Russia was falling to pieces.

And better yet, your mother was in mourning and had come to your room to check on all your younger siblings, who had gotten measles, of which you hadn’t caught. There were riots and protests everywhere, Russia needed the government to take action and no one was doing anything about it. The world around the Romanovs was collapsing, and the rest of you had to get out. But Alexandra said it was just silly, that the guards could handle it. But then they turned against you all, and Alexandra went to send a telegram to your father; when you told her desperately that they needed to leave.

“We don’t have to-”