The Romanov Diary

Chapter five

April 23, 1917

Milo was surprised that the young lady decided to trust him. Within seconds they've ran away from the footsteps in the corridor and are now standing in a bedroom. There is a big bed in the center of the room, to the right of the door with white pillows and a cream coloured blanket. Photographs and paintings are covering the walls and chairs are standing by the windows. The windows are slightly covered by curtains made out of beautiful white fabrics. The room is also very glamorous, but more homely. The wallpapers tell a story with its flowers in bronze, brown and pink colours.

On the other side of the room is another bed, identical with the other. A wardrobe stands beside a bookshelf, opened and reveals the expensive clothes inside. Umbrellas, shoes, coats and hats also come to view. Books are laying on the shelves and from one of the corners, a dog runs up from his bed to the woman and gives her a kiss. She quickly tells the dog - whose name is Ortipo - to be quiet and turns to the door and locks it before looking at Milo again. She knows hiding this man could get her in trouble, but something inside of her is telling her to trust him. Milo walks around the room, pats the dog and sits down on the bed.

"Thank you for not calling for help." He says and puts his hands on his knees.

She doesn't answer. Tatiana stands by the door, resting her left shoulder towards the wall. She studies Milo's features. His clothes, his nose, eyes, hair, legs... He's different. He doesn't even look like the other young men she's met. But on the other hand, she rarely meets new people. Especially not people from other countries. However, she did meet some exotic men from Armenia and Georgia before the revolution, and they all fascinated her.

"I hope you don't mind me asking, but who are you? I've told you who I am, and it would be nice to know your name" Milo gives the woman a careful smile.

Before answering, the woman stands tall with pride and looks at him with confidence. She lets go of the wall and raises her head.

"I am the Grand Duchess Tatiana Nikolajevna Romanova, the second daughter of the former czar Nicholas II." Tatiana says with her head high and proud.

She knows that her title was taken away from her after the revolution a few weeks ago, but she knows who she is, with or without title. And by the way, the stranger sitting on her bed looks way too lost and confused to know about the political chaos. She might as well use her power while she can to win his respect.

Milo stares at Tatiana with surprise. He has never heard of her, but when he thinks about it she does look familiar from the photos on the closed exhibition he visited earlier. That's right! She's the woman who enchanted Milo when he stood outside of the closed exhibition. All Milo knows about the Romanovs is that Nicholas II was the last czar that Russia ever had and his family's fate ends in tragedy. Now, right in front of him, stands his daughter. A former princess. He quickly stands up and bows for her.

"I'm sorry, your imperial highness, I didn't know." Milo is too scared to make the wrong move, so he does what he thinks is right which is to treat Tatiana with respect.

"You don't have to do that, I'm just a girl in prison right now." She says and lowers her shoulders.

Tatiana is, just like her sisters, very down to earth and has never let her family's riches get to her head. She'd more than happily share jewelry with her servants and give money to those who needed it. But being stripped of her title, a part of her identity, took much harder on her than she thought it would.

"Now, I want you to tell me where you came from. No one appears out of nowhere just like that. Are you a magician? Did you work for Rasputin?"

Rasputin.