Robin Bridges - The Gathering Storm

The third sister held out the jeweled box to Danilo, who withdrew a golden jewel-encrusted dagger. My eyes grew large, and my mind slowly put together what was about to happen.

King Nikola took my hands and untied them, yet held me down so I could not run.

Danilo took his dagger and sliced my palm open, and I gasped in pain. The sister with the chalice held it up to catch my blood.

“No, please,” I whimpered. My hand stung from the cut. I could smell the metallic scent of my blood mixing with the fumes of the incense, and I was growing dizzy. “No …”

The veiled sister handed the chalice to her brother.

But his mother held out her hand. “Not yet. We must restore the two pieces and rededicate the talisman to the Goddess.” King Nikola grabbed my hand and held it while the queen ripped the obsidian ring from my finger. I winced as she scraped the skin. “My sister stole the talisman, hoping to place her lover on the throne of Russia. When she failed, she broke the talisman into two parts.”

I gasped again. Princess Cantacuzene had given me the stone of the talisman to protect. And the Montenegrins had known I carried the missing piece all along! Danilo had recognized the ring and had relayed the information to his sister and mother. I felt sick and helpless, held down on top of the altar.

Queen Milena set the ring back into its proper place in the center of the golden disc. “It wants a gift from you, Katerina,” she said softly, holding the talisman under my hand so that drops of my blood fell on the obsidian. The blood hissed a little as it seeped into the stone.

“No,” I whimpered again. But I was too weak to fight them anymore.

The queen held the talisman above Danilo’s head. “The blood of Isis, the strength of Isis, the words of power of Isis shall be given to you. May the symbol of Isis act to protect this great divine being from our enemies.” She lowered the talisman and held it over Danilo’s heart.

He took the chalice of my blood and held it up. “The blood of Isis, the strength of Isis, the words of power of Isis are all mine.”

With those words, he drained the chalice and became a blood drinker.

I wanted to retch but was too tired. Tears rolled out of my eyes. My cursed, necromancer’s blood. That was why his mother had wanted a marriage between the two of us. She wanted to use my blood to make him a more powerful Vladiki than his own father. I knew that now that she had her talisman and my blood, I was no longer useful to her. As soon as possible, they would kill me. Princess Cantacuzene had been right.

Queen Milena smiled at her son. “You will now be able to walk both the paths of the living and the dead, my son. For Isis shines her favor upon you.”

At that moment, the talisman began to move in her hands. With a cry she dropped it to the floor and stepped back. The walls of the temple began to shake.

We were deep within the Black Mountain, and one of the terrified priests cried out, “Earthquake!” They crossed themselves and ran out the door.

“What is this?” King Nikola roared, letting go of me.

A thin line of smoke, or mist, rose from the middle of the talisman. The walls of the temple stopped shaking as the vaulted ceiling above us filled with the mist.

I sat up on the altar and slid down, hiding on the opposite side of the large block of stone from the king and queen. Everyone remaining in the temple stared up at the mist in horror. “What have you done?” King Nikola whispered to his wife.

The chamber had suddenly grown much colder, even though the torches and candles still burned.

Queen Milena raised her hands up and spoke a prayer to Isis for protection. Her frightened daughters huddled behind her.

The mist began to take shape above us. It glowed a bluish white. I watched in terror as I recognized the familiar glow. It was a pure cold light.

Suddenly, the torches and candles were extinguished, and the temple was flooded with the cold light of the mist. The color drained from Prince Danilo’s face. He seemed to wilt, crumpling to the floor in a faint.

A malevolent voice thundered from above us. “WHERE IS JOHANNA?” it said.

“No,” the queen whispered, growing as pale as her son. “It cannot be.…”

King Nikola drew himself up. “Who are you?” he shouted. “I order you to leave Black Mountain at once!”

The walls shook again. Stones began to tumble from the ceiling. I heard Elena shriek from behind her mother.

“YOU DARE ORDER ME?” the mist roared. “I AM KONSTANTIN THE DEATHLESS! YOU WILL OBEY MY COMMANDS!”

The mist grew, swelling until it filled the temple and closed in on us. And it was painfully cold. The cold I felt in my bones was nothing like the chill it gave my heart. It felt as if the cold light was grasping for my very soul. I heard the others on the other side of the altar crying out and realized that the mist was clawing at all of us.

“Your Johanna is not here!” Elena shouted. “She is dead!”

“YOU LIE!”

I did not think the pain could get any worse, but it did. I fell to the floor, freezing and exhausted and ready to quit fighting. The others must have collapsed as well.

Suddenly, the painful cold disappeared, along with the mist. It did not recede into the talisman. It simply vanished.

My head was throbbing. I tried to get up, to get away from that horrible place. I had to escape. But I did not have the strength to move.

The crown prince was the first to stir. Moaning, he got to his knees and placed his fingers on my neck. “She’s alive,” he said.

The blackness closed around me again.

I awoke the next morning in a large bed, my head pounding and my bandaged hand throbbing. The prince had drunk my blood. We would now be forever linked. Feeling nauseated at the thought, I started sobbing miserably. How could I have let this happen?

And now—with my blood—Konstantin had returned. Queen Milena had not realized her sister had been using the talisman to keep her lover’s soul safe. He would go after Tsar Alexander and his family next.

I climbed out of bed and tried the door. I realized with relief that it was unlocked. But then, the Montenegrins had what they needed from me. They had no reason to keep me imprisoned.

Princess Militza met me in the hallway. “Awake at last, I see! Mama will be pleased. Would you like something to eat? She is having tea in the parlor.”

“No, thank you.” To be truthful, I was afraid of eating or drinking anything else in the palace. “Have my parents arrived yet?”

She did not answer. “Follow me, Duchess” was all she said.

Tea was held in the queen’s parlor, an elegantly decorated room with red silk wall hangings. The walls were covered with portraits of her children.

“Duchess, good afternoon,” Queen Milena greeted me.

Afternoon? I hurried to the window and drew back the heavy curtains. Late-afternoon sun stretched across the courtyard in front of the palace. I saw several carriages slowly driving up and down the street.

“You have been sleeping deeply all day. Sit here and have some tea.”

“I am sorry, but my stomach is feeling a little queer at the moment. Please forgive me.”

“Oh?” She placed the pot of tea back on its tray and stared at me with her penetrating black eyes.

“We should warn the tsar about Konstantin,” I said.

Queen Milena nodded. “Of course. A telegraph has already been sent to St. Petersburg.”

“What else can we do? How can he be stopped?” I asked.

The queen shrugged with a helpless smile. “I would not have the slightest idea.”

“But—”

“Enough of this. We must discuss your wedding plans.”