The Unfailing Light

Chapter Forty-Two

"No! I'm fine!" I said, struggling to sit up. Someone had carried me to my cot. I looked around, disoriented and sore. "What time is it?" I asked.
"You've been out all day," Aurora said. "And Alix is still missing. Madame Tomilov will have to notify the princess's sister soon."
I had to find Alix before Sucre did. Why hadn't I realized his treachery earlier? If anything happened to Alix I would never forgive myself.
Aurora and Elena both watched me get up and stumble across the room. They were looking at me as if I'd grown two heads.
"What is wrong with you?" Elena asked. "You look as if you've seen a ghost."
I wanted to laugh hysterically. But there was no time. "Please, both of you. Please help me find Alix. I'm afraid she's in danger."
I wanted to shake some sense into both of them, but it was hopeless. How could I tell them that our roommate was really a wolf? And how could I convince them we needed to save the wolf from being killed by the cook who was really a dark faerie? "Never mind," I said finally. Instead of saying anything, I went to Alix's bed and bent down to reach underneath.
"What are you doing?" Elena shrieked. "You told me not to-"
I ignored her and pulled the wooden box out from under Alix's bed. Even Aurora got up to see what was inside. I held my breath, hoping for the best.
But the ribbon was gone.
"Zut alors," I hissed under my breath. I threw the box onto Alix's bed. The missing ribbon meant that she could be in wolf form right now, and was hopefully stronger than she'd be as a human. Although Sucre probably needed her alive for the wizards' ritual.
I went to the window and pressed my forehead and hands against the cool glass. Daylight was fading. Looking down into the courtyard, I saw something that made my heart stop. Sucre and Papus were pushing someone into a black carriage. Alix. She was holding her hands together in front of her as if they were bound. She looked up toward the institute and her gaze rested on our window. She glared up at me as she disappeared into the carriage.
Alix thought I had betrayed her. And she had no reason not to. If anything happened to her it would be my fault. I fought back angry tears as I watched the carriage roll out through the front gates.
I had to find out where and when they planned for this ritual to take place. "I need to leave Smolny," I said.
"Tonight?" Elena asked. "Did you want to go to the Yussupov Ball?"
"Don't be ridiculous," I snapped. "We need to rescue Alix."
"You will need my help if you wish to save your friend, although I cannot fathom why you would call that one a friend." The crown prince was always there, at the edge of my thoughts, listening in.
"We don't need your help," I snapped. Elena looked at me as if I were insane.
"But it will make your rescue easier. You don't have a carriage, do you? Mine is just outside the school, waiting."
Why would you want to help me? I remembered not to think aloud this time.
"Perhaps because I want your gratitude?"
I will be extremely grateful, Danilo. But you know I will never marry you.
The crown prince merely laughed. "We shall see about that. Meet me at the front gates of Smolny."
The Montenegrin princess was still staring at me, her arms folded across her chest. "I don't know what you're planning, but I'm coming with you," she said.
"The two of you will be in trouble for sneaking off the school grounds." Aurora said. "I, for one, am staying put."
"Katerina, you will need help saving poor Alix's neck." Elena grabbed her cloak and pulled it around her shoulders. "Come on."
I sighed as I picked up Alix's coat. I had never gotten mine back from Madame Metcherskey.
"Are you coming?" Danilo sounded anxious. "The members of the Order of St. Lazarus are standing guard at the front gates. Give me some time to distract them."
I reached the front door with Elena behind me. I hesitated and turned to her. "Are you sure?"
She grinned. "No one can pick on the Hessian princess but me."
I rolled my eyes and we slipped out of the front door, closing it silently behind us. The moon was full again, and the snow-covered grounds were lit up brilliantly. We decided to slowly walk under the shadow of the trees for cover.
There was a huge fireball in the sky outside the gates. We heard the moaning and shuffling of the undead soldiers. They were frightened by the fire. I did not want to hurt any of the undead creatures. But I did not want them to stop me from leaving.
Once the smoke had cleared and the guards had run off, we could see Danilo standing just outside the huge iron gates.
Elena was delighted to see her brother. "What a pleasant surprise! Katerina is always talking about you!"
