The Gathering Storm

CHAPTER FORTY-NINE

 

  When I awoke, I was in a private compartment on a train. "The Sleeping Beauty!" Elena snickered from the sleeping berth above me.

  My head still pounded. I shut my eyes again, praying this would all go away. "Where are we?" I whispered.

  "Two hours from my homeland," Elena said.

  The swaying of the train did nothing to help my head. "I have to go back," I said.

  "There will be no going back, Katerina," she said softly. "You belong in Cetinje, at Danilo's side. He needs a powerful bride and you are the most powerful, and richest, necromancer in St. Petersburg. " I realized my hands were tied. The ropes were cutting into my wrists. I'd never felt less powerful in my life. I began to panic. "Please, Elena. I have no wish to marry your brother. "

  Elena laughed.

  I was growing more frightened by the minute, but I decided on another approach. "Who poisoned Cantacuzene?

  Was it Militza?"

  "You think you are a clever girl, Katerina. " Elena crawled out of the sleeping bunk and smiled. "Just wait until you meet my mother. " I smelled fresh air as we stepped down off the train. Prince Danilo held a protective arm around my waist, leading me to the royal family's carriage.

  Several villagers waved and clapped, held back by guards with bayonets.

  "They have come to see their future crown princess," Danilo whispered in my ear. "Give them a royal smile. "

  I forced a weak smile. I heard them shouting in a strange dialect I could not understand.

  He helped me into the carriage, where Elena, Militza, and Stana sat across from us. "How far to Cetinje?" I asked. The countryside was beautiful as we rode past fields of wild-flowers, but I did not care.

  "We will be there by nightfall," Danilo said.

  "Thank the saints," Elena muttered, crossing herself.

  Militza laughed and stared at me with her dark eyes.

  I closed my own eyes, forcing myself to remain calm. Even in a carriage full of vampires, I knew they needed me for their ritual and I was not in mortal danger for the time being. I wondered what my parents had thought when they'd heard I had left. And the grand duke. What had happened to him at the herb shop?

  Your Imperial Highness? I tried again to reach him.

  Perhaps his faerie powers could not reach this far across the continent.

  Danilo picked up my hand, slowly tracing the length of my fingers with his own. I fought the bile in my throat. "I can sense her power already," he said with relish.

  "That is your imagination," Militza whispered. "You cannot be sensitive to such things. "

  "Not yet, anyway," Elena said.

  "It is strange," Danilo said. "But there is something almost electrical when I touch her. "

  I pulled my hand away. I did not want him touching me. Ever.

  "You imagine things," Militza said. "Do not say such nonsense in front of Mother. "

  Danilo laughed, settling back in his seat more comfortably. "Do not worry about me and Mother. You are the one who disobeyed her instructions. "

  "Do not speak of such things right now," Militza hissed. I slowed my breathing, pretending to drift off to sleep.

  Danilo was pouting. "You should have waited for me, and then we would have destroyed Cantacuzene completely before she could say anything.

  We have no way of knowing what secrets she told before the tsar's son finished her off for us. "

  "There was no way I could have known she was so different from us," Militza said, her voice a whisper. "She should not have been able to wake up from the frankincense. " She sighed. "If you had come with me that night, instead of staying in your suite with the bar wench, we would not be having this conversation right now. We could have cut off her head after I poisoned her. "

  I felt sick. I had never believed, deep down, that the crown prince was actually in love with me. Hearing this hurt my pride more than anything. I rolled away from the prince with my eyes still closed, and tried to snuggle down in the corner of the carriage.

  "Sister, you say the most wicked things with that tongue of yours. " The crown prince's voice was cold. "Take care, lest something happen to it. "

  "Don't you dare threaten me," Militza countered.

  "Hush! Both of you!" Stana said. A hand brushed my forehead, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear. I tried very hard not to shudder. It was the same way my mother used to brush my hair out of my face when I was little.

  But it did not comfort me at all.

  "I still say we should have killed this one and have done with it," Militza said.

  "No," Stana said. "Our parents have been looking for a necromancer like her for a very long time. For your sake, as well as for Danilo's. "

  "I suppose she will be useful to me," Militza said, sighing.

  All these years, I'd tried my best to keep my curse hidden, thinking it made me a terrible person. But Princess Militza had just showed me what true evil could be.

