December 17, 1909
Months passed since the anniversary of Alexei's passing, and business within the palace returned to normal. During the Friday before the week of Christmas, the Romanov daughters spent much of the day roaming the palace and doing their hobbies. Anastasia and Maria played romance tunes on their balalaikas while they remained in their bedrooms. The Big Pair spent their time reading and taking lessons for English and French. Pierre, their foreign language tutor, smiled as Olga flawlessly read aloud a passage from Les Miserables.
"Excellent. You speak with almost as much ease as a native Frenchwoman would," he said.
Olga smiled. Pierre faced Tatiana, and he asked her to read the same passage. She did so, but she stuttered over a few words. The Grand Duchess felt awkward, but Pierre nodded to encourage her. She sighed in relief. After an hour of attempts to speak French well, she had succeeded. Instead of berating the two sisters for their mistakes, the tutor remained patient with their efforts.
"That is all for today. Both of you are making great progress in speaking French. Next week, we will switch to writing in French."
"Thank you, Mister Pierre," both of the Big Pair sisters spoke.
Pierre left the study room, and as he disappeared around a corner, Olga packed her study materials, yawning. She looked at Tatiana and wondered if she could make her a consort in the future. Unlike Olga, Tatiana had the natural charisma of a leader, and she had a more controlled temper. Yet no matter her own doubts, Olga still received encouragement from her closest sister. Tatiana trusted that Olga would be a great ruler someday like her ancestor: Catherine the Great. The eldest Grand Duchess already knew half of The Prince by Machiavelli and various works by some philosophers such as Voltaire. Acquiring a well-rounded mind was important for her, as gaining knowledge about politics and other languages could prove helpful in her future reign. Stemming ignorance would help the future Tsarina make better decisions.
"Since we have been within our home for most of the day, we should walk in the gardens," Tatiana bluntly said.
"Yes, I am tired of being stuck inside this place! It is as if our parents are sheltering us from everything," Olga replied.
"You should not say such things. Mama and Papa really love us, they only want to keep us safe ever since Baby died. Without them, how could we live?"
"I know that they love us and that they want us to act and think like proper princesses, but..."
"But what?"
"We should have more chances to just be ourselves."
"You are being selfish, Olya."
"How am I selfish?" Olga exasperatingly said.
"You think of not what Mama and Papa wants, but only what you want. You only think about the self, not the group."
Looking at the clock on one of the desks, Olga sighed. She knew that Tatiana, despite her tendency to repeat the words of their parents, was right. She was a very intelligent and perceptive young princess, and she was a free thinker as well. Combined with her willful nature, her bright mind made a difficult combination of traits in a princess to tame. Reading works by other thinkers such as Niccolo and Hobbes only intensified her desire for independence. However, she knew that her family mattered the most, and she was still too young to truly find that independence. She could not be a single piece yet, but instead a part of the circle of her family. Together, she and her sisters were OTMA. A team.
After a few moments sauntering around the room, Olga looked through the windows facing the gardens. "You are right... we are a team, not a few strangers under the same roof."
Tatiana walked to a spot beside her sister, watching the first snowflakes begin to fall. "I am glad to hear that. At least until you become Tsarina, you are a part of us, even if we may not be perfect."
Olga thought of her father's blunders during his reign so far. "Yes," she said with an uncertain tone.
Tatiana noticed the uncertainty in the words that her sister spoke. She knew that something bothered Olga about her parents, and she wondered if they had done something wrong. She highly doubted that her mother or father had abused her sister, but something had happened a year ago. Could it be that she had read the grim reports of strikes and revolts?
"Olya, I know that something is bothering you... I want to help you," Tatiana softly spoke.
"I do not want to mention it."
"No, we need to speak about it. Since the year before, it is as if you are drifting away from us. You hardly speak to Mama and Papa, and you always seem so worried. Tell me about what troubles you!"
"Fine. It is about Papa."
"What about him?"
"I fear the worst for us. The people are angry because Papa did not help them... what if a coup happens?"
"That will not happen, Olya. Just calm yourself."
"I cannot, as I know that Papa is stubborn."
"You are stubborn too. You cannot let go of your fears no matter how many times we tell you, that will not happen," Tatiana said, crossing her arms.
