A Weird fantasy thing.

[Lyd's Archive (7/'15 to 6/'18)]

I want a few of y'alls (First time I ever said that word) to check this out. I've almost given up on it, but I thought it could be resurrected (ironic, given our female MC is called Anastasia[ah-nuh-STAH-see-a])

[Lyd's Archive (7/'15 to 6/'18)]

I'm neurotic about pronunciation, so I listed all the characters with the correct pronunciations of their names.

Cast of Characters

Note: all characters have first, patronymic, and last names, but only the names they are called by are used in this pre-book appendix. A patronymic is a name taken from the name of one’s father. The -ich, -ovich, -evich (or -ichna, -ovna, and -evna for a girl) suffixes mean “Daughter of” or “Son of”. Nicknames or alternate names are in quotes.

Anastasia Nikolaevna Romanova “Nastasia” (ah-na-STAH-see-ah nik-oh-LYE-ev-nah Roh-MAH-nohv-AH, nah-STAH-see-ah): Anastasia, daughter of Nikolai(Nicholas)Romanov, youngest daughter of the tsar.

Alexei Nikolaevich Romanov “Alyosha”(ah-LEK-sei nee-koh-LYE-ev-ich roh-MAH-nov, ah-LYOH-shah):Alexei, son of Nikolai(Nicholas)Romanov (son of the Tsar

Yelena Maximovna Petrenko (ye-LAY-na max-im-OHV-na pay-TREHN-ko: Yelena, daughter of Maxim Petrenko

Daniel Yakovlevich Markowitz (dan-YEL yak-ov-LEV-ich MARK- oh-witz):Daniel, son of Yakov (Jacob)Markowitz

Dmitry Vladimirovich Golitsyn (dee-MEE-tree vla-DEE-mir-OH-vich goh-LEET-sinn): Dmitry, son of Vladimir Golitsyn

Vladimir Vladimirovich Golitsyn (vla-DEE-mir vla-DEE-mir-OH-vich goh-LEET-sinn)Vladimir, son of Vladimir Golitsyn

Arina Konstantinovna (ah-REE-na kon-stan-tin-OHV-na) first and patronymic

Ivanov(ee-VAH-nov)surname.

Dementiev(de-MENT-tee-ev)surname

Maria “Mashka” (MAH-ree-ah, MAH-shka)first name and
nickname

Olga (OHL-ga)first name

Tatiana (tah-tee-AH-na, second daughter of the tsar.

Anna Demidova ”Nyuta” (Ah-na deh-mid-DOH-va, NYOO-ta)first, nickname and last name

Yurovsky (yoo-ROHV-skee)surname

Botkin (BOHT-keen) surname

Marie Feodorovna “Grandmama” “Minnie” (mah-REE fay-oh-dor-OHV-na)first name, patronymic and nickname. Marie was born Dagmar of Denmark but was given the patronymic Feodorovna upon entering the Russian church. Her father was Christian IX of Denmark.

[Lyd's Archive (7/'15 to 6/'18)]

Prolgue: rough draft

Prologue
Anastasia
Many people have heard my name, seen my picture, or thought they’ve heard my story. Glamourous films portray me as a helpless little girl waiting for the ex-butler’s son to save her from the mobs of whatever enemy they’d like to portray as mine. Be assured, that vision is far from the truth. I am Anastasia Romanova (ah-na- STAH-see-ah), youngest daughter of Tsar Nicholas II, ill-fated last emperor of the Russian empire. But my story is not the same as on screen.

Alexei
I may have never been the subject of any glamorous film, but I’m Anastasia’s brother, and I need to tell something too. Most people know history claims I was murdered thirteen days shy of my fourteenth birthday in a basement in Ekaterinburg that fateful night of July 17 1918, but you don’t know why, or perhaps only a little. To tell you everything would take more time than anyone has. It starts with the beginning of the Tsars’ rule over Russia as a whole country. I can’t tell you everything, but for me, the revolution story began with one single day in 1911.

