As Ingrid followed Pavel and Elizabeth into the palace, she noticed Alexei falling into step slightly her. She sneaked a few glances at him and found his expression to be cold and closed off. She was distressed, thinking that somehow, something she had done had displeased him already. Most likely, he was put off by the scene on the ship, and she cursed those nasty deck hands once again for their churlish behavior.<br/><br/>She suppressed a sigh and tried to put aside the feeling of impending doom. Walking was painful, with each step jarring her stiff side and aching muscles, but again, she showed no outward sign of pain. Ingrid of Sweden was no weakling!<br/><br/>Earlier she had seen Alexei being almost...genial...with the horses and Pavel, smiling and laughing - two things that made him even more handsome...and now, here he was with her, glum and crabby-looking. She kept her own features cold and unemotional in response, not wanting to appear bothered by him in any way.<br/><br/>She followed Pavel and Elizabeth through the double doors and into rooms more luxurious than she had ever seen, even more richly furnished and decorated than her own rooms in Sweden. Plush furniture, velvets, silks, crystal and marble everywhere overwhelmed her.<br/><br/>"These are beautiful rooms, I am overcome!" she exclaimed, turning around and looking around her, her ivory silk skirts swirling about her gently as she turned, the chandelier light glancing off her golden hair and turning her pale skin translucent.<br/><br/>She was smiling happily until she caught sight of Alexei's grim expression, and her smile vanished. She quickly turned back to Pavel and Elizabeth and listened intently as Pavel reluctantly explained the situation with Alexei's sister Olga.<br/><br/>Filing away that bit of information to mull over and investigate further, she held Pavel's gaze steadily and said, "My loyalty is to my Czar and Czarina, and none other except my husband."<br/><br/>She turned to Alexei and bowed her head, forgetting just how painful that would be. She squeaked in pain and found she couldn't lift her head back up. Wrapping her hands around her neck, she was so involved in trying to raise her head, she didn't see where she was going and tripped over the edge of the thick rug on the floor and went flying, landing face down, eye-level with Alexei's boots.<br/><br/>At that moment, for the first time in her life, Ingrid wished the ground would open beneath her and swallow her whole.