't long before a boat arrived, directed by a jackal-headed man. I stood closer to George as the man retrieved the coins from the dock. He held a hand up and beckoned to both of us. George supported my arm as I took a step into the small barge.

  No sooner had we both arranged ourselves in the boat than the man pushed off from the dock and the boat floated down the dark river. "Where are we going?" I whispered.

  "Into the heart of the underworld," George replied. "Beyond the seven gates. " His face was grim. "Don't worry. We'll make it to the sword soon, love. "

  I reached over and threaded my fingers in his. "How did you learn so much about the Morning Star?" I asked. "From the Order of the Black Lily?"

  He nodded. "We also found an old manuscript in Moscow that described it. It took Papus and me several months to find the ritual that would reveal its hiding place. "

  I shivered as we floated through the mist. The motion of the boat was making me sleepy, and I leaned my head against George's shoulder.

  "Don't fall asleep, Katiya. " He shook me gently. "That is one of the worst things you can do in the Graylands. Focus on your cold light. "

  It was like sleepwalking on a boat. I started to see visions of girls in white ball gowns dancing the mazurka with dashing young Cossacks dressed in red. I saw crocodile shapes swimming in the water. I saw skinny wolves trotting warily alongside the riverbank, tracking us. I did not know if I was dreaming or if these visions were real. I tried to focus on my cold light and hoped that George knew where we were headed.

  We came at last to a stone landing, and the boat pulled up close enough to let us out. George went first, then held my hand and helped me. He led me up the stone steps to a great hallway lined with enormous golden doors. We hurried through the hall, not stopping at any of the doors.

  "Katerina, you realize that once you hold the sword, we will have to destroy Konstantin and Johanna once and for all. It's the only way to end the threat against my father. "

  "How, though? Death did not stop them before. "

  "Only a necromancer can grant the second death that the pharaohs were so terrified of in ancient Egypt. Only you can prevent them from ever returning to the land of the living. The words you'll have to recite should be in your Necromancer's Companion. "

  He had insisted I bring the ancient book with me. I opened it and began flipping through the pages. I knew I'd seen a spell that mentioned the second death.

  "And what of Danilo and Mala?" I asked. For certainly their souls were still here in the Graylands. "What if we could bring them back instead of Konstantin and Johanna?"

  He picked up my hand tenderly. "Katiya, you know that for us to be absolutely safe, the crown prince and the ballerina must not return. I'm sorry. "

  "But Mala did not ask to be sacrificed for Princess Cantacuzene," I said. "She did not deserve to die like that. And if Konstantin and his princess are gone, there's nothing to
cause Danilo to act against the tsar. "

  George shook his head. "There will always be that wound on Danilo's soul. The cold lights of Konstantin and Danilo are so tightly woven together now that I don't believe you can ever separate them. Johanna has not been in Mala's body long, and Mala's soul is here somewhere in the Graylands, but we can't risk any ties between the two women either. "

  "I must defeat Konstantin here in the Graylands, then?" I asked. I'd found the ritual of the second death in A Necromancer's Companion. I had a feeling it would not be a pleasant task. Nor would it be easy.

  George looked over my shoulder at the open spell book in my hands. "The second death is also mentioned in the Ani Papyrus, the Book of the Dead. You will need to use the sword. "

  A hooded figure stepped out of the dark mist.

  "There is no one else, my Queen of Swords. " It was Grand Duchess Militza, the vampire sovereign of St. Petersburg.

  "What are you doing here?" I asked as George moved to stand protectively between us.

  Militza smiled. "It is easy to travel the ways of the Graylands when one is the daughter of a necromancer, Duchess. My mother sent me to look for you. You are the only one who can help my brother. "

  I'd almost forgotten that Queen Milena, Johanna's sister, was also a necromancer. One more person who must never hold the Morning Star. I clutched George's hand in alarm.

  George shook his head. "Absolutely not. Katerina is not putting herself in danger to save that bastard. "

  Militza's eyes flashed bloodred. "Katerina is not the cold-hearted killer you want her to be, George Alexandrovich. She knows it would be wrong to take the lives of two people who have no control over the dark forces inside them. I do not think Katerina is willing to live with the consequences of such actions. " Militza smiled. "The Koldun wishes that Mala be spared as well. Even if Miechen does not. "

  "Does the Dark Court know all that has happened in Egypt?" I asked, astonished.

  Militza nodded. "The Grigori have been excellent messengers. And now Nicholas and the French mage have returned and given their detailed report. " She looked from one of us to the other. "Both the Light and Dark Courts have been watching the situation. We have decided to work together to defeat the threat of Konstantin. "

  "Then surely both courts realize Danilo is too dangerous to be allowed to live," George said.

  Militza's face was white as stone. "Both courts agree it would be easiest to allow his soul to share the second death with the lich tsar. But there is another way. I will not give up on my brother until every option has been examined. "

  "You believe there is a way to separate his soul from Konstantin's?" I asked. "Is it safe?"

  The blood-drinking grand duchess laughed. "Why should you expect anything in the land of the dead to be easy, Katerina?" she asked. "Or safe?" She looked at me with piercing eyes. "Doing the right thing is sometimes very difficult. And very painful. "

  "Are you saying that saving the blood-drinking crown prince is the right thing?" George asked. I knew he did not share Militza's opinion.

  "The Dark and Light Courts have agreed to work together to save Russia from the lich tsar and his soldiers. This includes the faerie courts, the blood drinkers, the Order of St. Lazarus, and the Order of St. John and all of its sorcerers. The wolf-folk have also pledged to help. As long as you carry the sword, Katerina, we will have the Grigori on our side too. "

  I glanced at George nervously. We had no reason to trust Militza. "Do you have proof of the Dark and Light Courts' cooperation?" I asked.