Olga turned away and ignored her sister, feeling unsure. She wanted to reply with a witty counterargument, but her mind had gone blank. Again, her sister was right. Tatiana heard nothing but silence from her older sister, and she smiled. Despite being younger than her sister, she still was the Commandant of the Big Pair. Before Tatiana could further comment, Olga changed the subject.
"How about we avoid another argument we do not want? Since it is snowing outside, perhaps we could have a snowball fight with Mashka and Nastya."
Tatiana wanted to speak with her sister about the subject, but she decided to drop the conversation. "Fine," she said a few moments later.
With a glimpse outside the windows, the Big Pair left the room. They were eager to take their minds off such grim subjects such as the possibility of an uprising. Making their way through the rooms and halls of the palace, Olga and Tatiana approached the bedrooms of their younger sisters, smiling when the sounds of the folk tune "Shine, Shine, My Star" echoed down the hallway. The somewhat off tune sounds were still discernible for the efforts of two young children. They knocked on the door, and the sounds stopped. Hearing the voices of The Little Pair coming closer, the two elder sisters stepped back from the door. The door opened, and Anastasia jumped over and over in excitement, hoping that she would play snow outside alongside her sisters. She would get her wish.
"Olya, Tatya, will we play with snow outside? Playing our balalaikas is getting boring!" Anastasia said, pouting with her blue eyes.
Olga and Tatiana looked at each other, smiling before looking at Anastasia again. "Yes, we will!"
"Yay!"
After dressing into their snow jackets and thick pants, Olga and her sisters went to the front yard, which was covered with snow. They noticed that the snowfall was light. This made it convenient for them, as they would never need to worry about heavy snowfall obscuring the way back. Anastasia, of course, was the first to grab a handful of snow. Running some distance from her sisters, Anastasia was followed by Maria. They stopped running, and they tossed their snowballs after forming them. With a surprising velocity, the snowballs few towards their targets, hitting them. Olga yelped, flinching from the impact of the soft snow.
"You will pay, Nastya!" Olga said, smiling as she created a snowball.
In response, she received two snowballs in the face, and she stumbled backwards and dropped her snowball. Tatiana, not wanting to be left out of the action, tugged on Olga's right arm. Leading her elder sister behind a tree, Tatiana wiped the snow off of her sister's face, revealing a blushing Olga. They peeked from behind the tree, and Tatiana gasped as another snowball hit her. Peals of laughter could be heard from the Little Pair until they were struck by a counter-barrage from the Big Pair.
"The game is on! First one to get hit ten times is a dirty Bolshevik!" Anastasia announced, wiping the snow off of her face.
"You two will lose for sure!" Olga taunted.
As all four grand duchesses laughed and threw snowballs, the guards could not help but briefly smile. Their lives were routine to the point of boredom, but watching the royal children play and enjoy their time entertained them. As a result, their duty hours became somewhat bearable. One guard, a dark-haired man, spotted a human figure approaching the front yards of the Alexander Palace grounds. As the figure walked closer, the guards observed that the figure was that of a young boy.
"Hey, stop!" the dark-haired guard yelled, approaching the boy.
Dimitri Ivanov, carrying a loaf of bread, stopped just on the front yard. He widened his brown eyes, as two guards armed with rifles approached him. Gulping, he hoped that the tall uniformed men would not assault him. He had heard stories of some guards brutalizing the passerby around the palace. Some of the peasants and townsfolk around Tsarskoe Selo were even robbed at gunpoint. The thought that the Tsar refused to reprimand his guards infuriated Dimitri, and he disliked the Tsar with a passion. Dimitri stepped back again, and both guards sneered at him.
"You have no place here, boy," a hazel-eyed, brunette guard spoke in a threatening tone.
"I- I mean no trouble sir," Dimitri stuttered, his hands trembling from fear.
"We will let you go if you give us that piece of bread. We are hungry."
"I cannot, sir. It is all I have for my lunch."
"Do. Not. Test. Us," the black haired guard said, gazing into the eyes of the scrawny boy.
As the brown-haired guard raised the butt of his rifle above the boy, the two guards heard one of the duchesses yell "Stop!"
The two guards turned in surprise to see Olga running towards them, and they bowed. "Stand up," the grand duchess commanded with a firm tone.
"Your Highness-"
"Leave the boy alone, if he wants to join our snowball fight, he can."
"Yes, Your Highness," the guards said, and they left Dimitri to return to their patrol positions.
