The Gathering Storm

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

I fretted all through the ride across town to the Vladimir Palace. It was an enormous residence, not far from our own home on millionaya Street. We walked through ornately arched hallways, up the marble stairs, past several silent and impeccably dressed servants. The grand duchess received us in her parlor, opulently decorated in shades of deepest red. She did not look happy to see Princess Cantacuzene. Or me. Her smile was cold, but polite. "Princess Cantacuzene, Katerina Alexandrovna, it is always a pleasure."
We all sat down as the servants provided tea from the samovar.
Princess Cantacuzene stirred the spoon in her cup slowly. "Katerina Alexandrovna has been telling me the most interesting stories," she said.
"My dear, won't you tell the grand duchess?"
I didn't know where to begin. I felt small, like a little child. I wanted to go home. Or back to Smolny. Instead, I took a deep breath and told Grand Duchess Miechen everything.
Princess Cantacuzene sat with a fiendish gleam in her eye as she watched Miechen's face. The grand duchess looked as astonished as the princess had. She also looked furious.
When I finished telling her about Count Chermenensky, I was in tears.
Again. Miechen stood up and stared out the window across the frozen Neva River. The spires of the Pyotr and Pavel Fortress could be seen in the distance. "Ruxandra Mikhailovna, you should not have brought her here," Miechen said as she turned to face us.
I didn't think I'd ever heard Princess Cantacuzene's first name before. I wasn't even sure if Maman knew it. Why did she and Miechen suddenly seem to hate each other so much?
"We want nothing more to do with your kind," Miechen went on. "The family cannot be involved with this."
Princess Cantacuzene laughed. "Grand Duchess, your family is already involved. Perhaps I should have taken the poor girl to the empress instead?"
Miechen's lips pursed into a thin line. She appeared cold and calculating. "And what is the extent of my family's involvement, Your Highness?"
"The Dekebristi are returning," the princess said. She was calmly stirring her tea. It looked as if she was enjoying herself, while I sat wondering what the grand duchess meant when she'd said "your kind." Miechen's face went white. "And the Bear?"
"He does not believe they, or the vampires, exist anymore."
"The tsar will not put up with any such foolishness." The princess glanced at me, giving Miechen one of those "not in front of the children" looks. The grand duchess rolled her eyes. "You are the one that brought her here, Ruxandra. She already knows too much for her own safety."
What was she talking about? I knew nothing of the Dekebristi's return.
Was she implying that I was somehow to blame?
The princess smiled. "No doubt you have heard the happy news of Katerina Alexandrovna's engagement? She is going to marry the heir of the Vladiki."
"Poor child, you fell under their spell, did you?" Miechen said. "You do realize the prince plans to kill you on your wedding night, do you not?" My mouth was dry. "Princess Cantacuzene said I must kill him before his eighteenth birthday, before we are married."
"Ruxandra, what lies have you been spreading?"
The princess laughed wickedly. I was starting to feel very cold, and short of breath. "Katerina Alexandrovna is much more powerful than I ever dared to hope. How do you think she turned the dead knight?"
"He is not one of the Dekebristi!" I cried. "I did not bring him back on purpose!"
"Of course you didn't," Miechen said, pacing back and forth and pausing to study me intently. "Child, do you know why it is so important that the prince does not live to see his own ascension?"
Was this a trick question? Why was it so cold in here? I shivered. "He will become a blood drinker," I said. "By killing him, we can prevent him from killing many more people."
Miechen's smile was grim. "Ruxandra, shame on you. You have not told her everything, have you?"
I did not hear what Princess Cantacuzene said to her then, for at that moment, I fainted and slid out of my chair onto the floor.