NOVEL WEB Chapter 23: Anastasia (Part 2)
July 16, 1918, 11:00 PM
The rescue operation began.
"The enemy is breaking in!"
Ruslan and his team first breached the eastern gate, then used explosives to destroy the front entrance and stormed inside.
The building where the Romanov family was being held, the Ipatiev House, was a large structure with nearly 100 rooms. However, thanks to information from an insider, Ruslan and his team knew the layout of the building and the locations of the family's bedrooms.
"Is it the White Army? Damn it! We need to carry out the execution now! Move the family to the basement!"
Yurovsky, the commander of the Ipatiev House, ordered the family to be taken to the basement for execution. While they could have been killed in their rooms, moving them to the basement was part of the execution plan. The Party's "plan" was absolute.
"Nicholas! Get up and move to the basement! Bring your family! Radicals are shouting 'Kill the Tsar!' and breaking in. We can't let you die before the trial is over."
With those words, the Romanov family was herded into the basement.
Amidst the gunfire, Ruslan and his team managed to advance about ten meters from the front entrance. According to prior intelligence, there were 25 guards stationed at the house at night. With 19 men, they had a fighting chance, but ensuring the family's escape would be difficult. They couldn't afford to take heavy losses now, but hesitation could mean the execution would be carried out.
As Ruslan was thinking this, he caught sight of them.
"Your Majesty! Your Highness!"
At the far end of the hallway, near the stairs leading to the basement, he saw Tsar Nicholas II, his family, and Anastasia, to whom Ruslan had pledged his unwavering loyalty.
However, the distance of over 20 meters and the deafening gunfire meant his voice didn't reach them.
"Second Guard Unit, follow me! Secure the basement. First Unit, cover us! Hold this position at all costs! I will bring the imperial family back!"
Ruslan led his men in a charge.
"Uooooohhh!!"
They roared as they ran.
"Is everyone here? Line up against the wall."
In the basement, Yurovsky ordered the Romanov family, along with their maid and servants—eleven people in total—to stand against the wall.
"What is this? What's going on?"
Nicholas II asked Yurovsky suspiciously, but Yurovsky didn't answer. Instead, he raised his pistol and aimed it at the family. His six subordinates did the same.
"Stop! Don't point your guns at the children!"
Empress Alexandra screamed, shielding her youngest son, Alexei, and Anastasia.
At the same moment, Yurovsky and his men pulled their triggers.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
The executioners emptied their pistols, then paused to assess the situation.
Nicholas II and Empress Alexandra appeared to have been killed instantly, with bullets to their heads and faces.
"Mother! Mother! Waaaaahhh!"
The eldest daughter, Olga, and the second daughter, Tatiana, were severely wounded but still alive, clinging to their mother's lifeless body and screaming. The third daughter, Maria, though shot in the leg, struggled to her feet and began to stagger away.
Yurovsky's men stabbed Maria in the abdomen with a bayonet. The blade struck near her ribs but was deflected by jewels sewn into her undergarments. Maria collapsed to the floor but continued to crawl away.
"Please... stop..."
Maria pleaded with her last ounce of strength, but her pleas fell on deaf ears.
A soldier who had finished reloading his pistol approached Maria, pressed the gun to her head, and fired.
Olga and Tatiana, who had been screaming, fell silent after a single gunshot each.
Anastasia and Alexei were buried under the bodies of Empress Alexandra, their maid, and their doctor, making it difficult to confirm their condition. As Yurovsky moved to check, a deafening explosion rocked the room.
Boom!!
The basement door was blown open. It was a rough entry, but Ruslan and his team were desperate.
Yurovsky's men, who had been standing guard at the door, were blown back by the blast. Ruslan and four of his men stormed in.
"Your Majesty! Your Highness!"
But what they saw was...
"No... Are we too late? Did we not make it in time? Your Highness... Anastasia..."
The other members of Ruslan's team were holding the entrance, so the gunfire sounded distant.
Ruslan rushed to the family to check for survivors.
"Ruslan...?"
A faint voice came from beneath Empress Alexandra's body.
"Your Highness!"
"Ah, Ruslan... it's you..."
"Your Highness! Your Highness!"
Anastasia, shielded by the bodies of her mother and others, had been spared from the blast and her eardrums were intact.
Ruslan pulled Anastasia close and embraced her. At least the one to whom he had pledged his loyalty was still alive. Ruslan thanked God for this small mercy.
"Your Highness, I'm so sorry. I was too late."
"What about the others? My sisters... Alexei..."
Ruslan checked Alexei, who was also buried under Empress Alexandra's body, but he had been shot multiple times and was already dead. The rest of the family... they were gone too.
"Your Highness... I'm sorry, but..."