After the guards had gone a considerable distance away, Olga gestured for DImitri to follow her. Dimitri shook his head. He said, "But I'm only a poor street urchin!"
"Well, I may be a Grand Duchess, but we are all just young children like you who want to enjoy life. Now follow me."
With reluctance, Dimitri followed Olga. Upon seeing their sister with a poor street orphan boy, the other three daughters had varying reactions. Anastasia and Maria beamed with smiles, feeling eager to have another playmate. Tatiana, unlike her two youngest sisters, raised an eyebrow. The sight of a commoner with her sister made her feel uneasy.
"Olya, why are you bringing this boy with you?" Tatiana asked.
"The guards were about to steal his bread, so I wanted to help him. I had to distract them."
"But that does not answer why you decided to actually bring the boy."
Olga sighed. "You should be happy that we have another playmate. We hardly even meet other children our age."
"Olya-"
"He will play with us."
Tatiana gave an intense stare at Olga before relenting under her sister's gaze. "Fine, but you will have to talk with Papa after this."
Dimitri looked at Anastasia, who smirked. "Ready to lose to a girl?" she said.
"You wish! I'll be joining your older sisters here, so it will be a three to two game!" Dimitri replied.
At once, the Big Pair, Dimitri, and the Little Pair took their positions. They soon began to throw a barrage of snowballs at each other, and The Little Pair found themselves overwhelmed especially by the well-aimed shots of Dimitri. Ducking under a flying snowball, Maria looked at her younger sister and gasped. Anastasia had found a small rock on the ground, and she placed it within a snowball. A feeling of dread washed over Maria, and she tried to voice her disapproval. Anastasia lobbed the snowball forward with a frightening speed before Maria could speak.
Olga looked up, and she opened her mouth to warn Tatiana, but it was too late. The incoming projectile of rock and snow impacted with the forehead of Tatiana, who cried out in pain. Clutching her forehead, Tatiana felt blood on her fingers. Lifting her hand, she knew that she had a wide, bleeding cut. Dimitri rushed to his wounded teammate, and he looked at Olga with his hazel brown eyes widened with fright. Across the front lawn, Anastasia could be seen looking at the ground in shame. Maria appeared to be talking to her younger sister, but the words could not be discerned over the winter breezes.
"Maria, get Papa and Doctor Botkin!" Olga loudly spoke.
At once, Maria got up and ran across the front yard, where the front doors opened. Nicholas stepped outside, and he was shocked to see Tatiana lying on the ground. For once, the Tsar of the Russian Empire felt fear within his heart. He had lost his son. He would not let his daughters experience harm. Nicholas ran towards where Tatiana laid on the frigid snow. Alexandra, following behind Nicholas, ran towards the Big Pair and their new playmate.
"Oh, Tatiana, what happened to you?" Alexandra cried out when she reached Tatiana.
Dimitri held his handkerchief over the cut to soak up the blood, and that gesture of goodwill did not get unnoticed by the Tsarina.
"Thank you, little one. What is your name?" the Tsarina asked.
"Dimitri, Your Majesty," the boy said, bowing.
"Nice to meet you, Dimitri. Now, please tell me who did this, if you did not do this."
Dimitri stopped bowing, and said, "The girl with that reddish hair."
Nicholas, narrowing his eyes, yelled, "Anastasia Romanov, come here!"
Anastasia and Maria ran to their father, who wore an angry scowl. His brown eyes boiled with anger. The Little Pair hardly saw their father lose his temper, but at that moment, they cowered in fear. Even Olga looked away from her father, who teetered on the edge of self-control. Nicholas pointed at Tatiana while he gazed into the blue eyes of his youngest daughter.
"My shvibzik, did you do this?" he said.
Anastasia felt a sinking feeling in her legs. "Sorry, Papa. I thought the rock was too small to hurt Tatya."
"Look at her! Does she look fine to you?"
"Nyet, Papa, "Anastasia said with a quieter volume than before.
Only then did the Tsar notice Dimitri, who nervously looked away as well. He did not want to scare the boy, so he took a deep breath to calm himself.
"What is your name?" he asked.
"His name is Dimitri," his wife said.
"Well, it is good to meet a young boy like you. I am glad that you are helping our little Tatiana here."
"No problem, Your Majesty," Dimitri said.
"Good. Now, let us go inside... we shall introduce ourselves later."
