Coptic? I’d never been anywhere near this far from home before. The thought filled me with despair. George would never be able to find me once we reached Egypt.
Danilo drank the last of his wine and watched me. His eyes had changed again, and now they were no longer his piercing black, nor were they the emerald green of the lich tsar’s. Instead, they’d blended to a grayish hazel. The color was startling against Danilo’s olive skin, and not unattractive. That was a disturbing thought that I pushed out of my mind as swiftly as I could.
“Come, I have a gift for you.” He reached into his coat pocket and drew out a piece of jewelry.
“That’s not necess—” I started, but then I saw what he held in his hand. “How did you get that?”
It was the Talisman of Isis. It belonged in the Vorontsov Palace with the Order of St. Lazarus. Miles away from where we were.
He smiled. “Do not concern yourself with how I obtained it. I believe it will prove extremely useful, Duchess.” He stood up behind me and placed the talisman around my neck. I shivered as his cold fingers brushed against my bare skin. As a necromancer, I was the only one who could use the talisman. It allowed me to summon undead beings to my aid. But I was loathe to do so, and I prayed that it would not be necessary.
“Why do you even need me?” I asked, thankful when he began to pace the room. It made me nervous when he stood so close to me. Konstantin had once been a sorcerer, and if he was using Danilo’s body, he would have no problem drawing upon all of his powers and using the Morning Star to fight the bogatyr.
“Why?” He stared at me with his strange hazel eyes. “Because I must have a necromancer for a bride, Katerina. You shall be the next empress of all the Russias. And the mother of the next heir to the throne.”
A wave of nausea rolled in my stomach. “I will never marry you,” I said. But I was scared and uncertain. I had no way of defending myself against him. What if he took me by force?
Danilo laughed, my thoughts crystal clear to him. “Your precious virtue is safe, Katerina. For the moment. We shall marry in St. Petersburg in front of the church patriarch and all of the Romanovs.” He stopped his pacing and walked around behind me, lifting a loose curl from my shoulder. “And then, dear Katerina,” he whispered in my ear, “then you will be mine.”
17
Danilo left me alone in the dining saloon, for which I was grateful. I wanted nothing more than to escape back to my cabin in peace. I spotted the two Grigori on the observation deck, speaking in hushed tones with the girl in the black habit. As much as I wished to retire to bed, I wanted to learn more about my traveling companions.
The full moon was high in the sky, lighting up the sea almost as bright as daylight. The moonlight also lent an unholy look to the pale, stone-faced men as I approached them. They were taller than any of the other men I’d seen on the boat, and they towered over the girl. “Why are you here with the crown prince?” I asked. “Why would you want to help him?”
The one on the right appeared to be the older of the two. “We serve the sword, Duchess. When the sword calls, we must obey.”
The girl’s smile wasn’t friendly. “We must all obey the lich tsar, including you.”
“But he doesn’t possess the sword yet,” I said. “What has convinced you to obey him now?”
She shrugged. “He has you. And you will help him find the sword soon enough.”
I turned back to the strange men. “What if the one who holds the sword is wicked? Are you still forced to serve that person?”
The elder Grigori looked down at me, his face impassive. He reminded me of the members of the Order of St. Lazarus. “The sword itself is very wicked, my lady. Do you not know who first carried the Morning Star? It was Lucifer himself. With that sword, he led the angels’ rebellion.”
I stared at him as the meaning of his words sank in. The breeze off the water had turned chilly, and my hair was beginning to fall from its carefully arranged knot. I rubbed my arms and hugged myself. What made Konstantin believe he had the power to wield Lucifer’s sword? “You are demons, then. Fallen from heaven.”
“Not demons, though they are our brethren. When the Grigori fell, they were trapped on earth in physical bodies. Not mortal, but not able to leave this plane either.”
“And you cannot die.” What a terrible army they would make. A formidable match for my own undead soldiers. No wonder Danilo wanted the Grigori on his side.
He smiled, but the gesture did not make him appear any friendlier. “No.”
