The Unfailing Light

That night I had a terrible dream, not about the ghost, or Madame Metcherskey, or Princess Alix, but about George Alexandrovich. He was surrounded by a circle of crimson-robed men who were chanting something in low, deep tones. I couldn't make out what they were saying. George held a black candle in his hands, and was staring intently into its flame. His sapphire-blue eyes reflected the candlelight. The men's chanting grew louder before it suddenly stopped. Then George blew the candle out, leaving everyone in total darkness.

I could smell the burning wick and the smoky air burned the back of my throat. I heard his soft voice. "Isn't this what you wanted, Katiya?"

I woke up with a start and was startled to find tears rolling down my cheeks. I glanced across the room in the dim moonlight, and could make out Elena and Alix sleeping soundly in their own cots. I took a deep breath. It was just a ridiculous dream, I told myself, wiping the tears from my face. It didn't mean anything.

I tried to go back to sleep but was haunted by George's face illuminated by the black candle. He had looked thinner, his cheeks sunken and pale. Like a corpse. Why would he think I wanted him to become a black mage? I closed my eyes. Did he believe I wished that he belonged to the Dark Court as I did?

You are being ridiculous, Katerina Alexandrovna, I told myself. The grand duke was most likely pretending to be a dark wizard in order to spy on them for his father. The tsar had sent him to Paris to discover a way to prevent the return of Konstantin. George was strong. He would not be tempted by the Order of the Black Lily.

The walls in our dark room seemed to close in on me, and I had difficulty breathing. It was too stuffy, and I felt like I had to escape. It was the darkness itself pressing in. I scrambled out of bed and fumbled for my robe and slippers. I didn't know where I was going, but I had to get out of there. I held my breath as Aurora shifted in her sleep, but she did not awaken. Elena and Alix snored softly. Carefully, I tiptoed out of our room and down the hallway.

I did not even think about where I was going until I ended up at the door to the library. I took a deep breath and pushed the heavy door open. It didn't make a sound.

It was colder in the library than it had been in the hallway. I couldn't help shivering. But I did not see or hear the ghost. Whether she was there watching and waiting for me, I could not tell. "Why won't you show yourself?" I whispered, scared I would wake the headmistress or one of the students.

There was no answer. No sense that anything unnatural was present in the tiny room. Other than the chill.

"Looking for trouble, Duchess? I thought I told you to stay away from the library."

I nearly jumped out of my skin, and glared at Sucre, who was leaning in the doorway, smiling at me menacingly.

I pulled my robe closer around me. "I had a bad dream, and wanted to get a book to distract myself."

"You don't fool anyone, Duchess." Sucre stood up straighter, and folded his arms across his chest. "I am glad you were not in your room, actually. I came to tell you that you have visitors. At the front gates."

"In the middle of the night? Don't be ridiculous. And what would you have done if I'd been asleep? Surely you would not have entered a room full of sleeping girls."

Sucre smiled. "A glamour would have easily persuaded your friends that you were talking and walking in your sleep. Don't you want to know who your visitors are?"

My heart leapt for just half a heartbeat, and I immediately felt stupid for thinking of George Alexandrovich. What reason would he have to sneak into Smolny Institute when he was thousands of miles away?

"I hate to disappoint you, my love," the crown prince's lazy voice filled my head.

No. Danilo? Why are you here? Alarmed and suspicious now, I followed Sucre down the stairs and into the kitchen, still warm from the dying hearth fire. As he opened the outside door, however, a gust blew through, killing the flames. He stepped back, holding the door open for me.

"I feel it is necessary to protect you from your newest creature."

As I looked out into the darkness, I saw two figures standing at the edge of the courtyard, just beyond the barrier of the empress's spell. Sucre struck a match and the figures' faces were illuminated: Dr. Badmaev and Madame Metcherskey. Madame was looking even paler than before. The Tibetan doctor did not look quite his normal color either. "Mon Dieu!" was all I could think to say when I saw the pair. The crown prince stepped out of the shadows as well.

"Good evening, my beloved." I could see Danilo smirking even by the light of the tiny flame.

"Stop calling me that," I said to the crown prince, but I glared at Sucre. He enjoyed his little games too much. I stepped forward to greet Dr. Badmaev, but Madame Metcherskey hissed when I moved toward them. I froze.

Dr. Badmaev shook his head. "I am sorry, Duchess. She is very strong, and insists that she needs to be here. If you listen to her story, I think you will agree with her."

"Madame?" I looked at her.

"You must release me, Mistressss. I still have tasks of my own to complete. She is in danger." Madame had been pulling on her sleeves. The edges were frayed, and looked as if they'd been chewed on. I tried very hard not to shudder.

"Who is in danger?" I asked.

Madame stood ramrod straight, her hands clasped firmly in front of her. "I was told to protect her. I am here to watch her."

"Can you tell me who she is?" I pressed, but Madame stared straight ahead, her eyes now empty and colorless. I looked at Dr. Badmaev. "Has she told you anything else?"

He shrugged. "Only that there is a Smolny student that she has been protecting for scores of years."

"Scores? No one has been here that long." But there was, I realized, as the back of my neck prickled with fear. "Madame? Are you protecting the ghost? Who is she?"

Madame continued to stare straight ahead and wring her hands. Slowly, her eyes focused on me. "I promised not to tell a soul. She must be kept from harm."

"What harm, Madame? She is a danger to everyone at Smolny. She has already killed someone."

