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"When I’ close, "I’ll shut down the uards home You can lick it to taste the paint, if you wish"

He shook his head ater rippled overidle lies? I latchedhallway under the glittering curves of giant crystal chandeliers shaped like Krakens Up a spiraling staircase ent, our boots hushed by thick carpets woven with designs of snowflakes and icicles He went along with rowled under my breath What I was about to show him--he needed to see it, and now

We passed door after door down the long hallway, not stopping to admire the world-renowned collection of decorative enah the last door on the right, he followed I moved to the side, and he stopped and muttered, "Jesus Christ," under his breath

"There," I said "Do you see now?"

The rooiant painting, twice as large as life The artist had captured ilt frahty and innocent My face still held the vaguest curve of childhood, but h in the fashion of the tiant braid that trailed over my shoulder and down to ray pearls My dress was in a style already abandoned, heavy with beading in the shape of iridescent peacock feathers I still re it on, how heavy and adult it felt, the train sweeping the floor I had spun in place and then hugged Verusha for giving the dressmaker instructions to let the neckline dip perfectly, just like my mother’s

It was clearlya heavy crown set with a sapphire the size of my fist The necklace draped aroundhalf of the stones that glittered larger than life in the painting The engraved plaque screwed into the painting read, "Princess Ahnastasia Feodor"

The way he looked at me then--it was as if he finally realized that I wasn’t just soht have believed it, in theory, before then We ether ah only to tease And my story may have added up But in that moment, I saw it strike him in the heart, the enorainst

Itto realize he had recently ," he said carefully

"I was considered a great beauty back then Very proe twelve, but none was good enough"

"You were breathtaking then, it’s true" He squeezed my arm "But I like you even better now"

I felt the war over me He pulled ently I stood on ht on his shoulders and ainst him in a way that would have been innocent just yesterday He deepened the kiss, and things were just starting to get good when a docent I hadn’t noticed cleared his throat We broke apart, and I hid my face in Casper’s shoulder

"Show soruffly, his hat in his hand

I risked a glance at the old nore the bald sadness in his eyes

"Do you think they’ll ever find her?" Casper asked

"I pray every day that it will happen," the docent said "Poor girl"

Casper nodded, his face grave "May your hope be answered," he said formally, with the respect one would expect of a born Bludand sad When I turned back briefly at the door, the docent stood before the painting ofaway a blud tear