WeWriWa—Joyless Christmas

Welcome back to Weekend Writing Warriors, a weekly Sunday hop where writers share 8 sentences from a book or WIP. I’m skipping ahead a little bit from last week, as Grand Duke Mikhail unsuccessfully implores 14-year-old Aleksey to get out of his melancholic state. He’s told his nephew how much everyone loves him and wants him to get better, that there are special presents under the tree for him, and that they were given a second chance for a reason. Mikhail was a prisoner too, but he recovered his nerves and started a new leaf after his rescue.

Grand Duke Mikhail with his wife Natalya (created Countess Brasova) and their only child, Georgiy (created Count Brasov), named after Mikhail’s brother who died in 1899 of tuberculosis combined with a motorcycle accident

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Alekséy looked away from Natálya and Geórgiy walking in the hall outside. “You were luckier than I was.  You got to be reunited with your wife and son.  I’ll never see my parents again, and I’ll have to live the rest of my life with the memory of that night in the cellar.”

“Your parents would want you to be brave and strong when they’re gone.  You’ve already been so brave and courageous since becoming orphaned.  I’m really proud of how you’re growing up, becoming a more mature young man instead of some pampered little tsesarévich.  Just look at how much healthier you look now than you did just a few years ago.”

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Tsesarevich, as I only found out fairly recently, is the proper word for a Tsar’s firstborn son and heir, even though Tsarevich is more commonly used in the English-speaking world. Tsarevich isn’t technically incorrect, but from 1797 on, Tsesarevich became the proper legal title, and Tsarevich just referred to any son of a Tsar.