Chapter Two

Anya heard voices above her, muffled but audible, "What happened to her? Why is she all the way out here in a blizzard?"

"Don't know. Let's pick her up and take her somewhere warm. And get a doctor." Another voice said urgently. It sounded familiar.

She opened her eyes and saw a dimly lit room. It was warm and the smell of medicine filled the air. She looked around and there was no one there except a doctor, "Where am I?"

The doctor turned around shocked that she was up, "Oh! Hello. You are in a hospital. A few members of the army found you covered in snow out in the middle of nowhere. Your wounds, I believe, caused you to pass out, and needed treatment immediately. Now tell me, what were you doing that got you in such a condition?"

"I… I don't know. I was just sweeping and this guy took me away somewhere. He wanted to kill me. He said I was the Grand Duchess Anastasia."

The doctor looked at her more closely and his eyes grew wide, "Y-Your Highness." he bowed immediately and stayed down for a while until she cocked her head, "Whaaat are you doing?"

"Pardon me," he coughed, "Ahem. Back to what I was going to say. You are very lucky you were found. You could have died due to blood loss and if not that, the freezing temperatures. And what is your name miss?"

"Anya."

"Right. Your friend couldn't fi-"

Anya cut him off with a question, "My friend?"

"Yes. The uh… the general, yes. What's his name?"

"Gleb?"

"Ah yes! That's who. He was worried when you weren't in the streets so he went looking for you. He went to a house relatively close to where you were and asked two of his men, Vladimir and Ikanov, he asked them where you were. I believe Ikanov said you ran off into the storm. Is he the man that took you?"

"Yes."

"A question that has been bothering me, you were found without a coat on. Do you not own one?"

"No, I do. He took it off me when I got there."

The doctor looked at Anya, then the ground. He started pacing, "Then we must be careful what they say. They told me that you had your coat on. I wonder what else they've been lying to us about."

"You called me 'Your Highness'. I want to know why? The Romanovs have been dead for a long time. At least that's what I've been told."

He chuckled, "You don't listen to rumors, do you Anya?"

"Why would I? It's not like rumors would pay me. I just pay attention to my job so I can live another wonderful day in St. Petersburg."

"I can see that. There's a rumor that has been going around lately. A rumor about a certain Grand Duchess Anastasia being alive. Anastasia's grandmother has a very special sum of money for anyone who can bring her back. Heck, even if you aren't Anastasia, you look close enough you could easily pass. Now get some rest. I still have to work on your hand and shoulder."

She woke up in the middle of the night with a cold sweat, her nightmares haunting her again. She looked out the window and saw Petersburg filled with snow and rubble from the blizzard. She moaned quietly as her shoulder started throbbing with pain. She layed down, but didn't go to sleep, she was too scared of the voices. What are they trying to tell me? Why won't they just leave me alone! She said to herself. A little while passed and the doctor came in, "Did I wake you?"

"No, I've been awake for a while now."

"Oh! Well, I looked at your injuries and you should be good by tomorrow. I could be wrong though."

"Thank you."

The doctor stepped closer to her, "You know, I'm running out of money, so I can't really pay for medicine and bandages. And I do know a handful of guys that would love to pay for a beautiful lady like you, not to mention you're Anastasia."

He grabbed her arm and pulled her up, she struggled to get out of his grip, "No! I-I think you've got the wrong person. I'm not royalty, and I'm certainly not going to be sold to anyone!" She stomped her heel on his foot, "Ouch!" He let her go and grabbed his foot. A knock was heard at the door, "They're here! Come on boys! She's here! The princess!" Five huge men came walking in, they all stopped and gasped when they saw Anya, "Wow. I thought you were kiddin'! It really is her!" One of the men said, he stepped forward and grabbed Anya in a tight grip.

"Let go of me!"

"Not a chance. How much for one night?"

"Hmmm," the doctor looked Anya up and down, "I'll say thirty bucks, I'll charge you extra if you go over time."

"Perfect," the man tossed the doctor a stack of money, "here."

"Oh please!" she said angrily, "I'm worth much more than thirty dollars! Besides, I'm definitely not going with anyone!" She wriggled out of his arms and ran out the door into the snow.

"After her!" all the men shouted, following closely behind her. One of them grabbed her arm and yanked her into him, "Gotcha. You're coming with me you litt-"

A gun was cocked back behind them, "Let her go. And get out of here!"

They let her go and she looked to see who it was that helped her. She turned and saw Gleb standing there with his pistol by his side. He smiled at her, "It's a good thing I'm out catching criminals then is it? And you know, being cold."

"Thank you," she chuckled a little. A wind blew and she shivered, Gleb saw her and came over to wrap his coat around her.

She looked up at him and started to take the coat off, "Thank you, but I really shouldn't. It's your coat anyway, you might freeze."

He stopped her, "No. I've got more at home. I want you to have it. Think of it as a gift from your friend."

She grinned a little and looked down, "Thank you, again."

Gleb turned around and walked to his home. Anya went her own way to find shelter.

. . . . . .

Gleb stood in front of his house door, he looked back and saw Anya gone. He sighed, I can't wait to save her again. Maybe then I can tell her. He shook his head, No. Don't be a fool, if you told her, she'd probably look at you funny. She can't feel the same way, can she? He looked once more into the streets before entering his home. He laid down onto his bed, he knew who she was, but he couldn't kill her, he didn't care. Early in the morning he heard a gunshot. Anya! He ran outside and saw his comrade with a gun pointed to the ground. There were screams and people running, but he couldn't see Anya in any of the crowds. He approached his comrade,

"Vladmir. What's going on?"

"The Romanovs are now dead." He smirked.

Gleb looked in horror as he saw Anya in an alleyway. He quivered and held back tears, "You," he glared at Vladmir, "Anastasia Romanov has been dead for years! You killed an innocent member of our new Russia. That is a crime, and criminals should be dealt with accordingly." He pulled out a pistol, and fired. It hit Vladmir in the chest, he stumbled and then fell to the ground, dead.

He heard a whimper and turned and saw that Anya was slowly breathing. "Anya!" He ran over and picked her up. She started crying, "Gleb?"

"It's okay, Anya. I'm going to help you."

Sorry this chapter was shorter than wanted, I just thought it'd be a good place to start a new chapter.