Nicholas the Second entered the White Hall again. His guard commanders and agents were dressed in their uniforms and suits, sitting in their seats around the table. They waited in silence for their Tsar to take his seat and begin the meeting. Each of them acknowledged the Tsar while he took his seat.
"God save the Tsar!"
Nicholas looked at each of his agents. and he hoped that none of them were the traitor. He trusted Agent Sasha, as he had done years of service in the Imperial Military and spoke about his feelings against the Bolsheviks. The loyal agent had called them a lot of dirty brutes and fear mongers based on his experience spying on them. His father, a loyal Tsarist, had been shot to death by a Bolshevik assassin. Since the incident, the devotion Agent Sasha had for his Tsar grew. Nicholas nodded at Agent Sasha, who held the intelligence reports. Sasha passed the reports to another agent, who passed them to the Tsar. Once he held the papers, the Tsar squinted at the print. The agents silently waited for a response from the Tsar.
"Interesting. Those assassins have gone to great lengths to cover their footsteps and conceal their weapons," Nicholas mused.
A few minutes later, the Tsar had a troubled expression. "A shredded copy of the Livadia palace floor plans and schedule was found in an St. Petersburg alleyway, dated during 1910," he read.
"Agent Sasha, you may speak first," he said a moment later.
"The situation is serious, Your Majesty. Even after searchings of the watchlisted people's homes, we have only found those in one of their homes. Only copies of the Communist Manifesto have been found besides that. No other weapons or Bolshevik items were found, not even hammer and sickle buttons or badges. They obviously have well-laid plans to remain inconspicuous and hard to track." the blonde suited man spoke.
"Then I have no choice but order a search of all guards and officers' rooms."
"What about the rooms of your daughters?"
"No, they would never go against me to jeopardize my life with some threat of an attack. I am their father, and they love me with all their hearts," Nicholas said after shaking his head no.
"What if the hidden traitor conceals his items in their rooms?"
Nicholas remained silent for a moment, considering the words of his trusted agent. "Alright, I will allow searches of their rooms. However, I will not allow my daughters to be placed on the watchlist or suspect list."
"As you wish, Your Imperial Majesty," Sasha said.
"Good. We will discuss other security measures now. You all may offer suggestions," the Tsar said.
Nicholas the Second placed down the papers, and he allowed the agents to discuss the matter with the commanders. A gentle breeze blew through the room from the open windows. At least the members of the security meeting would have the comfort of the pleasant weather. For now, the safety of the Romanov family was a priority. The lives of four young women, and the royal couple were in danger, and the agents knew that failure could not be tolerated. A single casualty would mean the end of their employment in the Okhrana.
"I suggest that night patrols be increased, with guard rotations every hour," one guard commander stated.
"It would be a good idea to place Livadia on lockdown. That way, there can be no escape for those potential assassins," another agent said.
Stroking his beard, the Tsar thought about the advice from his trusted agents and commanders. The lockdown suggestion seemed attractive, as the agent had a point. If all incoming and outgoing travel was blocked from Livadia, the assassins could not escape. Interrogations of people within the town would be easier. He nodded before voicing his approval.
"I have made my decision. Livadia and Yalta are to be placed on lockdown. Send a letter to the local police, and I shall send my other agents to search every inn," he said.
"What about the patrols, Your Imperial Majesty?" a commander asked.
"The patrols will be made more frequent during day and night, and the officers and guards will be rotated every hour."
As the Tsar continued to talk with his agents, his four daughters and the kitchen servant remained in their bedrooms. As if nothing wrong had happened, the Big Pair and Small Pair stayed in separate bedrooms. Within the bedroom of the Small Pair, Anastasia, Maria, and Dmitri all sat on the floor, discussing what to do. Dmitri was very troubled. His new family, the Romanovs, were in danger of being killed. He abhorred the thought of losing the care of the royal family and most of all, his only friend: Anastasia. He had come too far to lose everything he had come to value, and being cast out into the streets again was not an option.