  I must have truly fall en asleep after that, for the next thing I knew, Elena was shaking me roughly. "Wake up, Katerina Alexandrovna. Welcome to the Black Mountain. "

  I did not want to open my eyes. The castle where King Nikola and Queen Milena lived was enormous: Gothic and intimidating, with huge gargoyles perched over the front entrance. They looked as if they could leap down and rip apart anyone who tried to enter-or leave-the castle without permission.

  "Come with me, my love," Prince Danilo said, dragging me from the carriage. "The coachmen will bring your bags in. We must introduce you to our parents. They are anxious to meet you. "

  "But I am exhausted from the trip. Perhaps I might be allowed to freshen up first?"

  Militza frowned. "To keep the king and queen waiting would be disrespectful. "

  "Will my mother be joining me soon?" I asked.

  No one answered my question.

  Our footsteps echoed on the parquet flooring in the palace entrance.

  There was no grand staircase, as in the palaces of St. Petersburg, but there was a grand foyer, with ornately plastered ceilings. Several servants stood waiting to greet us. A regal-looking couple stood behind the servants. My heart began to hammer.

  "My children! My children have returned to me!" the large man said, his arms open to embrace his daughters. His voice was warm and booming.

  "Papa!" Elena flew into his arms first and planted a kiss on his cheek.

  She then turned to kiss her mother, the dark beauty standing next to him.

  "Papa, we have a very special guest," Danilo said. "May I present Her Highness Duchess Katerina Alexandrovna of Oldenburg? Katerina, my father, King Nikola; and my mother, Queen Milena. " He did not need to give me a sharp squeeze on the arm. I still would have curtsied politely before his parents. I knew the proper etiquette for greeting a ruling sovereign-even if he was a vampire.

  King Nikola was an imposing man, still handsome in his older years, his hair streaked with strands of gray. His dark eyes bore down on me. "What a beauty! Welcome to Cetinje, Katerina of Oldenburg. " Before I knew what was happening, he'd embraced me in a crushing hug. He reminded me of the tsar. He did not seem like an evil blood drinker at first glance.

  "Thank you, Your Majesty," I squeaked.

  When he released me, I looked at his wife, Queen Milena. Something about her frightened me. She was a beautiful older woman, with long dark curls and hypnotic black eyes. I felt as if I already knew her. I curtsied again.

  She held out her hands to me. "Welcome, my child. We have been waiting for you for a long time. "

  I could not say I was glad to be there. I felt a surge of panic in my chest. I had to get out of there. I had to get away from this woman. Her fingers were cold as she embraced me.

  "Come, let us dress for dinner," Elena said. "There is a feast tonight in your honor, Katerina. " She pulled me away from both her mother and Danilo, leading me deeper into the palace.
>
  The palace was much larger than Betskoi House, but of course nowhere near as large as the Winter Palace or Anichkov. My room was next to Elena's, which she shared with her younger sister Anna, who would be attending Smolny in the fall. Elena's eldest sister, Princess Zorka, and her husband, the Crown Prince of Serbia, lived in a fashionable house across the street from the palace.

  Elena said I would be meeting them at dinner. "Her children are adorable. We will play with the babies tomorrow," she said. "You'll want to sleep late, though, after tonight's ritual. It is . . . exhausting. Especially for the fiancee. "

  "The ritual is tonight?" I asked. "Before my mother arrives?" I could see no way of escaping this.

  "Yes," she said. "Some things are best kept within our immediate family.

  The ritual, well, you might say it's . . . draining. " I swallowed. I turned to the crimson dress hanging up outside the armoire. "Is this my dress?" I asked. "It's beautiful. " Not quite Paris fashion, it had a short red jacket with heavy embroidery. "Your mother was wearing a belt like this," I said, touching the metal beadwork at the gown's waist.

  "Yes, it's traditional. We will all be in traditional dress this evening. " I ran to the window, hoping to see a chance for escape. The window was bolted shut, of course. And I was three stories up, with no balcony or other method of climbing down. I tried to stay calm. I would think of something. I hoped.

  I dressed myself, without the help of any maid. I did not think anyone would mistake me for a Montenegrin, with my wheat-colored hair and pale eyes, but I did not look quite like myself either. And the dress did not flatter one's waist. I'd noticed that when I had first seen the queen.

  After one last glance in the mirror, I left my room and hurried downstairs.

  Elena was in the hallway holding a little girl, who looked to be only two.

  "Katerina! This is my youngest sister, Vera! Maman is going to have another boy in the fall. "

  "She is expecting?" No wonder her dresses fit her so. "How do you know it will be a boy?"

