Alexei had always been weak. He was born as the heir of imperial Russia, yet he was weaker than a peasant in his own home. A single bruise or cut and he would be hospitalized, and all he ever wanted was to play with other boys his age. He contemplated this, age 13 feeling ready to die. His father Nicholas, the Ex Tsar who was forced to step down carried him down the stairs. Then when they were all seated, Nicholas, Olga, Alexandra, Tatiana, Anastasia, Maria, and Alexei the commandant casually said they were all to be killed.