The train reached Rostov-On-Don six hours later. The sun was just beginning to rise, and the pair wandered around the abandoned platform.
"There's a train departing for Ekaterinodar soon; we should catch that." Andrei spotted the map.
They both walked over to the empty ticket booth, left ten rubles on the counter, and walked to the other side of the track. They watched the sunrise appear over the horizon, and as they did, an older man limped over to the two. His short hair was matted and his clothes were ripped. He had dirt all over him.
"Please madam, can you spare a ruble? Only a few, for my family. My son has died in the war and I have a wife and another child. Please."
Anastasia gazed at him sadly. She remembered the hundreds of soldiers in the hospitals in Tsarskoe Selo. Her mother and two older sisters were nurses. She and Maria had visited the soldiers and even made friends with a few of them. But of course, not all wounded survived.
Anastasia couldn't even imagine how the man felt losing someone to war. The cruel, cruel war that's destroyed the country her father once ruled. Without hesitation, she took the bag of rubles from her suitcase, took ten, and gave it to the man.
His eyes filled with tears of joy. "May God bless your good heart!"
Once he walked away, Anastasia looked at Andrei then gazed down at her shoes. "I'm sorry. I know I shouldn't have given the rubles to him."
"It's alright. It was a nice thing to do."
Soon enough, at noon, the train arrived. Anastasia and Andrei found themselves once again in an empty car. The mountains whirled by as the train zoomed on the track. Anastasia fiddled with Dasia's necklace, trying to keep herself amused.
"That was my older sister's necklace." Andrei gazed solemnly at the jewelry.
"It was? Do you want it back?"
Andrei turned the offer away, "She would have wanted you to have it."
For the rest of the trip, they both sat in silence. They arrived in Ekaterinodar at half-past four. They wandered the town until they found a public bus that would take them to the Taman peninsula on Russia's coast.
"In Taman, there's a ferry taking people to Crimea. Should we wait until tomorrow or catch the bus now?"
Anastasia, who was anxious to see her Grandmama, wanted to take the bus. They made their way to the stop and boarded a full bus. It was impossible to find a seat, so they ended up sitting on the ground in the back.
It was about an hour into the trip when the bus pulled over to the side of the road. Three officials boarded and stood at the front.
"Everyone off!" one of them announced. Questions arose. People crowded around the officials. Other people began to yell. As expected, a fight broke out.
Two gunshots were then suddenly fired and the bus went silent. Anastasia yelped at the sound.
It brought back so many memories.
"I said everyone out!" one of the officials barked.
As everyone left, the bus driver's seat was covered with a tarp. All the people gathered outside to watch officials carry tarps from the bus to their car's trunk. A few minutes later, the car drove away. The bus was also driven away, leaving the people stranded on a dirt road in the middle of the woods. Andrei and Anastasia were stuck. They didn't know where to go. Anastasia cradled her suitcase to her chest, still shocked at these events.
As people disappeared, Andrei eyed a young couple with bags on the other side of the road.
"Excuse me, would you mind pointing us in the direction of Taman? We must catch the ferry." Andrei asked the couple. The young woman turned to him. Her short brown curly hair bounced as she turned.
"Why, hello! Maxim and I are going to Taman. Are you going there too?" she asked. Andrei nodded.
The young man stood next to her, putting his arm around her. The emerald brooch that was pinned to the chest of his velvet suit shimmered. "Well, excuse me! We've never introduced ourselves!" he exclaimed. "My name is Maxim. This is Svetlana. I am twenty-three. She is twenty-one."
"I am Andrei. This is Anya. I am eighteen. Anya is seventeen." Andrei introduced themselves.
"Nice to meet you! Since we are both going to Taman, we should travel together! What do you think of that, Svetlana?" Maxim happily asked.
"I think that's a wonderful idea! If you two don't mind?"
"One minute, please," Anastasia dragged Andrei to the other side of the road. "Should we go with them? I don't know if we can trust them!"
Andrei scratched his head. "They seem nice. I think we can trust them. They are just a normal couple like us."
Anastasia raised her eyebrow. Andrei panicked.
"T-they are normal, like-like us." he sputtered. "I think we should go with them."
"Fine." Anastasia rolled her eyes.
Unsure of where to go, the group started walking in the direction that the bus was headed. The sun was quickly setting, and they feared they would not make it to town. They were surrounded by forest, nothing in sight. The air was growing colder, and it nipped at the group as they walked in the darkness. They were all enlightened by each other's stories. Anastasia didn't dare share her stories. They walked for hours on end.
