A/N: The real George Alexandrovich was sickly and died of tuberculosis when he was 28, but in my story he's perfectly healthy.

I stood with the other young women my age, holding a glass of lemonade, proud to be the center of attention at the barbecue. My engagement to Hamilton Culvert had just been announced, and my companions were both excited and envious of me. Tall, handsome, and dashing, Hamilton had been the object of my affection for some time, and I had been his, although our respective parents had only recently given their consent for us to marry.

A bit overconfident and something of a show-off, Hamilton was currently demonstrating his horsemanship skills to an ever growing group of admirers. The other girls and I watched as he trotted his horse along in preparation for jumping it over a fence. His eye caught mine, and he grinned. "Bonnie!" he called. "Watch me take this one!"

The horse balked at the last minute, and Hamilton's body went sailing over the fence. He landed on his head, and his body crumpled to the ground, where it lay motionlessly.

I let out an involuntary scream.

Three Years Later

As soon as I stepped of the ship, I knew that something was terribly wrong. It was far too bright and sunny to be England, the land I had originally set out for. The natives were deeply tanned, and babbled in a language I'd never heard before.

Swallowing back my panic, I quickly determined that the first thing to do would be to find out where I was, the second to find out how to get to where I was supposed to be. It was the first time in my life I'd ever been this far away from my parents, and I knew that my mother, especially, would be worried about me.

Amidst all the dark faces, I finally saw a lighter one and felt immensely better, although of course I had no idea whether its owner even spoke English.

He was a very nice-looking young man who looked to be about my age. He was tall and slender, with very short medium brown hair, a neatly manicured mustache, and the clearest blue eyes I'd ever seen. He was immaculately dressed in some type of military uniform. He caught me looking at him and gave me an inquiring glance, and I felt my heart begin to flutter.

Mustering all my courage, I approached him. "Excuse me, sir, but could you please tell me where I am?"

"You don't know where you are?" He spoke fluent English with a very slight accent, which I later learned was Russian, and his eyes registered first incredulity, then amusement, as he laughed out loud.

Anger surged through me as I tossed my head and stalked away in anger.

"Hey, wait! I'm sorry." His voice was penitent as he followed me and lightly touched my arm. "I didn't mean to laugh. You just startled me, that's all."

I turned to glare at him, but the warm friendliness in his eyes quickly softened me. "I think I'm lost," I told him. "I must have boarded the wrong ship by mistake."

"And where were you headed?"

"England. My parents gave me a trip to Europe for my birthday."

He started to laugh again but quickly checked himself. "I'm sorry, madame, but you're a long way from England. This is Egypt."

Egypt! I was dumbstruck. I'd learned about it in school, of course. It was where the pyramids and the Nile were, but beyond that, I knew next to nothing about it. Panicked, I started to cry.

"Hey." My new companion's voice was soft as he placed a caring hand on my shoulder. "It's not so bad. Egypt is a really interesting place to visit as well, and later on we'll go to India and Japan."

I stopped crying and stared at him in shock. "Who's 'we'?"

He chuckled. "Oh, I'm so sorry! I completely forgot to introduce myself. I'm George Alexandrovich of Russia." He bowed deeply. I was completely charmed.

"I'm Bonnie Blue Butler of Georgia," I told him.

"Georgia?" He cocked an eyebrow quizzically.

"It's in the United States."

"Ah, that Georgia." He laughed gently. "We also have a territory called Georgia. It's to the south and borders Turkey and Armenia."

"Oh." I didn't know what else to say.

"So are you traveling alone, then?" he asked pleasantly.

"Yes, except for Rufus and Sadie."

Rufus and Sadie were the son and daughter of former slaves who now worked as servants for my parents. They'd been sent along with me for companionship and protection during travel.

"My brother Nicholas and I are traveling with my Greek cousin, who's also named George, and our servants as well," George told me. "Why don't you join us rather than trying to make your way to England? We'd love the company."

"Very well," I said after only a moment's hesitation.