Vlad and I were waiting outside the theatre, Vlad pacing back and forth, waiting for the ladies, me in a bit of a funk, as I had ben ever since Anya had proved to me once and for all that she was actually the missing princess Anastasia.

Firstly I was thrilled! This was supposed to be a con, but we had actually done it! We had found her! The reward money was ours for the taking! I could get on with my life and so could Vlad. No more living in the abandoned palace with the cold draughts at night, no more whispered words when we walked the streets of the market place. I would have enough money to go somewhere new, to start over, to be someone different.

Then I looked over at Anya, sitting there with a nostalgic, faraway look on her face as she sat on the couch in Sophies living room and my heart clenched at all she had been through. She had been alone and confused and raised in the poverty of a children's home, and all the while she had been the princess. She had missed out on a life of privilege and a grandmother who loved and missed her every day since that chaotic one where they fled the palace while her family had been slaughtered. I knew what it was like to long for a family, and I ached that she had had to go through that.

Then it hit me. She wouldn't need me anymore. She would be in paris, her destination, and she would have found her family, who she had been looking for and longing for her whole life. I would fade to a memory. Possibly a fond memory, but probably an annoying one. If she remembered me at all in the new life that she was about to embark on.

Sure I had hoped that after this was all over, we might stay close, keep in contact, see what might transpire, but that was before I knew she was the actual princess.

I felt a shrinking feeling inside of me. it was all but over, I knew it. She would go on to live her life, and I would go on to live mine, but not together. There was no way. A memory came back to me...

I just wanted a peek. Just one look. Gustav was busy with the dishes and wasn't paying attention when I managed to sneak out and make my way down the hall to where the sounds of the festivities has been taunting me all evening. I peeked through the curtain, but the towering thrones blocked my view of the party, so I cautiously, silently, made my way through the curtains and peeked around.

I took in the party in silent awe. The chandelier that hung from the ceiling glittering brightly and illuminating the gaily dressed dignitaries in attendance. The paintings on the wall were beautiful, but had nothing on the finery that the guests were decked out in while dancing on the ballroom floor.

There was one girl in particular who stole my attention. She had glistening red curls, bright, dancing blue eyes and an infectious smile. A silly grin grew on my face and a foreign feeling warmed my chest. She was dancing with the emperor, him lifting her up and swirling her in a circle while she giggled and threw her arms out wide, trusting him completely.

The emperor set her down, and she rushed up to the thrones. Thinking I had been spotted, I shrank down behind them, heart thudding in my chest for fear of being caught. But she didn't come around and expose me. Instead, she flew into the dowager empresses arms, ecstatically exchanging conversation with the old woman.

Regaining my courage, I peeked out again, watching in fascination as they exchanged a gift.

I was so caught up in watching them that I didn't notice one of the guards until he had me caught in his burly arms.

"This party is no place for a kitchen boy!" he said as I struggled to free myself and maintain some dignity while being carted off to the kitchens again. However his grip was too strong, and he kept hold of me until I had been deposited back into the kitchen and under the watchful eyes of Gustav.

Gustav thanked the guard, who promptly left, then turned to me with a twinkle in his eye.

"See some of the festivities did you son?" he questioned, wiggling one of his bushy eyebrows.

He wasn't angry with me, I could tell. Relief filled me and a sappy half grin rose on my face.

"Yeah," I muttered, absently taking the dish towel Gustav was holding out for me and moving to dry some of the dishes that were stacked by the sink, my thoughts centered on the girl who had been dancing with the emperor.

"Gustav, who is the girl with the red curls and blue eyes?" truth be told, that could have been describing any number of girls, so I clarified, "she was dancing with the emperor."

Gustav elbowed me conspiratorially, "Take a fancy to her did you?" he chuckled teasingly.

"No," I muttered, eyes keenly on the pot I was drying, but my bright red face must have given me away, for Gustavs chuckles turned into full blown laughter.

"Best be happy with the look you got son! That would have been the youngest princess, Anastasia"

"Anastasia," I said slowly, testing the name. It was a little lengthy, she could probably use a nickname, but overall, I liked it.

"That's 'Your Highness' to you lad," Gustav pointed a soapy, dripping spatula at me, "princesses don't marry kitchen boys and thats the truth of it."

Without further ado, Gustav turned back to the sink to finish scrubbing the dishes. wordlessly, I turned to help.

Vlad's muttering pulled me out of my memories and back to the present. He was worried about Anya meeting the Dowager Empress. I knew that he had nothing to worry about, so I tried to get his attention.

"Vlad!"

No response.

"Vlad, she is the princess!" I tried, a bit louder.

He continued muttering to himself.

"Vlad!" I all but shouted. He turned, surprised, to look at me. "We don't have anything to worry about, she IS the princess."

He looked at me, slightly stupefied, "but how.." do you know? The question remained unspoken, but I could see it in his eyes.

I sighed and admitted, "I was the boy."

Understanding lit Vlad's features, then hope, "that means that our Anya has found her family!" he said triumphantly. His expression softened as he turned to me, "and you.."

"Will walk out of her life forever." I said with finality, smiling mirthlessly at the memory of a young me, imagining the reward I might get for saving her life when I guided her and the empress through the servants passageway. Instead I had been knocked unconscious and she had gone missing. Not exactly happily ever after material.

"Dimitri.." Vlad's voice rang with disappointment and reproach.

I held up my hand, halting whatever he had been about to say.

"Princesses don't marry kitchen boys."

KC