Project Romanov

Chapter 12

A few days have passed without any trouble. Most of the ride was spent either reading or playing an endless amount of card games. We made many stops along the way and saw many beautiful sights out the window. There was a light drizzle outside and we felt the train stop. We've reached our destination.

"Next stop, Nizhny Novgorod. I hope you enjoyed your stay." We heard the conductor say.

Viktor, Leonid and I all grabbed our luggage and made our way to the exit. Once we exited, we moved under the train station and watched as other passengers left and more went on. The train left after a few minutes and Leonid spoke up.

"What now? Our destination isn't for a few more miles. And even if we get a carriage, they won't go the whole 1,697.8 kilometers."

"I say, we do take a carriage and walk the rest of the way there. that's our best bet" I suggested.

"Walk? Are you crazy!? We'd have to walk a good 500km!" Leonid said, panicked.

"Anya's right," Viktor said, "500 km is still better than going the whole 1,697km."

Leonid sighed, but eventually agreed. Viktor walked to the window, I assume to ask where we can get a carriage.

"It seems our journey is coming to a close end," Leonid said.

"It seems so," I said and turned to look at him, "what will you and Viktor do once I'm home?"

"Probably go back to Yekaterinburg. That is still our home after all."

"Are you sure? You two would be a lot safer in Europe. The revolution is starting anyway."

"I- I'm sure. We'll try to write to you when we can." Leonid said with a weak smile. I smiled back and Viktor walked over.

"We can rent a carriage a few miles that way," he said, pointing to a direction, "the worker said they only go 500 miles max though. We'd have to walk the rest of the way."

"How are we supposed to pay for the carriage?" Leonid asked, "we don't have any spare cash."

My eyes widened, remembering the rubys that I took off of my old corset. I dug through my pockets, where I had previously placed them, and grabbed a singular ruby, "would this work?" I asked.

Viktor and Leonids eyes widened at the ruby, "It should work," Leonid said, "where did you get this?"

"My mama made us sisters see our jewels in our corsets before our execution, in case of survival." I explained.

"Anya you're a lifesaver! Let's get to that carriage." Viktor said.

We walked a few miles before we came to a shop. Viktor walked inside and rented out a carriage with the ruby I got and we got in.

"We should rest up during the ride, that way we have the energy to walk the rest of the way to Crimea." Viktor said.

"Good idea," Leonid said, "we need all the energy we can get to go the extra 500 km."

I nodded in agreement and I fell asleep, with my head on Leonid's shoulder.