Far away, long ago…
The palace was abuzz with activity. Servants walked briskly from room to room, arranging flowers, delivering gifts, ensuring every single detail was just so. There were guest suites to be made ready for their inhabitants, silver to be polished, and a feast to be made. The guests would begin arriving in a few hours, and once they were here there was no room for error. The royal palace was the very picture of opulence and grandeur that the kingdom wanted to project to the world.
Grand Duchess Jadelyn knew these hallways like the back of her hand. She raced along the lush green carpet towards the ballroom, dodging the bustling servants along the way. They carried flower arrangements and ice sculptures and all manner of things to decorate the ballroom for the party. Jadelyn's feet flew as she approached the open door, crashing straight into her father in the doorway. The king stood firm, barely swayed by the full force of his six-year-old daughter, while Jadelyn fell rather ungracefully to the floor.
'Jadelyn, that is no way for a princess to behave,' her father said sternly, looking down his nose to where Jadelyn sat on the floor in an undignified heap. Behind her father Jadelyn saw three of his advisors trying to cover their snickering, lest they be caught laughing at the princess.
Jadelyn jumped back up to her feet and wrapped her little arms around her father's middle, sticking her head out to try to see past him. 'But I wanna see!' she whined.
The king disentangled himself from her grasp and ushered her out the door. 'You'll see it tonight, along with everyone else. Now run along.' The little princess hung her head and kicked at the carpet as she huffed back to her room.
Passing the entrance hall she heard her mother call out to her. 'Jadelyn, come here, sweetheart. I have someone who would very much like to see you.' Not another dignitary. For some reason, every single visitor to the palace wanted to meet the children. It wasn't like they could help them swing whatever deal they were trying to close. Every week, Jadelyn had to sit through at least one dinner where she smiled and nodded politely while the adults talked around her like she wasn't there. Turning to face her mother, though, Jadelyn was in for a surprise.
'Grandma!' she cried. Her entire face lit up with glee as she sprinted into the waiting arms of her grandmother. The Grand Duchess scooped her granddaughter up into a hug, squeezing her tight.
'Hello, my dear! My, look how big you've gotten! You're practically a grown-up.' She held Jadelyn at arms-length, regarding her from head to toe.
'Are you coming to the party tonight?'
The Grand Duchess' face fell ever so slightly. 'I'm afraid not, darling. My train leaves this afternoon,' she explained sadly, watching her granddaughter's face as her expression crumpled and her eyes filled with tears.
'But it's my birthday!'
'I know, my darling. And I couldn't leave without giving you your present. Would you like to see it?'
It did little to lift Jadelyn's mood, but she wasn't about to refuse her grandmother's gift. She nodded, rubbing at her eyes. The older woman guided her over to a velvet bench set into the window, it was their favourite place in the whole palace. When she was younger, this was where her grandmother read her stories from the large book of fairytales she brought with her on every visit. They would close the curtains and shut out the rest of the world as they got lost in a world of magic and wonder.
Now, a footman approached to hand the Grand Duchess a small red box. She dismissed him, and turned back to Jadelyn. She opened the box to reveal a small polished mahogany music box. Jadelyn tried and failed to open the lid. She looked at her grandmother in confusion. The Dowager Empress showed her the trick to opening it, and the music began to play. It was their lullaby. The lullaby she sang for Jadelyn every night, the first piece she'd ever taught her on the piano.
Jadelyn's eyes watered. 'Take me to Paris with you?' she begged.
Her grandmother laughed softly. 'Wherever I go you will always be with me. When you play it think of an old woman who loves you very, very much.' She pressed her lips to Jadelyn's forehead softly. 'Happy birthday, my darling.' She began to sing, 'Dancing bears, painted wings…'
Jadelyn listened to her grandmother in silence, resting her head on Marya's shoulder, watching the snow drifting slowly downward outside. Sitting there, she could almost forget that her grandmother was moving away to Paris that very day. Sitting on the window seat, with the red velvet curtains closed around them, it was just the two of them together. The rest of the world did not exist. Jadelyn was safe, warm, and happy. She began to sing.
The rain battered Jadelyn's umbrella on the smoke-filled platform. It was fitting, she felt, that the heavens should open on the day her best friend was taken from her. She was flanked by two royal guards her father had insisted accompany her. Apparently, the political climate among their subjects was 'unfavourable'. What did Jadelyn care if the people liked her? Who were they to her?
