The Lives Of The Romanovs

On Horseback

Anastasia

There were stables down the path from the castle. King George claimed he had ten-horses for us to ride on. Most of the men jumped on board, but I wished to ride along with them too. It had been too long since I've been horseback riding. King George, Papa, Dmitri, Bertie, Georgie (George of Kent), David, Guy Greystone, King Carol, Nicholae, and I lined up on each of our horses.

"Are you sure you do not wish to ride side-saddle, cousin Anastasia? I believe you may offend some of the men here." Bertie asked me as he mounted his horse. I decided to wear my sporting-trousers today. Riding a horse wearing a skirt just seemed wrong anymore. I was happier playing sports in trousers.

"Trust me, Bertie, it is much easier for me this way. Can you imagine how awful it would be if I were to fall off the horse and hurt this beautiful face?" I smirked. Bertie shook his head and chuckled. I mounted my horse and grabbed the reins. I tugged on them a little so the horse would walk outside. The horse came to the group of men waiting.

King Carol shook his head at me. "Why couldn't we have a man's day? We cannot speak about masculine subjects with Anastasia Nikolaevna around."

"Oh, do not let me bother you boys. King Carol, what would you know about being masculine?"

"I am very masculine, thank you."

I giggled. "Obviously not. What kind of masculine men grow such girly and unflattering mustaches? It looks like a sewer rat died on your face."

Guy and Bertie snickered and tried to hide it behind their hands. King George and Papa exchanged looks, to which I got a scolding look from Papa instead. Nicholae rolled his eyes at me and David came to Carol's defense.

"Cousin Anastasia, there is no need to be rude. He is a king, and you need to remember that. Show him respect. Come along, let's get started on the ride." David waved us over. As the horses started riding on the dirt path into the woods, Guy stayed behind and rode right next to me.

"Will you show him respect?" Guy asked me.

"Respect is earned, not given. King Carol is a good-for-nothing swine of a man."

"Good. I like your cruelty."

"I am not being cruel. Do you believe that?"

"No, of course not. I just love seeing you speaking your mind. I find it incredibly attractive."

I chuckled and shook my head at him. "You must be careful about what you say to me, Sir Greystone. Someone might think we are lovers."

"That is my end goal. I will not leave Biarritz this summer without you completely in love with me."

I scoffed at him. "You are going to have to work harder. I am not even close to loving you yet."

"Hm, I still have two-months. I have plenty of time." Guy grinned. He was charismatic. I wished I could completely melt. But I was not going to let him get to me. I just needed the end of August to come and I would never see him again. We stayed quiet for a moment. I observed the greenery around us. It was beautiful and it would have been a nice place to take photos. My Summer 1930 album was going to be absolutely excellent.

"Sir Greystone?"

"Yes?"

"Why have you never been married? I mean, you are thirty-eight and you have never been married. Nor do you have any children. How come?"

Guy shrugged. "It was just never a priority to me. I have an older brother who has passed on the Greystone last name, so that is no concern."

"But there has never been a woman that made you melt? Made you wish you could move mountains to be with her? A woman that you believed was sent from God to be your angel?"

"My God, you truly are a woman. That was a very woman thing of you to say, Anastasia Nikolaevna."

"Hey! You know what I meant!" I laughed and leaned over to punch him in the shoulder. Guy laughed at me and shrugged again.

"No, I have never truly been in love with a woman like that. Sure, there have been women I fancied, but no one ever came close to being my wife. I enjoy being by myself and being able to do what I wish when I wish. A wife and children would hold me down."

"That is fair. I can understand that." I nodded at him in agreement.

"What about you then? How come a Grand Duchess has never been married?" Guy asked. Josiah came to my mind. Him and I had been so close to having a happy life together. It had been a moment since I thought about Josiah, and then I thought about my beautiful daughter. I smiled at Guy.

"I have that little girl I adopted, and that is enough for me. I am quite happy."

"Ah yes, I nearly forgot about that. It was an amazing thing you did. What is her name?"

"Charolette."

"That is an adorable name. Tell me more about you, Anastasia Nikolaevna. Just anything."

I giggled. "Well, I am quite boring, honestly...but I love to play chess. I am very good at it."

"Me too. I love chess." Guy exclaimed. He seemed absolutely delighted at the fact we had something in common like that.

"Then I challenge you to a chess match someday. You must promise me that you will not cry to your mommy when I beat you though."

"As long as you don't cry to yours when you lose. I will make you eat your words." We both laughed together. David turned to look at us both.

"Please, try and keep up. Sir Greystone, come up here and tell His Imperial Majesty Tsar Nicholas about your time in the Great War. He is curious about your adventures." David waved him over. Guy looked over at me and pursed his lips. He pulled on the horse's reins and caught up with the men in front. While the men were in front talking about politics and the Great War, I was left on my own in the back. I was left with my thoughts and the sound of nature.

After returning to stables, I saw Mama, Olga, and Tatiana and other women waiting there for us. As I got off the horse and went to my family, Mama shook her head.

"You and those trousers, Anastasia. You look like I should have named you 'Alexander'." Mama scolded me.

"Trust me, my dearest Mama. Trousers make sporting so much easier. I believe women will be only wearing trousers in the decades to come."

"I would rather die than see that."

Tatiana shook her head. "Oh Mama, you should not say a thing like that. It makes me terribly sad."

"Why? We are growing old. Look at how old all of us are. I spotted another gray-hair today." Olga groaned. "But we must value life while we are still here. Anastasia, you have a letter from...Charolette's nanny."

"Why? Is she alright? Is my daughter alright?" I panicked for a moment. Olga shushed me and looked around.

"Yes, she is fine. And keep your voice down."

Mama nodded. "Olenka is correct. You should be careful speaking about her out loud. Do you understand?"

David and Guy walked over to us with smirks. David cleared his throat and looked right at Olga first, then at me. Guy kept his pretty brown-eyes on me the whole time.

"I am sorry, ladies. Am I interrupting?" David asked. "I was curious if you wanted to join Sir Greystone and I for a game of cards and some cigarettes?"

Tatiana grinned. "Sure, that sounds fun."

"Yes, count me in as well. The four of us are more than happy to join you both."

I shook my head. "No, I need to go inside and clean myself up. But thank you for inviting me. And thank you, Sir Greystone, for an enjoyable afternoon."

"Of course, ma'am." Guy bowed at me, pretending as if he were professional. I kept my eyes on him as I walked away from the stables. And he kept his eyes on mine until we were too far away.