"He knows that is a lie," I said as I followed her through the open gates. There was nothing left of the empress's spell anymore. I did not want to think about what she would do when she discovered what I'd done. "We have to find Alix. Before Sucre harms her."
Elena pouted. "But with her out of the way, the tsarevitch would pay more attention to me. I expect he is dancing at the ball right now. And what a pity Alix isn't there."
I stopped and stared at her. She was smiling wickedly. "Elena, they want to sacrifice her for their ritual. They want to cut her heart out."
Elena's eyes grew large and her smile faded. "The darkest of dark magics. I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy." She sighed. "And Alix of Hesse is my worst enemy. We have to rescue her, of course."
Danilo put his arm around me, his hand at the small of my back. "Ladies, we must hurry. The ritual is taking place at midnight at Vorontsov Chapel."
At the Order's headquarters. I took a deep breath, knowing that George Alexandrovich would be there. But I could not think about him right then. The crown prince led both of us to the carriage and we took off for Vorontsov Palace. "And how do you know this, Your Highness?" I asked him.
But Danilo merely smiled at me.
There were several carriages and sleighs out on the streets of St. Petersburg that night. The Yussupov Ball was a grand celebration for the Light Court, and most of the aristocracy was en route to Princess Yussupova's palace on the Moika Canal.
"Why did the wizards have to pick tonight to have their ritual?" Elena said, still pouting.
"It's the spring equinox," Danilo said. "The perfect balance of night and day."
I did not trust Danilo completely, or his motives for helping me. I could not figure out what he would gain from saving the Hessian princess or from stopping the Koldun's ritual.
"The Koldun is a longtime enemy of my father." It still startled me when the crown prince read my thoughts. He was staring out the window into the darkness. "He poisons the tsar against Montenegro." He had lied to me. He had known who the Koldun was all along.
"Your Highness, your father and mother poisoned Montenegro's ties to Russia with their own witchcraft. The Koldun had nothing to do with it."
Danilo turned and smiled, his teeth white and sharp, and uncomfortably close in the tiny carriage. "Duchess, I have pledged to help you rescue your friend and stop an evil ritual. You need know nothing more of my motives, except that they spring from my devotion to you." He picked up my hand and brought it to his lips.
It frightened me that I might easily fall under his spell again. Last year, I'd willingly accepted his marriage proposal. And I'd kissed him. I couldn't let that happen again.
It was still difficult to resist that mesmerizing pull I felt when the crown prince touched me. But not impossible. Elena giggled as I pulled my hand out of Danilo's grasp and scowled at both of them. I could not trust either one of the Montenegrin siblings. I had no weapons on me, I could remember no new spells from A Necromancer's Companion. I had no idea what I would do when I reached Vorontsov Palace. I only knew I could not let anything happen to Alix.
Danilo had the carriage let us out a ways down from the palace gates. It was close to midnight, and the ritual would soon begin. I almost slipped as I climbed down from the carriage without waiting for help. "Careful, beloved," he whispered, catching me around the waist.
"Please stop calling me that." I rolled my eyes and hurried through the trees toward the palace entrance. I had sneaked into this building before, and knew my way through its halls.
Elena and Danilo caught up with me and we crept around the back, where a black carriage was waiting. Two men stood guard. Members of the Order of St. Lazarus.
I put a hand on Danilo's arm to stop him. "They're just like the soldiers at Smolny."
His grin was vicious. "Do not worry for me, Duchess." He stepped into the shadows and I heard him whispering strange words. A mist rose up under the feet of the guards. As it rose higher, the guards were enveloped in the mist, and they fell to the ground.
I stared at the guards. The crown prince's magic had knocked both creatures down.
"It will only stop them temporarily. We must hurry." Danilo motioned for us to follow him.
Elena was so quiet and elegant as she followed her brother. I wondered what kinds of adventures the two siblings had had growing up in the Black Mountains of Montenegro. I had constantly harassed my older brother as a child. Petya never wanted me to play with him. I realized I was almost jealous of Elena and Danilo.
We reached the black carriage and Danilo glanced inside. He shook his head. "She's not there. They've already taken her to the chapel."
I sighed and leaned against the wall. I knew Alix's rescue would not be easy.