  "Maman always knows. "

  Princess Vera climbed out of her sister's arms and held her arms up to me. I'd not picked up a child since my little brother's death. Nervously, I lifted her, and she clasped her little hands around my neck.

  "You have made a new friend!" Elena laughed. "Come, we must take Vera back to the nursery before dinner. "

  The nanny had already put the three children of Princess Zorka to bed for the night. Princess Vera went quietly to her nanny's arms. We tiptoed out of the nursery silently.

  "You will meet Zorka and her husband, Prince Petar, at dinner. "

  "A Serbian prince?" I asked.

  "In exile, for the time being. But Maman is working on that. " Elena smiled to herself and pushed open the swinging doors to the dining room.

  The vast room was heavy with the scent of roses. There were several large arrangements down the long heavy wood table. The crown prince came over and led me to the table. "Enchante, my love," he said, kissing my hand. "You look beautiful in my country's native costume. " I said nothing. He introduced me to his sister Zorka and her husband, Prince Petar Karađorđević. He was an unpleasant-looking man, much older than his wife. Princess Zorka looked a lot like her mother and sisters, dark-eyed and dark-haired, but not quite so deadly. There was a maternal softness to her smile. Perhaps she was not a witch like the others?

  "Hurry! Hurry! To the table!" Queen Milena was rushing everyone to stand at their places for the entrance of King Nikola.

  The king entered, sat at the head of the table, and signaled for everyone else to sit. A servant appeared at the king's left side and began to pour the wine. It did not take him long to come around the table and fill everyone's glass. Other servants stood waiting at the doorway, ready to bring in the first course.

  King Nikola raised his wineglass. "Tonight we come together to celebrate the most important night of my firstborn son's life. Tonight, he becomes a man. Tonight, he becomes more than a man. " I glanced around the table. No one, not even Prince Petar, seemed to be taken aback by this announcement. Except me.

  "And tonight we also celebrate the arrival of Danilo's future bride, Katerina of Oldenburg. " His dark eyes twinkled like cold stars as he looked at me. "Welcome, Katerina. We have indeed been waiting a long time for you. "

  I nodded stiffly and raised my glass with the rest of the dinner party. It was a local wine, a rich, sweet red. As soon as the toasts were over, the servants rushed in to serve the first course: a traditional soup with vegetables in a beef broth. This was followed by fresh trout, caught in the nearby Lake Skavda, a smoked ham, polenta, and local cheeses.

  "Does your mother have a Russian cook or a French cook?" Queen Milena asked me.

  "She has both, Your Majesty," I answered, hoping I did not sound pretentious.

  She nodded. "I do not care for French cuisine. It is too rich for my tastes. "

  "I love French cooking," Elena said. "But our cook's smoked ham is the best. "

  It was, overall, a pleasant dinner. There was no blood drinking in sight.

  No black-magic chanting. I glanced around the table at smiling, gay faces.

  Militza and Stana were laughing at something Zorka's husband had said.

  Elena was whispering to her sister Anna. Anna and Elena could have been twins, instead of being a year apart.

  Danilo was listening to his father discuss his latest work of poetry, which the national theater was staging as a ball et. His father was a great patron of the arts and enjoyed writing plays and poetry. I was not sure I wanted to know any of Queen Milena's favorite pastimes. She gazed around at her children affectionately, and then her gaze rested on me with a wicked smile. I tried to smile back, to show her I was not afraid, but I didn't think I was successful.

  The servants began to clear away the table as soon as King Nikola rose from his chair. "Katerina Alexandrovna, I would like to show you the drawing room. Danilo, would you escort the young lady?" The king placed his wife's hand on his own arm.

  "My dear," Danilo said smoothly, taking my hand. I would have believed the prince passionately in love with me if I hadn't overheard Militza in the carriage. He behaved like a perfect gentleman. The devil.

  We entered a grand room with silk-paneled walls, on which hung several large portraits. "These are my ancestors, Duchess," King Nikola said.

  "These are the Vladiki of House Peidros-Njegos. " Several black-eyed men stared down at me from their paintings. The earliest men wore the black robes and headpieces of the Orthodox clergy.

  The later bishop princes wore only the less formal princely jackets, with various medals on their chests. The last portrait on the wall was the one of King Nikola, in his own jacket. None of them wore crowns denoting their sovereign status.

