The Tsar's Lost Daughter

Chapter 7

December 1913

Alexander Palace, St. Petersburg

Its my first christmas here with my real family i am outside now playing in the snow with my sister's poor little Alexei's health is not allowing him to have any fun on Christmas day.

I went to the hills and went to sled with Maria and Anastasia. "Careful Samara!" My lady in waiting shouted.

I sat in the middle of the board as Maria holds me incase i fall. "Ready, set, go!" Anastasia exclaimed as she pushed the sled. 

We hit the ground, some officers and lady in waiting came running up to us. "Are you okay Samara? Are you hurt?" Maria asks as she dusted my dress off, "No im fine" i said as i fixed my shoe. "Are you sure?" Maria asks once again. "Very sure" i said with a smile.

"How about we do something else?" Anastasia suggests. "Let's play a game of tag!" Anastasia said. "Nastya you know Samara can't play that" Maria says. "Okay what will we do then?" I ask. "Rest is the best thing" Maria says pulling us back inside.

We sat on our beds, i grabbed my scratch book and started to draw. Recently i found out i have hemophilia, i wonder why Xenia didn't tell me this, it was the reason of my internal bleeding.

"Samara you got a letter from someone!" Maria said handing me the letter. I read and its from Mama Xenia.

"My dearly beloved Natalia,

My darling its been a long time and i missed you so much. Your poor brother Adrien is waiting for your return, since the day you left he kept asking 'when are you coming back' or 'why did you leave us?' my heart aches because everytime he asks i lie to him. Can you come back here again for us? Maybe just for a day? We miss you so terribly much, dont worry i understand if you cant. We love you.

-Mama Xenia"

I shedded a tear after reading Mama Xenia's letter. Poor little Adrien i miss him so much i want to hug him tightly.

"Is there anything wrong my dear?" Maria asks sympathetically. "I miss them" i muttered, Maria looks at me in confusion. "My old family" i said. "I know but Mama or Papa wont allow you to visit them" Maria says. "How about you send them a gift" Maria suggests. "Okay will you come and help me?" I said. "Okay lets go" she smiled.

She started to help me knit actually she was teaching me. "Careful you might bleed yourself" she says as she guided my hands on the outline.

We finished knitting, i wrapped my gift in a newspaper and added a photograph of me and my sister's. I bet she'll be happy to see this.

Im bored so i went to the Big Pairs room. Wow many books. I grabbed one and sat on the table next to Olga's bed. Its quite interesting.

"What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be in your room?" Olga says as she sat on her bed. "How are you?" She asks. "Im doing great im just bored" I said still keeping my eyes on the book im reading. "But there are many books in your room" She says. "They're quite boring" i said. Olga chuckles.

"I haven't had the chance to ask but where did you live first?" She asks. "Nizhny Novgorod" i answered. "Well that is a great trade center of Russia right?" She says. "Yeah" i said.

"Well what was your life like with them?" She started to interview me. "Oh it was fun they treated me like they're real family" i smiled. "Thats good any friends?" She asks. "Yeah i had this friend named Nikita" I answered. "But how did you found out your Samara Romanova?" She asks as she raised her eyebrows. "Come i'll show you" i said pulling her to our room.

I began to search for the little locket under my bed. "Found it!" I exclaimed pulling myself out under the bed and bumped my head. "Are you okay?" Olga kneels down and checks my head for bruises. "No im fine" i said standing up and sitting to my bed. I pulled out the locket and showed it to her.

She read the letter and looks at me in utter shock. "At first they don't want me to open it but i suddenly lost it and a guard finds it and reports it to Mama and Papa" I said. "Wow that is actually a great way to surprise anyone" She says. I rested my head in her lap. "Im just glad i finally found my real family" I muttered. She stroked my hair and gave me a little kiss. "Im glad your back with us".

I went outside with Anastasia and played in the snow. I noticed Papa watching us and takes a photo of us. I ran to his arms and hugged him tightly.

He letted go of me. I ran back to Anastasia and started to build a snowman. "Papa can you help us?" Anastasia shouts. Papa ran to us and helped us make a big snowball. Anastasia throws a snowball at me. "No throwing snowballs" Papa warns. Her face frowns. She threw a snowball to Papa's head. I threw a snowball at him too. "Oh no!" He playfully says as he drops to the ground. "Yey win daughters!" Anastasia claps her hand. "You got me" he chuckles. Mama takes a picture of us. I looked to the camera and smiled. They're such a photogenic family everywhere i go, cameras.