Anastasia Romanov |Lesbian Story| (The Sequel)

Chapter 23

All the tensions that mounted me from the visit to the camp made me unbearably tired. I was actually relieved to be back at the castle. It looked now as if it had been a lifetime ago since I left my palace in Moscow. How the Royal Council had been holding up in my absence all this time became my concern. I had not the slightest clue as to what they were doing, nor had I been thinking about the possibility that they would come looking for me.

Would they seek my sister out to guide the nation during their diplomatic crisis? Since the time I dissolved the Vampire Assembly back in Beliy Dom, we hadn't reached any solution aside from my letter to the Kaiser. I wondered if Alex already heard the news of my abduction. Would she return to Kremlin, away from her paradise of serenity, to rescue me? I sure did not have high hope that she would find me any time soon, but a part of me knew my older sister would do anything to restore me no matter what. And that only meant bloodshed was in the vicinity.

The thought of Alex also led me to the one girl I had been trying to forget all this time. Of course, if my sister was in Russia by now, she would be with her, too. Would I be able to see Avery again, considering my current state? Would I still want to meet her if I had a chance? All those wasted years, I couldn't bear the memory of my past love. I imagined seeing her all beautiful and perfect but also inhumanly cold. Her natural deep brown eyes that once saw through me were now infected with vicious purple hue. She was not the delicate plump of life and vibrant warmth like she used to be. I would never recover from the guilt and shame that bit me night and day, knowing it was all my doing.

Then there were two unpleasant things that bound to happen if I were to stay with the hunters too long. One was the danger I might pose to this well-established community. My government would try to find me and most certainly launch their attack to crush the movement. I had warned Trotsky of the matter, but he would only laugh it off.

"I understand your concern, Anastasia," he said. "The moment you set your foot in here, I knew you thought I was like a silly bird that brought a piece of jewel to my nest, and your very presence is no different from a jewel's reflection that would burn the nest to ash once the sun rises."

"Then why do you still keep me here knowing it would expose your hiding place and endanger your people?" I asked him.

"Because, sometimes, a certain thing is worth sacrificing for."

Sometimes, the old Bolshevik leader was still a mystery to me. His riddle was still echoing in my ears, but I had trouble understanding those simple words.

Other than my threatening presence to the hunters, it was my own blue-eyed assassin. It went without saying that I could not allow myself to humor the untamed desire for the lovely huntress anymore. It had been far more worrisome and a true burden to my heart. But the rebellious part of me still insisted to hold onto the vestige of hope. Maybe I should return to my own gloom and the unfeeling world that a creature like me belonged. I didn't want to risk myself with the comfort of this forbidden bliss.

As sullenly as I could, I declined the invitation from Trotsky to join them for dinner that night. I went back to my chamber with Lyra, who had come to me as if she had been waiting for me from dawn till dusk. With an air of childish excitement, she took my hand and smiled sweetly with her bright eyes. I gave a small smile back at the human girl.

From my peripheral vision, Valerina averted her gaze to focus her attention on a burning torch on the stone wall.

Trotsky had ordered a few hunters to escort me to the castle's wing where I stayed. To my growing irritation, he had made sure that one of them was the red-caped huntress.

The Alpha looked at her sister and me with an unreadable expression. Then the rest of them went back with the General. Through the dimly lit space of the corridor, Vale seemed particularly grimmer. She was doing her best to ignore me as we walked a step away from each other. Her movement was as stiff as a ramrod. I felt bad for what I had done to her back in the woods, but I could not take back my intention.