His companion, the younger-looking one, said something to him in a language unfamiliar to me. Nodding, the older of the two looked back at me. “It is true. You are a necromancer and you could wield the Morning Star. But are you strong enough to command the Grigori?” The girl laughed. “I think not.”
“And who exactly are you?” I asked, whirling on her. “What has Danilo promised for your part in all of this?”
Her eyes hardened. “The crown prince has not promised anything. And what has been promised to me is not your concern.” She stalked off, leaving me alone with the Grigori.
“Are you here against your will?” I asked the younger one. When he looked at his elder and they both nodded, it gave me a little courage. They probably had as much reason to hate the crown prince as I did. “So why would you allow Danilo to command you to fight the current tsar and his family?”
“We are condemned to chaos, Duchess. It is our nature,” the elder Grigori said.
“You don’t wish for something different?” I asked. “Don’t you grow tired of the battles?”
The younger one spoke up. “We’ve been weary of the battles and the fighting for a thousand years already. But nothing will ever change. The sword passes from man to man, and we follow the sword.”
“What if the sword was destroyed?” There had to be a way to keep the Grigori safe from the lich tsar’s clutches.
The elder Grigori’s face remained impassive. “The Morning Star was forged in heaven itself. It cannot be destroyed.”
Their lack of emotion was unsettling. They were like wooden soldiers. I decided to return to my cabin before they tired of answering my questions. Hopefully I would be able to talk to them again before reaching Egypt.
When I got back to my cabin, I remembered that my copy of A Necromancer’s Companion had been left behind in Riga, with George. I slumped down on the elegant iron bed, wishing I had the book with me to research the Grigori. Surely there would be information in Princess Cantacuzene’s book about the creatures. Especially if they were linked to necromancers. I’d heard Danilo call them Watchers, but that implied that the Grigori stood back and did not interfere in the human lives around them. This was an inaccurate assumption, I feared.
I wondered what George had done with my things. The book was surely lost to me now, along with the medical texts Dr. Badmaev had given me. I sighed. The Tibetan doctor’s clinic seemed so far away, and medicine was of no help in my predicament. Magic was what I needed. And total command over my cold light powers.
I took a last look at the moonlit waves from the porthole and wished on the one bright star I could see. I wished that I would live to see George at least one more time. It was purely selfish of me, and if I’d truly believed a wish had any chance of coming true, I should have used it to wish for the defeat of Konstantin. But I was afraid I’d need the power of every last star in the sky to accomplish that.
18
It was three days before we put in to the rocky harbor of Alexandria. The passage through the rocks was narrow and only navigable in daylight, so the steamer had dropped anchor right outside the entrance and waited until dawn to approach. The grand viceroy’s palace could be seen on a cliff high to the right of the harbor.
I could not help being a little excited about seeing Egypt. Even though I was terrified for the reason I was there. I’d always wanted to see the pyramids and the treasures of the pharaohs. I had the craziest notion of being able to purchase gifts for my family in case I
made it home safely.
Then I realized I had no money. I’d had only a few rubles among my things at Riga, not enough to even buy a vial of perfume for Maman or a papyrus scroll for Papa. I sighed as I dressed in a soft light-green walking gown of linen.
Danilo knocked on my door to take me to breakfast. “We should have something to eat before leaving the steamer. It will be a busy day for us, Duchess.”
“Is the sword here in Alexandria? Why hasn’t anyone stolen it before now?”
“All in good time,” he said with a firm grasp of my arm. “The Grigori are waiting for us.”
But the Grigori did not eat. They sat with us silently while I choked down a too-hot mug of coffee and nibbled dry toast. The girl in the black habit joined us and appeared to be enjoying some sort of sweet pastry. It smelled like cinnamon and nutmeg and looked much more appetizing than my own toast, but I did not have time to ask her where she’d gotten it. Danilo seemed to be in a hurry and was anxious for us to leave the boat.
