15-year-old Hadassah Trichenberg knew Grigori Rasputin was nothing but trouble.
Sure she heard him claim to have the ability to alleviate the pain from young Alexei Romanov, but the boy had yet to be actually healed from the dreaded blood disease hemophilia. Seeing his weak and frail form broke her heart and made her hate the evil sorcerer more than she should. (She also shared that hatred with many members of the Imperial Court, all who wanted Rasputin to be banished from the palace. Yet none of them could approach the czarina and tell her how they felt about the wicked man, as she was adamant that he could heal her sick son.)
So, it was no surprise to many people that she plotted the downfall of her most hated rival. Yet, the Romanovs had no idea that Hadassah was plotting against Rasputin, as they believed that she was a pale and sickly girl who stayed in her bed for several weeks at a time. But what no one knew was that she knew a damning secret about Rasputin that he didn't try to hide.
Here's how that happened...
One day, Hadassah and Anastasia were playing with Alexei in the royal playroom when she heard the voices of the servants Annika Aksakova and Grusha Pudina as they were cleaning up the room next door. They were discussing something; the servants were prone to gossip whenever they believed no one was around to hear them, but that was a given. Hearing their voices, Hadassah crawled to the doorway and sat down, making sure to stay hidden. Annika said to Grusha, "It's so sad about Zinaida Sedelnikova, that poor thing."
"She doesn't deserve this," said Grusha as she folded the laundry. "She doesn't deserve that disgusting man's lustful attentions. Now she's saddled with a bastard and no husband to marry her."
"Although Galina is as adorable as most babies are, she'll never have a good life," said Annika as she put away the towels and blankets. "We all know that while that Leo Trichenberg cares for his daughter despite the fact that our Czar and Empress are raising her, Rasputin hasn't acknowledged Galina's existence. That poor little baby..."
"I know," said Grusha. "And it's a shame the Empress must never know of this. Who knows what she might do if she discovers that her faithful servant had fathered a bastard child?"1026Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrfv2596KDU
Hadassah had heard enough; she knew she had to inform her father of what she had heard. The thought that Rasputin would willingly force a mentally defective woman to bear his bastard daughter was too much for her. She smiled, knowing she had enough information to blackmail the wicked monk into leaving the palace for good.
She crawled away from the door and returned to the children, both of whom were curious about why Hadassah had stopped playing with them. "It's nothing, just the servants' idle gossip," she said when Anastasia asked, but Hadassah knew that keeping a secret about what the servants spoke of would cost the Romanovs everything...
*~*~*~*~*
"Are you sure about this, Hadassah?" said her older sister Emaria as they had tea in the royal gardens. Emaria had returned from a prolonged stay in Canada, where she had met with the Russian ambassador to discuss the problems Canada had with America. So far, neither country was willing to yield, but that's not part of this story.
"Affirmative," said Hadassah. "He cannot deny it, nor will he defy us."
"Indeed," said Emaria. "Our father must know about this immediately; it's a tool we need in order to destroy that vile man once and for all. Once the Imperial court hears of this travesty, Rasputin will be finished."
"And what about Galina?" said Hadassah. "She is an innocent baby whose only crime was being born to a horrible monster and an innocent disabled girl."
"Who's Galina?" said Alexandra as she came to join them. "Is it someone who lives in the palace?"
"Kind of," said Hadassah with a nervous smile on her face. She knew that the moment Alexandra found out the truth about Galina, her "friend" Rasputin's days were numbered...1026Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ53uNV6Yzab
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