"Dmitry"
A voice shouted at him, he recognized it, it was Nikolai's voice; he immediately turned and saw him; he was waving at him, he was one hundred meters or so from him, he was just outside the forest, near Perm, five hundred meters or so; under his arm, there were some woods; "He had collected some woods," Dmitry thought angrily, "Why the hell was he collecting woods like a peasant and wasn't searching for Anastasia?"
Dmitry immediately went to him, and as soon as he had reached him descended from the horse; Nikolai wore a peaceful smile on his face, and seemed very relaxed, despite the situation they were currently in.
"Did you find her?" Dmitry instantly demanded, more harshly than he had intended, but that didn't matter he needed to go straight to the point; he had no time for pleasantries; he, well they, had a search to complete.
"Always straight to the point as a sharpshooter should" Nikolai responded chuckling, amused by his hurry.
Dmitry groaned, why did Nikolai had now to act with his infuriating calmness when the situation they find they find themselves in requires rapid and decisive decision-making, and worst of all why did he smell alcohol; they have a job to do, they can't go around and take a drink.
"Nikolai-"
"I found her, relax, breathe in and out," Nikolai said mimicking what he should do, as he continued to make fun of him, "she's now with Vlad and Lily; I brought her to a convent where they treated her injuries; she is currently sleeping."
Now Dmitry sighed in relief, he had searched for her none stop, actually for more than thirty hours, without counting the hours he had to spend in searching the bodies and all of that, truthfully speaking he had been awake for more than forty-eight hours, without time to catch a breath or have a break between them, he was lucky enough as it is to have found some food to eat, two loaves of bread, they weren't much but they'll do; he was just twenty-two years old after all, and now thankfully a great weight had been lifted off his shoulders.
"You can now relax, Lily is cooking something, and Vlad has always something to drink so now, we all can take a few days to rest, while Anastasia heals, and after she has awoken we can make plans" Nikolai then inclined his head, and began walking towards Perm, "come they are awaiting us, they live just outside Perm, so no need to worry about anybody else"
Dmitry didn't need to be told twice that, he followed him on the muddy road, as the sun began to rise on the horizon, it had been two days since their last talk, arriving at Perm with a horse it was a very long journey and truthfully he was exhausted; now at least he could rest.
"Why do you smell like alcohol, did you and Vlad share a bottle of Vodka?" Inquired Dmitry with a smile, after some time.
"Well neither of us is communist, so we don't share things as precious as vodka" Nikolai responded calmly, shrugging his shoulders.
Dmitry laughed wholeheartedly at that, he had missed his intellectual humor; and he knew that all least two bottles went out each.
"Dirty capitalist, you took the fruit of the hard-working class, you pampered aristocrat" Dmitry joked while laughing "I'll seize it, after all, we worked must seize the capital"
"No, please, don't seize my capital, seize the means of production like a good communist," Nikolai said, acting dramatically, and placing a hand on his chest as if he was about to have a stroke.
They laughed at their antics; they don't have much time to do this, with the civil war and all of that; well he truthfully they never had much for it even before the war, him being a servant and Nikolai being a teacher, a rector and a member of the Academy of the fine arts; his only and favorite companion for mischief and friend had been Anastasia.
"Why didn't Lily stop either of you?" Dmitry asked with a hint of curiosity, it wasn't Lilly like to let these two drink a full bottle of vodka each.
Nikolai stopped in his track and sighed, it wasn't a dramatic sigh, it was the sigh you do when you hear about the casualties, during the war; the serene atmosphere was now gone, and the harsh reality had returned, ruining their little peace, making Nikolai appear much older than he is, the fifties now appearing sixties.
"She didn't take it well, you know," Nikolai said, before pressing his mouth into a thin line, "she was after a lady in waiting for the tsarina after all and she was very fond of the children, you can imagine how she reacted"
He sighed again before speaking.
"She is now tending to her every need, even if she's sleeping; she is constantly making sure that she is warm enough, that her clothes are clean and has already prepared herself for her every future need; Vlad had since then had much more of a freer hand with his drinks, and she didn't stop him, instead some times she joined too, maybe your arrival and her future awakening hopefully would rejuvenate the household"
He looked at the horizon, before speaking again.
"Did you know the tsarina had let her keep some diamonds and other gems because she couldn't let the provisional government have them"?
Dmitry shook his head, "No I didn't, but didn't she hide them in the corsets?"
Nikolai snorted "You can hide that much before someone notices it"
"The diamonds in her corset saved Anastasia's life, you can imagine what she had been feeling since she discovered that"
He grimaced, he had never thought about that, after all, they had many gems, diamonds, and all of that and there were many of them, and any of them could have saved any of their lives; he couldn't imagine the feeling of knowing that maybe with one of the gems that you have, a bullet could have been stooped and a life could have been saved; lucky that there is Vlad next to her, if not he wouldn't want to think what could have happened, he wasn't ready for funerals.
