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My brother was right, of course It had not taken much for Maer of being compromised by the crown prince, if indeed I had not already been co Both Petya and Uncle George apologized extensively but insisted that we return to St Petersburg the corins had no choice but to let us leave They had acco they had hoped for

Danilo kissed ether again soon And then it will be forever" Maued the entire trip home She insisted that I be rin princesses Uncle George was delighted at the thought of sharing his wedding day with his niece At least my brother was on my side

"She is only sixteen, Maman," Petya said "Let her finish school, at least"

"For what? As young girls grow older, they begin to get strange ideas in their heads And no man wants that in a wife"

"Oh, Ma this She had always prided herself on her education She was always reading and trying to improve hermy arms

But e returned home three days later, Mau

There had been no sign of Konstantin The attacks on the Order stopped, and everyone seemed to relax a little However, there were several undead members still left unaccounted for Whether Konstantin had found the them for battle, no one could say

Danilo arrived back in St Petersburg not long after us and came to visit my father

Papa wanted Danilo to promise him I would be allowed to attend medical school, but the crown prince refused Danilo smiled and dazzled Papa with his new and improved Vladiki charm By the time Danilo leftover large su e anymore To cry off noould cause an enorain As if that s were to be at Peterhof, the grand summer palace of the irounds were beautiful, especially in summer, with several elaborate fountains over a hundred years old I had been to Peterhof for the grand duke Serge and Princess Elizabeth&039;s wedding when I was ten I had fall en into the lion fountain

The i the empress&039;s family in Denmark They would return to Russia in tie Alexandrovich again He would never forgiveKonstantin And he would have every reason to hate an to pile up in our parlor I did not cry when Madaown and yelled at me to stand still I did not cry when I saw Papa&039;s sad face as he gazed upon the wedding gifts He may have been won over by Danilo&039;s powerful charrow up and

I did not cry e visited Dr Kruglevski&039;s grave and I laid a rose on it Papa squeezed my hand It was my fault that he had lost a very dear friend He had already asked Anya&039;s brother Rudolf to take Dr

Kruglevski&039;s place as head of the Institute of Experilevski&039;s years of experience

"Papa," I said, grasping his are ride home "Are you terribly disappointed in me?"

He looked surprised "Katiya, you could never disappointas you are happy, I will be happy"

I hugged him "Thank you, Papa"

"Prince Danilo lad he couldn&039;t see my face "Of course, Papa" It would make me happy if ere all safe from Konstantin and the Dekebristi I prayed for Petya and hisfor the home from the cemetery, we stopped in front of the Tibetan doctor&039;s pharmacy Papa smiled and squeezed my hand

I rerand duke I hoped he had discovered so useful when he&039;d talked to Dr Badht when I had disappeared? Surely by now he had heard ofplans

The Tibetan doctor sood to see both of you" His empty shop was heavy with the scent of incense

"Any new information about our friend?" Papa asked

Badmaev shook his head "I aive hi"

"Has he been violent?"