The Gathering Storm (Katerina #1)

I awoke, with both my hands and feet bound, in a stuffy, damp chamber.

There were two candles lit, and someone circled the room, lighting more candles. I heard a low murmuring, like a buzz or a hum coming from outside. The person lighting the candles was dressed in a black hooded robe. "hello?" I asked. "Can you help me?"

The robed figure said nothing, but put a finger to his lips. The hairy arm and masculine jaw I saw were the only clues that told me it was a man.

"But I must get out of here," I said, squirming and trying to work on the ropes. My wrists were being rubbed raw.

The buzzing grew louder, and as the large wooden door swung open, I realized it was not buzzing but chanting. A small group of more black-robed men, swinging an incense censer, chanted as they approached the table where I was lying curled up on my side.

I suddenly realized I was lying on a cold stone altar. My heart began to pound. My nightmare was becoming all too real. "No!" I screamed. I was going to be some sort of sacrifice. "Let me go!" The chanting drowned out my cries.

The wooden door swung open again, and this time, the king and queen entered, followed by the crown prince. He was now dressed in the black robes of the Vladiki. It was time for his rite of ascension.

The prince's sisters followed him, wearing veils, so I could not tell which sister was which. The first one carried a small brass pitcher, and the second a brass chalice. The third sister carried a jewel-encrusted chest.

The three women approached the dais as the black-robed men continued to chant. I wanted to scream again, but as I caught a whiff of the incense, all thoughts of escape left me. They were drugging me again, I thought hazily.

Suddenly, the chanting stopped, and the chamber was silent. I looked around at the walls, where iconic images flickered in the candlelight. The temple reminded me of another chapel, thousands of miles away.

The queen turned around to her three veiled daughters. "Bring forth the talisman," she said.

The veiled sister carrying the jeweled box came forward, opening it in front of her mother.

Milena's eyes lit up as she carefully lifted something out of the box.

Triumphantly, she cradled an ancient metal disc in her hand. "The Talisman of Isis. Created for our ancestors thousands of years ago, to bring the gift of eternal life to us, her favored children," she said. "But part of the talisman was stolen by my sister, and taken to a distant, frozen land, where it stayed for many years.

"Tonight, we reconsecrate it and put its two pieces back together." I gasped. It was the talisman from A Necromancer's Companion. From what I could see, the talisman was not broken in half but had a large empty spot in the center of the disc, where it looked as if a stone was missing.

The sister who held the brass pitcher stood in front of me and anointed my head with a sweetly scented oil. I was too weak to protest. She moved to Prince Danilo and anointed his head as well.

The second sister bent down in front of the altar, holding up the chalice in front of me. I bent over and peeked down, but the chalice was empty.

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 metal ic 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 shal 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 chil 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.