Hi, I promise I'm not dead and neither is this story. I meant to upload this a while ago, and time just really got away from me. Also, somewhere a few weeks ago this story turned a year old. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter.


Anastasia was certain that if the boat ride got any choppier, she would throw up all over those damn Bolshie guards and not feel the least bit sorry about it. They certainly deserved it, and worse. Moaning, she rolled over in her bed and wished Maria were there to comfort her. Instead she got a harsh reply from one of the guards stationed outside the room telling her to stop complaining.

Perhaps, she thought, she wouldn't be so miserable if she didn't have her corset on. But she and her sisters had been told that they weren't permitted to close the door to their room, lest they somehow manage to open the window and jump out. Dmitry and Alexei had been locked in their room for the night, and with all the guards loitering around none of the sisters had felt comfortable with taking them off. Especially considering the bulk of their family's jewels were concealed in them. So, they all slept with their corsets on and their coats nearby.

Her mind drifted to Dmitry and Alexei, shut up in their room. She assumed there was no window in their room, or she was sure Rodionov wouldn't have allowed their door to be closed. Even if there was a window, Alexei was much too frail to jump out, and despite his promise to her she knew Dmitry wouldn't just abandon Alexei like that.

The urge to cry suddenly overwhelmed her. The part of her that was still very much just a young girl wished things could go back to the way they were a few years ago. She wished she was still naïve and protected and, above all, innocent. She wanted to be with her parents and Maria, and she wished the people of Russia didn't hate them so much.

The part of her that had grown in the past two years thought she was being silly and stupid. Just because she had been happy back then didn't mean that the world was perfect. The people of Russia hadn't hated her family any less, they just hadn't had the chance to say so. She knew she had already accepted her new reality, but she did still long for the times when she didn't know any better.

Her breathing hitched in her chest, and she coughed a half-sob. Olga rolled over in her own bed to face her, and in the moon's pale light she met her eldest sister's eyes. Olga's eyes glanced at the door as the guard barked at her to be quiet once again, then darted back to Anastasia's. Wordlessly, Olga's hand slipped out from under her blankets and reached out to her. Anastasia felt her own hand reach out as well, and the second their fingers were intertwined Olga squeezed her hand securely.

They did not need to say anything to one another. Anastasia understood perfectly well what her sister was telling her. And though her back was turned to Tatiana, she could tell by her breathing that she was awake as well. She rolled on her back and stretched her other hand out toward Tatiana, and in the darkness their hands found each other as well.


Dmitry was grateful that the boat ride only lasted two days before they were loaded onto another train. He knew he shouldn't have been shocked by Rodionov's less than humane treatment, but he thought for sure that the man must have some moral foundation to stand on. Each morning, the second their door was unlocked, Dmitry would have to rush both of them to the bathroom to relieve themselves while the guards on the ship laughed at them like it was the funniest thing in the world. During the day, they had all been confined to a few rooms, and despite himself Dmitry found himself missing the relative freedom they had had in Tobolsk.

The train they were transferred to was even more cramped than the boat. The Romanov children and a few servants, Dmitry included, were led to a dirty, dingy third-class carriage. Still, it was better than the rest of the entourage received. They were put in a good carriage with only a few wooden benches.

To make things worse, members of the public were allowed to wander up and down the train as well, though they were kept out of the compartments the Romanovs and their servants were in. Still, Dmitry could feel their eyes on all of them each time they were escorted to the washroom. Tatiana tended to hold her head high and not look at anyone they passed, and her siblings followed her lead. But Dmitry couldn't help but glance at the other passengers as well.

It had been nearly a year since they had been surrounded by so many people besides the guards and commandants. It felt odd, and it was only made odder as Dmitry remembered how at home they had all been at grand balls and parties that were packed with people. And before that, before he lived with the Romanovs, he was on the street. Always slipping in and out of crowds of people, seeing what he could relieve people of. Now the crowds made him feel claustrophobic.

"Dmitry?"

Dmitry pushed himself off of the wall he was slumped against and sat up. "Yeah?"

Across the car from him, Alexei was staring at him through the darkness. His sisters had arranged their pillows and coats around him so he was well-cushioned, then curled up on the floor together to sleep. Dmitry could hardly tell where one sister began and the other ended, but the scene made his jaw clench. They shouldn't have to sleep on the floor of a dingy train car. Royalty or not, it was inhumane.

"When do you think we'll get there?"

It was a fair question. They had already been travelling for almost a week, and he was fairly sure that unless the train was hijacked by the White Army intending to smuggle them out of the country, it shouldn't be taking them this long to reach their destination.

"I wish I knew," he said honestly.

