Robin Bridges - The Morning Star

Danilo sighed as the hotel came into view. “About bloody time.”

“Do you think the Grigori know where we are?” I asked. “At this point, Duchess, I honestly do not care. We are checking in and I am taking a hot bath. I suggest you do the same.”

Sister Mala and the Grigori who’d rescued me in Alexandria were waiting for us in the lobby. Sister Mala accompanied me to my room, exclaiming sarcastically the whole way how much she enjoyed my company and hoped I was pleased with her service. “I’ll have the servants send up hot water for you, Duchess.”

I glared at her but did not mention what a poor chaperone she made. I had no idea if she even would have been able to travel in the Graylands with me and the lich tsar. “I don’t suppose I have fresh clothes here, do I?” I asked.

“We were unable to bring the trunks with us. However, I will find something suitable for you,” Sister Mala said. “The crown prince will expect you downstairs in the dining room properly dressed.”

“Not tonight,” I begged. “I want nothing more than a bath and a good night’s rest.”

She shrugged. “If the crown prince will allow it” was all she would say.

Fortunately, the crown prince was merciful. By the time I’d finished scrubbing several layers of desert sand off my skin in the bathtub, Sister Mala had returned with a beautiful blue gown, comparable to the latest Paris fashions, with matching blue kid slippers and soft kid gloves. She also brought a gossamer nightgown and robe.

“The crown prince hopes you have a pleasant night’s rest and requests your presence in the morning at breakfast. He begs that you at least take some tea and bread before retiring tonight.”

I sighed. “Tell him he has my gratitude. I will have just a little tea, if you would be so kind as to send for it.”

Her eyes were cold as she nodded. “Of course, Duchess.”

As soon as she left, I slipped into the nightgown and robe before she could return. The ensemble was close to indecent. Maman would be horrified to see me wearing such a gown. A lump formed in my throat as I thought of her and Papa. They had probably given up looking for me, Petya as well. Maman had either taken to her bed with hysterics or set off for Biarritz to escape the scandal of a runaway daughter. I only hoped the tsar’s men did not harass my family thinking they knew where I was.

Sister Mala returned with a sharp knock. She entered, followed by a servant with a tea tray. “Put it down over there,” she said. As soon as the servant had left, Sister Mala sat in one of the chairs.

“Are you joining me for tea?” I asked, clutching my robe. I wished I had a long black habit, as she did.

“We are good friends, you and I,” she said, her words startling me. “We have been traveling companions for a while now. The crown prince would not want any scandal to arise that could taint your betrothal.”

I understood her perfectly. She would lie to anyone who asked whether I’d been out of her sight.

“He and I are not betrothed. We have not been betrothed for over a year.”

Sister Mala shook her head as she poured out two cups of hot tea. “How silly of you not to remember, Duchess. You and the crown prince are to be married in St. Petersburg next month. It has been a long-standing secret engagement. But as soon as Konstantin becomes the tsar, he will want to be married as soon as possible.”

She handed me one of the teacups and smiled. “He is certain you will be just as anxious as he is.”

“Why should I be?” I hesitated before drinking the tea. I did not trust Sister Mala one bit.

“Are you not excited about becoming tsarina? It’s a fairy tale come true!”

“Not my fairy tale. And I don’t believe he will become tsar. The Romanovs will stop him.”

“The Romanovs and their foolish bogatyr?” Sister Mala laughed. “The Romanovs are weak, especially the current tsar. He can do nothing without his precious necromancer. And now his necromancer has changed her loyalty to the true tsar. Konstantin.”

There was something familiar in the girl’s laugh. And a familiar faint fae sparkle in her eyes. I could have sworn I’d known her before the trip to Egypt. “Which court do you belong to, Sister Mala?” I asked. “Dark Court or Light?”

Her eyes flashed in anger, and I saw my guess had not been wrong. “There are those of fae blood who do not belong to either court, Duchess.” She drew herself up, sitting regally in her chair as if she were a queen. “There are wild fae as well, and we are more dangerous than any court creature you’ll ever meet.”

“Truly?” I murmured. “Then why do you follow the crown prince?”

She stood up. “I follow the true tsar, Konstantin Pavlovich! His lady, Princess Cantacuzene, saved my mother’s life.” As she crossed the room in graceful strides, she seemed almost to float. “My mother was a wild fae, hunted by one of the Dark Court princes.”

