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Princess Elena caused a stir when she opened the ball with the tsarevitch Nicholas Alexandrovich, the heir to the throne of Russia She looked like an angel gliding across the els, all in the sainal white with our hair coiffed perfectly in braided chignons

"It&039;s heaven on earth!" Dariya said with a sigh

Boys froes, the elite military academy, lined up in chairs directly across the cavernous ball rooirls of Smolny Institute They looked very smart and very handsome in their black h ride to the palace considering which of these cadets were foreign princes and which ones were the most suitable topolonaise in the enor men rushed toward us to claim our hands for the next dance The meat market had opened for business

Rumors flew froest Sagement between Princess Elena and the tsarevitch Her father was the King of Montenegro, and a close ally of the tsar, but there were er and more important countries for Russia to make all iances with As coldhearted as it may sound, this match seemed improbable to me But Elena already looked like she was in love

I kept ht, even as I danced one tedious set after another A gri cadet was my first partner He barely spoke tords to me when I tried to be polite and ask about his lessons at Vorontsov Palace But our dance was over soon, and with a quick, halfhearted bow, he slipped back into the crowd

Another cadet replaced hiether in the wild crush It was notour lessons The ball room was a flurry of white dresses and black uniforlittering chandeliers It grew hotter and stuffier with each dance, and the petticoats under un to snes and perfuuise it I wished I had a fan to keep the stench away frolass of lemonade

The dance master called for the mazurka and Dariya squealed "This is my favorite! Oh, Katiya, I don&039;t knohy I orried about tonight I never dreamed the ball would be so wonderful!" She blushed when a handsome blond cadet took her hand and led her onto the dance floor I smiled, happy for my cousin

The tsarevitch did not dance the mazurka but stood beside his rim cadet I&039;d partnered with earlier

"Duchess, would you do me the honor?" I spun around to see the tsarevitch&039;s younger brother the grand duke George Alexandrovich standing before loved hand in his "The honor is hness"

He led me onto the dance floor and bowed as the irls, I curtsied deeply in response to htly on rand duke was nothing like dancing with fell ow students in Madame Metcherskey&039;s class Very conscious of his hands touching ht-headedness as we promenaded around the ball room

I must confess: like Dariya, I&039;d always been fond of the irls kicked their heels and it was so much livelier than the other dances And the music the orchestra played was by Glinka, one of rand duke did not speak as we completed our circuit of the ball room He did not speak e crossed hands and turned clockwise

There was no need for us to ot to one knee with one hand on his hip, the other barely holding rand duke looked up at hts The faintest hint of a s fun after all

I srew even hotter in the ball roo

I corand duke, and he stood with a click of his heels A hundred pairs of boot heels clicked together at once as the racious bow and a polite srand duke excused himself to join his brother I needed to catch lass of leht

Dariya pushed through the crowd and swung ushed "This has been the best night of ht was not quite as terrible as I&039;d feared either

We sat down to dinner at half past ten, right after the rand dining roorin princesses favored each other: tall, with raven-black hair, eyes just as dark, and strong noses

"You look beautiful," Elena&039;s sisters said to her "Papa and Mama would be so proud of you!"

I&039;d heard sinister tales about Elena&039;s sisters Even though they were rumored to be witches, they were still the toast of St Petersburg society, coyly appearing at all the sed to the grand duke Peter Nikolayevich, cousin of the tsar on his father&039;s side and also my cousin on his mother&039;s side Another sister, Princess Anastasia, known as Stana, had her eye on

As ere shown to our seats, I was shocked to see the tsarevitch and his brother being seated at my table-next to Elena

I whispered to Princess Militza, "To what do e such an honor?"

"It is the tsarevitch who is honored tonight, dining with daughters of King Nikola," she answered Militza tended to think the universe revolved around her father&039;s tiny kingdoro

"Oh Then I am honored as well," I said with a reverent bow of ally, oblivious to my sarcasm On the other side of me, Dariya snickered softly

The food had been prepared under the direction of the empress&039;s French chef The soup was excellent, the fish not so much I discreetly pushed it around on my plate, certain no one would concern themselves hat a silly S her Danish relatives at her own table, the tsar having already returned to his private quarters after a brief appearance

Besides, I knew all uneaten food would be given to the beggars outside at the end of the ball I believed I was doingmore food for the poor I just hoped they liked fish lanced around our table, where Elena was laughing and batting her eyelashes at everyone She caughtofficer to his left Elena turned to his younger brother the grand duke George Alexandrovich, on her other side, and whispered so

He looked toward my plate and nodded "Not fond of the salmon, Duchess?"

All eyes at the table were suddenly on ain as she slipped so out of her locket and sprinkled it over the tsarevitch&039;s plate Was that the charm my maid had seen her with earlier? With a dead moth? She had deliberately diverted everyone&039;s attention towardto cast a spell on the tsar&039;s son?

Mon Dieu!

I couldn&039;t let the princess harm aman He did not deserve to be bewitched

I stared atinthere was one way I could ruin her spell For as long as I could remember, I&039;d had a terrible curse I&039;d never told h I sometimes wondered if I&039;d inherited it from my mother I was too ashamed to ask her

I hadn&039;t purposefully used the curse since I was ten But I suspected that there was sohness&039;s plate, so I knew I could ruin Elena&039;s spell There was no other way to stop her

The tsarevitch laughed at soain I had to hurry I focusedno one would notice

And that God would forgive me

As I concentrated, the dead moth crawled out from under the tsarevitch&039;s fish

"Good Lord!" he said As he moved to poke the insect with his fork, it flew up at Elena, who shrieked A mortified servant whisked the tsarevitch&039;s dinner plate away

Dariya, who discreetly hid her face behind her napkin, looked startled at first, then tried very hard not to laugh

The grand duke George frowned atto his brother "Didn&039;t fancy the fish either, Nicky?"