The Unfailing Light

I woke up to see Elena and Aurora whispering at the doorway, peeking out into the hall.



"What is going on?" I said, sitting up immediately.



Elena turned around to look at me. "It's about time you woke up. It is almost noon!"



"Mon Dieu!" I jumped out of bed and quickly dressed. "Why did you not wake me? I've missed my morning classes!"



"Relax, Katerina Alexandrovna," Aurora said, rolling her eyes. "Classes have been cancelled today."



"What?" I dropped the shoe I was holding. My hand was shaking. Had the glamour not worked? Did the headmistress find out about Madame Metcherskey?



Elena turned around from her vigil in the hallway. "Monsieur Sucre is hunting a wolf on the grounds."



"And Alix is missing," Aurora said. "They think the wolf might have gotten her."



I saw Elena glance under Alix's bed, then at me. The room started to spin as I realized what she was thinking. Surely not.



Was Alix the wolf? She wouldn't have been able to change while the empress's spell was in place. But last night, I had broken the spell. And perhaps I'd unleashed something in the process.



"This is getting tedious," Aurora said, sighing. "I hope that they don't cancel any balls this spring if something happened to Alix."



"Balls?" I was confused.



Aurora Demidova looked at me as if I were stupid. "She's a daughter of the grand duke of Hesse. If anything happened to her, most of Europe would fall into mourning."



Elena nodded, sadly. "Like the crown prince of Austria last year."



"And that is what concerns you most?" I looked from Elena to Aurora. "A stupid ball?"



"The Winter Ball at the Yussupov Palace. My grandmother is taking me," Aurora said. "I'll die if I don't get to go."



Elena twirled around the room holding the edges of her apron up like a skirt. "I've written to Militza and asked if she would take me as well. All of the imperial family will be invited."



I finished getting dressed and pushed Aurora and Elena out of my way. I was tired of listening to them both. Alix was in danger. I had to reach Sucre and help him find her.



I passed the library on my way downstairs and peeked inside. The room had been cleaned up and straightened. It looked as if nothing had happened in there. No ghostly temper tantrum, no werewolf attack, no decapitated undead Smolny teacher. It was still very cold in the room, however, and I could feel the ghost mourning Madame Metcherskey. Perhaps now that her soul had been released, she would be able to help the ghost as she had intended?



I took a step inside and was pushed back by a painful blast.



My heart sank. Madame Metcherskey had been unable to appease the ghost. I had hoped her spirit would be able to rest now, but would she rest if her task was still unfinished? The memory of last night's violence made me nauseous again.



The Bavarian sisters were sitting in the front parlor with several of the younger girls. Erzsebet jumped up out of her seat when she saw me. "Katerina! Isn't it terrible? I'm so frightened!"



I embraced her. "Everything will be all right. Monsieur Sucre and the Smolny guards will find the wolf and keep us all safe."



"Alix!" Augusta cried, getting up and running to the door. I saw a flash of a woolen cloak as someone walked quickly past the parlor.



I followed Augusta into the hall. She ran after Alix and asked, "Are you all right? We've been so worried about you!"



"I'm fine, but I need to lie down." Alix did not stop. She was in a hurry to get to our room. I hurried after her. Augusta shrugged and returned to the parlor with her classmates.



"Elena and Aurora are in there," I told Alix. "It might be more restful if you go to see Sister Anna and lie down in her study."



Alix turned to me with a glare. "Why should you care, Katerina Alexandrovna?"



I wasn't sure how much I could say. "Where have you been, Alix? Did you know there was a wolf on the loose at Smolny? It came inside the school and ..."



No one else knew it had attacked Madame Metcherskey. I did not know what Sucre's glamour had hidden and what everyone had seen.



"And what?" Alix looked me in the eye. "Did it hurt anyone? Did it attack any innocents?"



"Innocents?"



"There are some who believe a wolf will only attack what is pure evil. And if you say this wolf was inside Smolny, there must have been a very good reason for it. It must have been defending the students from something very evil. I would be very careful on the school grounds if I were you, Katerina Alexandrovna." She turned back around and headed to our room.



I ignored her threat. "Alix, you've been hurt. Please let me take you to see Sister Anna."



She shook her head. "I am going to bed. I will be fine."



"If you're certain," I said. And then I spotted something crumpled in her right fist. A scrap of red ribbon.