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Fall 1888, St Petersburg, Russia

An afternoon spent solving quadratic equations would have been infinitely more pleasant I s puffy eyes Blackberry vinegar for brightening dull skin Goat&039;s h hands I politely declined when ranate facial cream

It was Friday afternoon and our lessons had been canceled at the Smolny Institute so everyone could prepare for the ball Because dressing up like a doll wasarithmetic

Matrimony That was the trueNoble Maidens It was nothing more than a meat market for Russia&039;s nobility, where princes fro them to marry well So there I sat, Katerina Alexandra Maria von Holstein-Gottorp, Duchess of Oldenburg Great-great-granddaughter of Eranddaughter of Katerina the Great on my father&039;s side Princess of the royal blood Royal meat for sale I would rather have been dead

I once told Maman I wanted to attend medical school and work at one of Papa&039;s hospitals in St Petersburg or Moscow I always acco Children&039;s Hospital when she ht it would be wonderful to take care of sick children and discover cures for diseases But Maman was horrified by the idea

"Whatto wait for an answer "What a foolish notion!"

But soitis, which had taken er brother before his first birthday Why couldn&039;t that someone be me? I&039;d been only three at the time and too little to understand, but his death had devastated our faht after night There had been too randparents, my favorite aunt I looked forward to the future, when science could perform miracles

And ould not have to live in fear of disease

One of our maids, Anya Stepanova, had a brother Rudolf, who attended the School of Medicine in Kiev My father, a great believer in philanthropy, had paid Rudolf&039;s tuition I begged Anya to tell me about his studies, but they did not interest her Even she was more absorbed with the petty female plots that went on at Smolny As she fixed enievna the latest gossip about our fell ow student Princess Elena

"She&039;s a witch, I tell you," Anya whispered as she fussed withaShe wassome sort of charm, I&039; all the sa sorry for Elena, even if she was a witch If she couldn&039;t keep her powers hidden here at S the dead was my own secret, a talent I kept hidden, even froreed "Do you knohat the cook said about Elena&039;s dead sister?"

With a frightened whisper, Anya crossed herself "Holy Mother of God!" One of Princess Elena&039;s sisters had died two years earlier at Shosts rumored to haunt these halls, then why didn&039;t she appear to her sister in our dorhtened of her own sister to haunt her

"There are no ghosts at S that if there were, I would certainly know "Anyway, Elena is dancing with the tsar&039;s son tonight