The Romanov Diary

Chapter nineteen

May 20, 1918

It's been almost a month since the Romanov family was split into two. Three of the girls and the little boy Alexei have been alone in Tobolsk together with their servants while their parents and fourth girl Maria have been imprisoned in Yekaterinburg, miles and miles apart.

Every night, they have gone to sleep under the same stars and looked up at the same sun during the days, breathed the same air coming with the wind from the mountains and heard the same terrifying sounds from the war. They don't know this, but they are much closer to one another than they think. And it won't take long until they are reunited again.

In one way or another.

The girls are sitting around the table in the morning, having breakfast and talking. Alexei is there as well, but he barely has enough energy to sit up, the poor thing. It's cloudy outside. The massive grey floating pieces of cloud cover the sun, preventing them from getting any sunlight through the windows. The mountains provide the city with strong winds, making the temperature relatively low and cold. The day outside may be dark and grey, as well as pretty much everything else in their lives, but the Romanov children all woke up today in a fantastic mood. Alexei is still tired, but he's happy to be with his sisters. Milo and Ella also woke up with smiles on their lips, full of energy and above all...

...hope.

"Do you know what I really miss?" Tatiana aska and puts down her cup of tea.

"No, what?" Anastasia asks curiously.

"Riding our horses. I loved riding with you, Olga. It felt like flying."

"I miss it too." Olga agrees.

"Ha ha, very funny." Alexei snorts.

Because of his condition, he rarely got to do the same activities as his sisters. He loves sports and animals, but he rarely got to experience them because of Alexandra's strict rules. He would love to go riding too, but he knows that if he fell off it would not end well.

"Don't worry Alexei, I'm not much of a rider either." Anastasia gives her brother a smile.

"You're good at many other things Alexei. Remember when we were younger and you played with those other boys by the lake? You weren't allowed to swim, but you sure knew how to push people into the water." Olga giggles

At the same moment as Anastasia bursts out into a laugh, almost blowing out her milk through her nostrils, the doors are opened and the commandant Kobylinsky walks in. He's been rather absent during the last few weeks, and his sudden arrival in the dining room startles them all. Milo, who was listening to the children's conversation, stands up from his chair on the other side of the room. Ella walks in with some bread for the children but stops when she sees the soldiers and the commandant. She walks up to Milo and stands by his side.

"What's going on?" She whispers and stands next to him.

"I don't know."

Kobylinski moves his eyes over the room. He looks at each and every one of the imperial children, studies their expressions and body language. He stops at Tatiana, who's kind of been the head of the household since Alexandra and Nicholas left. Kobylinsky clears his throat and lets the words roll over his tongue.

"Two trucks will leave in an hour, driving you to the boat and then the train, taking you away from Tobolsk to another city. Be ready to leave by then." The commandant says and looks at the girls and Alexei.

They shine up. They're all hoping to be taken to the rest of their family. Tatiana throws her hands around Alexei's while Olga and Anastasia jump into each other's arms. They laugh and smile with a pure and genuine joy they haven't felt in a long time.