Anastasia Romanov: The Last Grand Duchess #10 Read Free Page B

Phinneas Pickworth to worry about his children going to Imperial Russia.
    â€œSo Nicholas and Alexandra had a son?” Felix asked. “Why didn’t he want to become Tsar after his father?”
    Alex quickly translated Felix’s question for his grandmother.
    Her face creased with sadness, and she dabbed at her eyes with a lace-edged handkerchief.
    Babushka shook her head and spoke for some time before Alex interpreted.
    â€œThey actually had five children,” he said. “In Russia, back then, when the Empress had a baby, everyone waited to count the number of shots from the cannon at Peter and Paul Fortress in St. Petersburg. One hundred and one shots from the cannon meant a girl was born. That happened four times.”
    â€œOh!” Felix said between chews of another
blini
. “So they had four daughters?”
    â€œOlga, Tatiana, Maria, and Anastasia,” Alex said. “And then, in 1904, the cannon boomed three hundred times.”
    â€œA boy,” Maisie said.
    Alex nodded. “His Imperial Highness Alexei Nikolaevich, Sovereign Heir Tsarevich, Grand Duke of Russia.”
    â€œPhew!” Maisie said, letting out a long whistle. “That’s a mouthful.”
    â€œBetter known as Alexei—” Alex began, but his grandmother interrupted him.
    He listened and nodded.
    â€œAfter the second Tsar, Alexei, the Gentle,” he translated for her.
    He added, “How ironic.”
    Maisie waited for more of an explanation, but Alex was once again listening to his grandmother.
    â€œWhen the Tsarevich would appear in public, the people of Russia went wild. Of course they wanted to glimpse him, especially because he was kept at home most of the time,” Alex finally said.
    â€œTo protect him?” Felix asked.
    Alex glanced over at Maisie. “You are interested in Imperial Russia,” he said. “Why don’t you explain to Felix?”
    â€œExplain?” Maisie stalled.
    â€œTell him why the Tsarevich was overprotected,” Alex prodded.
    â€œBecause he was . . . the Tsarevich . . . ,” Maisie stammered.
    â€œI don’t know why you say you have a fascination with Russia when you don’t know anything about it!” Alex said, laughing.
    He turned serious as soon as Babushka shot him a warning look. Alex apologized to her in Russian, explaining what he was laughing at.
    But he quickly turned serious when he told Maisie and Felix why the Tsarevich was so over- protected.
    â€œHemophilia,” he said, his voice somber.
    â€œA blood disease?” Felix guessed. They’d had
hemo
on a prefix quiz last week.
    Alex nodded. “A genetic one, passed on through females. His mother was a carrier.”
    â€œWhat does it do?” Maisie asked. “This hemo—”
    â€œHemophilia,” Alex said again. “It’s a rare bleeding disorder that prevents the blood from clotting properly.”
    â€œYou mean if he got a scratch or cut, his blood wouldn’t clot?” Maisie asked.
    â€œAnd he’d bleed to death?” Felix added, horrified.
    â€œMinor things like that wouldn’t kill him, no. But bruises, joint injuries, that kind of thing can cause internal bleeding, terrible pain, and sometimes even death.”
    â€œYou really are an expert on everything,” Felix said admiringly.
    Alex’s face turned grim.
    â€œSadly, in this case that’s true, Felix,” he said. “You see, I’m an expert on hemophilia because I have it, too.”
    Felix gaped at Alex. How could a kid from school have something so serious?
    â€œI know. It’s weird,” Alex said as if he’d read Felix’s mind.
    Embarrassed, Felix mumbled, “No, no . . .”
    â€œIronically,” Alex said ruefully, “hemophilia is called the royal disease. Queen Victoria was a carrier.”
    â€œWhy do you say ‘ironically,’ Alex?” Maisie asked,