"Me too," Alexei murmured. They fell into silence again, Alexei looking like he was deep in thought. On the floor, one of his sisters inhaled deeply and rolled over into another, who sighed as well but shifter closer. Dmitry kind of envied them. He'd never had a sibling, and while he was very close to all of the imperial children, it wasn't quite the same. As close as they were, and as much as they wanted him there, he'd always be an outsider. There would always be that distinguished difference between him and them, in that he worked for them. He didn't have the same sibling bond they shared with each other, and he had always wondered what that was like.

"Hey Dmitry?" He looked up again to find Alexei staring at him.

"Yeah?"

"I'm glad you're here."


Dmitry woke with a start to the train's high-pitched whistle. Groaning and scrubbing a hand over his face, he sat up and began stretching. His back let out a series of pops that he thought maybe he should be concerned about, and he could feel a coating of rough stubble on his chin. He'd have to shave soon.

"Well, look who's finally up," Anastasia teased him. She was sitting on the bench across from him, the one Alexei had been on last night, with a book in her lap.

"What time is it?" he asked, cracking his neck and then looking around for her sisters and Alexei. "Where is everyone else?"

"I'm not sure where Tatiana and Olga went," she said, closing her book. "Alexei had to go to the bathroom, so a soldier carried him there. He didn't want to, but Rodionov ordered him."

"Why not just wake me?" Dmitry asked as he stood up. "He can't have gone all that long ago, you might as well have just gotten me up and had me carry him." Fear curled in the pit of his stomach as he imagined the soldier dropping Alexei. The soldier wouldn't know to watch both ends of the boy, to make sure he didn't knock him into a door or a wall.

Anastasia shrugged, lifting her book in front of her face. "Maybe he suddenly grew a heart and wanted to let you rest." Dmitry rolled his eyes. He doubted Rodionov even knew what a heart was, and Anastasia snorted when he told her as much.

The door at the end of the compartment opened, and the soldier walked in carrying Alexei. Tatiana and Olga followed close behind clutching each other's hands. The soldier deposited Alexei onto the bench next to Anastasia, then turned on his heel and left as quickly as he had come.

"He didn't say a single word to me the entire time he was helping me," Alexei huffed. "Honestly, you'd have thought I'd killed his family or something."

"Don't worry about that, Alyosha," Tatiana said from the corner of the car. Anastasia arched an eyebrow as she watched her sister rifling through all the suitcases, then closing them firmly.

"Are we arriving soon?" she asked, and Tatiana nodded.

"I overheard some guards say we were approaching Yekaterinburg," she said. "Unless they moved our family again without telling us, we should be pulling into the station any minute." Olga began helping Tatiana organize the suitcases while Anastasia abandoned her reading and glued her nose to the window. Dmitry took Anastasia's vacated seat next to Alexei.

"I can see the station!" Anastasia called, craning her neck to the side to get a better view. "I think there's a crowd of people waiting for the train."

"Or waiting for us," Alexei said. "Maybe they've got a hundred guards to escort all of us."

"Or maybe the White Army disguised themselves and are waiting to free us."

"Stop," Tatiana said forcefully. Olga had turned white as a sheet and was gripping the handle of a suitcase very tightly. Anastasia and Alexei immediately stopped talking, but Anastasia did turn back to the window.

The train ground to a stop suddenly, and Dmitry had to grab Alexei to keep him from sliding off the bench. After assuring that Alexei wasn't hurt, Dmitry stood and joined Anastasia at the window. There were a few motor cars lined up near the tracks, obviously waiting for the Romanovs and their entourage, and their luggage was already being unloaded off the train.

To Dmitry's horror, though, the workers began opening some of the suitcases and boxes and began grabbing things that were in them. Anastasia let out a sound of outrage as the workers began tossing their possessions into the crowd as the soldiers laughed. Those that caught the items immediately took off through crowd, taking whatever they had managed to grab with them.

"How can they be so cruel?" Anastasia spat as the soldiers finally began directing the workers to put the luggage in a truck. "What right do they have to go through our things and give them away?" Dmitry took her hand and tugged her away from the window.

"Come on," he said. "They'll come to get us soon, and it's probably better not to keep them waiting." Tatiana and Olga had managed to organize the suitcases, and Tatiana handed two to Anastasia who scowled.

"How come I get two?" she demanded.

"Because Dmitry has to carry Alexei, and he can't carry his own suitcase too," Tatiana said haughtily. "Be glad I don't give you anything else on top of it." Anastasia huffed again, but fell silent. Dmitry was about to pick Alexei up when the door opened again and another soldier strode in.

"I've been ordered to carry the boy," the soldier said stiffly.

Dmitry bristled. "I can handle it," he said, bending again. The soldier stepped forward and caught his arm, but Dmitry yanked it out of his grasp.

"The boy is my responsibility," the soldier said. Dmitry scowled at him. He straightened to his full height and deliberately stepped between him and Alexei. Standing up straight, the guard was still taller than him by a few inches, but Dmitry didn't back down.