Anastasia said, "I hope that Papa will survive this, I do not know what I would do without him."
Silence lasted for a few moments before Dmitri spoke. "I feel the same. All of you are like my new family, and I cannot accept living a life back on the street again. I can never accept another life living in dirty alleys and eating scraps of bread, never! Most of all, I would lose Anya, my friend."
Anastasia smiled, and she hugged Dmitri. "Do not worry, Mitya. You will not lose me. It will take more than a few crazy old men to bring this princess down."
Dmitri laughed before Maria spoke. "Oh, Nastya. You and your sharp tongue as always."
"You and your dreams of having twenty children. I must ask, how will you make sure they all behave?"
"I- I do not know..." Maria trailed off, blushing.
Dmitri watched his friend pester her sister about her dreams of starting a large family. He could only wonder how the Big Pair stayed occupied while stuck in their bedroom. In the second room reserved for the elder Grand Duchesses, Olga sat in front of her desk, reading The Prince again. Her sister, sitting on the camp cot, watched with interest. She personally disagreed with most statements of the book, but she did agree with a few of its main concepts. One concept was that a good ruler must maintain the fear of his or her subjects to stay in control. An excess of fear and hatred in the common people would lead to his or her downfall. Even as the Governess of the four Romanov sisters, she understood the importance of gaining respect.
"That must be the only book you read since we left Tsarskoe Selo," Tatiana commented.
"Of course! I find Machiavelli's principles to be reasonable," Olga replied.
"I disagree with some points within it."
"Why?"
"I believe that cruel acts by a ruler will only cause more hatred from the people."
"That is true if that ruler were excessively cruel. Ivan the Terrible is a perfect example of that. But, some cruelty is necessary to maintain the fear that people have for their ruler. Imagine if you were Tsarina and the Bolsheviks assassinated your sisters, including me. What would you do to the Bolsheviks to keep control within your Empire?"
"I... I would execute those who had done the murders?" Tatiana hesitantly said.
"Exactly. Fear is necessary to keep control. Just as students obey a strict teacher, the people obey a strong ruler. This is why Papa has not been overthrown yet... because of his secret police and armed guards."
"You would be cruel to some, even if they were your family?"
"Tatya, no! I trust you. You are my sister. Consider the fact that I am not yet Tsarina."
"If Papa and Mama die, which is quite possible given the assassins nearby, you will be the youngest Tsarina of Russia. How would you feel?"
"I do not know," Olga said in a quieter tone.
"At least Mashka, Nastya, and I will be with you," Tatiana reassured, placing a hand on the shoulder of her eldest sister.
"That is pleasant to hear... I would not know what to do without you, Tatya. You always give me an idea of what to do, and I am the oldest!"
"I do not want you to be lost, but when my time comes-"
"No, I cannot allow my family to die an unnatural death! Losing Papa or any of you would break me!" Olga burst, her eyes beginning to water.
Tatiana took a deep breath. "Please, calm yourself."
Olga remained seated in the chair, and she wiped her eyes. Remembering the vision she had on the Standart, she shuddered. She could never unsee that dark possibility of what was to come.
Mikhal Vaganov sat in his chair, as he reached into his brass cigarette box to pull out his first cigar. Lighting the cigarette, he smiled at the thought of the upcoming attack on the Livadia Palace. He almost gloated upon seeing an imagined fantasy play out in his head: his rise as a hero for the Bolshevik cause. By killing the royal family, he would overthrow the Romanov dynasty with a near zero chance of seeing it restored. There was no doubt that Lenin would congratulate him for such an act, from his perspective. He smoked the cigar, sending a noxious puff of smoke into the air.
His fellow Bolsheviks and friends looked at the floor plans of the Livadia Palace, arguing over where to attack first. Yakov Yurovsky and another of his peers looked at the map, discussing possible points of entry.
"We could check the possibility of attacking at night on the side facing the sea."
"But, Comrade Yurovsky, there is an uphill slope at that area that may slow our ascent."
