The Flaming Tsar and the Magicborn

The Arrival of Olga

It had been a year since Nicholas Alexandrovitch Romanov married Alexandra of Hesse-Darmstadt and became Czar of Russia. It was also the birthday of Hadassah Rachel Shoshana Trichenberg, the bastard daughter of the famed sorcerer Leo Trichenberg.

But Nicholas knew that all wasn't well with the realm.

His father, Alexander, died the year before and a bastard child was born on the same day. Hadassah was the tiniest baby that existed in Russia and her birth was something of a wonder.

Only Nicholas knew the history behind the baby's birth: Hadassah had been born the moment Czar Alexander III died. But her mother (Jessica Schalit Smirnov) had died in childbirth. Hadassah was taken from her home in a Jewish village before her stepfather, Sergei Smirnov, killed her.

Leo Trichenberg didn't publicly claim Hadassah as his daughter (as it would have been a huge scandal if it were to happen), so Nicholas and Alexandra decided to raise her as their own. Many Russians wondered who the child's father was; some people began pointing fingers at Nicholas's many cousins, believing one of them to be Hadassah's father. (Leo and Nicholas found those ridiculous rumors amusing, but Alexandra and Marie did not.) The Czar and Czarina had also revealed they were expecting their first child. Many people assumed that the child would be a son even though others believed it would be a daughter.

Nicholas had other problems to deal with, mainly the problems involving the Snoweagle coven and the seven wolf clans. Aramaeus Zempanga (the leader of the Snoweagle clan) and Hans Fruar (the leader of the seven wolf clans) wanted a bastard boy named Alexander Smirnov as the next Czar of Russia. Yet with Czar Alexander III's death and Czar Nicholas II's ascension to the throne, the boy was unceremoniously shoved to the side, never mentioned to the people who wanted him to take the throne.

Several days before Alexandra was moved into the royal birthing room, Nicholas was signing important documents in his office. Alexander and Hadassah were with him. Just then, a group of werewolves led by Magorious Hoffelbax walked inside. The children tensed and Nicholas looked up from his work and saw the werewolves. He said to them, "Why are you here?"

"We grow tired of your ignorance," said Magorious as he faced the czar. "Hans tells me you have shoved the boy to the back of your palace and you treat him as if he is a bastard and not a trueborn son."

"He's the son of Luke Smirnov and Kayla Kroger, who broke the traditional laws of marriage by committing the act of fornication and conceived a child outside the confines of wedlock. For that, they were punished at the hands of an angry God by losing their right to exist on this earth," said Nicholas. "Now you want the people to follow the rule of their child, he who was born in a mockery of a true-born child. The people will never allow such a thing as this to happen, not as long as I'm the Czar and God is still in charge of this planet."

Magorious laughed at him, as did the other werewolves. Alexander frowned as he stared at the werewolf. Magorious said, "That is the best joke I've heard all day. What makes you so sure that you're the Czar? Why, you're nothing more than a country squire. How can the people of Russia follow the rule of a squire?"

"You think you can rule this country?" said Nicholas. "I would love to see you try. The people would rather be ruled by a squire than a monster, if that's the truth."

"What is truth?" a werewolf named George shouted.

"The truth is that a monster like you can never rule Russia," said Nicholas. "Now, if you would excuse me, I have more important things to worry about."

He swept out of the room, with Alexander and Hadassah following him like tiny puppies chasing after their mother. Magorious said, "And while we are here, about the child..."