"I was hired by the Romanovs to assist Alexei," he ground out. "I have cared for and protected him from harm for ten years. He's my responsibility, and I will be carrying him."

The soldier's eyes flashed, but he nodded a few times. Dmitry relaxed the tiniest bit as the soldier turned away, and was caught off guard when he suddenly turned back and punched Dmitry squarely on the jaw. One of the sisters let out a startled yelp and Dmitry twisted as he stumbled so he wouldn't fall on Alexei.

"You will follow orders, boy," the soldier said. "If you resist again, you will be arrested." Dmitry glared up at him, gingerly pressing his hand to the forming bruise. The soldier yanked Alexei out of his seat and into his arms.

"Now, be a gentleman and carry the luggage for the girls," the soldier sneered. Anastasia gingerly laid Dmitry's suitcase next to him, but held the guard's gaze as she held onto her own suitcase. Neither Olga nor Tatiana moved to hand Dmitry their suitcases either.

"Very well," the soldier said. "If that's how you want to be." And without another word he turned on his heel and left the compartment. Olga, Tatiana, and Anastasia all followed quickly after their brother, who looked terrified, but Dmitry shuffled slowly after them.

The other members of the household were outside the compartment, waiting to get off the train. The soldier carrying Alexei and the sisters were the first to exit. It must have been raining in Yekaterinburg recently, since Tatiana's shoes were sticking in the mud. Dmitry went to jump down and help her, but suddenly two pairs of arms were blocking his way.

"Wait," one of the soldiers said, pulling a piece of paper from his pocket.

"What?" Dmitry asked.

"Botkin, Yevgeny!" the soldier called. Botkin gave the soldiers an uneasy glance as the soldiers dropped their arms, but he lowered himself to the ground and followed after the children.

"Demidova, Anna!" the soldier called, and one of Alexandra's ladies in waiting suddenly appeared next to Dmitry. She timidly shuffled forward, presenting her ID card, and the soldiers let her pass. The other members of the household began murmuring behind him.

"Kharitonov, Ivan!" Beyond the soldiers, Anastasia was staring at him, questioning him with her gaze. They seemed to be calling the names in alphabetical order, and many people were apparently being left behind.

"Trupp, Alexei!" The footman slid past the guards and to the waiting wagon. Dmitry gripped his suitcase tighter and waited for his name to be called next.

Instead, the soldier folded the sheet of paper and stuck it back in his pocket. "That's all of them," he said to the other.

The uproar in the train was instantaneous. The servants began yelling and pushing each other, desperate to get off the train. Several maids began sobbing and the tutors tried arguing with the soldiers. Dmitry was swept forward with the crowd, then pushed back angrily by the soldiers.

The yelling had caught the Romanov children's attention. In the wagon, Alexei stood up. "Dmitry?" he called. "Dmitry?"

Dmitry managed to get his elbow hooked around the door frame and pulled himself forward. "Alexei!" he called back as a soldier tried to push him back into the train. "Let me go!"

"Dmitry!" Alexei scrambled to the edge of the wagon, and his two oldest sisters had to grab him around his waist to keep him from jumping off. Tatiana planted her boot on the side of the wagon to help them keep him in place. Olga cried silently as she watched the soldiers push Dmitry back into the train.

Anastasia alone remained motionless. Dmitry met her gaze as one of the soldiers gave a sharp whistle and the doors began to slide closed. While her sisters wrestled their brother back into his seat, she continued to stare at him, tears running down her own cheeks. Holding his gaze, Dmitry saw her shake her head.

His promise. He hadn't forgotten. She hadn't either. He doubted she knew this was going to happen when she made him promise, but that didn't matter. He had given her his word. So, he stopped fighting back. His heart broke as he did, but he knew that there was no way he would be allowed off the train and into the wagon with them. He held her gaze as the doors continued to close, determined to keep watching her until he couldn't any longer.

A sudden, sharp shove to his back made him lose his balance. He fell from the train, narrowly avoiding getting his foot caught between the door and the frame. He landed on all fours, his suitcase crashing down next to him, but quickly twisted his face up toward the train. In the split second before the door slammed closed, he caught a glimpse of Monsieur Gilliard standing above him, looking satisfied with himself.

In the next second, a boot caught Dmitry in the side, and he crashed to the ground and curled in on himself. Another boot came down on his leg. The soldiers began yelling at him, and in the distance, Alexei's cries became more desperate. Closer, the train groaned and began to move forward, out of the station, taking the rest of the servants with it. With one last, particularly hard kick to the stomach, the soldiers spat on him and turned to leave.

Dmitry groaned and tried to at least sit up. Raising his head, he saw that now both Anastasia and Alexei were trying to vault over the side of the wagon, but the soldiers grabbed them roughly and pushed them back. Second later the wagons were in motion, carrying them away from where Dmitry lay.