The Morning Star

Raising his remaining hand, Konstantin shot out a burst of cold energy that would have knocked me senseless if the empress’s shimmering light had not intercepted it.

I did not have time to thank her. Konstantin raised his hand again and I took my chance. Reaching out with my cold light to meet him, I sank the Morning Star into his belly and then shouted the incantation from A Necromancer’s Companion that would carry both of us into the Graylands, away from the bloody battlefield. “Open the path, thou doorkeepers of the dead!” I shouted, my voice almost completely gone. “Open the path for she who walks between both worlds!”

The battlefield fell away with a loud rushing sound, like the flapping of a million bird wings. The two of us were in the Graylands once again, surrounded by the familiar gray mist. I hated that I was getting used to the feeling of walking between the two worlds. I did not want this place to feel familiar at all.

Konstantin was temporarily bound by my cold light, but I knew it would not hold him for long. I had to recite the ritual of the second death to keep him from coming back.

“You…,” he gasped. “You have the blackest soul of any human I’ve ever met.”

I did feel very black and very cold at that moment. He’d killed George. And I wanted him to pay for that. Every fiber of my being wanted him banished to oblivion. I wanted every last bloodthirsty Egyptian god of the dead to come and eat his heart.

But it wasn’t the lich tsar I saw when I raised my sword. It was the crown prince, whose body the lich tsar possessed. I was angry on behalf of Danilo too. Angry at his mother and his sister and Princess Cantacuzene for damning him with their plots and schemes. For all of his own faults, he never deserved this.

But I had to protect the tsar from Konstantin Pavlovich. In order to make sure all of Russia was safe, the lich tsar had to die the second death. I raised the Morning Star above his head, ready to deliver the final blow.

And I knew it would not bring George back.

If I killed Konstantin, I would be no better than he. I would have a heart blacker than the crown prince’s eyes, and my soul would be lost. I lowered the sword and wiped tears of frustration from my eyes.

I saw a spiral-shaped light wavering a little ways off from us. It was the tendrils of the crown prince’s cold light that I had dragged with me when I brought Konstantin back to the Graylands.

“Katerina, I am free. Protect the tsar and give Konstantin his second death. His heart will be judged much harsher than yours. Your heart has been judged and it is true.”

It was Danilo’s voice in my head.

“If I destroy Konstantin, will you be able to return?”

“While there is life, there is always hope,” he replied.

“But where there is death,” I thought painfully, “there is no hope.” I did not want to destroy Danilo’s chances of returning. But I had to believe I was doing the right thing.

Numbly, I raised the sword and recited the words of the ritual of the second death. “No sun shall rise over your grave. No birds will sing for you. Nothing but eternal rest waits for you, Konstantin Pavlovich.” The talisman around my neck felt warm. An icy chill slid down my spine, my cold light giving me strength as I swung the blade at Konstantin’s neck. His head tumbled to the floor, bloodless and eyes closed.

I saw Danilo’s cold light slowly fade away. “No!” I whispered. I felt like a monster. I let the sword fall from my hands, and it clattered to the floor. I had held some hope that even if I couldn’t save George, I would be able to save Militza’s brother. But he had disappeared as well, and now I had more sorrowful news to bring back from the Graylands. It made me not want to return to the land of the living at all.

Both Konstantin’s body and his head dissolved into bright cold light and then faded into the mist. There was nothing left of him or the crown prince. The lich tsar was gone; it was all over.

I picked up the Morning Star and stood slowly. What if I did not return to the land of the living? I did not belong with my family and friends anymore. George would not be there. And I could not stand the thought of facing his parents again. The look of grief on their faces had been too much for me to bear. I’d broken Nicholas’s heart. I did not want to see that I’d broken Xenia’s as well.

So I decided I would stay in the Graylands. The tsar did not need Katerina Alexandrovna anymore.

36

I wandered the halls of the Graylands for what seemed like hours, wary of the soft wisps of cold light that followed me down the dark corridors. I kept my own cold light reined in tightly and was careful not to touch the wisps. I did not want to interfere with any other beings anymore. The mist seemed to ebb and flow around me, but I never came across anyone else. None of the tsar’s mages came looking for me, nor did Militza.

I still had my mortal body in an immortal land, and I was growing tired. I would have to find a room to settle in, much like Ankh-al-Sekhem the Egyptian had. I shuddered, hoping I would not run into him here. But if he had survived the attack of the resurrected mummies, then he was still in his pyramid in Giza. He would not wish to return to the Graylands any time soon.

I discovered a beautiful, cozy chamber with golden mosaic tiles embellishing the door and its frames. The room was full of bookcases loaded with heavy books. A table was set with a bronze tea service and plates of sweet cakes. I suddenly realized I was famished, but I was reluctant to eat anything here.

There had been spells in A Necromancer’s Companion that requested nourishment for the dead. I’d seen hieroglyphics on the walls of the temple in Abydos that portrayed priests bearing gifts of food and drink and leaving it for the souls trapped in the afterlife. And the sweet cakes with their cardamom and vanilla did smell heavenly. It was as if they were waiting just for me.

A gold-embroidered satin cushion that was larger than the door itself stood up against one of the bookshelves. I placed it on the floor. Curling up with the Morning Star in my arms, I fell asleep for the first time in days. I slept a deep, dreamless sleep and felt at peace at last.

I awoke some time later. I had no idea how long I’d slept, but I felt much restored. I puttered around the chamber, looking at books and nibbling on some of the sweet cakes. I knew someone would be returning soon to these quarters, and whoever lived here was not likely to take kindly to a young girl invading their home in the land of the dead.

Reluctantly, I put the book of poetry that I’d found back on its shelf and tidied up. I was curious to know what kind of person this space belonged to. Male or female? Young or old? What had they done to earn this sort of cozy existence in the afterlife?

The heavy stone door began to slide open. I gripped my sword in alarm but hastily hid the Morning Star behind my back.

A brilliant glow of cold light preceded the person entering the chamber. I could barely make out the silhouette of a young man behind it. As the door shut, the glow dimmed, and I was able to see him more clearly. My heart stopped beating when he looked at me.

“Katiya?”

“George?”

No wonder I felt as if I’d come home.

37

George did not rush to take me into his arms. He actually looked unhappy to see me. “Katiya? What have you done?”

“What do you mean? You don’t know how happy I am to find you! I hadn’t even dared to look. I thought you were dead.” I reached for him and was hurt when he flinched.

“Katiya, I am dead. And if you are here in this Hall of the Fallen, you must be dead too.”

I shook my head. “I defeated Konstantin. I dragged him back to the Graylands and gave him the second death. And I realized I couldn’t face your parents again. I did not want to return to St. Petersburg without