All of its trappings, hangings, ornamentations, anything that could be carried out, was gone. Some men were standing in the middle of the madness, the butts of their rifles dragging on the ground, as they wept at the finery.
They had starved for so long, the idea that this had been just beyond their reach for decades pushed them to tears.
People were calling out to one another, emerging and disappearing into rooms, each of them crying out for the Tsar. Apparently, he had yet to be found.
There was a massive shattering sound — the sound of a thousand stained glass windows breaking at once — coming from the ballroom.
The ground shook as a sweeping shockwave went through the palace. Anything that was remaining on the walls came tumbling down, Mikhail dodging to avoid a crashing curtain rod.
Anya!Mikhail’s heart jumped. He knew the feeling of her magic as it ripped through the palace. He went running through the halls, tracing their steps towards the ballroom.
As he rounded the corner, he saw that the doors to the ballroom were standing wide open. There was smoke pouring out, a few boyars in various stages of undress running out of the room. Mikhail ran against the tide of the crowd, sweeping into the ballroom.
His heart leaped at the sight of her. She was standing in the very center of the room, magic flooding out from her fingers while a barrage of guardsmen aimed their rifles at her from the perimeter of the room, none of them firing. They seemed to be repeatedly trying to get them to load.
The glass windows all around the ceiling shattered, leaving the room a minefield of glass shards.
Mikhail barely noticed them as relief flooded his body. Anastasia was alive. Not only was she alive, she wasfighting.
She had freed herself. The chains that he had watched the Tsar put on her were gone. She didn’t even seem winded now, the sparks and golden elixir of power circulating her like a personal ecosystem. And she waslaughing.
Her hair was wild, tossed out behind her, barefoot on the shards of glass below her.
She’s magnificent when she’s burning.One of the first things that Mikhail had ever thought came rushing back to him. As he gripped the banister of the balcony overlooking the scene, a quick movement caught his eye.
He turned and saw one of her father’s most trusteddvoryanstvossneak up quietly behind Anastasia — a blade glinting in his hands. He was only a few feet from her as she was dangerously distracted, keeping all of the guardsmen’s rifles from being able to fire.
“Anya!”Mikhail’s voice rang out through the ballroom, echoing off the walls, sounding as clear as a bell. Anastasia whipped around to find his face, the spinning motion causing her magic to flick around her.
The offending rifles were all ripped from the soldier’s grips and tossed haphazardly onto the floor. Her eyes caught Mikhail’s and she gasped, her face lighting up brighter than the golden magic exuding from all around her.
She was only distracted for a moment as she caught sight of thedvoryanstvoin front of her, the blade raised and ready to drive into her heart.
Anastasia laughed — shelaughed— and Mikhail rejoiced at the sound. It took a single flick of her fingers and the knife went hurtling towards the edge of the room.
With a second twist of her wrist, its wielder followed. Anastasia turned and picked up her skirts, running haphazardly across the ballroom towards Mikhail.
He turned and started running down the steps as she leaped up stairs, taking them two at a time. They crashed into each other like two great forces, colliding in the center of the grand staircase.
They sank to the floor, unable to keep their grasps off of one another. Anastasia ran her hands over Mikhail’s bare chest, as gently as she could, tears springing to her eyes.
“You’re barefoot! The glass!” Mikhail scolded, his eyes pouring over her to check for any injury. She didn’t let him.
“You’re shirtless… why are you shirtless?” Anastasia’s brow furrowed in confusion; she struggled with the emotions that were pouring out of her.
Mikhail couldn’t help but laugh, the strength of his mirth making his head drop back. “That’s the question you have right now?”
“I’m not complaining. It’s just curious.”
Mikhail leaned forward, wrapping his arms tighter around Anastasia and kissing her as though they had all the time in the world.
Anastasia made a soft noise that nearly set him ablaze as she sank into him. After a moment, pausing to catch their breath, he smiled.
“I didn’t have time to stop and change.” The situation settled over Anastasia and her eyes fluttered, tears suddenly threatening to spill down her cheeks.
“Oh god, oh God, Mikhail, Isaw you,”the smile evaporated from her face as she began to cry. “You were dead!”
Mikhail let her hands roam their fill as he reached up to cup her face gently. He only winced slightly as she traced the fresh wounds, the scars that had been reopened. She needed to feel, totouch,to know that he was real. His thumbs moved gently across her cheeks as he wiped the tears away.
