The Morning Star

That evening I was sitting down to dinner with my parents when my brother, Petya, came home. He was still dressed in his regimental uniform, having been on duty all day at the Order's headquarters. "Katiya, I am to escort you to Anichkov Palace for an audience with the tsar."

Both Papa and Maman looked shocked. I stood up quickly. "Do not be alarmed," I said, throwing my napkin onto my chair. "It is probably nothing."

"Petya, is this about the Order?" Papa asked.

"I'm not certain" was all my brother said. He was probably as mystified as my parents.

I grabbed my wrap and followed my brother into a black-and-gold-trimmed carriage. Anichkov Palace was not far from our house on Millionaya Street. As the carriage rolled through the ornate iron gates and past the wooded park surrounding the palace, my brother frowned. "What have you done now, Katiya? I won't tell our parents, but I must know what sort of trouble you've been causing."

I gave him a nervous shrug. What did the tsar plan to say to me? Would he approve of me as a wife for his son? I didn't dare to hope. Perhaps he was ready to allow me to go to medical school in Zurich. But now that my studies were going so well with Dr. Badmaev, did I still want to leave St. Petersburg?

Petya stepped out of the carriage as it rolled to a stop at the palace entrance. He turned and offered his hand to me. I was shaking much more than I'd realized. "I won't leave you unless I'm ordered to," he said, his face stern and serious like any soldier's.

I loved my brother, even if he did always think the worst of me. "I'll be fine," I told him.

To my embarrassment, we were taken to the tsar's library. Only hours ago I'd been kissing the tsar's son in this very room. I blushed and glanced around quickly, searching for George, but the library was empty except for the tsar. He was seated behind his handsome Hepplewhite desk. "Leave us, Commander Oldenburg."

There was nothing Petya could do but click his heels and bow. With one last worried glance at me, he turned and left, closing the door behind him. I was alone with Tsar Alexander. As he stood up, the lamp on the desk cast long, menacing shadows behind him. "Katerina Alexandrovna," he said, coming around the desk and sitting on the corner. "My son and I have had a long discussion about you."

I said nothing. I was too frightened to speak. My entire future was in this man's hands.

Even if he had not been such a large man, the tsar would have been intimidating. But there was a reason he was called Sasha the Bear. He loomed over me like a Kodiak. And this was without transforming into the bogatyr, the ancient warrior hero of Russia. I hoped he had not summoned me here because he needed me to perform the ritual. If such had been the case, we would have been joined in the library by several Orthodox clergy and wizards of the Inner Circle, not to mention the empress herself.

"George tells me the two of you wish to marry."

"Yes, Your Imperial Majesty." It came out barely above a whisper.

The tsar's face finally relaxed into a smile. "My dear, nothing would make me happier. I've seen the way my son behaves around you. You've brought a light into his dark soul."

I stared at him with relief and shock. Me? Bringing George light? "I-I'd believed it was the other way around, Your Imperial Majesty," I stammered. Not that I wished to argue with the tsar.

"Nonsense. George has always been the serious one, tormented by his own demons," the tsar said. "I'm happy that he has found someone who will not let him wallow in the darkness. I've watched you grow up, Katerina, as the daughter of one of my favorite cousins. The shadows of the Dark Court haunt you, but you've always longed to stay out of their grasp. You can keep my son safe from those shadows."

"But my family," I could not help myself from saying. "Maman is attached to the Dark Court, as striga."

Tsar Alexander shook his head. "You are a princess of imperial blood, Katerina Alexandrovna, and I know you will make a fine grand duchess. However, there is one sacrifice you must be willing to make. A daughter-in-law of the tsar cannot practice medicine. So I'm afraid medical school is out of the question."

The happiness that had dared to bubble up inside me suddenly vanished. "I cannot become a doctor?" What sort of cruel joke was the tsar playing on me?

The tsar folded his arms. "You will have plenty to occupy your time raising a young family."

"And my responsibilities as your necromancer?" I asked.

His smile was grim. "We pray to God your services won't be needed any longer."

"But it's only a matter of time before Konstantin Pavlovich returns. Unless the Koldun has discovered a way to prevent it?"

The tsar frowned, and for a second I believed I had angered him. "I have faith that the Inner Circle will prevent the lich from returning, Katerina. That burden falls upon the current Koldun and will one day fall upon my son. You must only concern yourself with providing the empress and me with grandchildren." His face softened again. "But not too soon, I should think. The empress believes she is much too young to be a grandmother."

I blushed. "Your Imperial Majesty, I am only seventeen." About to turn eighteen. I did not know what else to say. The tsar was asking too much of me. Give up my childhood dream or lose the boy I loved? How could he ask me to choose?

"No hurry, my dear. No hurry. In fact, I think a long engagement might be most suitable. The empress does need time to come around. She still thinks of her sons as little children. But it's time Nicholas begins to think about marriage as well."

I kept silent. I knew neither the tsar nor his wife was fond of Alix, so there was no point in angering him. "And Xenia as well," I offered instead.

"Xenia?" The tsar looked at me in surprise. "It will be years before she is ready to marry."

"And perhaps years before you and the empress are ready to let her marry," I said, immediately hoping I had not been too bold.

But he stood up again and retreated behind his desk, indicating that our meeting was over. No fatherly bear hug, for which I was grateful. "Katerina," he said as I curtsied and turned toward the door, "do you still have a decision to make or has it already been made?"

I stared at him, my throat dry and my heart pounding. "I... " But as badly as I wanted to please the tsar, I couldn't. "I have to think, Your Imperial Majesty."

He nodded. There was no way I could tell whether my answer pleased or disappointed him. Perhaps it was what he had expected.

With another hasty curtsy, I fled from his library and found my brother standing at attention outside. "Take me home, Petya," I said, sweeping past him toward the palace entrance. I did not want to see George Alexandrovich. Not yet. Had he known his father was going to ask such a thing of me?

My brother pestered me with questions the entire ride home. "It had nothing to do with the lich tsar, Petya," I said, leaning my head back and closing my eyes. "And it wasn't about the Order. I'll tell you everything tomorrow. I'm just tired."

It had been an exhausting interview. I begged him to tell our parents something, anything, so I could just go straight to bed when we got home. With a worried frown, he finally nodded. As the carriage drew closer to Betskoi House, Petya leaned forward and put his hand on top of mine. "I just wish I knew what it was so I could make it better."

I glanced up at him. Sometimes my brother's overprotectiveness made me want to cry. "I wish you could too."