May 1, 1912

The skies were darker, only illuminated by the feeble light from distant stars. Under the dim skies, the Livadia Palace was illuminated from within. The guards and officers stood at watch within the palace. A handful of armed guards patrolled in circles around the palace building. The Tsar and Tsarina felt confident that no intruders would breach the palace, so the royal family slept in their bedrooms without a second thought. Midnight arrived. Silence filled the air, and the guards at the front entrance began their small talk. They had seen nothing conspicuous for the previous three hours. The need to relieve their boredom was overwhelming.

"It is so quiet you can hear the leaves fall, Alex," the taller guard said, looking at his peer.

"Da, Oleg. It is too quiet," the shorter one spoke.

"I do enjoy the silence. It helps me keep a clear mind."

"I hate the silence. It bores the shit out of me," the shorter guard muttered, taking a cigarette and lighter from his pouch.

"At least it will be easier to hear any intruders come, if they are stupid enough to even try that."

The shorter guard lit his cigarette. "You have a point."

"Marco!" a voice called out.

"Polo!" the taller guard replied.

"Every three minutes, we need to say that?"

"Precisely. That is to make sure that all guards know that their other pairs are safe. If not, then most guards will rush to the nearest unresponsive pair. That is the plan, Alex."

Another three minutes passed, and the guards called out Marco again. The pair at the front entrance replied Polo. Before the guards could converse again, they heard a twig snap in the distance. The taller guard and his shorter friend looked at each other. For certain, there was someone approaching through the trees in front of the plaza. Both guards took out their rifles and aimed them at the trees.

"It is time, Alex," the taller guard spoke, his brown eyes focused on his peer."

The shorter guard yelled, "Yellow! Yellow!"

Soon, the nearest two pairs of guards arrived, one of them carrying a lantern. The auburn haired guard, known as Gregor, looked around and shook his head. He placed down his lantern on the pavement.

He began to voice his disbelief. "There is nothing around her-"

A bang sounded, and Gregor clutched his chest and groaned. He collapsed to his knees before falling to the ground. Alex, startled by the fall of his fellow guard, aimed his rifle at the darkness and returned fire. The other five guards aimed their rifles at the trees, firing. The sound of a few shots disrupted the silence of the night. After shooting, the guards looked at each other in confusion. No response could be heard.

"We killed the varmint. Now, stay here while we check for any more intruders," the other three guards spoke to Alex and Oleg.

The three guards disappeared into the darkness, before three shots could be heard in quick succession. Oleg knew that they had just been shot. Within a few moments, the remainder of the guards who stood outside the palace rushed to the front entrance and raised their rifles. Twenty guards, including Alex and Oleg, fired at the bushes and trees.

"One of you, go inside and alert the others!" Alex said.

Oleg opened the front doors of the palace and ran inside. He saw a pair of guards turn a corner, and he yelled, "We are under attack!"

As Oleg alerted the guards inside, a few officers heard the notice. One of them, Pavel, ran to the bedrooms of the royal family. Filled with desperation, he banged on the door of the bedroom of the Big Pair. He could not bear the thought of seeing his companion being shot in her sleep.

"Your Highnesses, we are under attack!"

Pavel continued to knock and pound on the door for two minutes before it opened. The next thing he knew, he was punched in the face. Pavel raised his fists to defend himself, but then he recognized the young woman in front of him. Olga stood in front of him, and she hesitated to punch the man in front of her once she recognized him. Tatiana stood behind Olga, squinting under the bright interior lights. The eldest Grand Duchess gasped once she saw the reddening cheek of her friend.

"Oh, Pavel! I am so sorry!" Olga said, placing a hand over her mouth.

Pavel flashed his signature grin, and said, "You punch pretty hard for a princess."

"Just because I am a woman does not mean I cannot punch as hard as a man!"

"Alright, alright! Please, calm yourself. We are under attack, and I need to bring your family into the hidden basement."

"What? There is a hidden basement?"

"Yes! We must hurry and get your sisters and parents out of bed."

The Big Pair proceeded to the bedroom of the Little Pair to rouse them from their sleep. Anastasia groaned, opening her eyes. Maria opened her large blue eyes, stirring underneath the bed covers.

