The Unfailing Light

The apple turnovers were a special treat for dessert that night after huge bowls of belly-warming cabbage stew. Sister Anna brought out her ukulele and even persuaded Madame Tomilov to sing with her. Madame Orbellani had a bright blush in her cheeks as she danced a polonaise around the dining room with Elena. I pushed my turnover toward Augusta's plate. She gobbled it happily.

I could not understand why the empress wanted everyone so giddy. Of course she wouldn't want everyone sleep-deprived and pale, but this much happiness was abnormal. And definitely not healthy. Monsieur Sucre. I frowned. I began to wonder if it was indeed the empress who had sent the fae cook, or someone with mischief in mind. Would Miechen have even told the empress about the ghost? Or did Miechen send the cook herself?

"Dance with me, Katerina Alexandrovna!" Elena said, trying to pull me away from the table. She was laughing and out of breath.

Sister Anna was now playing an old folk ballad based on the tale of St. George and the dragon. In her song, St. George actually turned into a dragon to fight the evil one. It was an interesting version of the story. I smiled and shook my head at Elena. "Dance with Erzsebet. I have studying to do."

Augusta was laughing. "Can you imagine turning into a dragon?"

I shrugged, but Alix looked fascinated with the idea. "Yes," she whispered. "Wouldn't that be wonderful?"

Augusta laughed again. "I would be the dragon princess and you would be the dragon queen." She took Alix's hands and they swung around the table, just like Elena and Erzsebet.

I left the dining hall and passed the library on my way back to our room. I paused, remembering Sucre's warnings, but I needed to borrow the German text of Faust for our upcoming German exam.

I peeked into the library, seeing nothing unusual. Cautiously, I stepped into the room and approached the bookcase. The temperature in the room dropped suddenly to below freezing. I could see my breath as I gasped.

"I am not here to hurt you," I whispered, trying to remain calm. "I only want to help you. But I will need to know your name to do that."

I heard a low hiss behind me as several books flew off the shelves toward me. I threw up my arms to shield myself-a few of the books were heavy. "Mon Dieu!" I screamed.

The gloom and malice all came flooding back to me, and I started to regret throwing away Sucre's muffins. I could feel the ghost trying to hurt me. My chest tightened, making it difficult to breathe. Why was she so full of hatred? And why did she haunt the library?

Goethe's Faust was one of the books that had fallen from the shelves. I grabbed it quickly and retreated to my room, leaving the other books open on the floor. The ghost could clean up her own mess. The dark feelings had passed as soon as I crossed the threshold into the hallway, and by the time I returned to my room and sat down on my cot, I could breathe easily again. I pushed up my sleeves to look at the bruises on my arms from the books hitting me. At least they would be hidden under my long sleeves, so Madame Tomilov and Sister Anna would not see. Hopefully, Elena and Aurora would not see them either.

I was already changed into my long-sleeved nightgown and tucked under my covers, reading Faust, when the girls returned to our room sometime later that night.

They were giggling and out of breath. "Katiya, why did you leave the dining hall? You missed all the fun!" Elena gushed.

Aurora flopped back on her cot. "We wanted to dance all night, but Madame would not let us!"

Elena shook her head. "I think Madame would have let us, if Sister Anna had not reminded her we needed to go to sleep."

"Are all of you ready for our German exam tomorrow?" I asked. "Madame Orbellani sagte dass es schwierig sein wurde."

Aurora rolled her eyes. "Of course I'm ready. I don't care how difficult Madame Orbellani believes she's made it. I grew up with a German nanny."

"And I grew up in Germany," Alix said.

"I plan to copy off of Alix," Aurora said.

"And I plan to copy off of Aurora," Elena said, still twirling around the room.

Aurora laughed as she got ready for bed. "Then I shall mark every answer wrong on purpose."

Elena stuck her tongue out at Aurora playfully.

Alix smiled at them, looking more animated than she had in months.

I was glad the three of them had warmed up to each other, even if it was only because of some enchanted pastries. Still, I couldn't help feeling a little bit left out. Which was ridiculous. Elena and I weren't really friends. She'd tried to poison me, and had cast a charm on me. We could never have a true friendship, like the kind Dariya and I shared. I would never be able to trust any of the Montenegrins. And pastry or no pastry, I wasn't sure I trusted Alix of Hesse-Darmstadt either.