Danilo spoke to the two Grigori in their ancient language, which later that morning I learned was Coptic. The Grigori did not seem to have any luggage with them and followed us silently as we disembarked.
It took less time than expected to move through customs. Danilo must have bribed the officials not to ask me too many questions. We joined the Grigori in a hired carriage and drove through crowded dirt streets to the Hotel Khedivial, one of the luxury-class accommodations in the city. The sounds of the city were like nothing I’d ever encountered before. The carriage fought for its space in the road with hacks, other carriages, donkeys, and women carrying earthen jugs on their heads. Half-naked children ran through the crowds, and merchants shouted out their wares. I could hear the squawking of chickens and other animals high above the din.
The hotel was very European but also exotic with its Moroccan tiled lobby. Danilo kept an iron grip on my arm, and the mysterious sister stayed close at my other side as the elder Grigori saw to us checking in. The porter, a young boy who looked no more than twelve or thirteen, appeared to take care of our luggage. He gave me a cheeky grin as he single-handedly picked up my trunk. I knew with a sad smile where the last of my rubles would be spent.
As we followed him up the stairs, I could hear the music from the hotel’s restaurant. A woman was singing a haunting tune. I could not help realizing that it would be difficult not to fall in love with Egypt.
My room was a luxurious suite decorated with painted tiles and lush enormous palms. Gauzy white linens hung around my bed. “They are to protect you from mosquitoes,” the young porter said. I pulled the last ruble from my pocket and handed it to him. “Will you be able to exchange this?” I asked. I had nothing else to give him for a tip.
“Of course. Madame is most generous!” he said with a polite bow.
He believed I was married. I wanted to correct him but remained silent. I shuddered as I walked to the window and looked out my balcony. I had a beautiful view of the hotel’s courtyard garden below. The scents of jasmine and orange flower rose up and mingled with the lotus blossoms that sat in a crystal bowl on my dresser. It was beautiful, for a prison.
Danilo knocked briefly before walking in. The gray-eyed girl in the black habit was with him. “Katerina, I have been remiss in my introductions,” he said, with one hand elegantly on his chest. “Please forgive me. This is Sister Mala, your chaperone.”
I nodded as she gave me a brief but polite bow. I supposed I should have been grateful for her presence. She was saving my reputation from ruin. But I don’t think she was happy with her assignment. And I did not believe she was a religious sister at all.
“It’s my pleasure to serve you, Duchess.” Sister Mala’s eyes sparkled with malice.
The lich tsar smiled. “I want no scandal surrounding our wedding, Katerina. But rest assured, we will be married soon. And you will be crowned empress before long.”
“What makes you think you are the rightful tsar?” I asked dangerously. “You gave up your claim when you married Princess Cantacuzene.”
“I did not!” he said, striding toward me so violently I was afraid he was going to strike me again. Instead, he pushed past me and walked to the window. “My younger brother stole my birthright. The descendants of Nicholas Pavlovich will pay for his theft.”
My imperial great-grandfather had been called many things, but never a thief. “You married a vampire, Your Highness,” I said. “Russian law forbids such a marriage for the tsar.”
He turned away from the window and came back to where I stood. “I am the tsar and I am the law of Russia,” he said, his voice deadly calm, “and I will marry whomever I choose.” He raised his cold fingertips to my chin and tilted my face toward him. “And I choose you, my lovely necromancer. I will never love another as I loved Johanna, but I must marry again and have heirs. The true Romanov dynasty must continue.”
“Your Imperial Majesty,” Sister Mala said. Such nerve she had treating the imposter as the true tsar. “We have heard disturbing reports of another group of Grigori in the city. We do not know who they are working with, but they seek the Morning Star as well.”
The lich tsar let go of me. “We must find out, then,” he said to the girl. “No one must reach the Morning Star before I do.”
I was left alone in the hotel room as Sister Mala swept out after him. More Grigori? How could they be serving another master?
