January 7, 1916
A few months passed, leading into the year of 1916. Russia was in economic bloom, allowing the lower classes to reap the results of their hard work. With better working conditions under decrees and policies approved by Olga and her advisors, the lower classes were content for the time being. A few critics had protested peacefully in the streets to demand the removal of the Okhrana. Their demands went unheeded, creating some dissatisfaction with the new Empress of Russia. Revolutionary support especially for the radical anarchists and communists had been cut in half. Only about fifty-five percent of Russians approved of their Tsarina. It would take more time for the commoners to approve of their new ruler.
However, there was one thing that the Russian peoples found peculiar with the monarchy: there was no Tsar yet. Who would be their emperor? Could the rumored companion of Tsarina Olga I of Russia, Dmitri Pavlovich, be the next Tsar?
The day of Valentine's Day arrived. Olga, her sisters, and her annoying yet dear cousin were sheltered in the Alexander Palace with their palace staff. The winds blew outside, shuffling fine snow particles on every surface outside. The temperatures were still at least minus twenty celsius, so the royal guards had been ordered to stay indoors. On that day, the Tsarina spent much of her time in her room with Tatiana except for mealtimes.
Olga laid under her dark blue blankets on her bed, looking at the ceiling deep in thought. She knew that her subjects would eventually wonder about the possibility of a new Tsar. But this was not the only reason why she had been disturbed recently. The thoughts of her past crush, Pavel, plagued her mind. She never admitted it in front of her sisters, but she missed him. She had not seen Pavel since the summer of 1912, and she wondered how he had fared since then. Had he found another love? Thinking of the question only sunk the heart of the young Empress.
Tatiana, her closest confidante and sister, sat on her cot nearby. She often did not speak to Dmitri Pavlovich, mortified by his womanizing ways. She also disliked the idea of her closest sister marrying or even courting him. As long as Olga and Dmitri did not marry, she would disapprove of any coupling between her sister and the Grand Duke.
"Although our grandmother, Aunt Olga, and Aunt Xenia demand for you to court Cousin Mitya, I will not allow that to happen," she declared, crossing her arms.
Olga sighed. "Tatya, I know that this may seem to be a terrible match, but this is for the good of our Russia. The people need a Tsar, sister. If it is my cross to bear to help millions of souls, so be it."
"What about Officer Pavel? I thought that you would like to be with him."
"Yes, that is true... and I miss him a great deal. Yet, it is my duty as Tsarina to ensure that our dynasty continues and flourishes. I will need to bear heirs or heiresses for the throne... even if it is with a man I do not love," Olga said with a forlorn face.
"But Olya-"
"I must do what I must, even if it breaks my heart. When I see Pavel, I will have to let him..."
Olga could not bring herself to finish her sentence, and tears began fall from her eyes. She gasped, turning her face away to hide her tears. Her sobs were the sounds of her heart tearing in two as the harsh reality began to sink in. She was only twenty now. She felt so young and lost. Her parents were gone, and she would later need to engage herself to a man she did not love. Even worse, Trotsky was still at large.
"If only Papa were here!" Olga cried, before burying her face in her pillow.
"Please, do not cry, Olya. It hurts me as well to see you cry, and I think Papa would be sad too to see you in such a state. You do not have to court Mitya, however handsome he may be. Do not fear the future, sister. We will face this together," Tatiana said in a calm tone, gripping her sister by the hand.
"I- I realize... There are still p- people who hate us, or even want us d-dead. I know nothing about being a good wife or raising babies!"
"Olya, you are a compassionate and wise young lady! I do not doubt that you will make a fine mother to your future children, even if they are Mitya's as well. I also do not doubt that you are doing well as Tsarina. You have stopped a war from happening! You have helped the poor workers!"
Olga said nothing, letting her sobs gradually dwindle over the hour while her sister held her.
"Thank you, Tatya, for trusting in me."
"You are very welcome, Olya. As your sister, I would never leave you."
The two sisters embraced each other, sharing their tears and pain. For both of them, their tears would wash away their sadness to leave behind relief. If they were to be honest, their duties had distracted them from what they needed the most. It was the love of their family. Once the flow of tears had ceased, they let go of each other.
"Promise me that you will accept the inevitable marriage between me and Cousin Mitya," Olga said.
"I am sorry, but I still believe that another Grand Duke would be a better match," Tatiana said, shaking her head.
"At least he is the most handsome... in my opinion."
Both sisters giggled. Tatiana still had her doubts about the pairing of her sister and her Cousin Mitya, but if they found happiness in each other, she would not interfere.
Olga left the room later, making her way to the right wing of her home. She passed by the study of Sidney Gibbs, hearing the voices of the Little Pair reading lines from a book. The familiar baritone of the voice of their tutor drifted from under the door. It was not long before she reached the door to the bedroom where Dmitri Pavlovich stayed. She knocked on the door, but no response came.
"Cousin Mitya?"
A few moments passed, and she noticed no response. However, she felt the hairs on her neck stand up. She heard a sudden sound behind her.
"Boo!" a familiar voice said.
Olga let out a yelp, turning around in a second to see a laughing Dmitri Pavlovich. Holding her hand on her beating heart, she felt a mixture of emotions well up within her. She did not know how she could care for and despise her cousin so much. Dmitri laughed hard, and his face began to turn a slight red from his exertion of his laughs. Doubled over, the Grand Duke continued to choke with laughter.
"If you were anyone outside of my family, I would have had you banished from the palace," Olga said, crossing her arms.
Dmitri ceased laughing a moment later, making a shoo motion with his hand. "Relax, Cousin Olya. It was merely for humorous purposes... To be honest, you look adorable when you are angry."
Olga felt her face warm. "I am not your plaything, nor am I a mere child!"
