Winter Sun: Chap 9

You woke up to someone shaking your shoulder.

"дорогой, time to get off." your mother said quietly.

You nodded and stood up. You yawned and stretched. Everyone else was as groggy as you. You grabbed your things and made your way off of the train. You breathed in the fresh afternoon air.

"Wait until I tell Niko about the damn riots! He'll laugh for sure!" your Papa ranted as you all made your way out of the train station.

You made it out onto the street and you and Alisa froze. Bilinski. He was standing there, as if waiting for you. Everyone else but you, Alisa, Alexey, and Bilinski moved. Your parents and Babushka looked back to see what was going on.

"Hello, Doll." Bilinski said with a grin. You stopped breathing from shock and fear.

Alisa was tugging on your coat sleeve as if asking, What is he doing here?

"You all made a big mistake leaving the Palace. Don't you know that all of the employees of the Tsar are wanted for questioning? Everyone knows that they could hold important information." he said casually as he stepped forward.

You glared at him. "We hold no information that could help you; unless you want to know what type of silk the Duchesses liked to wear." you said curtly.

Bilinski chuckled with no humor. "Take them in for questioning." he said. Soldiers appeared out of nowhere and grabbed you.

"Солнышко!" your Papa yelled before going into a coughing fit. You flinched as a soldier roughly pulled your arm.

"Papa! Don't fight!" you tried to say sternly.

Your mother and Babushka were looking at the scene in dismay. There was nothing your family could do against the soldiers with guns. You knew your Papa would be doomed if he tried to fight back. Your Papa moved to do something and you glared at him and shook your head. You were all shoved into the back of Bilinski's car. You looked out of the rear window at your family. Your Papa was kneeling on the ground in a coughing fit. You held back tears. You hoped this wasn't the last time you would see them.

********

You rode for about an hour before you stopped at what looked like a military camp. Tents were pitched up all over the place. The soldiers pulled you out of the car and pushed you toward a tent set away from the rest of the group. Bilinski put up a hand to stop the soldiers. You and Alisa looked at each other. What was going to happen? Bilinski pointed at you.

"Just her for now."

You couldn't breathe. Fear gripped you. The soldier pushed you into the tent after Bilinski. You tried to look at Alisa and Alexey before the tent flap closed. You looked around the tent. There was a desk and a rug covered the ground. There was a shelf of books in one corner and a chair in the other.

Bilinski sat at the desk. He folded his hands and waved the soldier away. You clenched your fists into your coat. You ground your teeth together. The soldier walked out, leaving you and Bilinski alone.

"I'll make this quick devushka, I've been ordered to find all of the employees who escaped from the palace because of one little thing." he growled.

He stood up and put his hands on the desk and he leaned on them. "And that little thing, devushka, is a paper with a list of names. It wasn't in the palace after that night and we desperately need it to help Mother Russia."

He paused and walked from behind the desk. You tried to keep your face as stoic as you could.

He leaned in close. You could smell the vodka on his breath.

"Now, do you know where that paper is, devushka?" he said quietly.

You could hear the threat in his voice. You gulped and frowned. You had to be strong now.

"I have no idea what you're talking about. I just cleaned the Grand Duchesses rooms and laundry. I was never near Tsar Nicholas' things."

"So, you were never near Nicholas' things?" he asked.

You nodded. He roughly grabbed your chin. "You're not lying are you?"

You just glared at him. He never got the opportunity to touch you again back at the palace and his touch was kind of scaring you.

"No." you growled.

Bilinski tilted your head up. "You really are a pretty devushka, no wonder Braginski liked you so much."

He brought his face really close to yours again. You scrunched up your nose as the smell of vodka and tobacco came off of him. He leaned in closer and you tried to push him away.

"Devushka, you forget, I have the key to everything right now. I could have you and your family arrested for treason. I could also control where Braginski is put on the battlefield." he said with a smirk.

Your heart dropped. "What?" you managed to get out.

Bilinski's smirk got bigger.

"You don't get it do you? You and your friends escaped that night. Don't you know how suspicious that is?" he asked.

His grip on your chin tightened. "And who knows, you might have something important of the Tsarina's." he said as he reached into his pocket and pulled out some papers.