"Duchess," Sucre leaned over and said in a soft voice, "I do not think even you can command her to break her vow. You must allow her to complete her mission."

"You've known about her all these years?" I asked Madame. "Why wasn't a priest consulted for an exorcism?"

Madame Metcherskey's face wrinkled into a scowl. "There were several attempts to send her soul on. Every attempt ... failed."

"You kept her from disturbing us all this time, didn't you? She didn't start causing trouble until after you became ill and left."

"She is looking for me, Mistressss. If you had not called me back from the grave, I would have been here in spirit and would have been able to guide her to a safe place."

A stab of guilt twisted in my gut. Not only had I disturbed Madame's soul, but I had also prevented her from helping another. Everything the ghost had done to terrorize the students at Smolny, it was all my fault. "What can we do now, Madame?"

She drew herself up straighter. "We must do God's will. You must pray for our souls. Each and every one of us. I must see her."

I looked from Dr. Badmaev to Sucre in alarm. "But you can't come inside, Madame. The empress's spell will prevent you."

"I must be allowed to see her. I must talk to her, to calm her fears." She took a step toward me. Immediately there was a burst of light and she was pushed backward.

Dr. Badmaev gently helped her to stand. "Madame, we must think of another way."

"Monsieur Sucre?" I asked. "Is there a glamour you could disguise her with?" I was freezing and longed to forget all of this and crawl back into my bed.

Sucre shook his head. "No glamour would allow her to get past the empress's spell, Duchess."

I turned to look at Dr. Badmaev. It was a little awkward, after our last conversation in the cemetery. And there had been times when I'd wondered if I'd made a mistake to turn his offer down. But he smiled at me with his usual kind smile.

Madame Metcherskey was fretting and chewing on her fingernails, which were blackened from the wards. "I must see her now," she said.

"You know there is a way we can solve this, beloved," Danilo said. "Our blood bond is more powerful than the empress's spell. We can use it to help deal with your ghost problem."

"No," I said. "We can't just tear the wards apart. What would the empress say?"

Danilo laughed. "You are just afraid she won't let you marry her son. It's too late for that already, beloved."

My cheeks grew hot even in the icy night air. I hated that the crown prince was right. The empress already disliked me. Destroying her wards would not change anything between us.

"Are you certain our bond is strong enough for this?" The crown prince shrugged carelessly. I had no other choice. I worried that I was making a deal with the devil, but finally nodded. "What do you need me to do?"

"This may hurt a bit, Duchess. I need your blood."

Sucre took a kitchen knife I had not realized he was holding and grabbed my hand before I realized what he meant to do.

"Ouch!" Sucre had stabbed my palm, and a few drops of blood dripped onto the snow. He and Danilo had planned this all along.

"Now give me your hand." The crown prince held his hand out, just touching the edge of the barrier. There was nothing to see, but we could sense the power of the empress's spell between us. No one should have been able to pass through.

I lifted my hand toward him, and Danilo took it. There was a sharp tingling, not just from the injury, but also from the empress's spell as my hand passed through it.

Danilo took my hand and held my palm up to his mouth. I don't think I had truly realized until that moment how strong our blood bond was. The spell fabric wobbled and surged as Danilo drank my blood. He closed his eyes, enjoying every second of it. He drank as if he'd been dying of thirst.

I gasped at the pull I felt toward him. There was no other way, I kept telling myself. I had to get Madame Metcherskey inside to the ghost. Before anyone else was hurt.

The tingling subsided and Danilo let go of my hand with a satisfied sigh. He took a step toward me. The barrier was gone. We had torn down the empress's magic.

Moving away from the crown prince, I reached out and took my dead instructor's arm. "Come with me, Madame."

"I know the way, Mistressss." She jerked her cold arm out of my grip and pushed past me.

"I will take my leave now," Dr. Badmaev said, backing up. "Good night, Duchess. And good luck to you." He touched his hat and nodded to Sucre. "Monsieur."

"Bonne nuit," Sucre said, as if he were saying goodbye to a guest at a dinner party.

We hurried after Madame toward the library. She had no need for light, as she seemed to know instinctively where she was going. I shuddered, afraid of what the ghost's reaction would be. Would she truly be soothed by the presence of Madame?

Madame had already stepped into the library when we reached the doorway. She stood very still in the center of the room, with her eyes closed.

I took a step over the threshold and felt the cold hatred of the ghost immediately.

Madame's eyes flew open and she turned to me. "Get out of here, Mistressss."

"Are you all right?" I couldn't help asking. "Does she recognize you?"

"Everything will be fine. But you must leave. Now."

Before I could take a step back, I was pulled into the hallway by the crown prince. "This might be interesting, Duchess."

Madame raised her arms up. "I have kept you safe, and I have kept your secret. You must listen to me now. You must stop frightening the students."

There was a loud moan that grew into a wail. The bookcase began to shake and I feared that the others would wake up. Books began to topple off the shelves onto the floor. The wail grew louder and louder still. I had to cover my ears.

Madame did not move. She stood in the center of the room, holding her arms out as if to welcome a child. "You must listen to me now. You must trust me."

The wailing went on and on, and I could not figure out why the entire school had not come running to the library. I looked from Sucre to the crown prince. Danilo shook his head. "Madame, you must get her to stop!"

I took a step back into the library, not sure how I was going to help, but wanting desperately to do something to make the wailing and the shaking end.

Madame turned to look at me again with a hiss. "You should not have done that, Mistressss."

And then all hell broke loose.