𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑹𝒆𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝑹𝒐𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒐𝒗

Chapter 15 - Home Sweet Home

The Sandringham House was built out of red bricks and was furnished with limestone designs. It was built with a Victorian style of architecture. The house consisted of two floors but had about seven hundred seventy-five rooms. A flag blew in the breeze from on top of the house.

"It looks like something right out of a storybook!" Anastasia exclaimed.

The cars dropped the family off and the three Romanovs piled out. Alexandra unlocked the door to the house and the sisters ran inside. They stopped in their tracks at the sight of the room they were in.

The ceiling was as high as a three-story house and a brass chandelier hung from the center of the ceiling. The room was filled with artifacts from far-off places. Antique weapons and tapestries depicting folklore hung on the wall. One of the many tapestries hung above a large stone fireplace. Pillars sat on each side of the fireplace, holding silver statues of ancient soldiers. Lamps sat on little wooden tables all around the room and cream-colored couches accompanied them.

A large grand piano sat in the corner of the room. Pictures of family that sat in golden frames were positioned on the lid. Maria and Anastasia had close family from England since their great-great-grandmother on their mother's side was Queen Victoria. Both had never gotten the chance to meet her since she died the year Anastasia was born.

"This house is so pretty!" Maria gasped. She hadn't seen the other sights of Sandringham but she already knew she'd love it here.

"Welcome to our country house! This is the saloon." Alexandra announced. Maria walked to Alexandra as Anastasia admired the weapons on the wall.

"May my sister and I share a room?"

"That can be arranged." Alexandra eyed a young woman that stood against the wall.

Grandmama and Alexandra sat on one of the cream-colored couches, exhausted from the long car ride. A man in his early fifties rushed into the room.

"Good afternoon, madam. Can I get you anything?" he bowed.

"Yes, Oliver. Tea, please. Four cups." Alexandra told him.

The fireplaces were lit, and tea was brought out for Alexandra's guests. The group sat around and sipped their tea as Alexandra talked. After, the sisters were excited to look around the house while the ladies chatted privately.

"Which way should we go?" Maria asked. Anastasia pointed to a room at the opposite end of the hall.

The sister found themselves in the house's ballroom. The room was about the size of a soccer field. It had red-painted walls and a white ivory-colored ceiling. On one side of the room, there was a small loft that the girls figured was built for an orchestra to play music in. They looked around the room for a few minutes until they decided they should find their bedroom. The girls traveled down the opposite way they came from and found a giant wooden staircase with a red carpet trailing down it.

They ran upstairs, which led them into a massive hallway with many doors leading into bedrooms. The halls were painted pale yellow with pictures of nature hanging on the wall in between entries. The girls spotted an open door at one end of the hall. Inside they saw the young woman sweeping the floor. Maria knocked on the door, and the woman turned around suddenly.

"I'm sorry for startling you," Maria apologized as she walked into the room.

The room's baby blue wallpaper featured tiny flowers. Two beds sat vertically next to each other in the center of the room. The bedsheets were a cream white with tiny embroidered flowers to match the wallpaper. There was a small window seat in one of the corners of the room that overlooked the house's extraordinary gardens. The room housed more things like a folding screen, a dresser, a built-in closet, and a bookshelf.

"This is such a lovely room." Maria professed.

"Well it's a good thing that you like it because this is your room girls." the young woman welcomed them into their new home.

Since she figured they would want to be alone, the woman turned to leave when Anastasia stopped her.

"What's your name?"

"My name is Liesel." the woman smiled. "What are yours?"

"She's Maria. I'm Anastasia! Chief of all firemen!" Anastasia pointed to Maria, then to herself.

"How old are you?"

"Anastasia Nikolaevna! You should never ask a woman's age. Even if you're a girl." Maria scolded.

"It's alright. I'm twenty-two."

"You're the same age as our sister Olga," Anastasia conversed.

"Where is she now? She should be here with you!" Liesel wondered.

"Oh...she died. A-along with our parents and siblings." Maria trailed off, holding Anastasia close to her. Liesel put a hand over her mouth.

"Please forgive me! I didn't know. Dear God, please forgive me!" 

"It is okay. Best not to dwell in the past." Maria faltered.

She longed for her parents, little brother, and sisters every day since the incident.

"I best be going. Dinner will be served in the dining room at eight." Liesel began to step out of the room.

"Wait!" Anastasia called after her. "We don't know where the dining room is. We didn't look around much."

"How about I give you a tour of the house. Alexandra doesn't need anything right now, so I have a bit of free time."

"That would be wonderful! Thank you, Liesel!" Anastasia cheered as she and Maria walked into the hallway.

Liesel looked back into the room and sighed as she closed the door behind her.