Chapter Thirteen

Russia Bound

Welcome to St. Petersburg, Russia.  We want to take this time and thank you for flying with Delta International Air Lines, please don’t forget to pick up your luggage from the baggage claim, and please fly with us again.  Thank you and have a great stay in the beautiful country of Russia. The airplane pilot announced over the intercom in fluent Russian as we landed. I giggled when Mr. Poloski translated it for Eric and Mandy who both had confused looks on their faces.  I couldn’t help but smile, a true big smile at the fact that I was in Russia, my homeland, my country…finally.  It seemed like forever ago when we actually boarded the plane earlier today, I was still laughing at the chaos from earlier as I remembered it in my mind.

“Good God Mr. Poloski, why did you make the flight so flippin early?” Eric said as he boarded the plane and placed his carry-on bag above the leather, captain, first class seat before taking his seat.  Eric was definitely dressed like he was going on a long flight.  He wore his black adidas soccer wind pants with just a white t-shirt, making his skin look tanner and his hair darker than usual.

“Oh quit your whining Mr. Lawson, it’s not all that bad, besides you can sleep for most of the way, well until we get to Paris, and then after we stop there you can go back to sleep until we reach St. Petersburg.” Mr. Poloski said as he leaned over slapping Eric on the back before sitting back in his seat and buckling up. It was weird seeing Mr. Poloski dressed in semi-casual clothes, wearing dark jeans and argyle sweater over a button down shirt, where as in school he usually wore business suits.

“I don’t care how early this flight is, we are not only going to Russia; we’re going to Paris! I can’t believe it; I’ve always wanted to go to Paris, Lisa we’ll have to go to Paris again, to see more than just the outside of the airport and other planes.” Mandy said to me as she buckled her seat belt and looked out the window wearing her faded blue jeans and a t-shirt from our old summer church camp that we used to go to every year. I was just as excited about it going to Paris as she was.  I had always wanted to go to Europe, and Mandy and I had always talked about going backpacking across Europe one day, but now that my life had change drastically, I didn’t see that trip option happening.

“Miss Peterson, would you care for any refreshments before we take off?” A flight attendant asked as she passed by with a cart-tray of drinks and snacks.

“No, thank you.” I said at the same time as Mr. Poloski answered the lady with his order.

“I’ll take a double shot of espresso please Madame.” Mr. Poloski said turning in his seat to look up at the lady with a smile.

“Right away Sir.” She said as she picked up an espresso machine from under the cloth of the cart and began to make his coffee, which had somehow reminded me, that I really wanted to speak with him on the matter of royalty and parliament.

“Ah thank you.” Mr. Poloski said as he took a sip, and tipped the flight attendant before turning to look at me.

“Lisa, are you all set? It’s going to be a long flight.” He stated as he threw back the rest of the coffee in his mouth.

“Yes, Mr. Poloski, I’m fine, I’m just ready to get there.” I said as I buckled my seatbelt when the light came on and adjusted my long black t-shirt over my dark washed blue jeans, in a way I smiled and laughed at myself for how I had decided to dressed for the trip, even if I did resemble the Imperial family, I sure didn’t dress like I was Royal, and for that I couldn’t help but think of Anne Hathaway in the Princess Diaries.

“Lisa, and I guess for this subject matter, Mandy and Eric listen good and well, for this trip I’m no longer your teacher, Mr. Poloski, please do not call me as such.  You may call me either by Count Rasputin or William, only my close relatives know that I am your teacher, but others will only know me by Count or by my first name.  You three are simply my friends for the trip.” Mr. Poloski said with a serious face. I began to wonder why I couldn’t just call him by the name I’ve always known, Mr. Poloski, but I figured I’d save that conversation when Mandy and Eric weren’t paying attention during the flight.

“Alrighty then Willy.” Eric said with a smile as he looked at Mr. Poloski.”

“Mr. Lawson, that wasn’t an option.” Mr. Poloski said with a hard face that just made us all crack a smile.

Before the plane took off I looked at my phone one last time, reading three text messages:

“Be safe Lisa, baby, remember to call me at least twice while you are there, and call me as soon as you get back.  Please stay close to William and the others, and if you should become separated go to the Embassy.  I love you.” One text message said as I saw the number was from my mother.

“Lisa, where are you? No one is at school today? Not you, Mandy, or Eric.  Where are yall?” Rachel texted as I saw it was before her first class.  I hated not telling her about Russia, but I just didn’t want to hurt her feelings about not inviting her to come along. However, I knew she would start to worry when all three of us didn’t show up for a whole week, so I decided to text her back saying, “Sorry, we went out of town, we’ll be back next week. Our phones will be off, so we’ll text you when we get back into town.”