Two porter's loaded Cat's last trunk onto the train, and she turned from where she had been supervising them to look at her cousin once more. Countess Catarina was two years older than Jadelyn but the two had been the best of friends for as long as Jadelyn could remember. And now that was over. Cat was being sent to live with their grandmother in Paris, and Jadelyn knew their friendship wouldn't last the test of distance. They'd keep up for a while, but eventually Cat would grow bored of never seeing each other, and having to make time in her new Parisian life for her.
Jadelyn cleared her throat, trying to keep her tears at bay. Cat stepped towards her hesitantly, then lunged forward to hug Jadelyn tightly. 'Promise you'll call. Every night,' Cat said.
Jadelyn nodded, afraid that her voice would betray her emotions.
'And you must visit. I hear Paris is wonderful in the springtime.'
Jadelyn nodded again, hugging Cat tighter. 'I promise,' she whispered. 'And you be careful. God knows what Grandmother will do if you go on any more romantic rendezvous with servants,' Jadelyn teased.
Cat's face crumpled. 'Don't tease me, Jadey, please,' she sobbed. 'I truly loved him. I was willing to give everything up for that, the palaces, and tiaras, all of it. One day I hope you'll understand what that feels like.'
'I promise I won't bring up the kitchen boy again, if you promise not to lord your worldliness over my head.' Jadelyn raised one perfectly-shaped eyebrow.
'It'll only get worse you know,' Cat replied. 'Paris is meant to do wonders for one's worldliness.' The two teenagers giggled.
They were interrupted by the loud whistle of the train. 'It's time to go,' said Jadelyn, squeezing Cat's hands in hers. 'I'll miss you.'
'I'll miss you, too.'
'Goodbye, Kitty.'
She was woken by her maid in the middle of the night, a Red soldier stood in the doorway. He appeared only as a silhouette in the glaring light of the hallway. They'd been held in Ipatiev House for months now, but this had never happened before. She raised her eyebrows defiantly at the man, waiting for him to leave before she changed.
They must be moving them again. She wasn't surprised, she'd been expecting this for some time. Ipatiev House was nothing compared to the palaces she was used to, but it was hardly a prison. She'd learned to let go of her material possessions when the Bolsheviks first took over, but there were a few things she just couldn't bear to be parted from. As the maid packed her most beloved childhood doll, the pressed flower she'd been given by the first boy she'd kissed, and other small things that would be easy to hide in her skirts, Jadelyn donned her diamond-encrusted corset, and her favourite sea-foam green gown with the jade brooch.
Her mother had bade her and her sisters to sew their jewels into the linings of their corsets, as she and their father had been searched upon entering Yekaterinburg. Jadelyn couldn't imagine what use their mother thought they'd have for precious stones as long as they remained captive, but she had obeyed.
Two guards arrived at her room five minutes later to escort her downstairs. She might have said she'd never been so scared in her life, but transportation was nothing compared to what had transpired the night the Cheka invaded the palace. Taking deep breaths, she reached into her pockets seeking comfort, to find her fingers closing around thin air.
She didn't have it. She didn't have her music box. If she was being moved she couldn't go without her music box. She hadn't seen her grandmother since she'd given it to her on her sixth birthday, now it was nearly impossible she would ever see her again, and that music box was the last thing she had of her grandmother's to hold on to.
She wrenched out of the soldiers' grasp and dashed for the stairs. Finding her path blocked she wheeled around and darted for the door. They were rarely allowed in the yard, and the fresh air, with the sun beaming down on her skin felt like freedom. Until she heard it. The crack of gunfire, and searing pain ripped through her chest.
She fell to the ground, instinctively throwing her arms out in front of her. Lying in the dusty yard, just feet from the gate, her hands reached out in front of her, she saw a girl across the street. She couldn't have been much older than her, picking flowers in her garden, her long brown hair tied up with a ribbon.
Hearing the gunshot and Jadelyn's subsequent scream, the girl looked up. Her brown eyes locked with Jadelyn's and held her gaze until the world went black.
A/N: So the aim is to have a chapter of this out every day until Christmas, but so far I only have three chapters written, so we'll see. Remember to review!