Nicholas returned to the palace at the beginning of March, much to the relief of his family. He was immediately searched and then read the order of his house arrest, but he didn't seem to care much. He only had thoughts for his family, and he found them all in the little pair's room. Tatiana was reading to Anastasia and Maria while Olga and Alexandra knitted by their bedsides. Alexei and Dmitry were engrossed in a card game by the window.

"Papa!" Anastasia shouted from her bed as he appeared in their doorway. Everyone looked up from what they were doing, and then there was a flurry of movement as they all scrambled to greet him. The relief everyone felt was tangible; at last their entire family was back together. Anastasia would never had admitted it to anyone, but for a while she had feared the soldiers had killed her father and the provisional government was covering it up.

The entire family stayed in the room together for a while, chatting and catching up. Anastasia could hardly believe her father was finally home, and she kept telling people to pinch her to make sure she wasn't dreaming the whole thing. Alexei took far too much pleasure in her requests, resulting in him being escorted from the room by his parents when they decided it was time they talked in private. Olga and Tatiana left not long after them, but Dmitry stayed behind in the little pair's room.

"I'm glad Papa is home," Anastasia announced, though she didn't have to. "Hopefully now things might start to return to normal." Dmitry shook his head while Maria gave her younger sister a dubious look.

"I don't know, Nastya," Dmitry said. "I think it's a little more complicated than that."

"Well I don't mean normal normal," Anastasia said, rolling her eyes. "I know things won't be exactly the same again. But maybe we might get a little more freedom."

"Maybe," Maria echoed in a hollow whisper.

"I wouldn't count on it," Dmitry said. He was trying to be optimistic for his friends' sakes, but they had been confined to their beds for almost a month. They hadn't interacted with the new guards much yet, but Dmitry had. They were the most disrespectful people Dmitry had ever had the misfortune of meeting. Besides breaking his nose, they had a habit of "accidentally" knocking things over and grinning when they smashed. Silverware started going missing, as did a few personal belongings. Dmitry had to wonder how much those stolen souvenirs were being sold for on the streets, and also who was buying them. It seemed like no one had enough money for food, let alone trinkets from the palace.

The guards also had a habit of harassing Dmitry whenever they could. Word had spread through their ranks that he was the one who had tried to stand up to one of them and spat in his face, and more often than not he found himself being tripped and shoved when he passed them in the hallways. Some had even gone as far as shoving him to the ground, though this always happened when he was alone. Some of the other servants had urged him to tell Alexandra or to fight back, but Dmitry didn't see the point. The guards would listen to a horse sooner than they would the ex-Empress, and fighting back would only make his situation worse. He would just have to deal with it.


The weeks began to pass with an unbearable monotony. Every day was the same, and they all found themselves tense in their boredom. Once Anastasia and Maria recovered, Alexandra retreated to her room once more and the children hardly saw her. Nicholas spent as much time as he could outside, and was sometimes joined by one or two of his children at a time. They were never allowed to stray farther than a small footbridge in the gardens, though, and there were always soldiers around watching their every move.

"Why do you think they gather there?" Anastasia wondered aloud, staring out the window at the front gates. Nicholas was outside, helping some other servants shovel snow and ice away from the footpaths. A small crowd had gathered at the fence to watch, as they always did when members of the family appeared outside.

"Curiosity?" Dmitry offered from where he sat, reading with Alexei. Tatiana, sitting in an armchair a few feet away with a book of her own, huffed.

"That doesn't mean they have to stare and point at us like we're animals in a zoo," she said. "It's because of them that I hardly go outside with Papa anymore. I can't stand the whispers."

"But why are they so curious?" Anastasia asked, still staring out the window. "We're just people."

"Well, think about it this way," Dmitry said. "They've hardly ever seen any of you before. You never went out in public much. If I didn't know you, I'd be curious too."

"But I don't see why," Anastasia said crossly. "It's not like we have two heads or extra arms. We're not royalty anymore. We're not even particularly interesting."

"But they don't know that," Dmitry said.

"Why are you justifying their actions?" Tatiana demanded, throwing her book to the side.

"I'm not, I'm just-"

"Those people out there are foul," Tatiana continued. "They just want to get a glimpse of the former imperial family so they can go back to their families and friends and tell them all how pathetic we look." Dmitry, Anastasia and Alexei all stared at her with looks ranging from bewilderment to confusion, and Tatiana stared back. "What?"

