Chapter Twenty-One

Time to Re-Think

I could still feel where Marc had kissed me on my forehead, as my mind wondered would I ever see him again or not.  As I continued to walk through the hotel entrance and lobby, my eyes finally took in my surroundings, something seemed different. That’s when I realized that everyone seemed to be staring at me, but not just me their eyes were going back and forth from me to a handsome Prince who was staring at me and walking towards me with a pair of frustrated eyes.

“Lisa, where were you? Have you any idea how long I’ve been waiting for you?” Ros said with shortness in his voice as he spoke in a quick hushed tone. I could feel all eyes on us now as I listened to the room which was silent, everyone probably wondering why or who their Prince was talking to.

“I’m sorry, I went to go eat lunch and I was waiting for Mandy and Eric but they never showed. And then I got caught up in a…conversation.” I said trying to explain what exactly just happened without giving away too much of the details.

“Mandy and Eric have been waiting for you; they even called William telling him that they had no idea where you were, because you hadn’t showed up at the café, and when they went back to the hotel you were gone.  And another thing do you have any idea who that guy you were talking to is?  Lisa you can’t be talking to random people now, nonetheless guys like him, come on I know you are smarter than that.” He said as he looked even more frustrated as he gripped my arm. My eyes looked at him, was he serious right now? I wondered to myself.

“Let go of my arm now Ros.” I demanded as I yanked my arm from under his tight grip.  I could see red marks from where his hand had been.

“Lisa, I’m…” Ros started to say before I interrupted him.

“We will discuss this later when we don’t have an audience, until then where is Mandy and Eric?” I asked with a hard face.

“They are on their way to Count Dubrov’s, I was just waiting here for you to get back to escort you there myself, or perhaps go out and try to find you.  I figure if your friends couldn’t find you, that you might’ve tried to runaway or something. Which I’m glad you didn’t.”

“Why would I have…? Oh never mind, well let me get my stuff and we can leave.  You’ve already caused enough of a scene.”

“Hey that’s not entirely my fault. Besides your stuff is with Mandy, I was seriously just here to escort you back.”

“Oh well aren’t you just thoughtful.” I said with a bit of sarcasm to my voice.  I was still very upset about him judging me, and realized that this conversation was far from over.  Not only was I going to have a little chit chat with Ros about Marc, but I was going to have to talk to Count Dubrov and Mr. Poloski about Victor.  Not to mention finally telling Mandy and Eric about my decision.

“After you your Highness.” Ros said as he waved his arm out and bowed his head just a little, allowing me to head back towards the entrance of the hotel.  As I glanced to my right and left, I now felt all eyes that were on Ros and I, turn to me, all probably wondering, who is this girl that even the Prince of their great nation bows to? I would be lying if I said I didn’t like the feeling of being someone important, but at the same time Victor’s words of warning still haunted my mind.  What would happen if people found out who exactly I was? Was I really in danger?  Could I create peace between the Communist party and my family?  So many questions started racing in my mind as I continued to walk out the doors of the hotel and into a waiting black limousine that was here to take Ros and me back to my new reality.

Finally, after what seemed like a much longer drive than it was, my door opened and my eyes located three pairs of eyes two were nervous but excited that belonged to my friends, and one set gave worry and frustration that belonged to Mr. Poloksi.  I took a glance back at Ros who was now exiting the car, but still didn’t say one word to him.  I was still so angry at the fact that he treated me like a child and had hurt me, and I didn’t trust any words that would come out of my mouth towards him yet.  I needed to calm down, and talk to him later. Turning back towards my friends and Mr. Poloski, I was then given a much needed Mandy hug.

“Lisa! Is this all for real? We just saw our rooms, um can you say better than a five star hotel? This is the best vacation ever.” Mandy said as she giggled and hugged me tight.

“Yeah but where were you? We waited at the café, and then went back at the hotel?” Eric asked as he looked a little relived yet nervous for some reason.

“Yeah sorry, I guess we had just missed each other and then I just decided to eat lunch.” I said with a more relaxed smile now that I was with my closest friends.

“Eating lunch and talking to traitors…” Ros said as he passed us going into the house.  My eyes narrowed at him, sending him darts at the back of his head.  He had no clue who Marc really was, I mean I didn’t really know Marc, but I could guarantee that I had spent more time talking to him than Ros had.

“What was that about?” Mandy and Eric asked as they looked from Ros back towards me with curious expressions.

“Oh nothing, just something that I’m going to have a little chit-chat with him about.” I said with a huff in my voice as I rolled my eyes at the whole situation.

