Chapter Text
“Do you think someone in St. Petersburg can get us out?” Rita asked as she and Juno walked along the long road to the city.
“Probably, you never know what's happening in that city.” Rita was skipping up ahead of him and she stopped dead in her tracks and gasped dramatically.
“We should go look at the palace!”
“Rita-” She took Juno’s hands and dragged him as she started to run.
“It would be so fun, boss!”
“I thought I told you to stop calling me that.” They spent the rest of the three-hour walk with Rita talking Juno’s ear off.
When they arrived in the city proper they were amazed, Juno tried to pretend he wasn’t impressed. They’d never seen a city so big, they lived their entire lives in a small orphanage in a small town. Juno was sick of it. Rita kept trying to covertly ask people for a way out of Russia, she wasn’t covert. When she finally found someone willing to talk to her for more than one second she was told to go to the old palace and ask for Nureyev. She turned to Juno with the biggest grin on her face.
“No.”
“But boss .”
“I’m not your boss and we aren’t going to the palace, we’ll be killed…” Juno paused. “On second thought, sure let’s go.” Rita ran all the way to the palace, for someone who had never been to St. Petersburg she sure seemed to know her way around. When asked about it she said,
“Maps are really helpful ya know, you should look at one someday.”
“They’re confusing and don’t make any sense and you know it. Like what if you turn?”
“Then you turn the map…”
“Shut up.” She did end up dragging Juno to the palace and in she went. She pried the boards off a window and climbed inside.
“Don’t you think there's a door that isn’t boarded up somewhere in this place?”
“Oh sure, it’s just no fun doing it that way, boss.”
“I’m not your- whatever.” Juno followed her into the old abandoned palace. As soon as he got in through the window he couldn’t find her. “Rita? How the hell did you disappear so fast?” He heard a crash and a yelp and that was probably Rita, right? Who else would have cause to be in the palace.
“Boss! You’re not gonna believe this!” Definitely Rita. He followed the sound and found Rita standing in front of an obscenely large portrait of the royal family, or what was once the royal family.
“How many damn times do I have to tell you I’m not yo-”
“This kid looks just like you. I think he was a princess?”
“Rita what are you-” She pointed at the twin princesses. Juno still didn’t know which was older or who was the crown princess try as he might, after all it’s not easy to learn about the czar and his family when they were violently overthrown.
“Which one are you pointing to, there are two princesses.” Looking at the empress and her children made Juno feel sick, he couldn’t explain why. Something about her eyes felt like a bad dream.
“The one on the left… or is that the right?”
“No, no, you’re right that’s the left.” He looked at the young princess, he couldn’t have been more ten years old. Juno couldn’t imagine sitting for a portrait at ten years old. He was staring at the other princess, the one with a hint of a smirk on his painted face and his hand in his brother’s. Juno couldn’t put his finger on it but looking at the boy felt like home. He couldn’t explain it and had no reason to feel this way about a boy who fled, but something about him was familiar. He told himself it was just from the revolution and the infamous deaths of all the royals and nobles but one.
“I don’t see it. I look nothing like that kid, besides what is he? Eight? Hey by the way what was that crash I hear?”
“Oh don’t worry about it.” She looked him in the eyes with innocence, but he knew her better than to be fooled.
“Rita.”
“Fine, I might have broken a window…”
“ How? ”
“Tripped.”
“Rita, you-”
“Hey! Who are you?” Juno froze.
“Hi. I’m Rita and this is Ju-”
“Jasha.” Juno interrupted her.
“Boss?”
“My name is Jasha.” Juno cast Rita a capital ‘L’ look. He was used to people asking about his name and about his family when they heard that his name was the same as one of the lost royalty. Juno wasn’t exactly a common name. He was too busy glaring at Rita to have looked at the man who caught them in the palace.
“Well, you’re not allowed to be in here.” When Juno did look, he cursed himself for being so predictable. He was tall and dangerous looking, he looked like he would sell them out for a loaf of bread. But then again who wouldn’t do that those days.
“What’s your name?” Juno asked, distracted by the man flashing his sharp teeth at them.
“Why would I tell you that?” Just then something in his gaze shifted as he looked at the portrait behind them and back to Juno. He wasn’t subtle. Another man came up the stairs behind him. He was only halfway up them so he didn’t have a long climb. As he stopped, the younger man whispered something in his ear that made him raise his eyebrows.
“Are you Nureyev? We were told to find a Nureyev.” Rita snapped Juno out of his thoughts and the man grinned.
“Depends, who’s asking?”
“Us,” Juno said, he was hungry and cold and just wanted to go back to sleep. Seeing the royal family made him feel sick.
“Well, I can’t say no to a lady such as yourself now can I?” Juno told himself that the comment didn’t make him want to go home with the man, but there’s only so many times someone can lie to themselves during twenty-four hours. Juno, after a brief pause to reconsider his life choices, spoke up.
“Your name?”
“Nureyev,” He walked up the rest of the stairs to kiss Juno’s hand. “Peter Nureyev.” Juno could feel himself slipping further and further into hell. Now that the man - Nureyev - was so close, Juno could smell his cologne, it was intoxicating. Juno pulled his hand away.
