Sixteen years at the court of the last tsar

Prologue

26th June 1916

Helsinki, the Baltic sea

“Helsinfors [Helsinki] is straight ahead of us. Misha, you can give the order.”

All officers stirred as the city’s lights came into view, highlighting the ink-black water ahead of them.

“Congratulations, Gentlemen.” Rear-admiral Antonov said, turning to his colleagues “We have reached land successfully.”

He was already pulling on his white gloves, thinking about the fact that in less than an hour he will finally see his young wife, who was waiting for him in their Helsinki apartment. He has been thinking about this night for weeks, and was now nearly blind with excitement when it was so close. You can not blame him for that, reader!  After half a year at sea, fighting battles, with only men to keep him company, every sailor needs a woman’s warmth.

Torpedo boat destroyer “Udaloy” was brought to an anchor, and its inhabitants descended the drawbridge:  commanders, officers and sailors were all dressed in their best, their straight posture showing extreme exhaustion, in their eyes still stood scenes from battles, but they were happy. They were happy to place their foot on a piece of land, they were happy to be alive. The ship gave out the last steam it had as the turbines stopped spinning. Everything became unusually quiet. The machines finally fell asleep. They were tired too.

Deep inside the destroyer, in the officer’s cabin, Dinov stood in front of a mirror, putting on his parade uniform. Behind him stood officer Michail Victorovich Taneev, a man of twenty years old, tall and very handsome.

“To tell you the truth, Misha [Michail], you sometimes seem desire less to me. I can’t believe that you do not seek the company of a woman now that we’ve come back from all the battles.” Dinov said as he buttoned up his jacket

Misha let out a breath and sat down in a wooden chair:

“No, my friend, I do not seek the company of a woman. I’ve tried it a few times, and it didn’t satisfy me at all. God only knows why. I guess it’s because I hardly knew, let alone loved, those women.”

Dinov grinned, turning to him.

“The woman you love is not always beside you, so one can do with a few others. It’s up to you, Taneev, but I am determined to not spend one more minute on this vessel. Good luck staying.” With that, he went out of the cabin, but turned back, peeking around the door “Oh, and by the way: if it doesn’t satisfy you, then I think you should visit the doctor.”

Both men burst out laughing, and Misha threw a book at his friend.  When he was gone, Officer Taneev spent a few more moments sitting at the desk, then stood up and headed for the deck, where sailors sat, talking and laughing loudly. They liked sleeping under the open sky in the summer,  and the commanders allowed them to do that.

Cool summer breeze met him the moment he placed his foot outside, and he breathed it in, exhaling to the dark sky which was lighted by thousands and thousands of stars. He soon sat with the sailors, joining their conversation. Here anyone could guess what they were talking about: women, of course. Oh yes, there was no getaway from this topic, for what else interests men when they are so far away from home?

“Why didn’t you go out with the other officers, Your Excellency?” Misha was asked

“I didn’t want to. I am not interested in all these giddy women. I… I am in love with another.” He answered

Someone immediately poured him a glass of some muddy liquid, and he instantly knew what that meant: they wanted to hear more about her.

“You drink some rubbish.” Misha frowned, passing the glass back, then continued while looking at the sky “She is beautiful. So clever and beautiful.”

He said that more to himself than to the people around him, but the men around him were interested in other details, therefore soon someone shouted:

“You had her?”

The officer nearly winced at the rude words:

“She is not a whore, idiots.”

“Ah, so is she a countess of some sort?”

“Higher.”

“A duchess?”

“Even higher.”

The sailors looked at each other and became quiet. Misha was quiet too.

 He sat, thinking about the beautiful girl he left in Petrograd.