"You do remember how they were able to marry," Nikolai said shaking his head, disapproving that thought "she has been having second-guessing about her marriage, she thinks that maybe she could have changed something if she had remained with them"
"Talk to her, she sees you as a surrogate son, she'll listen to you, please do talk to her"
"I'll do it" Dmitry nodded decisively.
"Thank you"
Nikolai put a hand on his shoulder and they began walking towards the house, they didn't talk after that, it was small talks; their house stood near a hill, just next to the city, in an hour you could be in the city center, but still, it was isolated there were no houses near it, the nearest one was just one hundred meters from the house, it wasn't extravagant, but instead, it was very modest, made all in wood, it had two floors, outside there was a table; and under the roof, there was the attic; you could see Lily's imprint on the house, there were many flowers, especially lilies, this made his smile.
Dmitry placed the horse in the stables, there were already, three horses, he placed his in one of the boxes, removed the saddle and the reins, gave him some food, and left for the house.
As he entered, he was met by open space, there were no walls, just one big open space for the first floor, on the opposite side of the door there was the fireplace, and near it, there was a couch obviously in his wrong place as it was placed obliquely, he could see why; Anastasia was there, she was sleeping peacefully like a child, her mouth was slightly open, but she wasn't snoring, he almost chuckled at that, it was very unladylike to sleep like that, she was wrapped in a wool blanket; to take him out of his reverie came Lily.
"Dmitry, look at you, you grow taller by the year," she said joyously, she wasn't talking very loud, instead she was almost whispering; she came forward from the kitchen and hugged him tightly, like almost everybody else was smaller than him, her hair flaming red as always and her kind face making her appear in her mid to late twenties, rather than the almost forty years she had.
"You know, people as important as me need to be seen," he said, chuckling.
"Don't speak so loud, you'll wake her" she whispered yelled.
"Relax, an artillery shell could explode and she would still be sleeping," he responded chuckling.
"How do you know how she sleeps?" She asked, with a raised eyebrow, and a smile tugging at her lips; knowing full well how true his words were. And then giggling when she saw him blushing a little.
"When you are friend with somebody you know them well," he said in his defense, raising both his hands and shoulders.
She nodded her head, giggling a little bit, before returning to the cooker and returning to stir the soup, she was also cooking goulash, they were going to eat well today.
"Very good friend indeed, especially in 1916 when you two became very good friend, almost lover I dare say, but maybe the correct terminology should be friends of lips, or kisses, it wasn't even a question where she was, you two were always together during that period" she laughed at him, when she saw him blushing madly and turning his head to the now interesting landscape, "you two were lucky that Mashka was covering for the both of you, I don't want to imagine what could have happened if the big pair or the tsarina found out about your little relationship"
She stopped after that, her movements and mods too, old memories bring out new scars; her head now inclined forward with the lips pressed into a thin line, with the jaw tightly clenched, she didn't appear now like the countess Lily Malevsky-Malevich, but instead like one of the older ladies in a village with a face always contorted with disappointment; she wasn't stirring soup peacefully, but now with the ladle moving at twice the speed, transforming the soup into the mirror of her internal feelings.
"That soup is going to fly if you keep it doing that," he said quietly; she immediately stopped.
"You're-"
"You couldn't have changed anything, you would have died with them that night," he said quietly cutting her off, placing a hand on her shoulder, and squeezing a little.
She tried to speak but was again cut off.
"No diamond or gem could have protected them, many were shot in the head, it is a quick and painless death, believe me, I have killed many shooting them in the head, and you couldn't have changed how they felt, the girls loved working, cleaning or doing house chores, hard work always keeps the mind empty and they wanted that, an empty mind is what you need when the future looks grim." He said earnestly, and reserving for the last part his confession, "if you want to blame somebody, you can blame me, I was one the guards inside the house, but before the massacre happened I was transferred not far from them, and when I heard that they were going to be killed, I rushed as fast as I could, but I was only able to catch the truck with the bodies going to the mine of the four brothers; so between the two I am the one who should be feeling much more guilty for what happened"
"Did you give them the Last Rites?" She asked, with a grim face.
"Yes, they are all now buried in the cemetery of Yekaterinburg, the priest gave them their last rites, I was there personally" he responded with an equally grim face.
"Thank you," she said simply, before turning to the cooker; the thank you, wasn't just for giving them a proper burial, but it also meant a thank you for helping her, he made her see how much of her thinking was just meaningless and unfounded, based on wishful thinking, she didn't appear happy like before, but with time she'll be in peace, at least for now all of her problems were now solved.
