The Morning Star (19 page)

“Am I to appear as Cleopatra?” I asked, taking the robe and tossing it onto the bed.

“You are to dress as a proper Egyptian priestess.” She stopped at the door and turned around with a vicious smile. “A proper
virgin
Egyptian priestess.”

I wanted to roll my eyes at her. “How close are we to Abydos?” I asked, but she’d already closed the door behind her. I
peeked out the tiny window and could see palm trees lining the dark green river. I had no idea where we were.

I ignored the priestess robe on my bed and was going to continue reading about old Egyptian gods when I spotted the medical text I’d found in Cairo. I opened it up instead. I was amazed at how far I’d come in my Greek lessons. I only had a little trouble reading some of the ancient Greek words.

The physician Galen wrote mostly of the organs of apes and pigs that he had dissected. The Roman Empire forbade human dissection, so he made do with animals whose anatomies were similar to our own. I soon grew tired of reading about intestines and lung tissue. I fell asleep dreaming about a pig that wore the headdress of a pharaoh.

A sudden lurch of the boat awakened me. My head bumped up against the wall. Rubbing the sore spot tenderly, I crawled out of bed and tried my door, but it was still locked. I could hear footsteps and shouting above as people scrambled up to the deck.

It was not long before someone came to check on me. The elder Grigori opened the door. “Are you unhurt, Duchess?” he asked.

“I’m fine. What has happened?”

“The boat has run aground on a sandbar. The captain is refusing to continue to sail in the dark.”

“I take it the crown prince is not happy.”

“They are arguing right now. It is perhaps better if you remain in your cabin.”

I sighed. “No, perhaps I can calm him down.” The crown prince’s temper was nowhere near as volatile as the lich tsar’s. I hoped between me and Mala we’d be able to make him see reason. I followed the Grigori up the steps to the deck.

Danilo was shouting at the captain, who looked frightened but who refused to send his crewmen down to the sandbar until daylight. It was too risky.

“Your Majesty, the Nile is full of crocodiles and other hungry creatures,” Mala said, most rationally. “The men will be of no use to us if they get eaten.”

But the crown prince would not listen. “We have no time to be cautious! Send your men down to make their repairs. I will guarantee their safety.”

“How can you make such a promise?” the captain asked.

“I shall cast a spell of protection around them. They will be safe as long as they stay within the light.”

The crew looked at the crown prince warily but finally agreed to climb down to the sandbar. A generous-sized bag of golden coins helped persuade them. One of the younger Grigori accompanied them as well.

The lich tsar’s green eyes flashed as Danilo spoke an incantation in ancient Egyptian. Mala stood next to me, gazing at him in silent adoration. Her worship of the lich tsar was unsettling. I understood her gratitude toward Princess Cantacuzene, but that did not mean she was obligated to follow Konstantin blindly. Unless, of course, she was starting to have romantic feelings for the crown prince as well. She certainly seemed to have forgotten all about the tsarevitch.

The lich tsar’s spell was empowered with a drop of Danilo’s blood. He pricked a finger with his penknife and held it out
over the river. It was only a single drop, but it was enough to create a magical barrier around the sandbar.

It was also enough to attract a very large crocodile that had been dozing nearby. A dark shape just under the water approached the sandbar. It couldn’t come any closer because of Danilo’s spell, so it hovered in the dark muddy waters and waited.

The men did not notice the reptile as they hurried to dig the boat free. Danilo sent two more of the Grigori to help push the boat back into the water. Their inhuman strength was invaluable, and they were able to free the boat in no time at all.

But as the Grigori pushed the boat, the crew moved beyond Danilo’s circle of protection. Suddenly, there was a great splash followed by a piercing cry. I saw one of the ship’s men disappear into the river. My stomach turned.

The rest of the men scampered to board the boat while the Grigori searched the water for the man who’d gone under. But there was nothing left of him to save. The waters turned bloody, and the man’s red cap floated up to the surface.

Mala reached for my hand silently, and I squeezed it. The captain removed his own fez and wept. Danilo said something to him quietly, but it did not sound like words of comfort.

“You are a monster, my lord!” the captain said. “What kind of evil have you brought down upon us all?” Ignoring the rest of us, he returned to the wheelhouse to continue our journey.

The Grigori climbed back onto the ship empty-handed and silent.

Mala joined Danilo, who stood at the rail, gazing down into the river. “All great leaders make great sacrifices,” she said to him. “It will be worth it in the end, Your Imperial Majesty.”

Danilo said nothing to her, and at last she walked away to return to her own cabin, glaring at me as she passed.

I turned to go as well, but the crown prince finally spoke. “They will say this is a bad omen.”

I walked over to him by the railing. The sky was beginning to grow lighter. It would be dawn soon. “Perhaps it is.”

He gave me a dark look. “You have never been superstitious, my dear Katerina,” he said. “You are far too intelligent for that.”

I wished I had the strength and the courage to push the crown prince overboard. That would be a certain way to solve our problems. But the Grigori hovered nearby and I did not think they would let me harm their master.

And I had to believe there was a way to destroy the lich tsar without harming the crown prince. “And are you superstitious?” I asked.

“I come from Montenegro, a country steeped in superstitions.” With that, he left me alone at the rail wondering what he planned to do next.

