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The Winter Palace – The Servant Wing
7:14 PM
When Emma had asked the young man in the hall for directions to Konstantin Antonovich’s
room she had received little more than a vague pointing gesture and a rude smirk. There was only
one reason, she supposed, that women living in her part of the palace came to visit men living in his,
and she wondered how many of the imperial women had indulged in flirtations with their dance
masters. Flirtations and perhaps more.
After a few more inquiries she finally found the room, but he did not answer her knock. The
door was actually a bit ajar, so she knocked again, waited, then pushed it open.
The room was as plain as a monk’s cell. A bed, table, cot, and chest of drawers. Two of those
drawers were pulled open and the bed was mussed. Emma noted how few personal possessions the
room held, and she looked especially for the red satin bag in which Konstantin carried his dance
shoes. They were his most prized possession, he had told her, ordered from the west when he had
begun his career within the Winter Palace and he only put them on at the last minute, just as they were
about to step onto the dance floor. The minute their lesson was complete, he likewise took them off.
It would not take long to search a room of this size. She pulled open the remaining two
drawers, threw back the blankets, looked under the bed. No red satin bag. With a sigh, Emma sat
down on the narrow cot and stared straight ahead at the wall.
If his dance shoes were gone, so was Konstantin.
The Halls of the Winter Palace
7:42 PM
Trevor’s thoughts raced even faster than his feet as he hurried up the steps leading to the
imperial suites. Rayley was helping Tom into the gypsy king costume, which had been retrieved that