It was about three in the morning when they came across a small two-floored motel on the side of the road. It was managed by an elderly woman.
"You need twenty rubles to get two rooms." the woman instructed. Anastasia began to open her suitcase.
"No, no! Allow us." Svetlana insisted, pulling a change purse from her dress pocket. She gave the money to the woman. In return, she gave two room keys to the couple.
"Here." Svetlana gave one of the keys to Anastasia. "Shall we share a room?"
Anastasia looked at Andrei. He shrugged.
"Okay."
-
As soon as Anastasia opened the door to their room, Svetlana collapsed onto the bed. There was only one bed, and it seemed that Svetlana had claimed it for herself. Anastasia sat down on a tiny couch, exhausted from walking.
"All that walking was brutal!" Svetlana gasped. "Time for bed."
She rushed into the bathroom, nightgown in hand.
"May I please borrow a nightgown? I am afraid I forgot to bring one for myself." Anastasia asked once Svetlana came out of the bathroom.
"Of course! Here!" she replied, handing Anastasia a pale blue nightgown.
It reeked of smoke. Anastasia wrinkled her nose. It was big, but what other choice did she have? She rushed into the bathroom. Anastasia quickly undressed but stopped when she eyed her jewel-encrusted corset on the floor. This was the first time she had taken it off in what seemed like forever.
Her mother, father, and siblings had sewn jewels into their corsets and underclothes to hide them. The jewels had been what saved the young girl of seventeen from the bullets on that warm July night.
Fully clothed, Anastasia peeked her head out from the bathroom to see Svetlana outside on the terrace, smoking. What would Svetlana think when realizing her corset was hiding jewels? Royal jewels, at that. What would she think when she found out she had been sharing a room with one of Russia's ex-grand duchesses?
The one woman who ranked hierarchies above her, born in a palace of gold and servants waiting on her hand and foot, was now reduced to wearing a ragged nightgown and sharing a room with a stranger who she had only met hours earlier.
Anastasia Romanov was supposed to die in that cellar. July 17th, 1918 was to be her death date.
But she had cheated death. And Anastasia couldn't help feel guilty because of that. Her secret identity depended on the legacy of the Romanov family. She was their only hope of living on.
Making sure the woman's back was turned to her, Anastasia sprinted out of the bathroom to stuff the corset beneath her clothes. Just as she did, Svetlana opened the door, making Anastasia jump away from her open suitcase.
"Are you alright?" Svetlana asked as she locked the door to the room. She saw Anastasia's perfumes lying on top of her clothes.
"Ooh! What scents do you have!?" Svetlana ran over. Anastasia rushed to shut her suitcase, but it was too late.
Svetlana handled the bottle carelessly. "Jasmine de Corse? What a rare scent!"
"Do not touch that!" Anastasia pleaded, trying to take it back.
"Just let me-" Svetlana tried to back away. While she did, she tripped over herself.
CRACK!
The bottle shattered - perfume soiled the carpet beneath her feet.
"I'm so sorry," Svetlana mumbled as she stood up.
Anastasia felt her blood boil as she filled to the brim with rage. She dropped to her knees, cradling the glass in her hands. Tatiana's favorite perfume.
"This is the only thing I have left of my sister! Now it's gone!" Anastasia fumed.
"Anya, I'm-"
"I'll never forgive you!" Anastasia burst into tears. "Get away from me!"
Not saying a word, Svetlana took her suitcase from her bed and left the room. The door opened again a few minutes later. It was Andrei with his suitcase.
"She broke it!" Anastasia raged.
"She broke what?"
"Tatiana's perfume! It was the only thing I had left of her..."
Anastasia cleaned the glass off the floor, still heartbroken.
"I will sleep on the couch, and you will sleep in the bed," Andrei yawned. Anastasia moved her suitcase onto the floor next to the bed and got into it. Andrei turned out the light and lay on the couch.
"Where is Svetlana?" Anastasia asked, voice cutting through the darkness.
"She is sleeping with Maxim. She demanded she switch rooms. She was hysterically crying when I answered the door," Andrei answered. Anastasia then began to feel bad.
'But then again, it was my sister's and now she and the only thing left of her is gone.'
Anastasia couldn't escape the feeling that Tatiana was here in this room.
'How happy she would have been to see it again.'
With the strong scent of jasmine in the air, she nodded off to sleep.