Emma

Chapter Thirty-Three.

"What an honour to have you again," sighs Tsar Nicolas.

Dad shakes his hand and they both smile. I look down from the Tsar to my friend, Olga. All of the children of the Tsar and the Tsarine are here, but she has always been my greatest friend. She is the oldest and we have a lot in common.

"Emma was very excited to come to see you again," announces my father as he puts a hand on my shoulder.

I look up from Olga and nod to acknowledge Tsar Nicolas II. He smiles and gets on his knee to salute me. "A pleasure to see you again"

"It's been a long time," I say politely. "I hope you won't mind, I brought a gift for Grand Duchess Olga"

"A gift from you is like a gift from heaven. A privilege and glory"

They took his life. The ones who were our friends. I went and cried about their death. I thought Olga was my friend; I thought all of his children were my friends. I never thought, one second, they would be the ones to take my father from me. How did I not see it?

"As you know, there is no heir," sighs Tatiana.

There is always an heir. There will always be someone to get revenge, always someone to take a life for a life. I just need to decide who it is going to be.

"You are an heir," I say, tears rolling down my cheeks.

"Ma'am, if you could listen to me-"

"On your knees!" I shout to Ackley. And he obeys, once again. I look down to Tatiana. Now, she understands that her life is in my hands. Neither Ackley nor Thomas will save her. "You are an heir, Duchess Tatiana"

She mutters some prayer in Russian. Nothing she will ever do, or say, will prevent me from taking her life in exchange for the Romanov's taking my father's.

"Don't do this"

"Father," I say, looking up from Tatiana. He's here. Standing right behind Tatiana, looking like the king he was, wearing his red and gold uniform. The smile on his lips warms my heart.

"She is madness," says my dad, looking down at Tatiana as if she was nothing else than an insect.

"They took you from me"

Father walks up to me and I turn my head to keep my gaze on his face. I don't ever want to forget how royal he looked. I don't ever want to lose him again.

"She will curse you"

"I don't care. They took you"

"Don't fire"

I look down to Tatiana. She is staring right into my eyes, she is doing something. I can't understand what, but she is.

"Don't do it"

I point the gun on Tatiana's car tyre and shoot. The bullet resonates into my ears and, for the first time, it doesn't bother me. It will not bother me anymore. The fear is gone. Forever.

"Ma'am, I am begging you! Put the gun down!"

"For God sake Emma, give me that gun!"

"Listen to the men," says Tatiana in a mocking tone.

I am tired of listening. I am tired of having no revenge. I want this vengeance. I want to end the ones who took my father, and if I can't, I'll do everything to take their heirs.

"I am tired of listening," I say, aiming the gun at Tatiana's face.

I'm about to fire one last bullet when my father's words freeze me. "Don't lose yourself, Emma"

Someone grabs my waist and makes me fall on the ground, taking the gun from my hand. Words are yelled and a car is driving away. The person holding me murmurs words to my ears and tries to be comforting, but I can only think of my father. He was there.

I turn my head to look at where he was and see nothing but Tatiana's car. He was there. I am not crazy. He was there!

"Where is he?" I whisper. I succeed to push the person off of me and get on my feet. I run back to the car and look around me. My father was here. Where is he? "Dad? Where are you?"

"Emma-"

"He was here!" I shout, turning around to look at Thomas. He is the only one left. "You saw him right? He was here"

He sighs. Thomas walks up to me, but I refuse to listen to anything he has to say. "He was here!" I yell again. "I am not crazy! I saw him, he talked to me!"

"There was no one"

"He was here Thomas!! He talked to me! I am begging you," I run to Thomas and put my hands on his chest. My tears keep on rolling down my cheeks. "Tell me you saw him. Please, Tommy, tell me he was here"

Thomas sighs, but remains silent. No. My father was here. I saw him. I heard him. "Let's go inside"

"No," I step back from Tommy, disappointed that he doesn't believe me. I turn around to the open field and keep on crying. "Father? Please, come back"

I keep on looking everywhere for him, but he's not here. Where did he go? Did he leave with Ackley and Tatiana? No, why would he leave with her? That does not make any sense. He must still be here. He must be around here somewhere.

"Father! Where did you go?"

"Emma, there is no one. Let's go inside, you'll get sick like that"

"I'll go inside once I found my father," I reply, walking away.

"You are fucking naked under this gown!"

I don't take the time to reply that I keep on walking away from Thomas' house. "Emma! Get back here!"

I ignore him and walk. I can hear him walking behind me, but his footsteps disappear after just a few minutes. It's alright, it's my father I'm looking for and he does not need to be looking with me. I can find him by myself. I have to. He left for too long and I need him. I need his advice, I need him to tell me that I am doing a good job. I need my father to tell me that everything is going to be alright. I need my father.

"Papa!" I shout. The mist thickens as I keep on walking away from Thomas' house and the wind makes me shiver from time to time, but I have to ignore it. "Papa, where are you?!"

Winter in England can be very hard, I have to find him before it gets too cold. It's very early, but I don't want my father to be sick. I remember when he got a bad cold during one of our trips to New York, he had to stay in the house for days. Papa was never a good fighter when it came to diseases, which is why I have to find him before it gets too cold.

When I hear a car coming up, I stop myself and turn around. The vehicles stop not far from me and Thomas gets out of it. He walks up to me, a coat in his hand, and quickly wrap me in it. "What are you doing?" I ask.

"Getting you in the fucking car"

"I told you I'll come home when I'll find my father"

"We're not going home," replies Thomas. "We're gonna look for your father. Now get in the car"

A smile lightens my face and dries my tears almost immediately. I followed Tommy to the car and once we're both seated, he drives away. "What is he wearing?"

"His uniform. A red jacket with all his medals and gold epaulettes. He also has rings on his fingers"

"Alright. Let's see if we find him"