Then there was the last text message from a number I didn’t recognize that said, “Remember who you are, if something should happen to me while you are away on your trip find Bishop Udeze, he can be trusted.  I love you my Annalisa and I believe that God has brought you to me, so that I may trust in people and believe in the future of Russia again.” My eyes became misty, I didn’t know how but somehow Nunna had found a cell phone and texted me and to think up until several weeks ago, she didn’t even acknowledge that I even existed.  Yet another thing that I prayed silently to myself, Please Lord, please watch over Nunna for me, please keep her safe, and please keep her alive a little while longer, I need her.

The next several hours just went by in a blur of clouds and dark blue ocean waters. I’m pretty sure I drifted off to sleep a few times. Yet the whole time I seemed to think of one word, one name, the name that constantly haunted my thoughts, dreams, and reality, Romanov. I was going home, I was going back to my country, the country I had promised that I would never visit and I was excited.  It was as if the land itself called to me, wanting me back and with ever mile that the plane flew to bring me closer, my body just seemed to become more and more relaxed.  However, when we got to the International Airport of Paris, my relaxed body became tense and began to shake with laughter as Mandy literally starting flipping out with excitement.

“Oh my gosh, Lisa we’re in Paris! Can you believe it? Eric wake up!” Mandy started saying loudly, as she looked out the window to see only concrete and other planes.

“MJ, if you don’t shut it and let me get back to sleep I will personally let you see stars in the shape of the Eiffel Tower.” Eric said as he turned over and put the pillow over his face, as I started laughing along with Mr. Poloski while Mandy just rolled her eyes.

“How can you still be sleeping, we’re in Paris, just look at it!” Mandy said as she turned around to pull up the blind of the window near Eric’s seat causing bright sunlight to come through before she slapped his knee.

“Ugh, MJ I’m seriously going to kill you one day. I didn’t sleep at all last night, plus I get really motion sick on planes, MJ you should remember the last time pretty well. But if this will help you to leave me alone then fine. Ooo Ahhhh, Spectacular, Paris…yep that’s some great looking grey concrete there Mandy.” Eric said sarcastically as he looked at the window and then back at her with tired eyes. I couldn’t help it, I was laughing so hard by then.  I always knew that Eric wasn’t really a morning person, but this was just hilarious to watch.

“Fine, go back to sleep then Mr. Grumpy, I’ll just enjoy this moment by myself.” Mandy said while rolling her eyes at him, as she turned back around to look out her own window and started taking a few pictures from her camera. 

“Lisa, I have sent word to your mother that we are now in Paris and we only have a few short hours left until we reach St. Petersburg.” Mr. Poloski said softly as he closed his phone and stood up to stretch.

“Oh thanks Mr. Polo….I mean William.” I said with a nervous smile.  It was going to take some getting used to calling him William, or even Count Rasputin.

“Yeah I received some text messages from my mother and great grandmamma before we left. They hope we have fun.” I said softly, trying to make conversation, even though I could tell we were both feeling the jet lag. I wanted to ask him more about Russia, but before I could ask Mandy started pointing out the window as the plane started to lift off, showing me the Eiffel Tower, before she woke Eric back up to show him too, which I couldn’t help but laugh when he looked out the window for a brief moment before going back to sleep.

A few hours later, it was as if my body became fully awake.  I just couldn’t help but to smile to myself as I looked out the window to see green and brown farm lands, pastures, and stone buildings reflecting the last of the sunlight as the evening quickly approached. I didn’t know where we were but I knew we were getting closer to Russia.  As I turned away from the window I looked at Mr. Poloski who was coming away from the window as well, then looked over at me with a smile.

“You can sense Russia too can’t you?” Mr. Poloski said softly as he looked over my shoulder to see Mandy and Eric sleeping.

“Yeah, I don’t know where we are but I can just tell we are almost there.” I said honestly as a smile spread across my lips.

“I know exactly how you feel.  We are just over Germany, so only about two or three more hours to go, and then we will be there.  It’s funny, because my first trip to Russia, I was the same way.  I had no idea where we were, but it was as if the land was calling me.” Mr. Poloski said as he became lost in his thoughts.

“I guess that’s what people mean when they are bound to their country, huh?” I said as I looked back out the window.

“I suppose it is, and we are bound to Russia. Just wait until we land and you step off the plane. It’ll be a feeling like no other, well besides the wave of Jet lag, haha.” Mr. Poloski said laughing softly.

“Mr. Polo….I mean, William. When we do land, what will happen? I mean what is the plan?” I asked softly looking around to see who was paying attention, which was no one.

“Well, it will be as if we are just normal tourists. We will have a car waiting for us, which will take us to our hotel. Tomorrow will be all about touring the city; however I have arranged a meeting with my uncle, your cousin Count Dubrov, later that evening.” He said with an intense gaze, causing me to fully become aware that tomorrow night I will be introduce to the first of my royal relatives.

