The Paleys (1921-1927) - An Alternate Romanov Story

Because He Can

After Nicholas and Alexei returned from their excursion, they found Olga pacing in the lobby. Nicholas noticed her immediately while he was still in the car, twisting her fingers and casting anxious glances toward the entrance. He sighed inwardly. Whatever this was about—almost certainly Mircea—he was certain it was something he'd rather not get dragged into.

As soon as he stepped out of the car, Olga made her way over.

"Do you have a moment?" she asked in a tone that suggested this wasn't optional.

Nicholas glanced at Alexei, silently begging for support. But Alexei, who was always loyal to his sisters above everyone else, simply grinned faintly and disappeared into the house without a word. Nicholas muttered a curse under his breath but followed Olga when she motioned him toward a secluded corner in the garden.

After a few minutes of polite small talk—questions about his parents and sisters, with a very deliberate avoidance of any mention of Carol—Olga came to the point.

"About Mircea's injury," she began. "It wasn't serious. He knocked his knee against a table and fell. We called the doctor and the haematologist immediately—he was already nearby because of Alexei. There was no transfusion, nothing alarming. Just a swollen knee for a couple of weeks. We are all used to dealing with this."

Nicholas raised an eyebrow, crossing his arms.

"If it was nothing," he asked carefully, "then why didn't you tell Carol? Or at least our mother?"

Olga's head snapped up, her eyes narrowing as if he'd just asked the most ridiculous question imaginable.

"Are you serious?" she asked, her voice sharp with disbelief.

Nicholas stood his ground, not backing away from the question. He waited in silence, watching as her frustration simmered to the surface.

She scoffed, her expression darkening.

"If Carol found out, he'd never let Mircea come here again. He's been waiting for something like this, Nicky. Any excuse to make things harder for me, to hurt me. And this? This would be perfect for him."

Nicholas sighed, shifting his weight uncomfortably. He knew she wasn't wrong. He'd seen enough of Carol's temper and his need to assert control, especially where Olga was concerned. Still, neutrality had always been his safest course of action, and it wasn't a habit he intended to break now.

"I'm not taking sides in this, Olga," he said carefully. "You know that. I've done my best to stay neutral because I know how Carol can be. But you're putting me in an impossible position here."

She crossed her arms, clearly unimpressed. "What do you mean?"

"My mother is going to ask how the children were," Nicholas explained. "And if I tell her they were fine, I'm lying. Is that what you want? For me to lie to her?"

Olga's lips pressed into a tight line, and for a moment, she said nothing. Then she exhaled sharply, the frustration in her posture giving way to something closer to desperation.

"I just want to protect them from the terrible father and the awful environment they have at home," she said quietly. "That's what I want. And sometimes, yes, that means you might have to lie. Because if Carol catches wind of this—" She broke off, shaking her head. "You know what he would do. He would even try to take them away from me, just because he can and just because he knows how much that would hurt me. I can't risk that, Nicholas. I can't."

Nicholas rubbed the back of his neck, sighing heavily. He didn't like being dragged into these battles, but he also couldn't deny the weight of her words or how right they were.

"All right," he said finally, in a low voice. "I'll handle it. But you need to understand that I don't want to be in this position."

"I understand," Olga said curtly, though the gratitude in her eyes was unmistakable. "Thank you."

Without waiting for his reply, she turned and walked back toward the house, leaving Nicholas alone in the garden, deep in thought. As he stood there, staring at the distant trees swaying in the breeze, Nicholas felt the familiar ache of disappointment. He understood Olga's position. How could he not? He'd witnessed Carol's controlling, unpredictable temper too many times to count, and he couldn't deny that she had a point. Carol wouldn't just overreact—he would seize any opportunity to punish Olga, no matter how minor the offence was.

And yet, as much as Nicholas sympathized with Olga, part of him hated being put in the middle of this. It was exhausting to constantly navigate the minefield his family dynamics had become. Worse still, it was hard for him to reconcile the image of his older brother now with the one he'd carried for so long in his heart.

There had been a time in their childhood when Nicholas truly admired Carol. Back then, his brother seemed larger than life—strong, intelligent, and effortlessly charismatic. Nicholas looked up to him, even idolized him, convinced that Carol could do no wrong. But those feelings had been steadily eroded over the years by the harsh reality of who his brother truly was.

Now, every new incident—every petty argument, every calculated move to hurt Olga—chipped away at the last remnants of that childhood admiration. Nicholas hated seeing this side of Carol, not just because of what it revealed about him but because it destroyed the image of the invincible older brother he'd once adored.

With a deep sigh, Nicholas forced himself to focus on something else. He thought about the commission he'd just accepted and how it couldn't have come at a better time. For twelve whole months, he would be away from this drama, away from the suffocating tension that seemed to follow his family wherever they went.

The thought of being at sea, surrounded by nothing but open water and fresh air, filled him with an overwhelming sense of relief. It was a chance to clear his mind, to remember who he was outside of all this.