I DON'T OWN ANASTASIA

Summer 1914, St. Petersburg, Russian Empire.

A few days after Ivan Skorokhodov had passed through basic training, news spread that Germany had declared war upon Russia. In that time, he, Bogdan, and Lyosha had become thick as thieves. Although they didn't say it very often, they were the best of friends. After the Kaiser declared war on the Czar, A general mobilization was immediately enacted and millions of recruits began pouring into barracks all over Russia to prepare for the impending German recruits had been quickly put into different divisions. Ivan, his friends, and Captain ended up in the 25th Infantry Division; under the command of Pavel Bulgakov. When they arrived at the camp, there was a lot less elbow room and everyone took notice.

"Aw Hell." Lyosha swore as he tried to move through the sea of soldiers. "A man can hardly breathe, there's so many men around here."

"I heard that the cook ran out of food and had to send men out to hunt." Ivan agreed as he felt himself being jostled about.

"Come on men, we just have to bear with it until the war is over." Bogdan said, trying to remain optimistic.

"And that's another thing." Lyosha growled as he was not in the mood. "I heard that the heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary got shot by a Serb. Why are we even getting involved?"

"Because Russia is allied with Serbia." Ivan pointed out as a matter of fact.

"I don't care, the Serbs killed the archduke, now they have to pay up, getting us involved isn't going to change that." Lyosha snapped as Ivan secretly agreed, but he knew better than to question the Czar. However, despite the overflowing, there was reason to be excited. The regiment had been transported to the capital of St. Petersburg to be blessed by Nicholas II himself. The thought of seeing the Czar of all the Russia's in the flesh was hard to comprehend for a peasant.

After a lengthy train ride, the regiment arrived at the capital and were taken to the Winter palace to receive the Czar's blessing. As Ivan marched through the gates with his comrades in arms, he was astounded by seeing the palace. It was an impressive structure with beautiful decor and stairways adorned with impressive stone sculptures.

"Can you believe that we're actually going to meet Czar Nicholas?" Ivan asked with excitement as Lyosha heaved a sigh.

"We're not going to meet Czar Nicholas. We're going to march up to him, get a small portrait of him. He'll say a few words and then we'll move on." he pointed out, determined to be a kill joy.

"Cheer up Lyosha, we'll get to see our Czar in the flesh and I heard that his daughter: Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna will be accompanying him instead of the Czarina because she had a prior engagement." Bogdan pointed out with glee.

"More like fraternizing with that mad monk Rasputin, and as for Maria Nikoleavna, I should be excited because...?" Lyosha asked in disinterest.

"Because Maria has had a fascination with soldiers since she was little." Bogdan explained as he pulled out a pretty yellow flower from his coat pocket. It was a rather pretty flower indeed with healthy petals.

"However did you come by this?" Ivan asked as he inspected the flower.

"I know a fellow." Bogdan replied ambiguously.

"You're not seriously thinking of giving this to the grand duchess are you?" Lyosha asked incredulously.

"Why wouldn't I?" Bogdan asked as his face fell.

"Her father. They don't call him Bloody Nicholas for nothing. One minute, you're giving a pretty young girl a flower, and the next...you're serving fifteen years of hard labor in the frozen Siberian wasteland."Lyosha explained as Bogdan's determination faltered.

"I had to trade three packs of cigarettes to get this flower, three!" He argued. "I'm not letting it go to waste." Bogdan thought about the dilemma and came up with a brilliant idea. "What if we were to draw lots. Whoever is chosen has to give the flower to Grand Duchess Maria."

"That seems fair." Ivan replied as he was not afraid of giving a flower to a pretty girl; grand duchess or not. Lyosha was most reluctant, but in the end he agreed just to get Bogdan and Ivan off his back. As they waited in line, Bogdan procured a piece of rope. He then took his knife and cut it into 3 smaller pieces of differing lengths. Whoever got the smallest piece would take the flower. They each took a piece and Ivan Skorokhodov drew the smallest lot.

"You will take the flower." Bogdan exclaimed as he handed it to Ivan. Lyosha patted him on the back with false sympathy.

"It's been nice knowing you my friend." He said with a shake of his head. "When Nicholas kills you, I hope it's quick." Ivan took a breath as he moved closer in line. As he got closer, he heard the Czar as he blessed the troops.

"God be with you." He said as he handed out small portraits. "St. George will guide you." Bogdan and Lyosha went up without incident. Ivan went up and got his portrait. "God be with you." Nicholas said with a kind tone of voice.

"Batushka." Ivan said as he bowed his head. As he passed by Maria, he quickly dropped the yellow flower at her feet. She picked it up and smelled the aroma. As Ivan turned to look, she gave him a smile.

"STOP!" Everyone turned to see Captain Glaskov marching over to Ivan with a look of pure anger in his eyes. "What did you drop in front of the grand duchess?" He asked as he got in super close to young Ivan's face.

"A...a flower..." Ivan replied meekly as Glaskov's face turned as red as a tomato.

"A FLOWER!" Without any better options, Ovan took off running. "STOP HIM!" Glaskov bellowed as several officers attempted to catch Ivan, but he was far too quick for them. As he tried to scale a fence to escape the courtyard, he was caught and brought to Captain Glaskov. Before the captain could make young Ivan regret being born, he was motioned by Czar Nicholas to bring the lad to him.

"He's doomed for sure." Lyosha whispered to Bogdan as Glaskov took him to the Czar.

"You're dead now, you bastard." the captain exclaimed as he brought the boy before Nicholas Romanov. Ivan expected the Czar to be furious with him, but instead the Czar had no anger on his face, only curiosity.

"What is your name boy?" Nicholas asked.

"Ivan Skorokhodov, your majesty." He replied as he bowed his head nervously.

"What did you mean by giving my daughter this flower?" He asked Ivan with curiosity.

"If your majesty will pardon, offense was not my intent. My only crime is knowing beauty when I see it." He stated with all the courage he could muster.

"You little bastard!" Glaskov shouted as he raised his crop to beat the lad. Maria shrieked in terror as she feared for her admirer.

"Nyet Captain...no offense was given, therefore none shall be taken." Nicholas replied calmly as Glaskov was frustrated at this. He clearly wanted to give Ivan a good thrashing.

"As you wish...your majesty." He gritted through his teeth as he lowered the crop. Nicholas then turned to young Ivan with a small smile.

"May God bless you." he replied as he gently touched the boy on the cheek before sending him back to the other soldiers. Lyosha and Bogdan were speechless at this turn of events.

"You survived..." Bogdan exclaimed in pure disbelief

"I suppose my acknowledging of Maria's beauty appealed to his better nature." Ivan offered as he and the grand duchess locked eyes as he was led back to the other soldiers.

"I'll be damned..." Lyosha said as he let out a long whistle

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