He approached the couch, always careful not to be loud in his steps, despite knowing how deep her sleep was, he removed his military hat and placed it on a small circular table; he kneeled beside her, her face is as he remembered it, auburn blond hairs, not as bright as they once where, but time and care would heal that, her features regular and finely cut, worthy of her status, dark eyebrows that nearly met; beautiful, she has always been that in his eyes, even when her head was shaved because of the measles she was never less than perfect for him; he tucked a stray of her hairs behind her ears and softly kissed her forehead as she stirred a little, but then she returned to her sleep.
He got up and left her to her sleep, he caught Lily's eyes looking at him, smiling at him; he merely raised his eyebrows at her, and in response, she shook her head still smiling.
"It was strange how the world had quickly changed, how in less than a year and a half everything changed, people fell from grace with loud thuds, people not worthy of power ruled over many, ruining the lives of the many while feeding them with sweet poisons promises, gone was the world of glittering and jewels replaced by a world covered in red darkness, brother against brother, Russian against Russian, people dying for nothing, factions fighting for power and not for good, heroes weren't on either side, but instead on the ground giving their blood to the motherland, dust you were and dust you will return, God once said, the only truth in this world forever true," Dmitry thought bitterly within himself after sitting in the armchair and looking at the flame, that once every often crackles.
"But still," he thought, looking at the sleeping Anastasia "after every sundown and night there is a sunrise, Russias future may look grim, but at least now in his little world, where only the family mattered, despite how grim every may look, if they kept themself together then no mountain would be too high, and the biggest one in front of them would be helping Anastasia in her darkest moment"
"What are you thinking?" Lily asked seeing him, eyeing so immersed in his thought, he'll drown in them, like always.
"Oh nothing" he responded, shrugging a little, and turning his head to look at her.
"Then this nothing must be very interesting as the hyperuranium, Plato would be very proud of you" she responded nodding a little, never leaving her eyes from the cooker.
"It just I am surprised of how quickly the world has changed," he said earnestly.
"You never noticed it?" Now asked Lily shocked, by his lack of vision.
"It's not like that it's that I never stopped myself and thought about it, I was always on the action," he said in his defense.
This answer satisfied her and returned to the cooker, "Change is a constant, nothing is set in stone" she said wisely, "if one doesn't improve himself or try new ways of doing things, then he will be condemned to be defeated"
"I agree with you," Dmitry said equally wisely, looking now like a philosopher, "but sometimes changes are too quick and sudden, and this may lead to great tragedies, one must be ready to change if not he'll ruin himself and end in a worst position than when he started"
"Ladies and gentlemen, I now present to you all, Dmitry Ivanovich Rurikovich the philosopher," a booming voice said and was followed by somebody clapping very loudly, it was Vlad and Nikolai, as they entered into the house they were met by Lily's murderous glare.
"You two bloody idiots, shut up, somebody is sleeping" Lily whispered yelled, although it was quietly spoken the message was very clear, and the raised ladle also contributed to the expression of the message.
"Oh hello my de-" Vlad started to say casually, but before he could finish, a ladle hit his head harshly, and one to Nikolai quickly followed; in quitting them up it succeeded brilliantly, as they both kept their mouth shut.
Dmitry laughed quietly, it was fun to see an angry Lily putting in line these two grown-up boys, they may be old, but a good ladle on the head may help them remember how old they were, and especially to not drink so much.
"Why did you two drink?" Lily whispered yelled pointing the spoon at their faces.
"You know why," Vlad said, now tearing up, "those dammed Bolshevik, took my baby, my little factory, in Tsaritsyn," he blew his nose in a handkerchief, "it was my greatest source of pride, the Popov industries, those little factories that produced so much steel, more than five thousand tons per year, and they were my testing ground, for my theory, you know, the one that a motivated worker produces more than a normal worker, and now I can no longer test my theory, and my industries ate lost, the alcohol helps me deal with that loss"
"And as a good friend, I help him in his loss," Nikolai said in his defense.
Lily was unimpressed by his response, but went to her husband's support, and hugged him. After the angry Lily, there was always the kind Lily; it was good to see these two together, Dmitry thought, despite not being happy, they were certainly going to be, Lily could now focus freely on her husband, Dmitry understood what he felt although it was primarily on a mental level, Vlad had found those industries and had worked a lot for their growth, it was thanks to him, that those industries had become the greatest producer of steel in all of Russia; he could understand that, but the loss that they produced no, he couldn't he had never seen something grown under his personal care, as important and big like that; although in the end, it was ten times better if neither of them drank, as they looked more like kids than a full-grown man.
Thank you all for reading this chapter I hope that you enjoyed it, and by the way, this chapter is split into two separate chapters, in the next Anastasia awakes, and my most sincere apologies for everybody who has read the chapter posted badly; have a nice day, Bye Bye.