"Olya, what is going on now?" Anastasia asked, rubbing her eyes.

"Officer Pavel needs to send us to a hidden basement. We will hide there until it is safe to come out," Olga said.

"What about Mama and Papa?" Maria asked, frowning.

"Do not worry. Just hide. We will wake them now. Time cannot be wasted," Pavel said.

Nicholas awoke to the sound of distant gunfire and a pounding on his bedroom door. He sat up in his bed, and he widened his eyes in realization. The assassins had arrived, and they were engaging the outer guards in combat. He faced his wife, caressing her cheek with his hand. Another series of knock sounded on his door, and he got out of bed. He grabbed his Mauser C96 pistol from his nightstand, and he opened the door, aiming his gun at the man in front of him. Nicholas recognized him, and he lowered his gun. More distant shots sounded.

"Officer Pavel, what is happening?" Nicholas said.

"I have been notified to bring your family to the hidden floor," Pavel replied.

"Then we have no time to waste. I must wake up my wife, and you bring my daughters to safety, now!" Nicholas said, handing Pavel a small key.

Pavel took the key. "Yes, Your Imperial Majesty!"

Pavel took Olga by the arm and led the four Grand Duchesses through the various hallways of the second floor, when they heard the sound of shattering glass. Pavel stopped at the top of the stairs. The intruders had entered the palace building. Pavel reached into his holster, taking out his Mauser C96 pistol. At long last, the importance of the situation hit Olga. She shivered. If her parents died, she would be Tsarina. If her entire family died, a civil war would happen in the power vacuum. At least hundreds of thousands of people would die in the chaos.

"Stay behind me, Your Highnesses. I have a feeling that we will run into bad company," he murmured, gripping his pistol even tighter.

Stepping down the stairs, Pavel and all four Romanov sisters reached the first floor. Pavel looked around the hallway, and two guards approached them. They widened their eyes in disbelief. How did the Tsar give permission to a lowly junior officer to escort the Grand Duchesses?

"Officer Pavel, how were you allowed to escort the Imperial Highnesses?" a black-haired guard said.

"Arty, the Tsar has given me permission to escort them to floor zero," Pavel said.

"Ah, you mean the secret basement. We will join you," the black-haired guard replied.

The two guards stood by Pavel, and the three men led the Grand Duchesses through the hallways of the first floor. Turning a corner, Pavel and the two guards saw a gruesome sight. The bodies of three guards laid on the ground, oozing blood from bullet wounds in their chests. Maria placed a hand over her mouth in disgust, feeling a bout of sickness. She had heard rumors of people dying from starvation in Siberia, but this was different. The three hapless men had been murdered by the intruders, never to see family and friends on earth again.

Olga, making an attempt to not gag at the odious smell of blood, picked up another Mauser pistol from a fallen guard. She thought back to the few times that her father had brought her to the shooting range at Spala just a few months before. There, Olga had learned how to shoot a pistol for the first time. Now, she would need that skill. Her life depended on it. Tatiana took another pistol from another fallen guard. She grimaced at the black-painted steel body of the gun. She detested killing, but she faced a higher chance of doing it for her sisters. Although the Little Pair were separate from the Big Pair, Tatiana and Olga still cared about them. The thought of seeing their sisters lying lifeless upon the floor scared them. With shaking hands, the Big Pair sisters cocked their pistols.

"Lord, forgive us for what we may do," Olga said, crossing herself.

After steeling his resolve, Pavel took a deep breath and spoke. "I hope that you two know how to use those pistols. Anyway, we must get to the secret basement. Try not to waste your rounds if we engage in combat."

The two guards and the Big Pair nodded. Pavel led the four Romanov sisters to the west side of the palace. As Pavel opened the door to a bedroom with a picture of a uniformed man, Olga knew where they were. They had stepped into the suite of Grand Duke Dmitri Pavlovich. Searching for the hidden hatch, Pavel and the two guards found a keyhole embedded in the floor. The young officer then turned the key in the keyhole, and a click could be heard. A section of the floor popped upwards, revealing a steel ladder leading down into a dark room.

"Go, go!" Pavel said in a frantic whisper.

"But what about Mama and Papa?" Anastasia asked.

"They would want you and your sisters to be safe, Your Imperial Highness. Now go!"

