The Tsar's Wife

Nicholas's Wedding Gift

  Olive and Alexei were called down to Alexandra's lilac boudoir at ten the next morning, per Nicholas's demand. Olive wasn't exactly surprised, they probably wanted to talk about plans for the wedding, Nicholas and Alexandra -mostly Alexandra because she insisted on making all the arrangements she could- were doing most of the planning, but Alexei and Olive had to decide some things for themselves. The wedding date was set, the ball date was set for January 15th, all that was left was putting everything together - and all under two months. Olive remembered Miss Peregrine telling her when she was younger that weddings sometimes took almost an entire year to plan. Alexei and Olive didn't have that time,Alexei needed to become the Tsar soon, and he needed a bride for that to happen, so everything had to rushed.

  Olive walked into the boudoir, seeing Alexei sitting beside Nicholas on the small couch and Alexandra sitting on the family arm chair by the window. She wasn't sure how Alexei had got here before her, his room was further away than hers from the boudoir, and she didn't think he had ran to get here. Alexei woke up early every morning -earlier than Olive at least- at 4:30, so he had more than likely been called down earlier than her. She took a seat next to Alexandra since the spots on the couch were taken up, though she didn't really mind it. "Ah, Olive you're here." Nicholas greeted nodding his head towards her respectively. Alexandra nodded at Olive with her empress face, though she was smiling as well. Olive was a bit confused as to why they were all being so formal and frank, but didn't question them any.

Olive passed a look to Alexei, questions clear in her 
eyes, she hoped. Alexei looked almost just as confused as she was, and gave a small shrug to indicate he didn't know exactly what was happening as well. Nicholas leaned up from the back of the couch, putting his arms on his knees, his usual light teasing completely gone from his face and the air around him, laugh lines forming around his eyes as he looked at Olive frankly. "Now that both of you are here, there is one thing I need to discuss. " He said, looking as if he had debated the word discuss by the tiling of his head and his solemn nod. Olive inwardly groaned, though she managed to keep her confusion off her face.

Alexei didn't seem as confused as Olive, but he looked like he had some questions in his mind as well by the slight crease of his brow. "Calm down," Nicholas said, holding a hand up as his expression loosened up a bit. Olive was still confused, but he'd and Alexei loosened up a bit. "Its nothing bad, but something serious. " Nicholas said, his facial expression wasn't as firm, but he still wasn't joking around any. "Its a wedding present, a very... Special one." He said, and Olive couldn't help the confusion pasted onto her face. Why was he giving them their present now? The wedding was still two months away! "Isn't it a bit early for wedding gifts?" She questioned, and Nicholas almost immediately shook his head, denying her question. "Not this one. I'll explain everything." Nicholas assured her, and Alexei seemed to be thinking about something.

Alexandra, who had been silent until this moment, reached over to touch Olive's hand gently. "Do not worry my dear, all will be explained." She told Olive softly, giving her a warm smile. Alexandra had a sad sort of smile, no matter what mood she was in. That reassured Olive a bit, making her relax a bit in her chair. Nicholas coughed to gain their attention again, continuing on slowly. "My wedding present for the both of you, will be the Winter Palace. You both shall live and rule there." Nicholas said, a grin breaking out over his face. Olive gasped with Alexei, as they looked at each other for a few moments, then back to Nicholas.

Nicholas was giving them the Winter Palace.

Olive remembered that Nicholas's mother, Empress Maria Feodorovna, had given him the palace as a wedding present when he married Alexandra, now he was giving it to Alexei. Olive remembered seeing the Winter Palace in the Romanovs photo album once, and the palace was absolutely stunning, and still not far away from Alexander Palace at all. That also was why he needed to alert them of the present now, they would be moving there after their wedding she guessed. She liked the idea of having their own little palace to their self, but she was going to miss Alexander Palace as well.

Alexei gave a shocked smile, his blue eyes gleaming with happiness. "Father... That's so kind of you. " he lamented, and Nicholas and Alexandra both smiled at each other, Alexandra speaking again. "We though would be perfect for you two. It would be a wonderful choice to settle down, get used to living together in your marriage alone, raise your future children, all of those lovely things." Alexandra said, a warm smile passing over her face like a ghost. Alexei and Olive's eyes slowly found each other, sharing a warm glance of hope. Olive knew they were both thinking about everything Alexandra mentioned, and Olive was looking forward to all of it.

Nicholas easily caught their warm stare, and he smiled at them both. "Now, Olive has never been to the Winter Palace, so I thought we could bring her there tomorrow afternoon to look around since she will be living there for a long time after the wedding." Nicholas said, and Olive shot a smile his way as a quiet thank you for being so thoughtful to both of them. Nicolas winked at her, giving her a rare warm smile. "That seems reasonable. I'd like to refresh my memory of it as well." Alexei said, nodding and looking to the ceiling as if he were thinking out loud. Alexei looked back to Olive whenever he put his head down, smiling at her. They seemed to stare at each other for moments upon upon moments, the hope of their future written in their eyes.

Short chapter and poorly written! Are you proud of me? Lol. The photo at the top is of Alexandra and Nicholas around the time of their engagement, and Alexandra looks so young in this photo it's almost hard to believe its actually her!! And in honor of this chapter, I thought I would put in some pictures of the Winter Palace, which is now a museum in St. Petersburg Russia.

I'll post pictures of the inside during the tour of it. It looks like Alexander Palace a bit from the inside, but The Winter Palace doesn't have all the gold lining the walls, it just has a lot of painting everywhere and a lot of chandeliers! And believe me when I say A LOT OF CHANDELIERS. Thanks for reading guys!! I love you all for it!!