“Speaking of which, Lisa, as much as I would love for you to spend time with your friends right now, we have some important matters to discuss.” Mr. Poloski said as he cleared his throat getting our attention.

“Can’t Mandy and Eric just stay with me?  They are a part of all this now too you know.”

“Yeah Willy, come on it will be just like class discussion. Except now we have another smart female among our group.” Eric said with a smile and playful wink towards Mandy.  I couldn’t help but notice the blush and the weird eye contact that they both exchanged, okay what in the world? I thought briefly to myself, before Mr. Poloski’s voice claimed my attention.

“Lisa, it’s your call, however keep this in mind, the more other people know, yes even your friends and family, the more they are at risk.  However, I can understand why you would want your friends there.” Mr. Poloski said before looking from me to my friends.

“It’s probably going to be really boring yall.” I said, hearing my twang in my voice come out, before smiling.

“Oh I don’t care, this is so exciting. So wait, you did claim the throne right? I mean we wouldn’t be here if we didn’t.” Mandy said as we all started walking inside the house and followed Mr. Poloski to where the meeting was going to be held.

“MJ, of course she did.” Eric said rolling his eyes before making a blonde joke.

“Well, I mean, she hasn’t told us it yet, so I wanted to hear from my best friend’s lips if she was accepting the Russian throne.” She said with a big grin.

“Ha, yes Mandy I accepted and I don’t regret it one bit.” I said as we all laughed entering into a room that looked like a conference room with a large mahogany table that sat at least sixteen or more people.  My eyes took in all the faces that all now stared at me and my friends, most of them were faces that I had seen earlier this morning and last night, however as I followed Mr. Poloski around towards the other side of the table where two seats were empty leather chairs.  I noticed that there wasn’t any room at the table for Eric and Mandy to sit, just as I was telling Mandy and Eric that they could take my seat, Count Dubrov had two more chairs brought in.  As soon as I went to go sit in my chair next to Mandy and Mr. Poloski everyone rose from their chairs to allow me to be the first to sit down.  Okay, I totally am going to have to get used to that one. I said to myself as I smiled at everyone and sat.

“Oh this is so cool.” Mandy said with a giggle in my ear.  I couldn’t help but smile and let out a small laughter realizing that I had forgotten how at ease she made me feel in stressful situations.

“Your Highness, I see that you have involved outsiders and children that aren’t royal by blood.” Count Dubrov said as his deep voice spoke in Russian.  I knew my friends were not going to understand most of the meeting, but I was not going to have them talk down to like this.  I looked over at Ros, who was looking at me with less frustration in his eyes now than earlier today.

“Let me get this point clear, these are my two closest friends, Eric Lawson and Mandy Johnson, both whom I would trust with my life, they are smart, and I know that they will give great opinions on matters.  However, whether you like my decision or not, these two people will always be welcomed in meetings and wherever I go. They are my family, so you best to treat them as such.” I said in plain English so they would know what I was saying.

“Now, if that little matter is finished, shall we get on to the actual meeting?” I said again, with authority.  I looked at everyone in the eye before I lastly looked at Count Dubrov.  He bowed his head slightly before taking his seat.

“Lis…Your Highness, since your formal announcement of claiming the throne this morning, my uncle and I, along with several others of the Imperial family and chair members, have been discussing the best way to make a public hearing.” Mr. Poloski said as he spoke in Russian then again in English.

“You see, not everyone thinks it is wise to make you public yet, and some say you shouldn’t be made public for as long as possible.” Mr. Poloski started to say before Chairman Koleskov, whom I had met earlier this morning, interrupted. My mind went to Victor, and I wondered if now was the best time to mention that whole ordeal? I glanced down for a moment before looking over at Ros who was now looking at me with bored eyes.  I hadn’t even thought that all this was probably the same thing that he had heard and been through when he was trying to claim the throne, and thought he was the last heir. You are the true heir to the Russian throne, so start acting like it Lisa. I heard both Nunna’s voice and mine command my mind and courage. I could not let Victor’s words scare me.  I had an entire new family of power that have sworn to protect me and if anything I had three amazing friends, which included Mr. Poloski, who would do anything to keep me safe and strategize with me if ever I needed them too. However, it was Ros who finally read my face, and his frustrated facial expression returned.

“What is it Lisa?” He said, ignoring several people trying to correct him by using my formal title. I cringed, if he thought me talking to Marc was bad and being alone, wait until he hears about this.