"Tatiana," Alexei said slowly, "what's gotten into you?"

"Nothing," Tatiana snapped at them, lurching to her feet. "There's nothing wrong with me." Dmitry and Anastasia quickly glanced at each other, confusion clear on their faces. Normally they would expect an outburst like this from Anastasia, or even Olga, but Tatiana preferred to stew in solitude.

To their growing surprise, Tatiana buried her face in her hands and began to cry. Both Anastasia and Alexei rushed to put their arms around her and comfort her. Dmitry quickly closed the nursery door, hoping to give them the illusion of privacy.

"It'll be alright, Tatya," Anastasia said, stroking her sister's hair. Alexei nodded, but Tatiana only cried harder.

"No, it won't," she sobbed, her voice slightly muffled.

"Sure it will," Alexei said, resting his head on her shoulder.

"How can you say that?" Tatiana asked, raising her head away from her hands. She stared at her siblings in shock. "Don't you know? Didn't anyone tell you yet?"

"Tell us what?" Tatiana's face crumpled, and for a few moments it was obvious she was struggling to find the right words.

"They're sending Anna and Lily away," she managed to say before dissolving into tears again.

"What?" Anastasia gasped. "Why?"

"I don't know," Tatiana wailed. "Mama tried to tell me it was for their safety, but I heard some of the soldiers calling Anna a traitor!"

"A traitor?" Anastasia yelled, outraged. "How can they call poor Anna a traitor?"

Dmitry slipped from the room, breathing hard, and none of the siblings followed him. He could hear the blood rushing in his ears and felt his heart pounding hard against his ribcage, but he wasn't sure if it was from fear or anger. Of all Alexandra's ladies in waiting, Anna and Lily were everyone's favorites. All the imperial children loved the two of them and would go out of their way to spend time with them.

Dmitry hadn't interacted with Anna or Lily very often, but he remembered how kind they were the few times they had spoken. Some of the court members had turned up their noses at him, especially when he had first come to live in the palace. He hadn't been surprised; he was a dirty, half-starved commoner mingling with royalty.

But the first time he met Anna, accompanying Alexei during some state affair, she had bowed to him with a small smirk on her face. He could still remember the shocked expressions of those around them and the snickering Grand Duchesses had been quick to repeat the gesture, much to everyone's shock. Later, Anna told him that she had heard about his stunt during the parade when he was ten, and had thought he might find it funny. Over the years it had turned into a joke among the family. And Lily was the one he could always count on to cheer them all up. When he thought of Lily, he thought of laughter. He could remember all the times she had stopped by when Alexei was bedridden, and how she was one of the few people who could get him to laugh during those times.

A week later, Dmitry stood with the three younger siblings at the window in the old nursery, Maria in a wheelchair. Olga stood with her mother outside, hugging Anna and Lily goodbye. Anastasia and Alexei clung to each other while Maria hugged her arms to her chest as they watched the two pairs of women hug each other tightly. After a few minutes, Anna and Lily moved toward the car that would take them away.

Suddenly Tatiana came running from the front door of the palace, carrying a small leather suitcase. They saw her waving her free arm, trying to get their attention, and though they couldn't hear anything from outside Dmitry imagined she was shouting at them to wait. Lily turned halfway and moved like she was going to meet Tatiana. A guard caught her arm almost at the same time another guard stepped in front of Tatiana.

Maria let out a strangled sound of outrage as they watched both Tatiana and Lily argue with the soldiers for a few moments. Finally, Lily managed to break free and ran to Tatiana's side, closely followed by two guards. Tatiana managed to hand the suitcase to Lily and clasp her hand for a brief moment before they were wrenched apart again. Neither of them fought the guards this time. Lily was escorted back to the waiting car while Tatiana sagged against her older sister. The guards closed the car door behind Lily, and then the car began to roll forward.

Anna and Lily were both practically family. They had been ladies in waiting to the Tsarina for years, and all the Romanov children loved them dearly. And now they were being sent away.

Dmitry had been with the family for years. He was practically family. He worried about what might be in store for him.


Historical note: There were two ladies in waiting arrested shortly after Nicholas II returned, Anna Vyrubova and Lili Dehn. Both of them survived the revolution. Originally in this story I was going to keep Lili Dehn as the lady in waiting who was arrested, but then I thought it might be more interesting to have her be Lily Malevsky-Malevitch from the musical.