George finally put me back down but kept a protective arm around my waist. “What is required of me?” he asked. “I’d been led to believe only a necromancer could carry the Morning Star.”

Papus looked at me. “If you are correct about the sphinx’s riddle, it sounds as if there must be both a mage and a necromancer to retrieve the sword.”

“I thought it took years of study in order to be initiated past the seven gates,” I said. “George, how did you push through so quickly?”

“Russia is in danger. My father is in danger,” he said, his blue eyes boring into mine as he squeezed my hand. “You are in danger. I needed to finish my studies and return to St. Petersburg as swiftly as possible.”

Papus looked guilty. “I told him it was foolish, but he was stubborn, Duchess. Even when his health seemed at the brink of collapse, he refused to quit.”

I gave a little cry and looked from the Frenchman to the grand duke. “What have you done to yourself?” I demanded. If he was truly as powerful as Papus now, what was the cost to his health?

“We know where to find the seven gates, Your Imperial Highness,” Papus said.

I looked behind him and noticed the Grigori had regathered. They seemed tense. And excited.

I was grateful that George had found me. But I also hated that he and Papus had been searching for me instead of the Morning Star. I did not want him distracted from what was important. Stopping Konstantin and protecting the tsar was most imperative.

“Let me go to the Graylands with Papus, then,” I said. “He can get me through the seven gates and I will bring back the sword.”

“Fine. I’m going with you.” George spotted the bundle containing my clothes and picked them up for me.

“You can’t,” I said. “It’s too dangerous.”

“Too dangerous for you to travel without me, Katiya.” He pulled me close to him once more. “I can’t lose you again. I am not letting go of you until we are husband and wife.”

A hot flush crept over my skin. “You still want to marry me? No one will believe that Danilo did not compromise me. Even if Mala was with us, pretending to be my chaperone.”

“I don’t give a damn about that. Unless you’ve changed your mind about us?” he said, his faerie blue eyes shimmering with silver specks. He was trying to read my thoughts.

I stood on my tiptoes to kiss him. “Never.” I would never stop loving my grand duke.

“Then we should be married now,” he said. “Before we leave Egypt.”

I held out the folds of my theatrical gown. I was wearing white already, but the hem was stained with Mala’s blood. “This can’t be a good omen,” I said.

George was not superstitious. “You look beautiful,” he reassured me.

“But we should stop the lich tsar and Princess Cantacuzene first,” I said. “They will come after Papus. He’s in danger.”

The French mage only smiled at this and shook his head.

George took my hand and raised it to his lips. “Marry me first, Katiya. Papus and the sword are both safe from Konstantin, I swear to you.”


There was a Coptic monastery between the ruins of Abydos and the riverside town of Belianeh, where a much nicer priest than the one in Riga listened to our confessions. He looked at my odd dress curiously but thankfully did not notice my bare feet. George showed him the papers he’d brought from St. Petersburg: copies of both of our baptism records and the letter the priest in St. Petersburg had written, stating that we were both of legal age and unmarried to anyone else.