Late one night, not known by anyone, deep within the mines, three, trembling young men dug through the rocks and dirt for any gold they might have left behind with their pickaxes. They all were from different countries, having been "picked up" by their master Ivan on some of his trips. ("forced to join" is the more appropriate phrase). Toris Lovinaitis was a Lithuanian man, the second oldest of the group and most favored by Ivan (not in a good way though). The oldest was a Estonian man named Eduard Vonbock, he was also the most intelligent of the three and didn't fear Ivan as much as the other two, but he was still afraid of him. And little Raivis Galante was the youngest, being in his teen years, a boy from Latvia who feared Ivan the most. The three swung their pickaxes hard and quick against the hard rock, wanting to get this over-with as soon as possible. Taking a quick break to rest his arms and back, Eduard went over to the mine-cart and looked inside to see what they managed to dig up. Inside was only a piece of gold the size of a small stone and a huge, oval shaped rock.

Picking the rock out, he called to the other two.

"Toris! Raivis! Who was the one to put this in the cart?" Toris looked over at Raivis, not having done the deed himself. Raivis began to tremble, "Oh . . . that would be me . . ." he said in his small voice. Eduard facepalmed.

"Raivis, let's review shall we? We are stealing gold. Is this shiny?"

"No."

"Valuable?"

"No."

"GONNA MAKE IVAN HAPPY!?"

"N-n-n-no."

Eduard sighed and threw the stone away.

"Please focus Raivis, our lives are in his hands, literally! You really need focus . . . that and a brain," he mumbled the last part to himself. As they went back to work, the sound of someone approaching was heard. Fearing that it could be a guard or something, the three blew out the lanterns and somehow managed to hide in one mine-cart. Footsteps were heard coming closer to the cart.

"Toris, Eduard, Raivis, привет," and familiar voice greeted in Russian. They sat up in the cart. There was their boss Ivan, smiling his childish smile and holding a lantern, looking down at them.

"Oh, I-I-Ivan s-s-s-sir," Eduard managed to say, "you're here . . . early . . . We hope you had a nice journey." Toris and Raivis nodded their heads quickly, showing that they hoped as well.

"Oh it was nice," Ivan held out his hand, "what have you managed to collect this time?"

"Oh! Uh," Eduard found the one gold piece and held it out to Ivan, "here you are sir, the last of the gold from the royal mine. There's nothing left."

Ivan took the gold and inspected it, a small grin grew across his face.

"Heh, of course there isn't any left, cause it's all mine. Very much mine, finally." He tucked the gold inside his coat. The first step in his plan was done. Ivan Braginsky was the royal advisor to the Queen. When the king was around, he wasn't need much, for the king always made very wise choices. After a few years, Ivan couldn't take it and killed the king himself without anyone knowing by poisoning his food and making his illness appear accidental. When the king passed, Queen Katyusha came to him more and more often. Ivan then knew what he wanted, he wanted to be king himself. So he robbed the mines of the gold it had, and he'd present the riches he's collected to the queen and ask for Princess Natalya's hand in marriage in exchange for helping the kingdom get back on its' feet.

"Oh little Natalya will soon become one with me," he said while gazing at a lantern's glow. The trembling trio were giving eachother glances, saying that there must be something said. Toris gathered his courage and spoke up, "Um right, there's just one little problem Ivan."

"That's PRINCE Ivan to you!"

"Y-y-y-yes o-o-of course. But you see . . . . the queen has arranged for the princess to be married to the emperor of China next week."

Anger flashed in Ivan's eyes, seeing as his plan was ruined by this emperor and all the planning he's been doing all these years were going to waste.

"ЧТО? Making a decision without me!?" he yelled angrily as he approached the trio who were backing away from him. Raivis reacted last, and was caught by Ivan. Ivan grabbed Raivis by the head and squeezed hard, letting his anger out.

"Who does she think she is?" he growled.

"U-u-uh . . . th-the qu-qu-queen?" Raivis said. His comment made

Ivan squeeze harder.

"Молчать!" Ivan threw Raivis to the ground and paced back and forth, trying to think up of something to fix this little setback. Toris and

Eduard helped Raivis up.

"Why did you say that!?" Toris asked.

"Well . . . she IS the queen . . . she's got a crown and sits in the big fancy chair . . ." Eduard facepalmed again, "Idioot," he mumbled under his breath.

"No! I wont let this get in the way! There's got to be something . . . ." The trio watched him nervously, until Ivan stopped.

"Wait! That's it!"

"Wh-what's it?" Toris asked.

"Heh, suppose the princess goes missing? Then there can't be a royal wedding, so the emperor will have no choice but to leave. And then I'll bring her back, and queen will be so grateful, she'll just have to give her daughter to me!"

"Kidnap the princess!?" the three said in unsion.

"Da, and I know the perfect bait for a trap," Ivan said, eyeing Raivis.

"Uhhhhh . . . . sir? Why are you looking at me?" Raivis asked, trembling violently.

"Oh you'll see," Ivan said in an innocent tone and flashing his childlike smile.

Man Ivan's OOC in this one XD but i hope my readers enjoyed! ^.^

Translations: привет-hello, ЧТО-WHAT, Молчать-Silence