  The opposite wall held portraits of the king and queen's children and a beautiful portrait of Queen Milena when she was younger. Her dark eyes flashed seductively in the painting. "How pretty!" I could not help saying.

  "That was many years, and many pregnancies, ago," the queen said with a sigh, one protective hand on her abdomen. She pulled me away from the others, and we walked along the grand hallway, looking at other portraits.

  "There is something about your eyes that is so familiar," I said. "I suppose it is just that your daughters favor you. But I could swear it is something more than that. "

  The princess stared at me silently for a few seconds. "Perhaps it is my sister who you are thinking of?" she said finally.

  I shook my head. "I do not think I have ever met your sister. "

  "But of course you have, dear. Princess Cantacuzene. " I felt the blood drain from my face.

  "You seem very surprised," Queen Milena said with a laugh that sounded almost like a cackle. "I don't suppose my dear sister ever mentioned me?"

  "Only that your son is about to become a blood drinker. And that your daughters are powerful sorceresse
s. " I hesitated before adding, "I take it you were never close. "

  Queen Milena laughed some more. "In truth, we were only half sisters, sharing the same father. " She stared out the window into the black night.

  "My mother was the maid for the princess's mother. She was turned out of the house when she found out she was with child. Our father, Prince Dragomir, married my mother off to one of his noblemen, Count Vujovic, and I carried his own name. But Mother never let me forget I carry the blood of Bessaraba in my veins. "

  "And so do your children," I muttered. Had the ghost at Vorontsov Palace been speaking of Princess Cantacuzene or Queen Milena that night? Or even her daughter Militza? Why must ghosts always be so ambiguous?

  "She was truly an enemy of the tsar, you know," Princess Militza said, joining us at the window. "She has been plotting to return her corrupted lover to the throne with her undead army. "

  I felt cold. And confused. "Ruxandra?" How old had the princess been?

  The queen did not notice my shudder. "Ruxandra is the name she lived under for the last sixty-odd years, after one of our ancestresses. Her true name was Princess Johanna Marija Cantacuzene. It is sad that there are still prejudices against blood drinkers in this day and age. Konstantin was turned by Johanna and they attempted to reclaim the throne from his brother Nicholas. "

  I could not believe what I was hearing. It seemed to me that no member of the House of Bessaraba had our tsar's best interests at heart. "But Konstantin Pavlovich, he is most certainly dead. Isn't he?" I asked.

  The queen smiled and shrugged. "He was staked by the bogatyr in 1831. But I believe my dear sister has been raising the undead army for him. "

  I had to get back to St. Petersburg and I had to warn the tsar. But I had no money, and no way of traveling. There wasn't even a railroad line out of Cetinje. If I managed to escape from the Montenegrins, how would I be able to leave the capital city?

  "Come, my dear. " Princess Militza grabbed me by the arm. "It will be midnight soon, and it will be time for the prince's ascension. You have a very valuable part to play. " Her pretty white teeth gleamed. She steered me back toward the others, where Prince Danilo took my arm.

  "But what about the Dekebristi?" I asked. "If you are truly the tsar's ally, you must send him a warning!"

  Queen Milena smiled. "Do not worry about your tsar. Johanna is dead and can do nothing more for her precious Konstantin. " I wasn't so sure. What if she had already revived him? What if that was why she had been so ill the past spring? Such a ritual would have required an enormous amount of energy, even if the necromancer had been an ancient and powerful vampire.

  The crown prince's smile was as wicked as his mother's. "Tonight will be magical, my love. Soon it will be time to go to the monastery, where a very beautiful ritual is to take place. "

  "We cannot be married before my birthday, Danilo. You know my parents will not allow it. "

  "That does not matter," he said with a low laugh. "I shal wait patiently for our wedding night, but tonight is another matter completely. " He caressed my cheek in a threatening manner. "Do not forget what will happen to your loved ones if you do not cooperate. "

  His renewed threat filled me with dread. Militza took me by the arm again. "We're going to be a good girl, aren't we?" she asked.

  "Please let me go," I said. "If your family is truly aligned with the tsar, why must you do this?"

  "Even the Light Court has need of friends that follow the paths of darkness. With your blood, Danilo will become a more powerful ally for the tsar. Now, if you're not going to behave properly, we shal have to do something about that. " She placed a cloth with a sickeningly sweet smell over my face. I tried not to breathe in, but the fumes overpowered me anyway.

  The last thing I was aware of was sliding to the floor, with Militza not bothering to catch me.