In the palace of Empress Maria, a visiting sorcerer conducts a fortune-telling session to determine the future of the new Russian Empress and her husband. After fortune-telling for Maria, the magician foretells that Anna will receive some alarming news that will completely change her fate. Anna is confused - what else could happen? The children are healthy, Sonya is full of energy, and left on some expedition to draw. Is it just Mikhail... At home, Anna is handed a letter from Sannikov, written in an unfamiliar handwriting. It reports that Sonya disappeared along with the expedition she joined. Anna is truly alarmed and decides to go in search of Sonya. During this most difficult expedition, Anna experiences incredible difficulties: they don’t sell her food, they don’t give her horses... She is alarmed by the feeling that she is being watched, and then by this constant refusal to help her, like a vicious circle! Something is wrong here, but what?..