“Well, today at lunch, I saw our tour guide from yesterday, you three remember right?” I asked trying to jog their memories as all eyes both young and old stared at me to continue.

“Yes, I remember why?” Mr. Poloski said as he started to clean his glasses.

“Well, I saw him again today at the café that I was eating at, but he wasn’t alone.  He had two other large men with him.  And when I finally recognized him, he said that he knew that I was a Romanov.  That the streets weren’t safe for Romaonvs still, that there are people who still wants to kill us all. Then he mentioned Ros.” I finished explaining, as eyes shifted from me to Ros.

“You see, this is the reason why she shouldn’t had gone back.”

“She shouldn’t be made public.”

“It’s the usual threat.”

I kept hearing all these things at once as everyone began to speak at once, even Mandy and Eric were trying to ask me questions about did I know his last name or anything. However I knew I was leaving out a very vital piece of information out…for some reason I knew I had to try to keep Marc and his name out of this whole meeting, and even though I knew Victor and the other two men worked for Marc’s father, I just couldn’t bring myself to give his name away. 

“Alright, alright, let’s just think this through.  We need to re-think some things.” Eric said as he captured everyone’s attention with his voice as he stood up from his seat. I smile up at him grateful for him calming the situation.

“We are in a bit of a political pickle I would say.  We know we need to out Lisa before more people find out who she is, yet when she is made public, she will be in greater danger. So the question right now is how do we plan for both situations?” Eric said as he put his hands in fists and rested them on the table.  I looked from him to everyone around the table who was nodding at his question and thinking, some even saying in Russian that he had a point and that he would make a good Politian one day.  My eyes drifted back up to Eric, before giving him another grateful smile.

“Young man, how old are you?” Count Dubrov asked as he placed his hand on his goatee.

“Eighteen Sir.”

“Eighteen, my boy, I must apologize because you are indeed well beyond your years. It’s a shame yet refreshing to be amongst the great minds of this family, and yet an eighteen year old from another country comes up with the question we need to be focusing on.” Count Dubrov finished saying as he nodded towards Eric, and looked around the table.

“So what do we do?” Mandy asked softly from her chair.

“Ah, that is the question with still no answer.” Count Dubrov said as he leaned back in his leather chair.

After what seemed like an hour or two later of coming up with different solutions and still didn’t have a clear answer, I finally cleared my throat getting everyone’s attention.  I could see that we were all tired of the subject, yet what it was really coming down to was my own decision.  It was time for me to start acting as their Tsarevna.

“As much as I would love to drop this subject, as I can see we all need a new topic, I must be honest that everything else rides on my decision in this whole matter. My Nunna once told me of how the rumors of the lost Grand Duchess Anastasia came about; the myths were created by our own flesh and blood. Why can’t we do that again?” I suggested as I remembered Nunna telling me the story of when King George had started the myth that not everyone in the Romanov family had died, and if people could prove it then they would get a reward, even though he knew that there was indeed a survivor. My mind came back to the present time as I looked over to Mr. Poloski who was deep in thought, and then shifted my eyes to Princess Irene Romanova who had a small smile playing across her lips, as if she remembered the hearing or even witnessing the myths and chaos the rumors created.

“So what you are suggesting is that we create that same rumor again, and have you made public while others are claiming to be the rightful heir?” Count Cyril Nieroth asked before Princess Irene interrupted him and finished his sentence in her elegant but soft, elderly voice.

“Brilliant!” Mr. Poloski said as he stood up from his chair with a smile.

“I must say, I rather like this devious plot.” Chairman Koleskov said with a smile as he turned to nod at his agreement with the gentlemen next to him.

“Now that we have a plan, we will just have to figure out a way to meet with our English cousins to get them on board with us. Then it should be fairly simple to create the rumor again.” Count Dubrov said as he made a note on a piece of paper that he had with him.

“Well, that takes care of most of today’s important meeting; the only other thing we were going to discuss was after you graduate where you would be living?” Mr. Poloski said as he read off the question on his notes.

“What do you mean? I’m going to Southern Cal, remember?” I said as I tried to remind him of the plans that I was still trying to keep.

“Lis, I mean your Grace, surely you would want to take this opportunity and spend it here in Russia, getting to know your family and the people.” Mr. Poloski suggested, as he knew he was putting me in a verbal bind. I narrowed my eyes, was he really trying to make me decide right now? I wondered to myself as I looked at him then over to Mandy and Eric.  Both of them knew my plans were pretty much set in stone about me moving all the way to California, but ever since I found out who my non-talkative Nunna was, things everywhere seemed to be changing left and right, causing me to re-think everything.

