Robin Bridges: The Gathering Storm

I was traveling down a dangerous and dark path. I had to stop myself. But I knew that if faced with the same choice again, I’d do exactly the same thing. I wasn’t sure if that meant my soul was at risk or my allegiance to the imperial family was such that I’d gladly brave the worst to save them. Maybe I was just hopelessly stupid.

I focused on reading the Latin book Madame Orbellani had given me. She knew my dreams of studying medicine, and without the headmistress’s knowledge, she had begun to encourage me. She’d seen me struggling with the medical books I’d liberated from my father’s library. Even though I was supposed to be reading Pushkin and Tolstoy, she found me a musty-smelling textbook of beginning Latin. She told me stories about the first Russian women to receive medical degrees, in the 1860s, Maria Bokova and Nadezhda Suslova. As a young girl, Madame Orbellani had idolized them as pioneers in women’s higher education.

Elena did not forget about my invitation to Montenegro, much to my dismay. She cornered me several weeks after the ball. “You made quite the impression on my older sister,” Elena whispered as we were passed by several Browns. “She told me that you have some … unusual talents.”

“Princess Militza is imagining things,” I managed to say, my heart beating hard. I did not want Elena to think I had anything in common with her.

“Don’t worry,” she said. “Your secret is safe with me, of course. Militza has written to our mother and Mama is anxious to meet you. She is also sending a letter to your mother to formally invite you to our home in Cetinje for Christmas. I know my brother is eager to meet you as well!”

“Your brother?”

Elena smiled ominously. “Yes. Danilo. He is nearly eighteen, very handsome, and is Papa’s heir. Very exciting, no?” She pulled a golden locket out of her bedside table drawer and handed it to me. Inside was a portrait of a dashing young man with dangerously black eyes.

“There’s … a strong family resemblance,” I said, nearly at a loss for a reply. I had no desire to know any more of her wicked royal family. It was bad enough that they were plotting to steal my uncle George Maximilianovich for Princess Stana.

Now Elena wanted me to meet her brother. I had to come up with an excuse to remain at home for Christmas. If Maman found out about the handsome crown prince Danilo, she would no doubt ship me off to Cetinje with my wedding trousseau already packed.

It was Dariya’s idea that I enlist my brother Petya’s help. She knew I had no desire to go to Cetinje with the Montenegrins. And she did not think it wise for me to do so. “Have him speak with your parents, Katiya,” she told me. “I’m sure he has heard the gossip about them.” I was too scared to tell Dariya everything that Militza had said, and I had not mentioned the grand duke’s warnings. I didn’t want my cousin to think that I was a monster.

Petya’s regiment was headquartered at nearby Vorontsov Palace. If I could get word to him, he could intervene with Papa on my behalf. He and his fellow officers frequently walked in the Tauride Gardens, near our school. Elena and the Bavarian princesses, Augusta and Erzsebet, joined me and Dariya the next afternoon as we set out.

Bundled up, we strolled along the iced-over fountains as Augusta asked Elena and Dariya endless questions about the tsarevitch and his younger brothers. I pretended to be more interested in the barren bushes and birch trees along the sidewalks.

“His brother George Alexandrovich is not so handsome,” Elena said. “He is sharp-tongued and mean-spirited. I should like to introduce you to the youngest one, Mikhail Alexandrovich. He is a true gentleman. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if I should marry the tsarevitch and you should marry Mikhail?”

I wanted to laugh out loud. The youngest grand duke was only ten years old. He had not even been at the Smolny Ball. Princess Augusta was a few years younger than us, but she would still have to wait for her grand duke to grow up.

“Are you going to the children’s Christmas Ball?” Erzsebet asked. “I’ve heard the grand duchess Marie Pavlovna is a more gracious hostess than the empress herself.”

Elena shook her head, her black hair flying in the breeze. “Sadly, I shall be back home in Montenegro for the holidays. You must tell me everything about the ball when I return. I did want to meet the grand duchess, but I’m so happy that Katerina is coming home with me.”

Augusta sighed. “Going abroad for the holiday? You are so lucky, Katerina!”

I did not feel lucky at all. But then I spotted my brother laughing with other members of his regiment. “Pyotr Alexandrovich!” I shouted, and ran toward him.

“Brat!” He grinned when he saw me, and spun me around in his arms. “Are you giving your instructors a hard time, as I taught you?”

I rolled my eyes. “I must speak with you, Petya,” I whispered. “There is a dreadful plot here at Smolny to ruin my life.”

He glanced at the girls behind me, who were shyly speaking with the other officers. We strolled farther away from them. “What the devil are you talking about?” Petya asked.

“Elena and her sisters want me to visit Cetinje with them for Christmas,” I explained. “They are trying to marry me off to their brother.” I grabbed Petya’s arm. “Please talk to Maman and Papa and beg them not to make me go.”

“A crown prince, eh? What’s so dreadful about that?”

Across the street, Dariya laughed as she flirted with one of the captains. Elena vied for their attentions as well. I turned back to Petya. I couldn’t tell him everything about the Montenegrin witches. Then I would have to tell him about me. “I do not want to move far away to some dark country in the mountains,” I said, which was partly true. “What am I going to do?”

“Don’t be ridiculous. And don’t worry your pretty little head about anything. I’ll be dining with our parents this evening. Perhaps they already have a more suitable match planned for you.”

For some absurd reason, the blue eyes of the grand duke George passed through my mind. I shook my head. “You know I want to study medicine first,” I told my brother. “There will be plenty of time for a husband later. Look at Madame Curie.”

“Yes, but who wants to marry an old woman who’s smarter than him?” said one of the other officers, who had come swaggering up to us. He gave me a salute and a roguish grin.

I was well bred enough to know I shouldn’t respond to the officer’s taunt, but I could not help myself. “I’m sure no smart woman would want to marry you, anyway, Count Chermenensky. That’s for certain.”

Petya laughed and put his arm around me. “Do not worry. Everything will work out. Katiya, I see that you remember my friend.”

“Of course,” I said, holding out my hand for the count, even though he did have a low opinion of educated women. “Petya brought you to our parents’ home once.”

“Enchanté, mademoiselle,” the count said gallantly.

They walked me back to my companions and bid us adieu just as the snow began to fall. Elena was most curious about Petya’s friend. “And who was the handsome officer talking with you and your brother?” she asked on our way back to the institute.

“Count Chermenensky.”

Elena scoffed. “Only a count? Why should your brother waste your time with someone like that? Surely he doesn’t expect your parents to approve of a count as a suitable match for you.”

I stopped walking and stared at the princess. “Elena, there is much more to life than finding the richest husband possible. My brother was simply being cordial. Besides, the count is a close friend of his.”