Anastasia and her sisters descended the ladder before Pavel closed the trapdoor, trapping the Romanov sisters in complete darkness. Now all the four Grand Duchesses could do was wait until their guards opened the trapdoor. For a few moments, the sisters could only hear their breathing. Olga felt around in the darkness for anything that would activate a light. Finally, Olga felt a small switch, and she turned it on. A single light bulb mounted in the ceiling flickered to life, bathing the room in golden light.

"We are safe, but I say that we should remain silent," Tatiana whispered.

"I hope Mama and Papa are alright," Olga said, and the Little Pair nodded in agreement.

In the suite, the two guards left the room. Pavel now stood alone in the room, and he now had the responsibility of watching the suite.


Anna Demidova, Dmitri, and the servants sat in the seats within the Livadia Palace church, praying. Named the Church of the Exaltation of the Cross, the church was a dedicated place for the Romanov family and servants to worship. Now it was a refuge for the royal staff: servants, a few guards, and some officers. The rest of the guards and officers were searching the first floor for the assassins. Dmitri hoped with all his heart and soul that his Anya and her sisters had found safety. Ending his silent prayer, Dmitri looked at the royal handmaiden sitting beside him. Her blue eyes were watery. Anna could not bear the thought of losing her friend, Tsarina Alexandra Feodorovna.

"I hope that God will protect my friend. If he does not do so for whatever reason, I believe that he will accept them into His kingdom," Anna said, crossing herself.

Dmitri could only nod, as his mother had taught him the ways of the Russian Orthodox faith. "And the Romanovs as well."

"And the souls of those who attack us even now, for they do not understand."

"I am not sure about doing that. Those Bolsheviks only seek to kill innocents because of their blood relations."

"Yet Jesus still forgave those who crucified him. I think he would do the same for the Bolsheviks."


The two guards raced to the upper floor, where they caught a glimpse of three black suited men going around a corner. One of them yelled for the figures to stop, but the suited men continued to run, opening doors whenever possible. Yakov Yurovsky scowled when he hear the sounds of voices behind him. He grit his teeth, and whispered for his fellow revolutionaries to stop and turn around. They did, and they raised their guns at the royal guards in a fluid motion. Before the guards could even load their pistols, they received a brutal onslaught of multiple bullet rounds. Smoke and deafening bangs filled the corridor, until the guards collapsed onto the floor. Seeing that the guards were pocked with bloody bullet holes, Mikhal gestured for his two trusted aides to stop. Soon, the Tsarina and Tsar would meet the same fate.

"Come, comrades, we must check the bedrooms," Mikhal said.

"Yes, Mikhal," Yakov and his friend, Alexander, replied.

Upon arriving at the empty bedrooms of the Grand Duchesses, Mikhal cursed. "Blyat! Where did they go?"

"They must be hidden in the palace somewhere. But, we must kill the Tsar and the German bitch," Alexander said.

Checking the bedroom of the Tsar and Tsarina, the three men grew frustrated. If the royal couple had not been seen on the first floor and second floor, where had they gone? Keeping silent, the three men heard a faint creak from a room further down the hallway.

"It came from the servants' room!" Alexander said.

"Good ears, old friend. Now is the time," Mikhal replied, reloading his pistol.

Yakov grinned, stroking his beard at the thought of shooting the Tsar. Soon, he would fulfill his duty, and the power vacuum created by the loss of the royal couple would benefit his fellow revolutionaries. Alexander also seemed giddy with the thought of shooting the Tsarina. But the lack of guards in the second floor made the three men suspicious. Could they have been trapped?

The three Bolsheviks made their way to the servants rooms, and they opened one door to find a familiar face. Mikhal smiled, and the naval officer smiled back. The officer was none other than Viktor, the friend of Pavel Voronov. He was the true traitor. Mikhal, happy that he had found his inside agent, asked him where the Tsar had gone.

"They asked me to guard this hallway and surprise anyone who came here. Of course I would not do anything to my fellow comrades that I hold dear," Viktor answered in a whisper.

"Your loyalty is admirable, Viktor. But, you still need to tell us where the Tsar and Tsarina are," Mikhal whispered.

"They did not tell me."

"Dammit... Well, at least you can join us."

