The Gathering Storm (Katerina #1)

I decided not to visit the princess Cantacuzene, and returned home instead. There was a carriage with the imperial family crest in front of my house. As I walked inside past Papa's study, I heard a familiar voice.

Grand Duke George Alexandrovich. I swallowed back fear and a little bit of irritation.

I went to Maman's parlor and started working on a piece of embroidery, something to keep my fingers occupied, even though my mind wandered. I craved to know what Papa and the grand duke were discussing. Maman chattered away about the latest gossip concerning the deaths of the Austrian crown prince and his mistress. Something about lycanthropy. I rolled my eyes. Surely Erzsebet and Augusta would have told me if their uncle and his mistress had turned into werewolves.

I stared out the window onto the snow-covered grounds below. It was a dreary gray day, with months to go before the spring thaw. I sighed. At least it would be pretty and warm in Biarritz. Maman and I expected to leave that Friday, with Papa joining us the following week.

One of the house servants appeared at the door. "Your Highness, forgive me, but His Imperial Highness would like to speak with his daughter in his study."

I put my needlework down and quickly went to Papa's study. I hoped the grand duke was gone.

He wasn't. He was sitting in Papa's favorite leather chair.

My father was standing at the window. "Katerina!" He did not sound happy. "Come in here, my dear!"

"Yes, Papa?" I asked, standing at his doorway. I curtsied to the grand duke. "Your Imperial Highness."

"The grand duke has informed me that you took it upon yourself to help a strange man who was clearly insane."

I hated the grand duke. "Forgive me, Papa. He was injured and I did not feel I was in danger."

"Next time you come across an injured person who needs medical attention, have the carriage driver take him immediately to see Dr.

Kruglevski. Until you have graduated from medical school, you are not allowed to practice medicine on any human being, and furthermore-" The grand duke cut him short. "Katerina Alexandrovna cleansed and dressed one of my own wounds, when the injured man attacked me." He pushed his sleeve back for Papa to see what was left of the deep gash Count Chermenensky had given him. The scar would heal nicely, and it gave the grand duke a wicked look to him. I noticed the grand duke's hair was slightly longer that day than it usually was, as if he hadn't had time for a trim in over a month. It made it look softer, and I had to fight the urge to run my fingers through it.

"May I look at the scar?" I asked, trying to distract myself. I unceremoniously grabbed the grand duke's arm and slowly ran my finger along the groove in his skin. "It's healing so quickly. How fascinating!" The grand duke sucked in his breath, gently grasping my hand and removing it from his arm. "Yes, one of the gifts my mother gave me," he murmured low enough so only I could hear.

"Katerina, I am sure you handled the bandages expertly, but you cannot practice medicine on the tsar's son!" my father said, exasperated. "What if something had gone wrong?"

The grand duke smiled. "At the time, Your Highness, she was the most competent person available. There was no harm done." Had the grand duke just given me a compliment? I blushed pink with pride. I wanted to look at his scar again.

Papa rubbed his eyes and sighed. "I thank you, but I will feel much safer when she attends medical school for proper training."

"You do realize what a struggle it will be to change the law? My father is a traditionalist and does not see the value of women working outside of the home. A girl of your daughter's station should be content with raising a family and keeping a household."

I fumed. But before I could open my mouth and say something both my family and I would regret, my father rushed across the room and hurried me to the door. "Yes, we are aware, Your Imperial Highness," he grunted as I moved to strangle the grand duke. Fortunately, for my sake, Papa pushed me into the hallway before I could reach my target. "But times are changing, and I believe women physicians will become common, perhaps after the turn of the century."

"Content? Would you be content keeping a household if you were a woman?" I shouted from the hallway.

"Katiya? What on earth are you going on about?" Maman hurried up the staircase, clutching her needlework.

I sighed as I turned toward her. It didn't matter. The grand duke was right, at least about some of it. Tsar Alexander the Third was extremely conservative; he would never allow women to return to medical school in Russia.

"I shal have to live elsewhere when I grow up. Perhaps Berlin or Vienna," I told my mother. I shuddered, wondering what family of vampires roamed those beautiful cities. "Or maybe I will move somewhere exotic and tend to the poor." The previous tsar, Alexander the Second, had allowed several young women to obtain medical degrees in exchange for pledging to take care of the indigent in Siberia.

"Mon Dieu, Katiya, the things you say," Maman said with a sigh. "I wish you would just make up with Prince Danilo and let him build you all the hospitals and orphanages you want."

"Maman," I said, exasperated by having had the same argument with her hundreds of times. "I will never marry someone who does not accept me for who I am!"

I turned to stalk off to my bedroom, and almost ran into the grand duke, who had been standing there listening. I was not sure who blushed more, me or His Imperial Highness. Curtsying hastily, I brushed past him and hurried to my room.

Was I being stubborn and foolish? By dreaming of doing something outlandish and forbidden with my life? I did not want to be a necromancer. I did not want to be killed by vampires. And I most certainly did not want to be stuck in a loveless marriage with nothing to do all day but change dresses and take tea with other bored women. It made defying the tsar seem as pleasant as a walk through a grove of lilacs.