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mnogoletie—a prayer of long life for the imperial family. With each word his voice rises, echoing off the stone walls and the arched wooden ceiling. The prayer is eloquent and lovely and the most dangerous thing he could possibly utter. Because that priest, that devout, foolish, idiotic man, recites, in painful, excruciating detail, each of our imperial titles as he prays.
“But the mercy I extend in this frozen outpost is the only thing standing between you and a misery you cannot imagine. Kerensky knew this. And now he’s running for his life.”
“My name is Yakov Yurovsky,” he says. “And I have come to take command of this garrison.”
“It is time you were brought to justice.”
A tiny flash of relief crosses Xenia’s face, and therefore a thread of suspicion begins to hum at the back of Anna’s mind, like an exposed wire.
It was the first time they confirmed that the tsar’s rumored fortune actually exists. Such an inheritance would change Anna’s life entirely.
thousand truths are written across the body during any given conversation, and they often say more than the words spoken aloud.
She had hoped that the name Schanzkowska would never be uttered in her hearing again. She thought the matter was taken care of, but apparently this is one issue she cannot put to rest.
He’s back and has already brought up the Schanzkowska affair. He says the family is preparing to make a statement.”
takes both of her hands and squeezes them reassuringly. “I am sorry about today. I never meant to betray your trust. I am your friend. You have to believe that.”
Only Gleb can say too much and ruin everything. He has always been like this. Loyal to a fault. Protective. Zealous in his devotion to Anna. And she loves him for it, she really does. Even when he goes too far. Even when he knocks down the whole damn house of cards. Because there is no one else who cares this much about her.
“And what will happen if I do not agree to this offer?” “Then I am afraid I will have to ask you to leave Oyster Bay within forty-eight hours. I have been told, in no uncertain terms, that if I am to remain in the good graces of my family I can no longer be your host.”
“And now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go pack my things.”
“We cannot make this work. It is cruel.” “Not so cruel as a firing squad. You must make do. For their sake.”
Whatever my parents suspect might lie in store for us is a thing they do not share. But I notice that Father and Gilliard continue to pore over maps at night. They continue to whisper among themselves.
“Fear not, Schwibsik, you are not the sort of girl one forgets.”
Because when Alexey starts to bleed he doesn’t stop.
It’s the perception. Everything is about perception right now. People are truly beginning to believe that you are Anastasia,” he
She believes that he will be there to support her because he has been there for so long doing that very thing.
If the legs are wobbly, she tries not to think about it much because it’s the only chair she has.
My brother’s tumble down the stairs nearly killed him. There was nothing Botkin could do to stop the bleeding. We have taken turns sitting by his bedside, terrified he would die at any moment. Though the worst has passed, Alexey is still bedridden, bruised, and unable to eat or even roll over without assistance.
She is drowning in her own fear and cannot be bothered to assuage mine. This,
is a pity,” Leshy says, his voice heavy with contempt, “that Bolshevik diplomacy always equips one man with a rifle and the other with a blindfold.”
Because he understands that a revolution is useless without a firing squad.”
The goal is to make him hate himself for being a man unworthy of respect.
“You cannot be in here,”
“Go. Or I will turn him loose.”
that dog ever touches me, I’ll kill him.” His words are slurred but I think there is a note of fear there
Anna knows this because she knows the face of the third man seated with them. She knows why he wandered into a mental institution near Berlin seven years ago.
As you know, help never arrived for the imperial family.” “Yes,” Anna says, her voice a whisper. “I know.”
“How much for the chess set and the icon?” He looks at her, his eye clouded and watery. “For you, Tsarevna, nothing.”
“Because I knew what it was and what it meant. Because I got it right, and every time I explain something correctly it infuriates him. He doesn’t like being proven wrong. He hates the fact that his father believes me, so he is determined to see me proven a fraud.”
“He says you are a vulgar adventuress and a first-rate actress. Pierre Gilliard has become the lead witness in their case against you.”
without another word, pitches Ortimo into the darkness. The wind howls at the open window but it isn’t enough to drown out the little dog’s terrified yelp.
Tanya does not know, cannot know the importance of what she has just given her.
course you don’t recognize us. It’s been so long. I am Tanya Botkin and this is my brother, Gleb.”
“We don’t even know if the tsar or his family is still alive. No one has seen any of them in four years. The rumors about what happened in Ekaterinburg are ghastly.” “They’re rumors.”
The water in this tub is still warm, and she is clean. It’s all a miracle. Anna relaxes finally, ridiculously happy for the first time in years.
Trans-Siberian Railway, Halfway to Ekaterinburg May 24
My brother fell asleep in the night, too exhausted and traumatized to stay alert any longer. It was a relief, to be honest. He could offer no protection, and I didn’t want him remembering anyway.
“No,” Olga says and crawls into the berth directly across from mine.
Sleep is her only refuge and she races toward it.
Tatiana stumbles in on her own a few minutes later. She goes straight to the window, her face slick with tears, her lips swollen.
The purpose of art, Gilliard had said
is to tell the truth.
There is nothing artistic about rape. Taking a woman by force makes a man no better than the rooster in Tobolsk. It simply makes him an animal.
Semyon knows that we have not told our servants what happened on the train. He knows, I am certain, because his teeth remain intact.
So he smiles, cold and cruel. “I believe that the ones you have will last until the end of your life.”
“They go on from here alone.”
As women we are taught that bravery and valor exist in the grand gestures. We believe that kindness is weakness and arrogance is the same as courage. But it is not so. Sometimes restraint proves the mettle of a man’s heart more accurately.
