Excerpt of One Stone Left Unturned by Marianna Heusler

Chapter One

The Past – An Empire Crumbles

"What's happening, Mama?" Tatiana's stomach tightened with terror. She thought she might vomit. "Where are they taking us?"

"Keep calm," her mother said in anything but a calm voice. "Remember who we are. Your father is the Tsar. That is like God. Nobody can harm God."

Tatiana watched Olga, the oldest sister, trying to put on a brave face. Marie, Tatiana's younger sister was crying and Anastasia, the youngest girl, looked stunned. But it was her brother who everyone watched most.

If Alexis should be shoved, if he should fall, he could bleed to death.

The noise outside the Red Drawing Room was growing louder. What started as a mere rumbling in the lower quarters of the palace was now a roar. The soldiers were stationed right outside the door. "Be brave," her mother said as she gave each child a felt scapula, which bore a picture of Father Gregory, or as he was known, "Rasputin." And then Alexandra bellowed in a louder, stronger, more confident voice, "Long live the Tsar."

It might have been her statement that prompted the next action. The door burst open and a mob of soldiers, wearing white handkerchiefs around their wrists, stormed and surrounded the startled children. Alexis flew to his mother, who hugged him protectively. The girls stood paralyzed. Tatiana thought that this was a nightmare and she would soon wake up in bed with Olga, snoring beside her.

Except for the smell. The soldiers had a distinct odor. They reeked of perspiration, of cheap cologne, of tobacco, and of something else which quickened Tatiana's heart. Gunpowder.

"Empress Alexandria Romanov, you are hereby arrested for committing crimes against the people of the Soviet Russia." A soldier with a flat face, a bald head and a plump body was reading from a wrinkled, stained piece of paper.

To Tatiana's surprise her mother laughed. "Surely you jest, my good man. The Russians know that neither I nor my husband, Nicholas, has ever done anything but protect them. And, if you think for one moment, that you can forcibly remove me and my children from the Alexander Palace, you are sadly mistaken. Even if you have kept us prisoners in our own home for five long months. Do you really believe that we're just going to leave?"

Now the soldiers were laughing.

"If you didn't think you had to leave, why did you pack?" Another soldiers peered at her coldly through square glasses. He turned suddenly and noticed the dying fire. "And why did you burn all your personal papers?"

Alexandra did not answer the question. Perhaps she was thinking of the days, not long ago, where no one dare speak to a member of the Imperial family, unless he was spoken to first. She simply said, "The Russian people will not stand for this."

"Do you know why we are here?"

"To arrest us for nonsense crimes?" her mother snapped.

Another soldier stepped forward. Tatiana saw that this one had a kind face, round and ruddy with sad brown eyes. "It's to protect you, Your Majesty, to protect you and your children."

"I don't understand –"

"Well, then let me make it clearer for you." The first soldier spoke in a harsh, grating voice, like the wheels of a carriage rubbing against icy streets. "The Russian people want to hang you. They have formed an ugly mob. We, on the other hand, intend to follow the law of the Provisional Government."

"The law?" Alexandra said in a shocked, arrogant tone. "My husband, the Tsar, makes the laws."

"Not anymore. The Dumas make the laws now. And you and Nicholas will have a fair trial. In the meantime it is up to us to guide you out of the palace safely."

Alexandra huffed and took hold of Alexis' hand. The girls huddled together. Tatiana eyed Olga, but Olga's eyes were downcast and her body was rigid as she placed the scapula over her head.

"The children," another soldier stepped forward and instantly Tatiana did not like him. He was rather obese with jet black hair, streaming from his nostrils. "There is no reason why they, too, should be subjected to the same fate as their parents. We can keep them behind–" He leered at Marie's body and smiled at her with missing teeth. Then he licked his swollen lips.

Instantly Alexandra was on guard. "You will not take my children!"

"No, he will not," the kind soldier said. "They are to go with their parents."

"And where will that be?" Alexandra asked.

"You will find out soon enough." The soldier, who had eyed Marie, sulked.

"So it's happening," Alexis muttered. "They are finally making us go."

"You baggage is being carried to the railway station," one soldier said colorlessly. "Keep walking ahead, please." He raised his hand in a lazy gesture.

Alexandra and her five children stepped into the hall, down the long polished corridor, flanked by tall marble statures and portraits framed in solid gold. They passed beneath sparkling chandeliers, no longer lit, because the palace had been without electricity for days. The sapphire and silver brocade drapes were shut tight. Chests, suitcases and trunks lined the darkened hallway. Grumbling soldiers were lifting the baggage and hurling them out through the open front door.

Tatiana heard the scampering of feet behind her. She turned around and saw her little dog, Ortina, scrambling after them, his white tail wagging.

"Please, sir," she said to the soldier who had been so kind, "may I take my dog?"

"No dogs," the lewd soldier growled.

"He will be safer here," the kind soldier said.

Tatiana watched in horror as a tall soldier kicked Ortino in the ribs and Ortino fell to the wall, whimpering. Tatiana stopped but Olga, on one side and Anastasia on the other, jerked Tatiana forward.

Anastasia was crying.

Suddenly the buzz of conversation ceased. The soldiers moved to one side.

Tsar Nicholas Alexendrovich Romanov was calmly walking on the gleaming parquet floor. He might have been going to his study to meet an advisor or to the sitting room for his usual two cups of tea with his family.

He was carrying, in his arms, Anastasia's dog, a King Charles Spaniard called Jemmy. The soldiers gawked at him.

"Come, children," he said softly. "You'll see. They are taking us to someplace nice and quiet."

Tatiana, feeling faint, stumbled, and let out a screech before Marie and Olga rushed to help her. Alexandra exhaled a long breath of air as she tottered forward and Tatiana knew exactly what she was thinking – Thank God, it wasn't Alexis.

Tatiana hadn't felt a thing as she staggered upright, towering over her sisters. She was wearing a heavy coat and a velvet dress. Underneath, on the top of her corset, her mother had sewed a layer of jewels. Alexandra had suspected the worst and she had wanted to make certain that the Romanovs would not be penniless.

Tatiana hid sapphires, diamonds, emeralds and rubies. But her favorite stone was the fifteen caret tri–color tourmaline, with greens and blues and pinks, swirled together like a pastel watercolor painting.

Tatiana had no way of knowing that the stone would prevent her from dying.

While it changed the course of history.