  She nodded and waved her hand across the grayish mist. The clouds parted to reveal a scene in a large looking glass hanging at the end of the hall. There, in the mirror, I saw the tsar and the empress kissing the cheeks of the dark faerie Miechen and her husband, Grand Duke Vladimir, the Koldun. At Miechen's side, my mother knelt before the tsar.

  Militza nodded grimly. "You have your proof. Everyone is committed to see this through, Duchess. We're all in danger if Konstantin defeats our tsar. "

  I looked closer at the edges of the picture and saw a silver-white wolf and a much larger black one standing at attention beside Grand Duchess Ella. Ella was gently scratching behind the ears of the black wolf.

  My brother and father stood at attention, both in smart dress uniform, in the tightly disciplined formation of members of the Order. They would be joining the battlefield as well.

  I turned to Militza. "Isn't there a way I can prevent the battle?" I asked her. "If I kill Konstantin with the sword and give him the second death, then no one would have to go to war. "

  "I doubt you'll be able to just walk up to the lich tsar and expect him to allow you to kill him," George said.

  Militza's tiny, razor-sharp fangs showed when she smiled this time. "It is too late to avoid battle now, Duchess. We are going to war, whether we want to or not. "

  "I know why you do not wish to go to war, Militza," a sickeningly familiar voice said as two figures approached us out of the mist. George took a step closer to me. It was Mala's body, but it was Princess Cantacuzene's voice that dripped venom. "You will lose the support of the St. Petersburg vampires once I return. "

  Militza hissed. But she did not attack either the princess or the lich tsar. "Konstantin Pavlovich, you will pay for what you have done to my brother," she threatened.

  The lich tsar laughed. "It was your mother's ambition, as well as your own, that destroyed your brother. You should have known that stealing the Talisman of Isis would demand a heavy price. "

  I still wore the talisman around my neck, hidden by a high-collared jacket. I did not know what good it would be to me, unless I needed to command an army of corpses. Unfortunately there was no such army around.

  George gave my hand a comforting squeeze. Murmuring a few words, he raised a small protective circle around Militza and the two of us. The invisible walls went up before Princess Cantacuzene could reach out for the grand duchess.

  The vampire princess scowled and countered George's spell with one of her own. Immediately the cold light glowing around George grew bright and tightened around him. He faltered, and I could feel the protection of the circle shrinking.

  "George!" I cried, feeling helpless. I did not know how to counteract the princess's spell. Then, with one uttered word, Konstantin added his power to Johanna's and George's cold light exploded in a burst of shimmering dust. George looked at me before he fell to the floor.

  "No!" I whispered, sliding to my knees beside him. His eyes were closed. His cold light was completely gone. "George? Don't leave me. Please, don't leave me," I begged. I touched his cheek gently and sent up a prayer of thanks when I felt him draw a ragged breath.

  With the circle of protection collapsed, Militza and Johanna were now attacking each other, claws out and fangs bared. Konstantin was trying to help distract Militza.

  "George?" I whispered. "Don't try to speak. I'm going to get you out of here. "

  He finally opened his eyes. He reached up and cupped my face with his hand, wiping the tears off my cheek with his thumb. "Don't waste your strength on me. You must find the sword. I love you, Duchess. "

  I heard an enormous rushing sound in my ears. My cold light was spiraling out of control. I tried using it to hold on to George, but there was nothing for my tendrils of light to latch on to.

  "No! I won't let you go," I said, squeezing his hand. The air was being sucked out of my lungs. He was breaking my heart. And I was on the edge of hysterics.

  His grip on my hand was slipping. "One more thing, Katiya. Tell Papus he must become the Koldun when Nicholas is tsar. "

  "Are you certain?" I still did not trust the Frenchman.

  He nodded. "I'm certain. Promise me, Katiya. "

  I couldn't do anything to save him. I was not a doctor, and I was definitely not a strong enough necromancer to counter whatever Konstantin and Johanna had done to George. I finally gave in to the tears that were b
oiling inside. "Je te promets," I whispered.

  He smiled weakly, mumbling something that might have been a last endearment or a Koldun spell. All of a sudden, George Alexandrovich disappeared from in front of me.

  I screamed from both shock and fright. In a heartbeat I was back on my feet, searching the area. George had simply vanished. What had just happened?

  The two vampires shoved me as they fought as two wildcats. I was astounded. I'd seen Militza transform into a moth before, but never had I seen either woman shift into such large and dangerous creatures. There were torn patches of fur and blood on the floor around me. I stumbled around them in a daze, trying to find my husband. "George?" I pleaded, choking on my tears. "Where are you?"

  Konstantin laughed and raised his hand to cast a similar spell on Militza.

  She stopped fighting almost immediately and transformed back into her human form. "Dani?" she shouted imploringly. "Dani, I know you're still inside that body. You wouldn't hurt your own sister, would you?"

  Her cries gave me enough time to cast a shadow around the two of us. I heard Princess Cantacuzene howl in frustration.

  The grand duchess had tears mixed with the blood on her cheek. "Come quickly," she told me. "As long as they do not have the sword, we still have a chance. "

  In the back of my head, a dull thought slithered up to the surface. What does it matter? George is dead. I should be dead as well. But the tsar and the empress were still in danger. I had to keep going even if only to return to St. Petersburg and tell them of their son's death.