I remained outside to watch the sunrise, and the Grigori let me be. I guessed they were certain I would not make any attempt to swim for the shore now. I made the sign of the cross over my heart for the man we had just lost. I prayed for his soul and then said another prayer for my own.

We reached the dock of Belianeh later that afternoon. The excavated temples of Abydos lay several miles inland and unfortunately were only accessible by pack animal. We were met at the rail station by a herd of various-sized donkeys and young boys willing to be our guides into the desert.

Danilo haggled with them and finally agreed upon animals for each of us, another one for carrying supplies, and two boys as our guides. The boys were anxious to set out and anxious that we return to town before sunset. I wondered how long the ritual was supposed to last.

We left our trunks aboard the boat, for there were no inns in the small village. Mala insisted that I bring the linen priestess robe in my bag. The Talisman of Isis was still around my neck, tucked beneath my traveling dress. The lightweight wool skirt just barely covered my ankles when I climbed onto my donkey, a sweet-natured creature named Amin. The young guide told
me the animal’s name meant “trustworthy.” The guide’s name was Tumani, and as we rode along he sang songs that apparently had naughty lyrics, because the other boy, who seemed a little older, yelled at him to be quiet, that his song was not suitable for a lady’s ears.

Amin’s fur was soft between his ears. He plodded along with the others in single file as we passed through fields of wheat in the fertile area between the river and the desert. We passed a few smaller villages that dotted the landscape built up above the floodplain upon dirt mounds. Dirty children ran up to us begging for coins or sweets. I had neither, but I saw Mala pass out a few silver pieces to the youngest ones. I wished I had something to give them.

The ruins of Abydos sat where the green fields met the desert. The trip had taken almost two hours by donkey ride. I was hot and thirsty. Tumani and the other boy offered water to each of us before taking care of the animals.

Mala and I fell in behind Danilo, the Grigori following us as we approached the Temple of Osiris. Legend stated that the ancient god himself was buried here. That this was where the goddess Isis had carried him. The wind was stronger here than down by the river, and my hair was coming loose from its pins. Mala had no such problem, as her hair was hidden beneath her black headdress. We both stumbled, though, as the excavated path leading to the temple was not cleared as often as the ones in the more popular sites at Giza and Luxor.

The site was not vacant, however. Excavation was going on at the far side of the temple complex, with men directing a group of boys to carry dirt and rubbish from one of the temple ruins. A pack of tourists was exploring one of the smaller tombs
nearby. Their guides sat waiting with their donkeys in the shade of a palm tree.

“What if they try to visit the temple during the ritual?” I asked Mala.

“The Grigori will stand guard and not let anyone inside,” she replied. “The crown prince has planned for everything.”

The Temple of Osiris had actually been rebuilt on the same site several times over a period of three to four thousand years. Not much remained of the Great Temple, save for the main hall and its enormous columns. The stone columns were covered in hieroglyphics that told of Egyptian history. Curses, long-forgotten curses, were inscribed to ward off grave robbers. But most of the treasures in these tombs had been plundered before the first French explorers found Abydos in the eighteenth century. A few valuable pieces had survived and were now safe in museums. Other artifacts, such as the Talisman of Isis, remained in private hands. Princess Cantacuzene had stolen the talisman from the Montenegrin queen. I wondered how long the relic had been in the Montenegrin royal family.

Not much remained of the forecourt leading to the temple except for a few carvings and the stairs, which led to the upper court. The outer hall had carvings of Egyptian gods and the pharaohs bearing them gifts. Giant columns stood in the inner hall and were decorated with even more carvings of gods and hieroglyphics. Behind the inner hall, several small sanctuaries had been excavated. In the last one stood the altar of Osiris.

Mala and I found a small alcove near the altar where she helped me change into the linen robe. It was sleeveless with a beautiful beaded collar of lapis and jasper. Thankfully, she did
not notice the Talisman of Isis I was wearing underneath. She brushed my hair and left it down. I had lost most of the pins to hold it up anyway. She stood back to look at me and shook her head. “You do not look Egyptian by any stretch of the imagination, but you do look beautiful. His Imperial Majesty will be pleased.”

I blushed. I felt naked in the linen robe, even with my modern underthings still on beneath. My bare arms and feet were exposed in a shocking manner. Mala had not allowed me to replace my boots and stockings and had consented to my keeping the camisole and petticoats only after I begged her.

The afternoon had grown late, and the sun was beginning to set far to the west. I began to smell a heavy perfume in the air. Danilo had lit the frankincense at the altar.

Mala nodded. “It is time.”

Danilo had said this ritual would somehow aid us in finding the Morning Star and would ready him to face Papus. But I could not help thinking that any ritual requiring such elaborate preparations must be for something much darker than merely seeking a lost object. Or merely for seeking protection from a foe. Disturbing ancient gods was not something even a lich tsar would undertake lightly, I would hope.

The sanctuary holding the altar of Osiris was a small square chamber supported by four enormous columns. Each column had carvings of Osiris and Isis and hieroglyphics begging for the deities’ intercessions. The room was dark except for the two gas lanterns Danilo had lit. A tiny skylight high above us let in fresh air but little light, as the sun was sinking fast. I worried for our two young guides waiting by the animals outside.