Collaboration with @silmarilz1701
Svetlana knew how to play the game. She'd been caught in the political drama of Stalin's inner circle since birth. The only child of one of Stalin's closest friends, she grew up in the limelight, scrutinized by frie...
This is a collection of Sveta's journey post war. Four out of the five "epilogue" chapters belong to Sveta, and we will explore three of them here, ending with a long-awaited excerpt.
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Epilogue One
...speak as puppets do...
August 1951
We pick up with Sveta during the Korean War. In order to keep her safe from Beria, her father immediately had her marry Nikolai Zaitsev, a friend of a friend who is currently posted in East Berlin. She and Nikolai have twins, a girl and boy, Yelena Nikolaevna (Lena) and Dmitri Nikolaevich (Dima). Nikolai isn't a bad husband, but Sveta holds no love for him beyond what is expected: duty. In 1951, the twins are five years old. Yelana has brown hair, lighter than her mother's, perhaps thanks to the dirty blond of her husband. Dmitri's hair is as dark as Sveta. Both have brown eyes.
Sveta receives a smuggled letter from Ron during the Korean War through Stalin's daughter. He's currently fighting in Korea and is now a Major in the army. He writes about his plans after the war, about their experiences fighting side by side, and about Zhanna's efforts to clear her name—identifying the blonde war correspondant who had been hanging around the airborne as the NKVD spy. Ron offers to try to get her out. He's heading home soon. He wants to help her find a home of her own.
She writes him back, stoic as she holds back her tears. Sveta tells him about her marriage, that she is a loyal Russian who is doing her best to support the Motherland. Even as she writes it, she knows its a lie. But she's always lived in the lies. She doesn't have the energy to resist anymore. The wedding to Nikolai keeps her safe, but more importantly, it keeps her children safe. That is all that matters now. She will not try to peak beyond the Iron Curtain. Her duty lies with her family. As fondly as she remembers those days with Ron, as much as she loves him, her duty is to Lena and Dima.
Epilogue Two
...one grip on the gun...
March 1953
Stalin is dead. Sveta's father, Alexander, is dead. He had a mysterious accident, falling from a window after getting drunk one night. Sveta knows this is a lie, another one of Beria's machinations. She has no one to stand between her and Beria's secret service. Every shadow holds danger. Nikolai doesn't understand. He is busy. He works. Sveta doesn't have work. She only has fear and duty.
One night, with Nikolai away on business, she stares history in the face. She can hear the rain outside. She finds her husband's pistol under his pillow. Beria seems to be winning the power struggle. If he succeeds Stalin as sole ruler of Russia... death would be better. The gun is cold in her hand. She's fired so many bullets in her life. How fitting that a bullet would end her life. And what was that saying? Bad things happen in threes? Nadezhda Alliluyeva Stalina, Veronika Mikhailovna Samsonova, Svetlana Alexandrovna Samsonova.
