The Gathering Storm

The nurses at Oldenburg Hospital were much happier to see me when I arrived with my maid in the carriage bearing the Oldenburg family crest.



We were ushered into the doctor's office and each given a cup of hot spiced tea. Dr. Kruglevski came in and listened to Anya's chest and gave her a small vial of cough syrup.



The doctor looked happy to see me as well. "Duchess! What a pleasure!



You are looking much better than when I saw you last. How are you feeling?"



"Actually, I wondered if you have any medicine that will help me sleep more deeply at night. I have been having horrible nightmares lately, and I've not slept well in over a month." Not including the two days I was unconscious at the Vladimirichi Palace.



"Hmmm." He scanned through his glass cabinet full of brown and green glass bottles. "Here is one I feel comfortable with you using. But only take one dropperful each night before going to bed. And it would be better if you do not use this every single night, as you will become dependent upon it."



"Thank you, Doctor," I said, taking the green bottle he handed me, feeling only a little remorseful about deceiving him. If one teaspoon would knock me out, I wondered how much it would take to knock out an undead soldier.



As Anya and I were preparing to leave, the head nurse rushed in.



"Doctor, you must come quickly! They have brought in Prince Demidov!" Princess Aurora's cousin. I set my things down and followed Dr.



Kruglevski into the triage area, where they had laid the prince on a stretcher. There was blood everywhere. Anya began to swoon.



"I need a bottle of saline and some gauze, quickly!" Dr. Kruglevski barked out orders to his associates.



"What has happened to him?" I asked. The prince was still breathing, but it was very shallow. His face was snow-white.



"Katerina Alexandrovna, you should go home now," Dr. Kruglevski said.



"You should not have to see this."



"I want to help," I said. "Tell me what I can do." The doctor did not waste any more time arguing with me but handed me a large bundle of gauze and told me to place it over the young man's neck.



"Hold pressure on the wound," he said grimly. "There is a major artery there that is bleeding out."



The gauze bloomed a bright red and became saturated. I still put as much pressure on his neck as I could.



The doctor cut the patient's clothing off, revealing a young, muscular chest. I sucked in my breath. I had never seen even my brother's chest before. The room was getting a bit warm. Fight it, Katiya, I told myself. You are not going to pass out just because there is a half-naked, bleeding man in front of you.



The doctor handed me more gauze, and I used it to reinforce what I already had pressed up against the severed blood vessel. The doctor started an intravenous line in the prince's arm and attached the bag of saline, trying desperately to replace the blood the prince was losing.



Suddenly, the prince awoke with a cry and a spasm. His eyes rolled back in his head and he stiffened.



"He's seizing!" the nurse cried.



But the prince did not seize. He fell limp with a rattle in his chest. There was no more shallow breathing. He had just died. In my arms.



I swooned. I tried not to, but I did. One of the nurses behind me held me up. "It's all right, dear," she said calmly, as if she was used to seeing young men die. She tried to lead me to the bench in the hallway, where Anya was sitting. But I didn't want to leave.



"I'm fine, thank you," I said, angry at myself. I was angry at the doctor for not being able to save the young man. And I was angry at whoever had killed him. "What kind of wound is that on his neck?" I asked. "It almost looks like an animal bite." But there was so much blood I really couldn't tell.



"It does appear to be an animal bite," the doctor said, cleaning away the blood with saline. "Who brought this man to the hospital?"



"His companions are out in the lobby," one of the nurses said, and hurried off to find them.



I did not recognize the soldiers who had accompanied Prince Demidov, but I was certain they knew my brother. I hoped he was not in any danger. I could hear the doctor asking them questions, but I could not hear the soldiers' answers. They were in shock. One of them was pale and shaking.



He didn't look much older than I was.



Feeling steadier now, I moved closer so I could hear the conversation.



"We were walking in the woods, behind the palace," said the first soldier.



"Something jumped out at us," the younger one finished. "It was enormous."



The doctor looked skeptical. "In broad daylight? You must have gotten a very close look at it."



"It was dark in the woods," the first soldier said. "I cannot say for sure, but I believe it was a wolf."



I felt a little nauseated. Had a wolf caused all that damage to the prince's neck? Wolves were normally too shy to approach humans, especially in broad daylight. I thought about the slender silvery gray wolf we had seen coming home the night of Le ball Noir. The wolf's fur had gleamed in the light of the full moon.



"I'll test the body for rabies. This is the first wolf attack I have seen in years. Were either of you bitten as well?"



They both shook their heads. I felt sorry for the soldiers, knowing they could do nothing to save their friend. As they turned to leave, I saw a white cross flash from a bearded soldier's chest. The Order of St. John of Jerusalem. I rushed back to the room where the dead soldier was. Dr.



Kruglevski had ripped the soldier's clothing off to inspect him, and I found the tattered, bloodstained uniform on the floor. There, on the right breast, was the white Maltese cross. This prince had been one of the tsar's knights. Like Count Chermenensky.