Anastasia, my youngest older sister, loved pranks. At the time almost ten, she had dragged off my third older sister, Maria, to help her switch the sugar and flour in the kitchen. She said I had to distract Monsieur Gilliard, the tutor they were having lessons with, to keep him from looking their way. Quickly, I made something up and told Gilliard that when I became Tsar, I’d make a mandate so that every ice cream store in St . Petersburg would give me ice cream, for free on my birthday. Gillard then gave me a surprised face and launched into a rant so long I could only understand the last sentence: The people will be angry.
But, in our isolated palace, we couldn’t see the wave of revolutionary thought crossing the nation. The people were ready to strike and, with a blow or two or three, the monarchy would fall to ruins.

Most revolutions begin with the structure of society: a poor, but weak majority, working their backs off with little freedom, and a small nobility with pretty much everything they wanted and, in fact, shielded from the rest of society, off in their own world. As my father’s reign wore on, the people became fed up. In a series of uprisings in re-aroused anger, they forced the Tsar, my papa, to abdicate, sending us to our tedious exile

First, the provisional government put us under house arrest in Tsarskoe Selo,(sars -KOY-ay SAY-lo) the imperial village. Then, we were sent to Siberia, to protect us from the angry mobs in the west. I felt like a convict. After all, prisoners passed here.
During this time, there was a change in the government. The new Bolshevik guards, seemed a lot keener on getting rid of us, while the Provisional government had no real purpose except to be, well, provisional. Our next stop, Ekaterinburg was the beginning of the end. The moment I heard the name, I knew there was a slim chance, if any, of us escaping death, with it being a center of revolutionary sentiment. A tough and unsympathetic place for anyone. Yet the new chapter of my life began here. From Alexei Romanov, heir to the throne of and empire he knew hardly anything about, yet unknowingly a contributor to its downfall, I became Alexei Romanov, the last of the last, survivor of a grisly attack, plagued by a blood disorder that will someday kill me, yet finally in control of my own destiny. Freedom has a cost. This freedom, which gave me the power to control my life, also took away any protection I had, and as I lived my life outside walls, I began to learn that the enemy was everywhere.

Anastasia
Every day brought that enemy closer to a secret of my brother’s even he knew nothing of: His own power.

Yelena
There was a prophecy.
Years ago, the Empowered were faced with the growing threat of Eternus, a force that would strengthen your powers at the cost of your own body. But our people, faced with starvation and lack of civil rights, wanted strength at any cost. At this time, most Russians were virtual slaves bound to the land. We wanted our own voice, a political strength that would give us the power to control our lives. To the Empowered among them, people like me and Zara, my foster- mother, this could have been the Eternus. Except there was a prophecy years ago.

The story came to me like this.

I was eleven, in 1915, the first full year of the Great War we were stuck in neck deep. In the our little hut, Zara sat me down one night and told me that us Empowered, as we knew we were, had been given our warnings. A prophet called Mother Petra, from the Sisterhood of Fallen Crosses, had received a vision centuries ago in which she was told that Magic was forbidden, a destructive force bent on shifting the ancient balance of power laid out since Creation. One day, though many would draw to it in their greed, there would be signs in some ancient fashion and by them, the destruction of Magic should be clear to us. There would be a boy, she said, who would bear the line out of which the end would come. He would be a prince, she said, though if it was literal or figurative we were unsure, one with death in his blood and life in his veins. He would be in danger, and we as the Sisterhood of fallen Crosses, were told to protect him. It has been centuries and we still search to this very day.

Though she spoke the truth, Mother Petra had earned herself enemies. A rebel faction led by one Sister Lubasha, who believed Magic would heal all evils of their world, broke away. In time, Lubasha discovered many varieties of Magic and began formulating her immortality and plans to overthrow Mother Petra and succeeding mothers, with the rest of the sisterhood. We are still at war, and losing to be true, but I still have faith in a glimmer of hope somewhere.

[Ravanna Dee, Top Mod]

First I'm going to say, "Your writing is amazing, I didn't see any errors, punctuation was great. You write in a way that draws readers in." Second. I loved it!

[[deleted user]]

WOW! You also have a lot of characters and your story is so interesting.

[Lyd's Archive (7/'15 to 6/'18)]

thx :))))