While Liesel gave the Romanov sisters a tour of Sandringham, the older ladies chatted in the saloon.

"How are my nieces? I haven't seen them in forever." Alexandra said as she took a sip of her tea.

"Much older. Anastasia is seventeen and Maria is nineteen. She will be twenty in two months." Grandmama answered. "I believe Anastasia would have been eight and Maria would have been eleven when they visited you years ago," she added.

"Anastasia was nine." Alexandra corrected her.

"Yes, Alexandra, yes. My memory isn't like it was before."

"Mine too. We are both up in age. Tell me how the girls came to you. That must be horrible to have lost all of your family before the age of twenty. I have never trusted Russia, Maria. I knew you wouldn't be safe there, so I needed you to come here with me. I'm sorry I sent you all of those letters, but I needed to get you out." Alexandra placed her hand on her sister's.

"Not all of my family is gone. I still have my two daughters out of my six children."

Grandmama regretted saying that.

All of her sons were dead.

Grandmama had two daughters left. Olga and Xenia. Maria had heard no recent news from Olga. She heard no information about their little son, Tikhon, and there was nothing about Olga's pregnancy. She prayed for their lives every day, fearing they would all be killed. She didn't even know her location in Russia. On the other hand, Xenia was safe in Russia and was able to write to her mother. Maria feared for her daughters. At least she knew Xenia was safe. Her prayers still went out to Olga. She prayed to God that he would keep them out of harm's way.

-

"This is the house's drawing-room," Liesel opened a door leading into a room.

The room was painted white with subtle gleams of silver. Huge dusty mirrors hung on the wall. Chairs and tables sat scattered across the room, in a seemingly organized chaos. The ceilings were painted with images of angels resting in clouds. Maria and Anastasia could tell no one had been in this room for a long time. Liesel opened a wooden door a few steps away from the drawing-room. As Anastasia walked by the servant, Liesel admired Dasia's necklace.

"What a beautiful necklace! Where did you get it?"

"It's from a friend. Its-"

"From her boyfriend!" Maria blurted.

"Maria!" Anastasia muttered under her breath.

"It's from a friend," she repeated once again, her eyes targeting Maria's.

That door had led into a little library. Nine levels of shelves were on each side of the room. Couches sat in between the shelves.

"This library is so cozy. Olga would read in here for hours." Maria said with a sad smile as she surveyed the shelves of books.

"Come, girls. I have to show you the dining room." Liesel led them down the stairs until she stopped at another doorway. The walls were painted pale green. Spanish tapestries hung on the walls. The room also featured an open fireplace and arched windows that viewed the house's gardens. In front of them was a wooden table with a green tablecloth on it.

"Here's where you'll be having dinner tonight! Now I really must go. I told Oliver I'd help him prepare tonight's dinner. Good day!" Liesel left the room, leaving the girls inside.

"Let's go back to our room. We need to finish unpacking."

The sisters decided to share a dresser, leaving two of the drawers for each girl. They placed all their perfume and jewelry on the dresser, next to their wash bin. They displayed religious frames and books on their shelves. As Anastasia unpacked one of the last boxes, she pulled out an old pair of white satin gloves.

"I remember these! I was little, we were at the opera! Someone had given me a box of chocolates, and I put the chocolates in my dress pockets to melt. Once they did, I retrieved them with these clean white gloves. Mama was so cross with me when she saw all that chocolate on them!"

Anastasia then pulled out a small black book. As she flipped through the pages, her eyes widened.

"This is Papas! It's a photo album!"

Maria rushed over to her sister's side. Anastasia began to flip through the pages.

"There's you and Olga, Shivbzik!" Maria grinned. "You were the ugliest baby I had ever seen!"

"You think you looked normal?" Anastasia shot back. "I was at least prettier than you."

The girls flipped through the pages and came across a photo that made Anastasia howl with laughter. It was tiny Maria sitting in a basket that was positioned on a donkey.

"That's me!?" Maria snatched the album out of her sister's hand as Anastasia roll on the floor, laughing.

The girls finished looking through their father's album, and surprisingly, there was an album that belonged to their mother. The girls peered through that one. As they did, Maria found her chance to poke fun at Anastasia's baby photo.

"Look at your fat chubby cheeks Nastasia! Stubby little legs!" Maria laughed.

"At least I can walk with elegance and grace with my little stubby legs. Whenever you walk, you look like a horse. Not to mention, you look like a squirrel too!" Anastasia shot back.

Maria, who was unbothered by this, simply rolled her eyes. She was used to her sister's criticism.

"Papa and little fat bow-wow!" Anastasia cackled at a photo of Maria standing by their father.

"Anastasia!" Maria complained. "I've grown out of that nickname!"

As Anastasia turned to the last page of the album, Maria stood up and dusted off her dress.

"I suppose we should get ready for dinner. It's almost eight."

As Maria looked through the dresser for an outfit, she threw a dress to Anastasia, who dodged it on purpose, not wanting to get hit.

"Wear it!" Maria threw another dress in which it landed on Anastasia's head.

The girls made their way to the dining room, where the servants were setting out the food—a dinner of roast chicken, salad, and soft-boiled eggs. Fine wine was also dished in glasses with ornate designs. The family ate their dinner quietly while Alexandra enlightened the group more about the house.

"The gardens comprise six hundred acres of the estate. We have five different houses located on the estate too."

"So many houses," Maria remarked as she took a bite of her chicken. Anastasia sat at the table, poking her salad with her fork.

"What's wrong?" Maria pondered.

"Nothing. Just bored is all."

The girls finished their dinner and then hurried to their room to get ready for bed. Moonlight fluttered through the open windows of their room, and crickets chirped outside, singing their night song. Anastasia found it hard to fall asleep.

"Maria?" Anastasia whispered, hoping her sister would answer back.

"Yes?"

"I'm scared."

"Why are you scared?"

"I don't know. I feel weird sleeping here."

"I agree. Just pray to God. That's what I do."

"Okay."

Anastasia prayed. Even after, she still couldn't fall asleep.

"Maria? Maria!" she whispered. No answer. Anastasia prayed once again. She prayed for Grandmama, Alexandra, and Maria. She especially prayed for her family.

Coincidentally, she finally succumbed to sleep just as she whispered amen.