"Would it be better for me to remain here to keep my cover?"

"Actually, that would work even better. Stay here, and if anyone asks you, say that nobody passed here."

"Yes, comrade."

The three men left Viktor in his room, making sure to leave the door closed. Another door opened, and two guards stepped out. Overcome with fear, the three assassins ran around a corner, as bullets narrowly missed their heads. Still, the two guards pursued them. Mikhal and Yakov then thought of places where the royal couple could be hiding. The possibility of them hiding in the Florentine tower was quite likely.

"Die, Bolshevik pigs!" one guard yelled, aiming his pistol.

"You cannot escape!" the other guard announced.

Yakov felt his heart beat faster. The risk of death was greater than ever. He needed a quick idea to eliminate the guards, and he wondered if there were only a few guards within the second floor. Turning another corner, he made sure his pistol was loaded and turned around to face the guards. He fired his pistol at the guards, and the first shot hit the taller guard in the chest. In an instant he was dead, but Yakov felt a stinging ache in his chest. He had been shot. Out of fright, the guard had shot his upper chest, missing his heart by inches. The last remaining guard shot past Yakov, and he heard the sound of a person hitting the floor. He looked back to see Alexander lying on the floor, clutching his chest.

"Nyet!" Yakov screamed, and he looked back at the guard, who smirked.

How dare he smirk at the death of his fellow comrade? The image of Tsar Nicholas smirking at the Bloody Sunday protesters infuriated him, and he grit his teeth. The image of the Tsarina ignoring the suffering of her people only stoked his anger. They needed to die, along with every fool who pledged loyalty to them. They were not people, but they were only liabilities to the upcoming revolution.

Yakov cocked his pistol at the guard, and he fired four times at the head of the guard until all he could see was a mutilated, bloodied face. The corpse of the guard collapsed onto the floor with a dull thud, splattering blood droplets on the carpeted floor. He felt a hand on his shoulder, and Yakov gazed at his leader.

"His sacrifice will be honored, comrade. We must focus on the Tsar and Tsarina, time is of the essence," Mikhal said with a weary gaze.

"Da. I would like to fulfill Comrade Alexander's wish to kill the German cyka," Yakov uttered.

"You may, Yakov."

"Then let us go to the Florentine Tower. They must be in there."

Yakov and Mikhal, after a few minutes, found the staircase leading up the tower, and they ascended it. Both men, keeping their raw anger controlled, attempted to keep their steps silent. When they reached the top room, the two men heard a shrill scream. Yakov turned around to see the Tsar gazing at them, holding his wife who shook with fright.

"Dosvidanya," Yakoy coldly said, pointing his pistol with a steady hand at the Tsarina.

"Not quite," Nicholas said, drawing his pistol-

Alexandra closed her eyes, attempting to utter a prayer. A stattaco of bangs resounded in the room.

The Tsarina, the most hated woman in Russia, grunted as one bullet tore through her arm. Another bullet tore its way into her abdomen, increasing her agony. Blood spurted from her body, and she cried out in pain as she clutched her abdomen. She did not have to suffer long, as the final bullet pierced her skull. The Tsar embraced the still warm corpse of his wife even tighter. He closed his eyes, hoping that it would be over soon. Hopefully, he would see his children and stillborn son in the afterlife, if not on this world. His final thought was a wish that his cherished Olga would survive. Mikhal and Yakov fired their pistols at the Tsar before he could fire. They watched with satisfaction as their target slumped on the floor, dead. His once handsome head had been mutilated with multiple gaping bullet wounds, oozing crimson blood onto the carpeting.

Mikhal and Yakov lowered their pistols, and they left the room. Thanks to the other four of their men entering the palace to distract the other guards inside, they escaped through the broken window on the first floor. Against the odds, both men had made a perfect escape. Although the other revolutionaries had kept the guards distracted for some time, they soon met their end.

Yakov, Mikhail, and a couple of other assassins ran in the darkness until they reached a checkpoint of a few guards, overwhelming them with another surprise attack.

"Pathetic," Mikhail said, spitting on the bodies.

"We must go," Yakov said.

The revolutionaries then went into the surrounding forests, and they found their automobile hidden in the foliage. They had done it. All that was needed was to rile up the working class...