The Flaming Tsar and the Magicborn

Prologue

1884
Saint Petersburg, Russia

The sky cracked and it began to rain. A man was standing at a nearby train station; he had an angry look on his face. Earlier, he had had an argument with the czar, which was why he left the palace. What exactly happened during the argument was up for debate.

"Leo, this is a terrible idea," said another man who stood next to him. "I mean, what if Alexander sends his guards to bring you back to the palace by force?"

"I'd like to see him try," said Leo Trichenberg. "And at the same time, he already knows that he can try to control me all he wants, but I'll never submit to him, not when I already outrank him in terms of the people's endearments."

"Well, he already earned your anger in terms of the boy he decided to name his heir instead of his oldest son, Nicholas, but when he insulted your late wife and her children, that's when you had to put your foot down," said Jannes Kantor.

"Of course I had to put my foot down," said Leo as he faced Jannes. "I wasn't about to allow Alexander to control me, as his father had tried to control me while he was still alive."

"And we both know how well that turned out for him," said Jannes. "The story about how he tried to destroy your marriage to Slavena Shapiro made him unpopular with the Imperial court. I'm sure Count George Shapiro hated him for that, if nothing else could mar his mood."

Leo sighed, saying, "And I know that George wanted me to get rid of my women and children, as if they are disposable. Unlike most men, I don't love them and leave them; I was raised better than that."

He stared at his children Lara, Serafima, Vasily, and Raina; they were traveling with him from Saint Petersburg to the family manor in Archangelsk. Lara and Serra were 9 years old while Vasily was 4 years old and Raina was 2 years old. The death of their mother Slavena was the main reason Leo had left the imperial court. Yet, the second reason Leo left the palace was far more controversial.

A few weeks ago, Leo discovered that his cousin Kayla Kroger Maslak had returned to Russia after spending five years living in England. She wasn't there on her own volition; instead, a man named Luke Smirnov had kidnapped her because of an imagined slight that cost him his marriage. Her older sister, Megan, was currently raising her three children.

But it wasn't a happy ending for Kayla at all; in fact, she had died shortly after giving birth to a son named Kaira. The boy was immediately taken to the imperial nursery, as his father Luke had died of a wasting sickness shortly after his birth. Czar Alexander III was so enthralled with the boy that he adopted him, renamed him as "Alexander" (after his late father), and appointed him as czarevitch of Russia over his oldest son, Nicholas, who was 15 years old. This act enraged most of the Imperial Court; Leo was the most outspoken critic of Alexander's actions towards his own son and legitimate heir.

But that's only half the story.

The other reason Leo left the palace was not just because he had to get his children away from the toxic Russian monarch and his refusal to recognize and orphaned bastard boy as czarevitch, but Alexander had wanted him to use his powers to put an end to all talk of a possible Russian democracy. Leo (refusing to use his powers to control the Russian people) packed his children up and quickly left the palace.

This is where we see them now.

Leo then said to Jannes, "I hate to leave my other children and their mothers behind, but Megan assures me that they can take care of themselves. But it's not just Emaria, Radmila, Vavara, Milorad, Evgenia, Demian, and Branislav I worry about; it's the Imperial children I have the most concern for, especially Nicholas, since he doesn't know his role as czarevitch is currently being challenged by a bastard child named after his faithless grandfather."

"If you're that worried for Nicholas, then you can have me be your eyes and ears in the Imperial Court and the Council," said Jannes. "No one will question the presence of an American-born man, especially one who saw the firebombs raining in his backyard as the civil war ended. Besides, my wife's father is getting old and since he has no sons to carry his name, I must take over his post and whisper in the Czar's ears. If he listens to me, maybe we can have the democratic Russia the people long for."

"Not as long as Magorious Hoffelbax, Hans Fruar, and Aramaeus Zempanga are still alive," said Leo. "Those three will never allow democracy into Russia if they can help it. Besides, Alexander has commissioned them as his personal executors, and between the three of them, many young people have died in the quest for democracy. I don't even want to tell you of the atrocious ways those people have died."

Just then, Leo felt a tug at his coat. Little Raina stared at him, her sharp green eyes filling with tears. The other children also stared at him, wondering why he was taking them away from everything they had known their short lives.

"Not to worry, my dears," said Leo as he attempted to comfort his children. "The sooner we get to our mansion, the better off we will be."

"But why are we leaving, papa?" said Serra. "Don't you like it in the palace?"

"I do," said Leo, "but the czar is being unfair to you because of your mother. Plus, he's trying to make me do things that I don't agree with. I can't for the life of me stay in that palace and allow him to control me, just as his father tried to control me. That's why I have to leave the palace."

He stared at the oncoming train that would soon take him and his children away from the city and towards the northern part of Russia. Leo knew it wasn't easy leaving his apartments in the palace, but his father had convinced him that his decision to leave wad a good one, as he was still angry with the czar for attempting to control him. If anything, Sir David, Megan, Marcilla, Vardina, Saba, and Alevtina could control the Imperial Court and the Council, if they couldn't control the czar himself.

But that wasn't for him to decide.

Leo Trichenberg was the kind of man that no one wanted to mess with, not if they valued their lives. Yet, little did anyone know that he would have to return to the palace sooner than he thought, especially as far as the Czarevitch Nicholas was concerned...