The Tsar's Wife

The Storm Before The Calm

Olive expected to be awoken with screaming across the air and fire in the room. She expected there to be a dozen people in her quarters throwing her out of bed trying to make sure that they hadn't misjudged her height, or taken her waist measurements properly, or that they had no blemish to conceal before the next morning. She expected to see hundreds of angry people outside her window, exasperated that she would be their next sovereign in lieu of someone they would much rather prefer. She wouldn't have been surprised if the mob had been directly in her room with knifes and guns ready to take care of the matter themselves. 

But there was none. She was awoken by the soft light of the January sun and her room vacant and silent, so silent she could hear birds chirping outside her window and soft footsteps several halls away. Olive looked at the small clock on the dress table beside her bed, next to the photo of Alexei and her. It was seven-thirty in the morning, she had slept in unusually late. No one had came to wake her up routinely at five as they did every morning.

This was equal parts confusing and unsettling to her, the wedding was at 5 in the afternoon and gave her only ten hours to prepare including the travel. Olive felt slightly panicked, why hadn't anyone woken her up? Olive made her way out of bed and sat at her vanity, peering at her reflection in the gold trimmed mirror. Olive had always thought of herself as comely, not beautiful but pretty at least. However as she looked at herself in the mirror she felt rather plain, all her imperfections seemed to be making their appearance at once.

She realized she was rather pale, almost sickly looking and her eye circles didn't contrast well with  her fair skin tone. Her hair was a thin mess, and had grown so long it tangled unless it was pinned up. She also noticed she was very thin, her collarbones poked out her face looked sunken in. Olive had never noticed any of these imperfections before,  not enough to bother her anyways. She wondered if Alexei had ever noticed them before.

A knock came at her door and startled her, making her let out a small shriek. "Just a moment!." She exclaimed and jumped up to grab her robe since she was still in her bedclothes. As her feet padded across the floor she realized how freezing the room was and how cold she had been. She opened the door to Maria standing there, a small package in her hands. "Good Morning Olive," Maria said, smiling sheepishly. "I apologize you were not waken up, mother said we should let you sleep."

Olive felt a sting of embarrassment, had Alexandria noticed she looked tired now too? "It's alright. Would you like to come in?" Olive said and tried her best to smile, she did not really want company. She stepped aside to let Maria in, she still had the small package. It was wrapped in pink paper with a delicate gold trim. Maria noticed Olive staring at it and cleared her throat. "I brought you a gift from Alexei, since he isn't allowed to see you until the wedding." Olive froze, her hand mid reach for the gift. She wasn't aware she wouldn't be allowed to see Alexei until the wedding.

"I'm not allowed to see him?" She said, she felt her heart start beating faster and her body shake. She couldn't go all day without seeing Alexei, she already felt off and Alexei was exactly who she needed whenever she was in want of reassurance. Maria looked a bit anxious as well. "No, it's tradition. Did no one tell you?" She asked timidly. Maria put the gift down and started to walk towards Olive, but Olive stepped away.

She felt her chest start tightening and it felt like her lungs were filled with sand. She couldn't not see Alexei all day, she couldn't be alone all day whenever she felt like this. She needed him there to tell her it was alright, and how she would be okay, and there was nothing to worry about. It became too hard to breath and she felt herself gasping for air and her eyes welling up. She subconciously heard Maria let out a squeal and grab her arm asking if she was alright but she couldn't speak. 

"Hold on, I-I'll be right back Olive. Stay there." Maria said and bounded out of Olive's room and down the hall. Olive felt her eyes well up even more as she tried to steady herself and sit down so she could catch her breath. Did Maria just leave her? A few moments later two nurses and what Olive believed to be the family doctor rushed into her room, behind them was Maria and Alexei. The doctor grabbed Olive's arm and yanked her out of the chair, trying to feel her chest. Olive tried to yank her arm away and scream for him to let her go but she still couldn't breath. 

The last thing she heard before the room went black was Alexei shouting for the doctor to let her go.