"Oh..."
"Your Highness, come with me! Our comrades are waiting outside."
"Ruslan, it's okay... You should go without me... My sisters, my father, my mother... they're all gone... I want to stay here with them... I don't want to live anymore..."
"What are you saying, Your Highness! Empress Alexandra shielded you and Alexei with her own body. She gave her life so that you could live! If you die here, her sacrifice will have been for nothing! You must survive, Your Highness! Please, get up!"
"Ruslan... I'm no longer a grand duchess... I'm just a prisoner... Even so, you..."
"Yes, my loyalty is and always will be yours alone."
"Alright, Ruslan... Let's... survive together..."
Anastasia clung tightly to Ruslan. Her left arm, wounded by a bullet, was bleeding.
As Ruslan and Anastasia left the basement, Yurovsky and his men began to stir. Their eardrums may have been damaged by the explosion, as they seemed unable to hear. Nevertheless, Yurovsky ordered his men to pursue the escapees.
Ruslan and his team, with Anastasia at their center, exited the building. Eleven of their comrades had already fallen.
They ran toward the eastern gate. About 300 meters beyond the gate, in a forest, they had hidden a carriage. If they could reach it, their chances of escape would increase significantly.
"Enemies!"
Three enemy soldiers fired rifles from the eastern gate. Their shots were erratic, likely due to panic.
Ruslan fired his pistol but ran out of ammunition after two shots. He had no spare bullets.
Ruslan discarded his pistol, drew his bayonet, and charged at the enemy. The enemy fired, but they couldn't stop Ruslan's assault.
In moments, Ruslan had incapacitated all three.
"Come, Your Highness, hurry!"
Ruslan and his team reached the forest where the carriage was hidden. There, they found a large two-horse carriage and one additional horse. The rest of the team boarded the carriage and sped off.
Ruslan helped Anastasia onto the horse, then mounted it himself.
Originally, the plan had been to have the Tsar ride the horse while the rest of the family took the carriage. At worst, they would have saved only the Tsar. But now, with only Anastasia rescued, Ruslan decided to use the carriage as a decoy while he and Anastasia escaped on the faster horse.
"Your Highness, how is your arm?"
"It's a bit warm, but it doesn't hurt too much. What about you, Ruslan?"
"I'm fine, Your Highness. I'm your knight. I'm invincible."
The night made it difficult to ride at full speed, but there seemed to be no pursuers. After traveling about ten kilometers, they reached a deserted house.
"Yankovsky! Thank goodness!"
An elderly man emerged from the house. It was Antonin Rubanov, who had long served as the Tsar's attendant.
"Rubanov, I've brought Her Highness Anastasia."
"...And the others?"
"I'm sorry. We were too late."
"I see..."
"We'll talk later. We need to switch to the carriage. We must reach the safe house by dawn."
They switched to the carriage, with Rubanov driving and Ruslan and Anastasia sitting inside.
"Your Highness, I'm so sorry. If only we had been faster..."
"It's alright, Ruslan. The guards were so strict. And Father said, 'If they've kept us imprisoned this long, perhaps the revolutionaries don't intend to kill us.' But things changed."
"Yes... We believed that, at the very least, you and your sisters would be acquitted at trial. That belief delayed our rescue. I have no excuse... Ugh..."
"Ruslan, what's wrong? Ruslan?"
Anastasia pulled Ruslan close. In the darkness, she couldn't see clearly, but she felt the warm, sticky blood flowing from Ruslan's abdomen and back.
"Ruslan, you're... Rubanov! Stop the carriage!"
Rubanov stopped the carriage and entered the passenger compartment.
"Yankovsky..."
"Rubanov, don't stop... We must get Her Highness to the safe house by dawn... Don't worry about me."
Ruslan's voice was weak.
"Your Highness... I've failed you at the very end... I can no longer serve you... Forgive me... It seems my journey ends here..."
"No... Ruslan... No... Please..."
Ruslan, his hand slick with blood, grasped Anastasia's hand. But there was no strength left in his grip.
"Your Highness... Across the country... the revolutionary government is oppressing the people... They're taking food from the villages... In the past year and a half... I've seen so many people starve to death... The White Army doesn't care about the people either... Your Highness... You're the only one who can save this country... Please, Your Highness... Save our homeland..."
"Ruslan! Open your eyes! Please! This is an order! Ruslan! Ruslan!"
Ruslan lost consciousness.
By the time they reached the safe house, Ruslan's heart had stopped. In his fading moments, Ruslan had asked Anastasia to save the country.
Those words would profoundly change Anastasia's life—and the course of history.
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A/N: Thank you for reading Chapter 23!
In this version of history, Anastasia survives! How will she influence the story?
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