You looked at them and your breath got caught in your throat. Alexandra's paperwork was never touched by her maids. This was the first time you've seen them close up. You read a few sentences and you realized that they were actually important letters. He made you look at him.

"Don't you see how easily I can say that you stole these?" He leaned in closer. "So, devushka, I would suggest not fighting back."

He leaned in closer and you resisted the urge to say something that could get you killed.

"Sir?" a voice from outside said.

Bilinski looked toward the tent flap and he sighed.

"You got off easy this time devushka." he said as he let you go.

You tried to keep your breathing even. He went over to the tent flap and he opened it. A young soldier was outside.

"Send in the next one." Bilinski ordered.

The soldier grabbed you and pulled you outside. He shoved you back toward your friends and he grabbed Alisa.

"Don't fight Alisa!" you said quickly before she was shoved into the tent.

"What did he want?" Alexey asked out of the corner of his mouth.

You frowned. "They think we stole some important papers from the Tsar the night we escaped. They are supposedly important for Russia." you replied with a frown.

You tried to stop your hands from trembling. Alexey's face fell.

"Yes Alexey, we won't be let go for a while." you said quietly.

Alisa was pushed out of the tent and Alexey was pulled in. Alisa put her face in her hands and she cried quietly. You wrapped your arms around her and you stood like that until Alexey was led out. You all were shoved to another tent.

There were three blankets on the floor. Alisa and Alexey sat down on the ground and wrapped the blankets around themselves. You took the last one and wrapped it around your shoulders and you paced. What would Vonya do, you wondered. You shook the thought away. Ivan wasn't here and he isn't going to be able to save you from this. You had to work on your own for this one. You peeked out of the small slit in the tent flap. A soldier was standing guard outside.

"Now what?" Alisa asked. She clutched to Alexey's arm. Alexey frowned.

"Well, escape isn't an option. We just have to wait." he said. Alisa frowned at him.

"He's doing this to get back at Braginski. I know it!" she looked at you, "He talked to you the longest! His intentions are not good at all!"

You nodded and waved the comment away. "I know Alisa. We just have to wait for the real interrogators to come and then we can leave." you said.

Alexey snorted. "Yeah, but before that Bilinski is going to try more than interrogate!" he said.

You sighed and sat down on the ground. "Well, we can't do anything about that. Let's just get some rest." you said wearily.

You were actually pretty tired. The others nodded and you all laid down on the cold ground.

You fell into another dreamless sleep.

*******

You were held in Bilinski's 'camp' for about three days. They didn't feed you or give you water and you were forced to sleep in the tent. Two different interrogators came in and they questioned you all. At the end of the third day, you, Alisa, and Alexey were laying down. You clutched your stomach as another wave of hunger overtook you. Your mouth felt parched and you were exhausted. You were about to fall asleep again when Bilinski stormed into the tent.

"I know you bastards are lying! Where are the papers?!" he snarled.

You all sat up. This wasn't the first time he did this. The interrogators behind him were shaking their heads.

"General, they don't have them. Let them go." one of them said.

Bilinski turned around and glared at him. He looked back at you and he roughly grabbed your arm and pulled you up.

"I know you have them!" he growled.

You glared at his hand holding your arm. You knew you were going to have bruises.

Then you glared up at him. You were sick and tired of this. You spat in his face.

"Вы сука!" he snarled.

He dragged you out of the tent threw you to the ground. You glared at him.

"I don't have any damn papers General!" you snarled back.

A crowd started to form around you. All of the men looked either uncomfortable or excited. Bilinski moved to kick you. You curled into a ball and squeezed your eyes shut and you tensed up, ready for the impact.

"General!" a familiar voice shouted. You opened your eyes and looked up and your heart leapt with joy.

Dimitri, your brother, was standing among the men.

He strode forward. You barely recognized him. His dark hair was the same but he seemed leaner, tougher, and stronger in his officer's uniform. He saluted to Bilinski.

"I have news from General Braginski sir. The culprits were found and the search has ended. You have to let the prisoners go."

