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he disappeared into the tunnel.
                  The household staff was dismissed, but I stayed to talk with my (I could hardly think of the phrase without rolling my eyes) ladies-in-waiting. Avery and Mari were very chatty and I could tell that we would become fast friends. They explained to me how Catharine the Great had made the palace the way it was today. They took me on a quick tour of some of the downstairs rooms, some of which were the size of airplane hangars. The ballroom nearly made me fall on the floor, I was so stunned by its size and magnificence. Why, I wondered when we stepped into small dining room or, the Courtiers-in-Attendance Dining Room, were there windows built into a wall that didn’t look outside? Mari seemed to read my thoughts. “The mirrored glass in the false windows reflects the light from the real windows on the opposite wall, Miss,” she said, “making the room look bigger and brighter.”
                  As we continued our little mini-tour, they told me they were both from Ireland and when they were invited to serve the Empress of Russia, they couldn’t refuse.
                  “We’re not from the richest place, Miss,” Mari said as she fiddled with her hands, “so it seemed like a grand opportunity.” When I asked where they would be sleeping, Avery smiled and pointed to a little building out the window. “There, Miss, those are the servants’ quarters.” I looked at the little ramshackle hut. It was completely unacceptable.
                  “I won’t have this. You two will be taking a room next to mine. I’ll talk to LaGard in the morning about it.”
                  Both girls looked stunned. “Ah, Your Highness, I don’t think…”
    I put my hand up in protest. “Please, none of that ‘Your Highness’ nonsense. It makes me sound about forty years old. Call me Anya.” I wanted them to be my friends, not my servants. “And I want to do this. There is no way that you’re living in that little rundown shack when there are plenty of rooms here in the palace.” The two looked grateful, which did my heart good. At least I had made two people happy so far.
    We went up the grand staircase to my new bedroom. Avery quickly popped in to see if the room was ready, while Mari kept telling me how wonderful this room is. I really wasn’t expecting that much. The minute that Avery opened the door, I was happy that I was incorrect.
                  My room was actually a suite of rooms. The first was a very pale yellow, with white trimming. It was like walking into a little living room, complete with a huge flatscreen TV and plush loveseat sofa, with chairs to match. In the next room was a bed four times the size of any king-sized bed I had ever seen. The bed frame had to be mahogany, judging from its rich, dark-reddish color. The sheets were ivory, which complemented the trim on the walls. As I felt the silkily smoothness of the quilt atop this wonderful bed, I noticed two more doors. “More rooms?” I asked in amazement.
                  I entered the closest room, which was the bathroom. Yet this bathroom was the size of a typical living room in America. There was a walk-in shower on the left, and in the middle a little sitting room--just in case I needed company to watch me wash my face, I supposed. There was a private stall for the toilet, and a sink which Mari told me was modeled after the Trevi Fountain in Rome. And at the far end of the bathroom was the bathtub of my dreams. There was a staircase--a staircase!--leading to this bathtub that was big enough to fit a whole royal family. And right behind it, a stained glass mirror depicting the birth of Venus.
                  After finally getting enough of the bathroom of heaven, I decided to see what the next door in my bedroom led to. I had a hunch, and when I opened the door, I was happy with what I saw. It was a walk-in closet