Saving the Romanov family #15

ГА РФ. Ф. 683. Оп. 1. Д. 125. № 414

Murmansk, August 1918

The rescue party was forewarned of the Finnish Legion at the train station. Igor and I awaited their arrival while also keeping a watchful eye on the legionnaires. It took my companions days to find every Romanov relative. Anyone they could not locate was either in the Crimea or had already escaped Russia. My companions said Petrograd was a hellhole. They had to incite a mass prison break at Spalernaia prison as a diversion in order to rescue the four grand dukes incarcerated there.

There are over 40 refugees now. More Romanov relatives than I thought, a few of them accompanied by their own loyal staff. The Konstantinovich family is by far the largest. Elizabeth Mavrikievna, her brother-in-law Dmitry, two daughters-in-law, seven children and four grandchildren are present. Vladimir Paley's parents, two sisters and two of Sergei Mikhailovich's brothers are also present. Any more relatives and I'll have to create a list.

The new arrivals were warned about the flu pandemic and advised to practice good hygiene. The Romanov family busied themselves by helping their relatives settle into temporary accommodations. Paul Alexandrovich is in very poor health and is being looked after by his wife Olga Paley with some help from Dr Botkin. Not all the relatives seem happy to be here. Some of them are still bitter towards Nicholas and Alexandra for their association with Rasputin. Olga is devoted to her father and it saddens her to see so much scorn for him.

I gave everyone the ill news that the British squadron will not evacuate us. We've ruled out going back to Arkhangelsk as getting a ride on one of the Allied troopships runs the risk of catching the virus. It's been days and we should've received word that the king had sent a ship by now. Can't afford to wait anymore. I didn't tell the refugees what I plan to do next, only that I'll be leaving Murmansk for a while. They'll probably think I'm insane if I told them. Geralt has volunteered to go with me as he doesn't want to babysit the refugees.

After leaving instructions with Aragorn and Chief, Geralt and I stocked up on supplies before heading out. OTMA saw us leaving and thought we were embarking on another rescue mission. They wished us luck. I left Cisco behind to give the grand duchesses some company. For now the Romanovs will continue to live in Russia, but they are not out of danger yet.