You could hear the ice in his tone. Bilinski's expression went blank. Dimitri helped you up and brushed you off. He took out an envelope and handed it to you quickly before he pulled out a piece of paper.

"Now, a message from General Braginski." he said as he handed Bilinski another envelope.

Bilinski snatched the letter and he opened it. Dimitri led you over to the tent and he led Alisa and Alexey out.

You looked back at Bilinski. His face was pale. You looked back at Dimitri. He had a smirk on his face.

"Well, General, I think you know what that means."

Bilinski looked at your brother in shock. Dimitri lashed out and his fist connected with the general's jaw.

"That is compliments from General Braginski." he said before leading you and your friends away.

Dimitri kept the soldier act up as he led you to a car. He motioned for you to get in the passenger side seat and for Alisa and Alexey to get in the back. He got in and started to drive away.

You held back a squeal of joy as you hugged your brother.

"Dima! I missed you!" you said as he chuckled and wrapped his arm around you before paying attention to the road again.

"I missed you too сестра." he said with a smile.

Alexey put his head up in the front. "I hate to break up the family reunion but, can you explain what the hell is going on?" he asked.

Dimitri frowned and said, "Well, Bilinski was ordered to find all of the employees to search for the papers. He and his company are good at that. Turns out that the papers were actually very well hidden in Nicholas' office, the search was called off. Too bad that you can't get telegraph the bastards out here."

"And why did you hit Bilinski? Not that I minded!" Alisa laughed.

Dimitri smirked. "Well, I met that ublydok a month ago. Didn't like him. Ivan looked like he wanted to kill him. So, he gave me a letter giving me permission to hit Bilinski if things in his camp were out of hand. I am almost the same rank as him and all." he said.

You rolled your eyes. Of course Ivan wouldn't miss out on this chance. Dimitri looked at you out of the corner of his eye.

"And he told me about what happened at the palace. I wanted to cut Bilinski's throat after that!" he growled.

You lightly punched his arm and sighed. He and Ivan were cut from the same cloth.

"So, what now Dima?" you asked.

He looked at you and sighed before turning back to the road.

"Let's get back to Mama and Papa first. They must be worried out of their minds."

You sighed and decided to drop it. When Dima didn't want to talk about something he wasn't going to talk about it. You got the envelope he gave you out of your pocket and you ripped it open. You opened the letter and started to read:

Podsolnechnik,

This letter is going to be short and sweet like the one I left with your Mama. I know that one of two things could have happened as this letter was given. I hope it's the first thing; that you're safe in your Uncle's house in front of the stove and smiling with your family. Or, it could be that you are being led out of a makeshift military camp that Bilinski sets up to interrogate his prisoners. I can't tell you how I felt when I heard the order to capture all of the former employees. I sent Dimitri out with some furlough right away.

How are you Podsolnechnik? Are you fine? Are you happy? Your letters are music and light for my heart and I hope the melody and the light never changes.

Yours forever,

Vonya

You smiled and kissed the signature at the bottom before putting the letter back in the envelope.

"What did he say?" Dimitri asked.

You looked back at Alexey and Alisa. They were asleep.

"Just a small letter. He just asked how I was doing."

Dimitri frowned. "That reminds me. I want to talk about you and him." he said.

You looked at him and rolled your eyes. "Dima, Papa and Mama approve and-"

"I want to talk to you about it though. Lets wait until we get back to the house though." he said.

You opened your mouth to protest but his scowl cut you off. You sighed. The only things you and your brother had in common were your temper and eyes.

You closed your eyes and you fell asleep.

You opened your eyes. You sighed. You knew that this was another dream. You looked around. You were laying down in a big meadow. You sat up and stretched. A small creek was nearby. Ivan was sitting on a rock next to it with his feet in the water. He turned and smiled at you.

"Privet Podsolnechnik."

You ran over to him and you wrapped your arms around his neck from behind. He placed a big hand over yours and he sighed. You nuzzled your face into his neck. You loved how he smelled.

"Vonya?"

"Hm?"

"You'll come back to me right?" His grip on your hands tightened.

"Of course Podsolnechnik. I'll always come back."

You held back tears as you kissed the skin below his ear.

You woke up and looked out at the stars for hope.