“I mean of course I want to get to know my family and the people of this nation, but at the same time, I haven’t applied to any of the schools over here.  Then there’s really the big question, will our diversion plan work? Because really we can’t decide anything until we know or plan will work or not.” I explained.

“Yes you do have a point, well. I guess unless you have something you would like to add, we will get to work on talking with the Queen and go from there.” Mr. Poloski said as he looked down at his notes.  Really that was it? I wondered to myself, before I heard Ros asking it out loud.

“Yes your Highness, Everything really weighs on this plan.  If it fails we are back to square one, and if it succeeds then, we can discuss other pressing issues at hand.” Mr. Poloski said respectfully.

“Great, then we are dismissed.” I said quickly, wanting to just spend time with my friends and explore this place with them.  I hated conferences and having to sit down during lectures and classes, meetings and especially this one was no different.

“Um Lisa, please don’t run off anywhere other than the manor, because once we hear back from the Queen we can make a press release.” Mr. Poloski said quietly.  I nodded back to him and lead Mandy and Eric out into the hallway, however it was Ros who quickly caught up with me and wanted to talk.  I didn’t know if now was the right time, but I figured I’d at least listen to whatever he had to say to me, and just speak to him later.

“Lisa, look I’m really sorry about grabbing your arm and hurting you earlier.  Please trust me when I say that never in a million years do I or would I want to hurt you physically in anyway.” He said as he paused for me to respond, which I only nodded back at him, before he continued. “Why didn’t you say anything about Victor working for Marc’s dad? You know you need to tell them that Marc has spoken with you right? Talking with a traitor to our family is big, and if you heard the stories of what his father and his family did to us then it would cause you to re-think your friendship with him.” He finished saying looking at me for some sort of a response.  However, I really didn’t have one.  I knew what Marc’s family did to my family, I knew all the infuriating opinions that Marc had against the Imperial family and the government, but still there was something about him that told me that I could trust him.

“Well it doesn’t matter, because I’m never going to see him again anyways.” I said as I finally decided that I could at least say that to Ros.  The thought of never having another argument, never talking to Marc caused something to stir inside me, emotionally.

“Very well then. Just so we are clear, if you ally yourself with that traitor, then you are turning your back on your family, lose your family and you really have nothing.” Ros said as he turned to walk in the opposite direction of the hallway causing me to stare at him with my mouth slightly opened and anger and tears flooding my eyes.  What was I going to do? I wanted to be friends with him, but at the same time; does any of it matter since I’ll never see him again? I thought to myself as I began to walk towards the back of the house to the gardens with Mandy and Eric talking to each other quietly and looking at me with pity and sadness as I explained the situation to them as we walked.

“Well it seems like to me that the best way for you to forget about your friendship with him is to think of him in two different ways. The first is his family is a traitor to yours, so whenever you think of him just think that his family murdered your family.  The second way is to just try to forget about him. He’s just a guy that you met twice at a local café, that’s it.” I heard Eric say as he looked over at Mandy for agreement.  No it’s not just it. He annoyed the crap out of me, but yet there was something about the way he was able to freely talk to me, the way that he was about to do or say something to Victor earlier today, something about the way that he looked at me and kissed my forehead before leaving me. I thought to myself as I listened to Mandy trying to agree with Eric.

Hours passed as Eric, Mandy, and I explored the manor and land, and before we knew it the sun was setting.  Another day gone, and another day closer to when I had to leave this beautiful country. I thought to myself as we walked back to our rooms.  No word had been said about if the Queen of England was on board with our plan or not.  Just as I was about to head down for dinner, a knock sounded on my grand wooden door to my room.  As I opened it I saw a maid carrying a silver plate that held a letter addressed to me.  I picked it up asking her if she knew who it was from, and with a shake of her head and a “No your Highness” she curtsied and left.

As soon as I shut the door I quickly opened it, and inside was a letter that I read at least three times in probably five seconds which read:

“Lisa, meet me at the park near your old hotel at midnight tonight near the guardian statue, come alone.”

There was no name as to saying who the letter was from, only handwriting that somehow made my heart to beat faster and a smile cross my lips.  I looked at the clock in the corner of the room, I had about four hours before somehow I was to sneak out in the middle of the night, to meet whoever sent me this letter.  Yep this isn’t stupid at all, I said sarcastically to myself as put the letter under the pair of dark jeans I would wear tonight, and headed down to dinner and to wait until it was time for me to make my escape.

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