The Tsar's Wife On Horseback
The Tsars Wife On Horseback is a tale loosely based on Rasputin and his influence on Nicholas the second and his wife Alexandra Feodorovna. Rasputin had amassed great influence and power over the wealthy and politics. He worked his way up the ranks and moved into the regal social status of Russia. Women were obsessed with him and ambitious men would lavish him with gifts, fine food and plush environments. Rasputin was an advisor, spiritual leader and a master charlatan.
 
The Tsarina Alexandra was not allowed to do much, a little walking in the garden, some doting on her children and choosing the morning menu. Otherwise she spent her time selecting beautiful gowns, having her hair brushed and receiving a finessed grooming.
 
The Tsarina bore three daughters in a row and the Tsar was not at all pleased. He was hoping for a son and heir to the throne. Alexandra did finally bear a son, but he was sickly - a hemophiliac too fragile to play, let alone become heir to the throne.
 
In my story I diverge from the accepted historical account. In mine, the Tsar becomes so angered with his wife and his brood of three girls and one sickly son, that he orders the death of the Tsarina by poisoning. On that wretched day, a drop of Cyanide was added to the Tsarina’s morning meal - her last meal.
 
Alexandra had a temper that followed her to the grave. Her resentment of the sedentary and boring life of a queen was consuming, her son being treated like a pariah was unacceptable and her death by poison was truly outrageous. On the day of her death, all Alexandra could remember was breakfast of tiny quail eggs on toast and suddenly she was on a horse surrounded by flies. She was outside the castle walls but rode right through the guards, through the rock walls and into the castle.
 
The Tsarina was dead and would spend her days admiring her children and haunting the Tsar. She was invisible to mortals, but the flies would follow her wherever she went and would surround the Tsar for the rest of his life. Rasputin was also murdered by a rifle in a dark corner of the castle one restless night. The occult did not rest and Rasputin would return with the Tsarina, sometimes as himself and other times as a large rabbit. Alexandra would sometimes faint and fall into his spell and upon awakening she would appear back on her horse in her opaque form. Do not assume your actions will not elicit a reaction. Sometimes the result will be human and sometimes (when retribution wells up), it returns as a ghost.