The Kitchen Boy: A Novel of the Last Tsar

Adult Leonka continues to record his story for Kate: After lunch on June 21, 1918, Leonka is summoned by Tsar Nikolai and his wife. Nikolai asks Leonka if he is still willing to serve as their courier, and the boy affirms that he is. The Tsar gives Leonka the Romanovs’ written reply to the smuggled letter they received the previous day. The reply both describes and includes a floor plan for the Ipatiev House, to assist in their rescue. Nikolai tells Leonka to give the reply to Father Storozhev at the Church of the Ascension.

Leonka hides the letter in his undergarments, planning to smuggle it out while on a food run. Nikolai also gives him a fake letter to show the guards as a means of distraction. Leonka successfully carries the letters out of Ipatiev House and delivers the Romanovs’ reply to Father Storozhev.

Leonka tells Kate how he came to work for the Russian royal family. When his father left to fight in World War I, he was sent to live with his uncle. However, food was scarce, and Leonka was sent away to work in the royal palace in 1917.