All Chapters of Where Loyalties Lie: Chapter 71 - Chapter 80

Ursa’s grip on the hood of her cloak tightened as she hid around the corner of the hallway, watching the maids and guards bustling around late into the night. It was so very inconvenient that she had to sneak out while there were so many important people visiting the palace. That meant that the servants and the guards were working overtime, making it harder for Ursa to get out of the palace undetected. In truth, Ursa had not left the palace since the Temple, and she had not snuck out since Ivan’s last solo trip-- and she remembered how awful that ended up. As soon as the hallway cleared up, Ursa bolted from her hiding place and sprinted through the impressively long hallway. Ursa praised her own wisdom when she decided to throw on that peasant skirt she had previously worn when she escaped with Cecily. It was shorter than the aristocratic dresses, as it was more function than fashion.

Ursa had woken up the next day with a new resolve. She could not pick her brother’s side, because that would be enabling terrorism and nationalism. She couldn’t quite pick Ivan’s side either-- that would be condoning the murder of her brothers. Why did she have to choose a side? She either loses her brother or her husband. “What if I chose myself?” she mused aloud as Cecily and Emery were dressing her for court in the morning. It was one of the few sessions left before the New Year celebrations officially commenced. “What do you mean?” Emery asked. “If you were stuck between a rock and a hard place, what would you do?” Ursa asked.“Okay, okay… You’re not making any sense, even for

As expected, her father came to her chambers late in the afternoon, after Ursa had finished up her tea and snacks. She had planned to have a walk in the gardens before dinner, but her father made sure to ruin any hope of that.“What did you just pull in court?” he snapped. “Do you know what Lord Volkov just brought to me? This is the afternoon paper with all of the details of this morning’s court news! And in the political section, what do I find? ‘Empress Romanova Vasil Adds Last Minute Romanov Tradition to New Year’s Banquet: Explosive Cultural Precedent!’” he read. Ursa flicked her wrist that was code to Cecily and Emery to vacate the room. “It’s as you read, Father.” Ursa calmly put down the book she was in the middle of reading on the coffee table. Ursa knew that he would come to confr

Ivan watched from his window as the people of the capital funneled to the large square in the center of the city that stood right in front of the large terrace that was used to make important addresses to the people. Right at that moment, Ursa should be on her way to make her entrance, which Ivan will follow soon after. He had Ursa prepare the opening remarks much to Orlov’s dismay. The two had met alone while Ivan was busy and now they refused to speak to each other, leaving Ivan at a loss. Neither refused to speak about the meeting, so there was no way Ivan could mediate.It was an unusual position for him to be in, seeing as Orlov was usually the one to mediate any spats Ivan found himself tangled in, or Ursa if that particular spat was with Orlov. The door closed gently from behind Ivan, signaling the arrival of Orlov. He had sent a message earl

Both Orlov and Ivan knew the terrible truth. That this was an act of terrorism on behalf of the Romanov people, brought forth by the lost prince of the Romanovs himself. Now they were stuck between a rock and a hard place. If they exposed the crime for what it was, Ursa’s reputation would nose-dive. There would be calls for her to be deposed, exiled, or worse, executed. Not only that, but the ethnic tensions that Ursa had begun working to repair would be in shambles once more-- and perhaps be irreparable. The division between the Romanovs and the Vasils would be too great to fix, and the other smaller groups in the Empire would surely pick a side, and Orlov feared that it would not be theirs. This moment could very well be the twilight of this fledgling empi