The Unfailing Light

Suddenly I was hit with a force that knocked the breath out of me. "Necromancer! What have you done to me?"



I tried to stand back up, and wished the darkness would stop spinning. "Sophia Konstantinova? Is that you?" I ducked as soon as I saw her rushing toward me again.



"You took me away from my home! Now Johanna will find me!"



"No!" I winced as I felt another sharp blow to my back. I tried to curl up into a ball. "Sophia, Johanna cannot find you here. And Smolny was not your home."



"Of course it was! Where else did I have people that cared about me? You even took Madame Metcherskey away from me!"



Ouch. "I'm so sorry, Sophia."



"Take me back to Smolny!"



"No." I curled up even tighter. She had to quit hitting me sooner or later.



"Take me back!"



Ouch. "I cannot."



She stopped hitting me. "Then I will tell my father you are here!"



"Do you know where he is?" I raised my head cautiously. She was already moving away from me. Much too quickly.



She giggled. "Of course! Come and see him! He is dying to see you."



I glanced back at the Koldun, who was resting quietly with only the occasional moan. "Perhaps I should stay with the grand duke. He is not feeling well, Sophia."



Sophia Konstantinova giggled again, farther away this time. "Of course he's not feeling well. He's dying."



I looked down at Grand Duke Vladimir. He was much paler than before, and his breathing had changed. He was barely breathing at all. He looked up at me, cold sweat breaking out on his skin. "I will have to send you back soon," I told him. "Or it will be too late."



His eyes darkened and he grabbed my wrist. "I don't want to be a ghoul, Duchess."



"Think of your wife. And your children."



"I am thinking of them! I cannot return to them in this state."



I looked down at the Koldun, my thoughts torn. Grand Duchess Miechen would never forgive me for not doing everything I could to save her husband. But would she want the grand duke back if it meant he would be a walking corpse? It would be a shame for the children to lose their father. But they did not need to see him like this.



"NECROMANCER!" The swirling gray mists of the cold light parted. I knew Konstantin was drawing near.



Had Sophia discovered a way to release him from his bonds?



The ground below my feet vibrated. The Koldun moaned as his body shifted. "Guard ... the ... throne ...," the dying man whispered. "Do not let him sit down...."



I should have destroyed the throne when I first came across it in the Massandra caves. And if I could have done so now, I would have. "Your Imperial Highness, do you know a spell that could destroy the throne?"



His eyes opened immediately. "Impossible! You must leave now and the throne will disappear from this place."



"But the wizards will be waiting for me."



"Would you rather face the Black Magi or the lich tsar and his daughter?"



The Koldun had a very logical point.



I held my hand out to him. "Your family needs you, Your Imperial Highness. The Graylands are not for you. You cannot become a ghoul if you do not die. Come back with me and we will take you to my father's hospital. Dr. Ostrev is a brilliant physician. And we will consult the Tibetan doctor, Badmaev, as well. He seems to have an uncanny knowledge of supernatural ailments."



Recognition flashed in the grand duke's eyes. "Dr. Badmaev took excellent care of Miechen when she lost the twins."



The roar of the lich tsar grew louder, along with the shrill laughter of a young girl. The air was becoming unbearably cold.



"Come with me," I said. Slowly, I helped him to stand. We had to get to the throne of Byzantium before the lich tsar reached us.



But Sophia reached us first. She grabbed my arms, tearing at my sleeves. "Katerina Alexandrovna! You must not leave me!"



I fought her off and helped the Koldun to the throne, where he slumped into its seat. "Hurry," he said, his voice weak. "But do not let her come with us."



I turned around. "Sophia, you must stay here, this is where you belong now. With your father."



"And you must stay with me!" She was very strong. As hard as I tried to stay near the throne, she pulled me away.



"No. I do not belong here. Let me go."



"Katerina Alexandrovna!" The Koldun cried out and fainted. I had to hurry if I was going to save his life.



Sophia would not loosen her hold on me. Her icy fingers dug into my shoulders, and I shoved against her as hard as I could. "Konstantin Pavlovich is coming, Duchess," she said. "He will come and make you stay with me. You must do as he says. He is the tsar."



"He is not my tsar. Nor will he ever be." I finally had enough leverage to push her away. She stumbled back, and I ran for the throne.



"The path to the light travels straight through the darkness," I shouted, and grabbed hold of the Koldun's cold hand as the shadows began to swirl around the throne. There was barely room for me to sit down, and I was improperly close to the Koldun, but at that moment, propriety was not my concern.



Sophia's screams lingered in my head as the throne took us away from the Graylands. I breathed a sigh of relief as the mists cleared and I once again found myself in the Great Hall of Vorontsov Palace. The room was full of the tsar's imperial guard.