“We were told you could get us out.” Juno cleared his throat and hoped he didn’t look as distracted as he was.
“We have a way out, but it’s for us,” He gestured to himself and the other man, “and him.” He pointed at the portrait, at princess Juno. Peasant Juno felt his heart sink. Before Juno could say anything Rita stepped in.
“He could be the princess, you never know.” Juno was about to yell at her before Nureyev agreed with her.
“He could be, yes…” The way Nureyev looked at Juno made him feel like he was being hunted.
“The princess is dead. Even if he were alive, I certainly wouldn’t be him.”
“Well, if you want to get out, you’ll need to be princess Juno.” The man who Juno presumed was related to Nureyev spoke for the first time. Juno looked at Rita, he didn’t want to leave her behind how could he? She had been the only person he had for so long.
“We don’t have all day, Jasha.” Nureyev took a step back.
“I- I’m not sure.” Nureyev turned and raised a hand flippantly as he started walking away.
“Alright well, have fun in the palace.” Juno watched them walk away before turning back to Rita.
“Why don’t you go with them, boss?”
“This doesn’t mean anything but, I can’t just leave you here.”
“Aw, you care about me.” Juno tried and failed to evade the incoming hug.
“No I don’t, what would give you that idea? You're losing it. Maybe I should leave you here.” Rita nodded.
“You should, I have a way out for myself.”
“What.” Rita winked at him.
“Go, boss. You might not get another chance to get out.” Juno sighed and groaned but turned to go after the men.
“Wait! Nureyev!” Said man turned around to face Juno slowly.
“Yes?”
“I… could be him. The prince will know. Worst comes to worst I break the heart of some stuck-up royal.” Nureyev smiled at him.
“Exactly, he would know if you’re really the princess or not. So, welcome aboard your highness .” Juno told himself he wouldn’t live to regret this as he walked away from the old decrepit palace with the men. But again, a person can only lie to themselves so many times.
“Tell me, just how much about princess Juno do you know?” The man with Nureyev asked. They were several blocks away from the old palace, and Juno had still not caught the man’s name.
“Uhh… you mean other than the fact that he’s dead?” Nureyev groaned ahead of them.
“We gotta go the other way, Mag.” He had stopped short and was staring ahead at an officer prattling on about how great the government was to an unimpressed crowd.
“That officer again?” Nureyev nodded his head. “You know we wouldn’t have to avoid him if you had just shut your mouth for two seconds.”
“It’s not my fault he’s delusional.” The grumpy look on his face made him look like a petulant child getting scolded. Juno thought it was cute. Well, he would have if he were attracted to Nureyev, which he was not. “Besides, he looks stupid in that uniform.” Something in his tone made Juno think whatever his issue with the man was personal. Juno and Mag followed a grumbling Nureyev all the way to a small mostly empty restaurant.
“What, are we gonna have a nice lunch together and talk about our childhood trauma?” Nureyev gave him an unamused look as Mag laughed and went to the back of the restaurant and walked up a staircase hidden by a curtain.
“We’re going to have a lesson.” He held the curtain aside so Juno could walk up the stairs. He got the distinct feeling that this was a trap. If Rita were there she would say he was about to get killed like in her novels. He pushed that thought aside and willed himself up the stairs. When he reached the top he was greeted by what looked like an attic, there were old mattresses pushed to one side of the room, there was a bookshelf filled to the brim with dusty old books, a chalkboard Juno hoped he would never have to use, and an open window that Mag was leaning against. Juno pulled his coat closer.
“Don’t you think you should close that?” Mag shrugged.
“Petya likes it cold, no clue where he gets this stuff.” Juno’s snarky remark was cut off before he even got it out.
“Wait, hold on. Petya? ” Nureyev halfheartedly punched Mag’s arm.
“Don’t listen to him Jasha, doesn’t know what he’s talking about.” He picked up a pen and paper and set it down on a desk Juno didn’t see before. “Come here, write down what you know about the royal family. Let’s see what we have to work with."
Juno didn’t know much more than anyone else. The empress was rumored to have tried to kill one of the young princesses. The princesses were twins. They got into trouble a lot. They were close with other noble children. The empress and her children tried to escape, but the empress and one princess were killed before they got out. They had killed as many other nobles as they could that night. It was brutal. Nureyev squinted at the paper, Juno couldn’t tell if it was because he couldn’t read Juno’s handwriting or if he was just disapointed.
“Is this it? This is all you know about the royal family?” Juno shrugged.
“I don’t know what you want from me.” He set the paper down with a huff.
“I want a princess, not someone who looks like they haven’t slept in fifteen years.”
“Well, how do you know that a princess doesn’t look like that? What do you two know of royalty anyway? This was a mistake.” He started for the staircase, he wanted to see Rita and go back to their shitty and expensive one-room apartment. Just as he got to the top of the stairs, Mag took his arm.
“I used to be a count.” Juno scoffed at him. “I may not look like much now, but I know about the royal family. We can show you how to be princess Juno, but only if you stay.” Juno glared at them but sat down at the desk.
“What do I need to know?”
“A lot,” Nureyev said, dropping a stack of books in front of Juno.