Yakov stroked his beard while thinking of another angle of attack. So far, with the idea of a single task force, the team had made little progress except for deciding to snipe all outer patrols before their main objective. The team would have to assassinate the Grand Duchesses and royal couple. As Yakov looked at the map, he decided that the beginning of the assassination would need change.
"Comrade Mikhal?" Yakov asked.
"Yes, Comrade Yurovsky?" Mikhal said, getting up from his chair.
"I believe that attacking as two separate teams would be to our advantage. One team will act as a decoy attack at the front entrance, as they snipe the front guards. Meanwhile, the second team will wait for the other alerted guards to join the front entrance. Once there is a gap in the patrols, the second team will enter the windows and infiltrate the interior. Timing is important."
"That is an excellent idea, much better than a simple frontal assault. Distractions would be a good strategy."
The change to the plan was accepted by the comrades, and they believed that the plan could work. The past few days had a new moon, which would emit little to no moonlight. With poor visibility in the dark, the team would face less difficulties with their approach. An hour later, the team had just finished planning, but a few knocks sounded on the door. The Okhrana agents had arrived to their inn, and Mikhal froze still.
"Hide the papers! Act normal!" Mikhal whispered.
The five other men put away the papers and other items under their mattresses. Mikhal placed on his eye glasses and he walked to the door, as his five companions took out their books and drinks. Yakov pretended to read his copy of War and Peace, and the others pretended to play cards. The knocks on the door sounded again, and Mikhal opened the door to see two suited men outside.
"Hello, sir. This is Agent Ivanko, and he is Agent Paulov. We need to search your bedroom by order of His Imperial Majesty Nicholas the Second," one dark-haired man spoke.
"Of course," Mikhal said, opening the door further.
The two agents entered the room, and Mikhal smirked while they looked around the room. They would never find the plans of his attack, as no one would check between the mattresses and bed frames. A few minutes passed as the agents searched the travel cases of the six disguised Bolsheviks. Then, the agents opened the room cabinets, and they squinted with suspicion as the dark-haired man removed a single bullet from one cabinet.
"Tell us, what is this doing here?" the dark-haired man spoke, taking out his pistol.
"We plan to go hunting in the woods around Livadia," Mikhal said, as the agent faced him.
"Yerunda. That is a pistol round, not a rifle round."
"We could not afford hunting rifles, Agent Paulov. They are expensive."
"You are a terrible liar. No sane man uses shorter-ranged pistols to hunt squirrels in the woods."
The other agent, a blonde man, looked at the other five. Yakov placed down his book, and he looked at the agent with a feigned smile. His appearance needed to be decieving enough to fool the agents. The agent maintained his cold stare, and he revealed his pistol. Yakov knew that the agents would soon stumble upon the stash of semi-automatic German pistols and short rifles hidden in the nightstand. He needed to interrupt the investigation or else the plan would fall apart.
"It was a challenge we thought of, Mikhal bet me fifty rubles that I could not do so," Yakov said, gripping his pistol underneath the covers.
The blonde agent spoke. "More yerunda. More bullshit. You are all coming with us to the-"
Yakov quickly took out his pistol and shot the blonde agent in the head, and he smiled in glee as his victim fell to the ground. Ivanko aimed his pistol at Yakov, shooting him in the arm, forcing the Bolshevik to drop his pistol. Yakov gritted his teeth, and he looked at Mikhal. His leader tackled the agent to the floor, and they grappled arms, rolling over on the floor. The other men also stopped their fake card game before restraining the agent.
"Now, we are in control now. Any last words?"
"God save the Tsar!"
Mikhal took the pistol and fired it into the skull of the last agent. Now, the agents had been eliminated. However, the six Bolsheviks faced the task of hiding the bodies in their room and escaping the inn.
"All of you, hide the bodies in the shower. We will move out of here after packing our weapons in the luggage."
"Yes, comrade Mikhal!" the men all said.