"Alright, alright... I apologize, Your Majesty. I must admit... I am quite bored being confined within this palace."
The young Empress took a deep breath. "Then what can you do besides scaring people? Court me?"
"Well, your grandmother demands it, your two aunts demand it-"
"Okay, I understand!"
Olga felt less angry, yet her cousin seemed to be a great annoyance. If the Grand Duke could focus on other things besides wooing women and racing horses, he would definitely make a good Tsar.
"We can get to know each other within my quarters. I promise that I will not embarrass you... greatly."
"If this will improve our less than ideal relationship, I approve of it."
"I approve of that as well."
Both Dmitri and Olga entered the quarters. Like the rooms of the Grand Duchesses, it had few pieces of furniture and many photos mounted on the walls. The bed had a mattress and a pillow. Thick golden-yellow blankets covered the bed. Beside the bed, there was a drawer and desk. Framed pictures rested on the bare surfaces. Olga stepped to the table, picking up a familiar photograph. It was a childhood photo of her, her sisters, and Dmitri Pavlovich sitting together on the Standart. She could not help smiling at the image of a smirking Dmitri and Anastasia.
"Do you remember that day?" Dmitri asked Olga.
"I do... I remember that Nastya had pranked me and you, yet I forgot how."
"She soaked our undergarments with cold water, I think I was the only one laughing at her antics."
Olga made a displeased hum. "Well, I did not enjoy that one bit. Even worse, the wind was blowing, which made me feel colder!"
Dmitri chuckled. "Your mother almost chastised your youngest sister. I had never seen her so upset before."
"Indeed. Still, I love Nastya as a sister, even if she pranks me or jokes about me. I understand that she only does such things to keep us happy."
"Yet when I do so, you cannot see that I do such things for the exact same reason," Dmitri said, stepping closer to Olga.
"Perhaps I am not used to receiving pranks from you, or your poorly executed flirtations."
"When we get married, I hope that you will grow accustomed to that, especially sharing a bed," Dmitri said, gazing at Olga.
Olga blushed at the thought of being intimate with the Grand Duke. "That is... that is too far ahead of us, Mitya. And I doubt that Tatya will approve of us being together for some time."
"That is not very severe, Cousin Olya. At least no harm is done."
The two of them took their seats beside the desk, and they continued to converse. They laughed together. They shared more special memories together. Two hours passed, and they both felt satisfied with their shared company. The thought of Tatiana disapproving of them together baffled them. Could the old adage of attracting opposites be true?
Olga got off of her chair. She gave a faint smile to Dmitri Pavlovich, who laid back in his chair, grinning.
"I have enjoyed our time together, Mitya," she said.
"So have I. What else can we do together? I believe that you may be as bored as I."
"Perhaps a game of chess?"
"Certainly, I think that my bedroom has a chessboard that we can use."
Dmitri and Olga stepped out of the room, and they encountered the Little Pair walking by. Both Maria and Anastasia spotted them, and they could not resist making comments.
"Ooh, Olga is with Cousin Mitya!" Maria remarked, and Anastasia smirked.
Olga rolled her eyes. "Of course, I am getting to know him, starting this day. Surely you two should know that Auntie Olga and Xenia want me and Mitya together."
"Why?" Anastasia asked.
"Russia needs a Tsar, especially since Papa passed away."
The statement brought forth silence. Even though it had been four years, the loss of their father still remained a gloomy topic to mention. Dmitri, not wanting them to lose their happiness, attempted to change the subject.
"I suppose that a game of chess is in order?"
"Yes, Mitya. Take my mind off of that dreadful day, please."
The Little Pair made their way through the halls of their grandiose home, admiring the outside view of the snowy front lawns. Olga and Dmitri followed close behind. To their surprise, they did not see Tatiana anywhere in the bedroom. Perhaps Tatiana had returned to her bedroom, which was connected to Olga's own bedroom. Dmitri looked around the room, scrutinizing the well-made bed and cleaned floor. The Little Pair then jumped on the well-made bed, wrinkling the blankets. The young Empress sighed.
"You do a good job of keeping your bedroom tidy, Your Majesty," Dmitri said.
"I have done that everyday since I was a young girl, Mitya. It is nothing worthy of praise."
"To take care of oneself is a great virtue, as my foster father Sergei once said. To keep your own possessions tidy is a good habit, something that I admit to neglect sometimes."
Olga chuckled. She felt satisfaction at hearing her first removed cousin admit his wrongs. The satisfaction was short lived, as she realized that she too had her failings. Her temper was proof of that, and she recalled how her mother had warned her to not remain angry for a long time. A biblical verse came to her mind: do not let the sun go down on your anger. She had heard of marriages failing among the aristocracy, and she began to suspect that they had not managed their emotions well. Anger from disagreement was one of them. Although she did not want to marry Dmitri Pavlovich, she knew that it would happen in the future. Dmitri was not one to be roused into anger with ease, but she was. As the unofficial fiancee of the Grand Duke and future Tsar, she would have to control her anger for the sake of their relationship.
She wanted to marry for love, and only with a fellow Russian. She loved Russia, wanting to remain a part of it. Her heart may not have found love yet, but at least she would remain in Russia by blood. The realization hurt her, but she knew that she needed to let go of Pavel. Even then they would not be able to remain together: she was far above his station. Tsarinas and officers do not marry. A crush was fleeting, but a marriage was something to last...
A.N: I believe that the common people of Russia would still be wary of Olga, as most of her predecessors had neglected some of their needs (labor laws and food) for many years. It may take years for them to warm up to their new Tsarina. Even then, some people can be very stubborn and remain revolutionaries. Hopefully, the situation within this scenario remains somewhat realistic. As usual, writing the interactions between Olga and Dmitri is a source of enjoyment for me! I will do my best to ensure that their romance is well paced.
