The Unfailing Light

Chapter Forty-Six

The throne came with me. I knew I was doomed to die, but I still smiled. They would not be able to raise the lich tsar without a necromancer. I pulled the shadows around me, hoping I would stay hidden from Konstantin for at least a little while.
I needed to find him, however, just to make sure the wizards could not invoke him on their own. As much as I hated the idea, I had to find the lich tsar in the Graylands.
I had no sense of direction. The realm was dark and full of swirling mist, and I had no way of knowing where the lich tsar was. How had I found him last time?
Within the mist were whispering shadows and strands of silver cold light. I tried not to attract their attention. But several shadows loomed taller as they drew closer to me. I held my breath. The shadows drifted past in a hurry, attracted to something behind me.
I heard moaning. It stopped my blood cold. Who was here in the Graylands with me? I whispered, "Sheult Anubis," more to give myself courage than anything else, and made my way toward the sound.
The mist was colder here. The moans grew louder. I didn't realize how close I'd gotten, but suddenly a cold hand gripped my ankle.
I shrieked.
The mist muffled my scream.
The cold hand loosened. "Forgive me...." The person was prostrate on the floor.
"Sir?" I leaned down and gasped. It was the Koldun. Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich. "You betrayed your own brother, and tried to bring back the lich tsar."
He was too weak to sit up. "Duchess. I fear I owe you a grave apology. I was very wrong to attempt the ritual of the wolf's heart. The papyrus describing the ritual was a forgery. I have made a terrible mess of things."
My eyes went wide. "Papus and Sucre created a false ritual?"
"I thought we were saving the tsar and destroying Konstantin once and for all. The French wizards had other plans the whole time."
I picked up his hand and held it. "How did you get here?"
"The spirits brought me." He laughed grimly. "My wife and I have manipulated the Dark Court for years. It is long past time the spirits took their revenge."
"But you've been serving as Koldun all this time. Does your brother trust you?"
"Both Light and Dark Courts serve the tsar, Katerina," the Koldun said. "Despite my wife's ambitions."
"Of course, there is always the slightest chance something could happen to the tsar and his family," I said, thinking of the train accident at Kharkov. "And you would inherit the throne."
"Anything is possible," the grand duke said. "But now I think my wife's fondest wish will never come true. This is the ending that I deserve."
"No one deserves to stay here, Your Imperial Highness. Not even you."
The Koldun's eyes were sad. "There is nothing you can do, Katerina Alexandrovna. I am dead. I will remain here until it is time to meet my final judgment."
"Did the grand duchess know what you were attempting to do this evening?"
"Of course not. L'Ordre du Lis Noir is the inner secret circle of the Order of St. John. The actions of the innermost circle are known only to the Coven of Thirteen."
"Your Imperial Highness, you should know that the Montenegrin crown prince was also part of Sucre's plot. He stole the Talisman of Isis from your staff and was trying to raise Konstantin from the dead."
The Koldun turned even paler than he already was. "But they did not succeed?"
I shook my head. "They still need a necromancer. I chose to come here rather than help them bring the lich tsar there. I guess you will have to get used to my company."
The Koldun did not laugh. "But you do not belong here, my dear. This is the land of the dead."
"And where else should a necromancer live?" I tried to sound light and frivolous, as if I did not care that I'd thrown my life away.
"St. Petersburg. In the land of the living. Especially a pretty young thing like you." His laugh dissolved into a coughing fit.
If he'd meant to make me blush he'd succeeded. "Are you injured, Your Imperial Highness?" I had not noticed any bleeding or signs of trauma. How exactly had the spirits sent him here?
His coughing settled down. "I am dying from the inside out, Duchess. Look at my cold light."
I looked at him closely, and saw he was correct. The cold light was dimming around his heart; it streamed outward, pouring out of his body, where it became brighter. There was nothing I could do. I felt more helpless than I had at Christmas when I saw the dying soldier in the hospital. I closed my eyes to blink back the tears. "Does it hurt?"
The Koldun's smile did not reach his eyes.
I couldn't stop the tears then. I couldn't stand knowing that he was suffering and I was unable to help him.
"Please don't cry, my dear. I have lived a good life."
"Think of your wife. And your children." His sons, whom I'd danced with every Christmas at the Children's Ball: Kyril, Boris, and Andrei. His little daughter, Helena. They needed their father.
"There is nothing you can do, Duchess. You are very gifted, especially for one so young. But to bring a person back from this realm, and not as a ghoul, would take a very powerful magic. I do not dare to hope you could pull such a thing off."
"Would it hurt to try?" But I already knew the risks. I could irrevocably damage his soul. And mine as well. "Do you know what I would have to do?"
He closed his eyes, looking more and more weary. "I would not even know where to look to find such a ritual. It is blasphemous. The most unholy of unspeakable acts." He coughed again. "Do not attempt it for my sake. It will damn you more swiftly than anything else."
"And was there nothing the Dark Court queen could do to protect you?" I asked. "Didn't she have spells woven around you as the empress of the Light Court does for the Tsar?"
The Koldun shrugged with a faint, helpless smile.
Then he coughed again, sounding even more pitiful. I looked around me at the darkness, trying to decide what to do. I wondered what would happen if I dragged him to the throne and sent him back that way. I couldn't go with him, because the wizards might still be waiting for me. For all I knew, they had been counting on me coming here and sending the Koldun back all along. I felt horribly and wretchedly used. By everyone.
I was too busy feeling sorry for myself to hear the lich tsar's daughter sneak up on me.