The Romanov Diary

Chapter twenty four

June 18, 1918

After the first letter from the white army, the Romanov family has started to prepare for a release. They must be ready at all times. The mysterious communication has continued to come in, and they are waiting for a sign. They take turns to stay up throughout entire nights, listening and watching for a signal. It's usually Nicholas, Tatiana and Olga who stay up, for the others quickly fall asleep. They've obviously grown very tired, and when they've been asked about it they blame it on the boredom or terrible sounds from the civil war keeping them awake.

The girls are sitting in their bedroom when Ophelia walks in with some tea for them. They're all sitting on the floor on soft pillows. Theo stands outside by the door, ready to alert them if anyone's coming.

"What are you doing?" Ophelia puts down the tray with tea and milk on a table by Tatiana's bed.

"We're sewing diamonds and jewelry into our corsets." Olga says and raises from the floor to pour herself a cup and looks at Ophelia.

The Romanovs used to be the richest family in the world, walking around with treasures on their bodies and living in rooms of gold. They are still relatively rich, the girls' jewelry and gemstones weigh about 17 pounds together. But their lack of freedom constantly reminds them of their new life.

"And why are you doing this?" Ophelia asks and sits down together with the girls with a cup of tea.

"If the white army really is coming to rescue us, we have to be prepared. Maybe we won't have the time to bring our bags, so mother thought it was smart to sew our jewelers into the corsets so we can survive." Maria smiles.

"The white army?" Ophelia looks around confused.

The girls go quiet. Tatiana glances at Maria with a look that almost says "we weren't supposed to say anything." Ophelia notices this and looks around the room. But Tatiana can tell that Ophelia noticed, and she is afterall on their side. Their four foreign friends have promised to help them through anything, so why keep this a secret?

"About two weeks ago we started to get mysterious notes from the white army. They're coming to rescue us. But you can't tell anyone. Mother and father made us swear to keep quiet about it." Tatiana whispers.

"So they also have a rescue plan." Ophelia thinks for herself. "Do you know when they're coming?" She asks.

The girls shake their heads.

"You should come with us!" Anastasia smiles. "All of you!"

Ophelia, who wants nothing more than to leave the Ipatiev House, would love to go with them. But she doesn't believe in their hope. The white army is probably not coming. They can't be.

Or can they?

"I'd love to." Ophelia hides her worry behind a smile. "But won't it be very heavy to carry all of these on your bodies?" She nods at the corsets.

"Yes, but the pain will be worth it once we're out." Tatiana says.

"Will Alexandra be wearing them too?"

"No, just us." Maria sighs. "But she said it's because we're young and agile. Alexei offered himself to keep some in his hat as well."

"Mama told us to refer to them as our 'medicine'." Olga explains. "So if you ever hear her telling us to 'go and fix our medicine', you know where we are and what we're doing."

Ophelia nods from impression. She can't imagine how uncomfortable it must be to have heavy and pointy jewelries and stones pressed against your skin all day. Wearing tight corsets sounds uncomfortable enough. Olga takes her cup of tea and smiles as the warm liquid falls down her throat.