When I woke up later, I was being jerked around in a carriage, with a splitting headache and my hands in shackles. I looked to see Olga and Anya across from me and Tanya was next to me. All of them, including me, were slightly beaten, but it was nothing too bad.
"What's going on?" I asked.
"We are being taken to Romania." replied Olga, sorrow thick in her voice.
"Romania?" I was shocked. Why would we be going to Romania?
"Yurovsky is selling us." Tanya said bitterly.
"To whom?" I asked.
"We don't know yet." Anya replied. "You've been unconsious for hours now. We were afraid that you wouldn't wake up."
"I'm fine, I-" I stopped. "Where is Mama? Alexi? Papa?"
Olga's blue eyes filled with tears. "They were killed Maria."
I went numb. All thoughts went out of my head briefly and then returned, almost painfully.
“How? I put up the shield. I know Papa was hit first, but…” I drifted off, breaking down into sobs.
Tanya put a comforting arm around me. “Alexi fell out of the shield, and Mama was too far off to begin with.” When my sobbing increased, she said, “You tried Maria, and that’s all you could do.”
“I should have saved them!” I wailed. “I should have been stronger!”
“Crying won’t do us any good now.” Anya said, not looking at any of us. Just like us, her heart was broken, even though she didn’t show it like we did.
“Anya, don’t do this now.” Olga warned.
“Don’t do what?” she retorted snidely.
Olga’s eyes narrowed, but she bit her tongue and looked out the window into the dreary landscape. It was raining.
“We must not argue right now.” Tanya said, wiping her eyes. “We must be strong, like Mama and Papa would want us to be.”
“Don’t forget Alexi.” Anya said quietly.
“We could never.” Olga replied gently.
We were silent for a while after that, grief and sorrow thick in the air. Hours later, we stopped and a man opened the carriage door. “Get out and take a piss if you have to.” He said impatiently.
My sisters went before me, and as I about got out, the guard grabbed my arm roughly.
“I’ve been given specific orders to not let you go.” He told me. His breath reeked of vodka and onions.
“Please, sir, I’m already bound. I can’t get away.” I pleaded.
“Nope.” He said. “Here, use this.” He produced a bucket.
“I can’t- I mean- I” I stuttered.
“It’s this or nothing.” He growled.
I jerked away from him. “Fine.” I said.
He tossed the bucket into the carriage and closed the door so I could relive myself in private. When I was done I kicked slightly on the door to let him know. He opened the door and silently took the bucket and soon after, my sisters came back, and we were on our way.
“I heard the guards talking.” said Tanya. “We’re to arrive in Constanta in less than two days.”
“Where are we now?” Anya asked.
“About an hour away from Ordzhonikidze, Ukraine.” She replied.
“This reminds me of the time we were going to visit Grandmama in Paris.” Olga said. “It seemed to take forever, we were so excited. Anya, you were about seven, do you remember that?”
“I think so.” She said thoughtfully. “I remember that Papa was so excited, he kept asking Mama if we were there yet.”
We all giggled at the memory. Just like that, we started to share memories of the good times, and the time passed quickly. We did this constantly unless we had to sleep. Soon, too soon, we were in Constanta.
Yurovsky came to the door and sneered and we got out. I was still chained and my sisters huddled around me protectively.
“This is where you will be staying.” He said, pointing at the manor looming darkly in front of us. “A patron has requested to buy each one of your for every one of his sons.”
When we cringed, he laughed. “How wonderful it is to see the Grand Duchesses off of their high horses. The Imperial virgins are about to become mistresses!”
“Who is this ‘patron’?” Anya inquired boldly.
“I don’t know his name.” Yurovsky spat. “All I know is that he’s paying one hundred thousand rubles for each of you. That is one of the reasons that you are alive right now, and the fact,” he said, turning to me, “That your sister has a special ‘gift’. I’m sure your son will be quite curious as to how it works.”
With that, he turned away from us and had us led up to the door and knocked. He appeared to be very excited.
The doors opened to reveal an elderly man in a tuxedo.
“May I help you?” he asked.
“I’ve come with the girls.” Yurovsky replied excitedly.
The mans eyes lit up in understanding. “Ah, yes, come in.” he said, beckoning us into the entrance hall.
Even though we had grown up in a life of luxury, we stared around us as if we were simpletons.
The hall was decorated extravagantly. All of the colors were either a deep burgundy, gold, or brown. Presious paintings hung from the walls and a grand spiral staircase rolled up the wall. A great diamond and gold chandelier hung from the ceiling. We couldn’t help but be in awe.
“Your patron is waiting.” Said the butler as he hurried us into the den. Even though we were in such a nice place, I had a feeling, and I knew my sisters felt it as well, things were about to get worse.
Much, much worse.