“Does…does he know about me?” I asked softly, but Mr. Poloski shook his head.

“No, not yet, and I will not tell him until you are ready. Lisa, I’m not sure how to say this properly, but you must know the true facts. As being the last true heir to the Russian throne, and being the actual great granddaughter of the famous Anastasia, you will become public knowledge. You will undergo a thorough investigation, and in the end, your life will change.  Your carefree of the press life will be over, you will be followed, you will probably be in the paper left and right, no privacy anymore, but most of all you will have to make a decision if you will take the throne.  To be honest, I’m not sure if you are mentally prepared for that.  You are incredibly smart, but this is a whole new level. So, until you are ready, we will have to keep you a secret.  My uncle knows I’m bringing three prize students of mine with me, but that is all he knows.” Mr. Poloski explained quietly, his words stinging like a bee in my mind.  Was I ready for this? I knew that this day would come but could I meet my royal family? What was going to happen to me once I am made public knowledge?  If I wasn’t ready now, when will I be, and did I want to ever be ready? So many questions flooded my mind as I turned away from Mr. Poloski and looked out the window as we flew over the European land.

My mind came back to what was going on around me in the present time, a full nineteen hours later from when we originally boarded the plane back in The States.  My lips still held the grin as I felt my body and my soul being drawn to the Russian land with every step that I took towards the baggage claim with Mandy, Eric, and Mr. Poloski.  I’m in Russia, I thought to myself excitedly for the thousandth time as I looked over to see a very tired looking Mandy and Eric from Jet lag.

“Here you go Miss Peterson.” Mr. Poloski said as he grabbed my bag and handed it to me.

“Thanks.” I said shortly as I looked around at all the other passengers and at the security guards.  My mind beginning to run wild with questions, did I look Russian, Mom said that I did resemble the Imperial family a little? But did I look like an Imperial Duchess? Was anyone going to recognize me? No silly, it’s been over ninety years since someone has even seen the real Anastasia, it’s not possible for someone to recognize you right off the bat. Yet I could only wonder about these things as I began walking towards the security lines towards the airport exit.

“Welcome, Miss Annalisa Peterson to Russia.” The security guard said to me in his thick Russian as he stamped my passport and ticket before looking up at me.

“Thank you Sir.” I said back in my not so fluent Russian.

“Oh you speak Russian?” He said with a surprised face.

“Only a little.” I said with a smile.

“Well, it’s almost fluent. Anyways welcome.” He said as he nodded before stamping Mandy’s and Eric’s passports and tickets then went to stamp Mr. Poloski’s.

“Count Rasputin, it is an honor Sir.” The security guard said as he stamped Mr. Poloski’s passport and ticket before standing up to salute him.

“The honor is mine completely I assure you.” Mr. Poloski said with a formal half bow. Everyone who was in earshot radius turned to glance at the security guard and Mr. Poloski or to them, Count Rasputin. However, Mr. Poloski just picked up his passport and ticket as he continued through the line to reach where we were standing.

“Sorry about the holdup folks.” He said with a small grin as he leaned down to pick up mine and Mandy’s bags.

“Does that happen everywhere you go Willy?” Eric said with a grin as he said his new name for Mr. Poloski.

“Not everywhere, just when someone recognizes me or reads my name. And don’t call me Willy, Mr. Lawson.” Mr. Poloski said as he started walking towards the exit.

As soon as we exited the airport doors, I felt the wind, a cool breeze that seemed to circle my whole body.  I couldn’t help but take a huge deep breath, and smile, my whole body felt alive. Despite it being dark because of the hour we were arriving, everything seemed bright to me, everything seemed to be lit up just for my own eyes as if it were waiting for me to arrive.  I couldn’t explain it; the land was welcoming me home in its own way.  My eyes looked towards Mandy and Eric who were both starting to enter a black car that Mr. Poloski had provided for us, but then I caught the eyes of Mr. Poloski who only smiled at me as he took a deep breath of the Russian air himself. I handed the driver my bags so he could put them in the trunk of the car and slid into the car, Mr. Poloski sliding in right beside me.

And right before the car began to drive off towards the hotel, I looked out the window up at the stars and moon, I knew it was the same moon and stars that I saw back at home, but somehow it only made me relax more against the leather seat of the fancy car.

“Welcome back home Grand Duchess Annalisa.” Mr. Poloski whispered softly. My heart and my soul soared as the words hit me as my fingers ran over the Imperial ring that I wore, and all that I could think of was how the press line would read if everyone knew if I was here, “Annalisa Nicola Dimitriievna Peterson Romanova, Grand Duchess of Russia, Comes Home!” I just couldn’t wait for the rest of the trip to finally begin.

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