I had not been told to stay in my room, but I heard the heavy, carved wooden door being locked from the outside. I rushed to the balcony but was disappointed to find the elder Grigori who had accompanied us standing guard below. With no way out and still wearing my clothes, I fell asleep on the bed, from boredom as much as exhaustion. I dreamed of moths fluttering outside the netting that surrounded my bed. Hundreds of the small white-winged creatures were trying to get through the netting. I knew if they reached me they would bite me and steal my blood.
It was not long before I was awakened by voices in the hall. The door unlocked and opened. It was the elder Grigori. “You must come with me,” he said softly, pushing back the netting. I gasped, but there were no moths to be seen. It had only been a nightmare. “You are in danger here, Duchess.”
With a swift move, he pulled me up from the bed and toward the French door leading onto the balcony. My balcony was shared with the room next to mine, so we stole quietly into the neighboring room. It was Danilo’s. But Danilo and the mysterious Sister Mala were not there. We heard footsteps in the hallway—and then the sound of my door crashing open.
19
The Grigori motioned for me to be silent, but it was not necessary. I was too scared to make a noise. We heard hushed voices in my room, and I strained my ears to make out the language. French?
My rescuer pulled me back from the balcony and showed me a hidden door behind the curtains. A secret staircase led down into darkness. “Follow me, Duchess,” he whispered.
He did not seem to need a light to see where we were going. Blind, I placed my hands along the rough stucco walls to guide myself down the stairs. When the Grigori reached the bottom, he opened a door and the stairwell was flooded with light. I skipped down the rest of the stairs to follow him.
We were in an empty passageway lit by several small windows along the upper walls. “This is the basement of the hotel, Duchess,” the Grigori explained. “It is a safe way out.”
The passageway was narrow and winding, but we reached a door that was locked from the outside. “Now what?” I asked, beginning to panic.
The Grigori did not reply but knocked once, then two more times upon the heavy wood. Nothing happened at first; then we heard the lock give way and the door swung open inward.
Sister Mala was standing outside. “Hurry!” she said. Behind her in the alley, a black carriage waited for us. She pulled me by the arm and pushed me inside. Danilo was already waiting for me. Sister Mala stayed with the Grigori as the carriage took off. I turned around in alarm, but Danilo took my hand.
“They will be fine, love. It is you and I they are after.”
“Who is after us? The grand duke?” My heart began to race. Had I just escaped from George’s rescue? I tried to pull free of Danilo’s grasp and look back, but the crowded city traffic already blocked my view of the hotel.
Danilo shook his head grimly. “The Order of the Black Lily. They seek the Morning Star as well.”
“The French mages?” Papus and Sucre had tried to raise Konstantin from the dead by sacrificing Princess Alix. “I thought they were working with you.”
“Not any longer.” Danilo’s grip tightened around my wrist. “They have Grigori on their side as well, Katerina. If they catch us, it will be unpleasant.”
“And Papus is working with the Romanovs?” Hope surged within my chest. Perhaps I was about to be rescued.
“Papus will side with whoever pays him the most. And I do not think the Romanovs are the wealthiest players on this chessboard.” Danilo stared out the window, frowning as we went speeding through Alexandria.
“If there’s someone else who wants the sword, why are the French mages after us?” I asked. “Why don’t they just try to find the sword before we do?”
“I’m sure they are pursuing both goals with equal determination. The Grigori are fierce, and every last one of them has been stirred by the possibility of the sword’s return.”
“We can’t run from the French mages forever,” I pointed out.
“No, but we will run toward Cairo, where the fight will be more evenly matched.” He nodded toward the window. “We should be there in a few hours. More of our Grigori are there waiting for us.”
“Our Grigori? How do you keep their loyalty, Danilo?”
His laugh was short, and tired, I thought. “That is not something you should worry your pretty little head over, my dear.”
I leaned back and closed my eyes, thinking my family must be frantic about me by now. If not furious. What if they believed I’d run off on my own? Would George have traveled back to St. Petersburg and said nothing of his elopement plans? My mother must be hysterical. And what would the tsar and the empress think? I did not know if I’d ever be allowed to return to St. Petersburg.
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