“Princes?” The Grand Duchess Miechen had several boys, but none of them were older than me. To have been hunting Mala’s mother…

“It was not the Grand Duchess Miechen’s court at the time,” she said, as if reading my mind. “Almost twenty years ago, the Dark Court was ruled by a French faerie. My mother was a Polish noblewoman who attended Princess Cantacuzene. She was attacked by one of the French princes and left to fend for herself and her unborn child. Princess Cantacuzene took me at my mother’s pleading and brought me to a Polish family of dancers in St. Petersburg.”

I sat up, finally recognizing the gray eyes. “You are Mathilde Kschessinskaya, the ballerina Nicholas has been obsessed with!”

She smiled as she pulled her head covering off. Black curls fell down around her shoulders. “He will always love me, Duchess. And I will be there to comfort him, of course, when his father loses the throne.”

“He is the true heir! And you don’t love him at all, do you?”

“He is nothing but a handsome young fool. Konstantin Pavlovich is the true tsar. It is at his command that I keep the young tsarevitch occupied. Along with many other grand dukes.”

“Danilo told you to flirt with Nicholas?” I was astonished. It seemed to me Danilo would have wanted George’s attention diverted. Perhaps it was truly Konstantin’s logic dictating the crown prince’s behavior.

“He is no longer your precious Danilo,” Mala snapped. Then her face melted back into the icy smile. “But if it makes you happy to pretend, Duchess, what can it hurt? It is still the crown prince’s lips that will be kissing you and the crown prince’s arms that will hold you in the night, when you become Konstantin’s bride.”

I stood up and walked to my bed, protected from insects and other nasty creatures by a thin gauze canopy. I pushed the curtains aside and turned to Mala. “I think I would like to retire now, if you do not mind.”

She laughed and rang for the servant to pick up the tea tray. “Sweet dreams, Duchess.”

She followed the servant out, leaving me to sink down on my bed in misery. My only comfort was knowing that she was here in Egypt and not mesmerizing the tsarevitch. I curled up under my covers, hoping at least that Princess Alix and Nicholas were happy now.

When I went down to the dining room for breakfast the next morning, I was wearing the blue walking gown that Mala had brought me. Danilo rose from his seat to kiss my hand. “Enchanté, Katerina. I trust you slept well?”

“Not a single dream,” I said, sitting in the chair he held out for me. I had been worried my night would be full of nightmares of mummies and blood drinkers and evil fae ballerinas. Instead, I’d had a blissful night of dreamless sleep. I wondered if Mala had put something in my tea after all.

And now I was ravenously hungry. A waiter appeared at my elbow, pouring hot coffee into a cup.

“I’ve already ordered for us,” Danilo said, settling back into his own chair. “They make the most wonderful crepes here.”

“This isn’t your first time in Egypt, then,” I said, thankful for the strong Turkish coffee.

“I came with Militza and her husband on their honeymoon.”

“How cozy.”

He laughed. “Militza only knew that I was searching for Ankh-al-Sekhem. She did not know why.”

“Because she did not know of Konstantin’s hold on you.”

He set his coffee down and looked up at me. This morning, it was truly the combined crown prince and lich tsar, whose oddly colored green eyes stared back at me. “That might have been a mistake, but now it makes no difference,” he said. “If she wishes to keep her hold on the St. Petersburg vampires, she must support me as tsar.”

Then Danilo did not yet know about my mother. The fact that the new striga was actually more powerful than his sister might make my mother appear to be a threat to him as well. I would keep her secret as long as I could to protect her. “Did you speak to Militza that night after the ballet?”

He nodded as the waiter brought our breakfast dishes. The food smelled heavenly and slightly spicy. There was cinnamon in the crepes filling. “Militza told me I needed to see you, Katerina. That as a necromancer, you could help me exorcise Konstantin. But it was already too late. We’ve become one entity. And I’ve found it not displeasing.”

“Militza thought I could help you?” I was shocked. The grand duchess was greatly overestimating my abilities.

“She told me you were the only one with powers close to those of our mother’s. Or Princess Cantacuzene’s. She did not realize I’d already found Ankh-al-Sekhem in the Graylands.”