Bella Bambina

gilt details...

The sharp curse got Aurora’s attention with immediacy. “Fanculo! Mi dispiace molto!” (Fuck! I am so sorry!) the princess rushed over to the woman and called to a staff member fast, “Get ice,” she says looking to her unintended victim, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to hurt anyone. I–,” the Italian found herself stammering, “I lost control– Please forgive me,”

She may not be allowed out for another week, but they could not argue with her being on the grounds. Aurora was not an expert at riding by any means, but she had always enjoyed the activity with her oldest sister. Petting the Persano darling, Aurora smiled to her and kissed her sweetly as she fed her an apple. The gray coat of the large mammal was speckled in different shades of white and slate. Hearing Val’s voice over her shoulder, Aurora turned to him as she began to dress her horse for a ride. Due to the animals extremely large height, the beast lay down on the stable floor for her to dress, “Not if you go slow,” she teases, “What brings you out here?”

Valentin’s voice caught her attention and she turned to meet his eyes, “Non mi lasceranno nemmeno lasciare questo posto-” (they won’t even let me leave this place-) Aurora paused realizing she was still speaking her mother tongue to the man. Taking a deep breath, she slowly let it go and spoke again, “They won’t let me go to the village. They said even though I’ve been in my room for a week because I was sick I can’t leave the castle it self for two more weeks,” It was only after her grumbled response that she realized the ball not far behind him, “Did– Did I hit you?” she asks slightly flustered at the idea that she had hurt someone.

Aurora had not even noticed the shattering glass over the sound of pressure and blood filling her ears. She continued to curse in her mother tongue under her breath until she heard the baritone voice of the guardsman. Turning to meet his eyes, Aurora feels prepared to defend her anger when she realizes just what he was referring to. The broken glass next to the ball along the wall- it was a clear scene. “Fanculo…”(Fuck!) she whispers as she moves over towards the mess, “I didn’t realize… I lost control and… I didn’t mean to…” feeling as though she needed to explain herself to him- Aurora crept down and put her head in her hands, “Sto impazzendo,”(I am losing my mind.)

“You have a talent for making people feel better about themselves,” she admits without thought. The small flush that comes to her cheeks is proof that Aurora had said something she did not intend to. “I just know I should have asked is all,” the Italian continues, “Normally I would before doing something like that- but the alcohol just got away from me- and you looked so beautiful- and I felt bold- and-” Aurora felt her thoughts slipping out so fast that she could hardly control them. Turning her back to the fellow princess, Aurora took a deep breath and covered her face with her hands. Get your shit together! Aurora scolds herself You aren’t even out to your family- you can’t let her know too much. What if- her mind begins to spiral with ‘what if’s’ of how horribly things could go. Taking a deep breath to calm herself, Aurora runs her hands through her hair and shifts keeping her eyes off of the blonde, “I talk too much when I’m nervous,”

The princess can’t help but laugh at how quickly he reacts to his own words, “Smooth recovery to no insult me,” she teases, “But really, my skills with humans is mild at best. I never really had anyone in my life that was ‘still’ enough to sketch. Only my sister Axelle when she was reading,” moving towards him, she offers him several sheets of paper and different drawing pencils before sitting down herself, “Two days? Why are you not sleeping?” she asks taking her own pencil and beginning to do a rough sketch of her own hand as it lay open and relaxed on the table beside her.

.

“I’ve learned to be quick when I fuck up, but it’s usually for running away,“ he joked. “You just have to find someone who thinks it’s semi interesting to be artistic and entertain them with their half cocked questions about what you draw. That can usually keep a person still for an hour or two,“ he offered, picking up a pencil and examining it before looking over at her. “Oh the why is as good a guess as any. Violet says it’s the energy drinks but she can pry those out of my cold, dead hands,“ he responded, a grin on his face as he blindly sketched lines that would form a body. He was decent enough now to not need a model every time he sketched. “Curl your fingers more so you force yourself to work on shading,“ he offered when he realized what she was attempting.

Hearing the Italian curse, Aurora stopped and turned to see the man. Sighing heavily, Aurora looked down with a near child-like embarrassment, “Mi dispiace,” she mumbles her apology as she walks towards him. His teasing words were meant to make her smile, but her frustration was burning, “I just want to go to town and get more art supplies. Just get out of the castle but the guards won’t let me. They say since I was sick I have to stay in the castle for another two weeks,” she complains, “I just want to go out. I’m going mad in here,” she exclaims looking up to Gio with slightly pink eyes from holding in angry tears.

He could feel for the girl, he really could. Gio knew he would be going insane himself if he were forced to be locked inside the castle for as long as she had been. But he was also someone paid to follow safety protocols and those were the few rules he liked to enforce. If a royal wanted to go in the kitchens that was fine by him but he couldn’t justify sneaking her into the village. “I know it sucks but it’s not just for your safety that you stay inside. How about we go hang out and do whatever you want inside the castle and then later I’ll go get anything you need from the village? I’ll even stop by the chocolate shop and grab you something. Would that work for you?”

Hearing her mother tongue flicked Aurora’s interest without a second thought. Looking over to the woman, she found herself slightly embarrassed by her childish outburst. Though that did not dampen her frustration over the situation. “Forgive me,” she replies walking towards the woman and picking up the planner from the ground and trading for the ball, “I did not intend to hurt anyone,” she admits, “I suppose my anger got the better of me was all,” it was a slightly embarrassing thing to have to admit, but when you are used to getting your way at all time (especially as the baby of your own family) being told ‘no’ was still hard. “I am sorry for that Ms…?”

— ♕ —

Saige willingly relinquished the ball; taking her planner back into her grasp, holding it flush against her chest. An unconscious telling of just how heavily she relied on the book. 

“Saige, please, call me Saige. I’m having enough of a crisis at the realization that I’ll be 28 soon.” It was hard to accept that she was 2 years away from entering an entirely new decade of her life when she still feel like a teen at heart. “And no need to apologize. I get it, must be hard having people tell you what you can and can’t do. I barely survived my dads setting a curfew for me in high school.” Being a royal seemed like it was nice in theory but the lack of privacy and autonomy would be Saige’s worst nightmare. 

The Italian chuckled at the woman’s clear confusion. It seems she didn’t even register where she was. It was the question of why she was here that made Aurora laugh, “I live here,” was her simple reply. Putting her violin down on an ottoman, “I believe you may have had a little too much to drink last night,” she replies with a sincere smile, “Why don’t you come to my room and get a change of clothes,” she suggests extending her hand to the woman.

“What do you mean I can’t leave?” Aurora asks sharply. The guard before her looks particularly flustered at how the princess’s voice rose upon hearing the news. It was protocol of course after a royal had been sick to no allow them off the grounds for two weeks- but that meant nothing to Aurora. After being unwell for a week and then being told to keep to her room, the Italian was nearly out of painting supplies to keep her distracted. She was used to getting what she wanted and being told ‘no’ was a hard thing to handle. Nevertheless, she took a deep breath and attempted to calm herself as she stood at the guarded courtyard with her bookbag on her back. “Listen, I just need to go and get a few paints from in town. I won’t be gone for than an hour,” she attempts to plead to no avail. 

Storming out of the foyer, Aurora blindly kicks a ball with incredible force, “Stupido, bastardo, regole. Lo odio qui.” (Stupid, bastard, rules. I hate it here.) she gowns loudly in her native tongue, not paying attention to where the ball lands. “Se fossi a casa questo non succederebbe.”(If I were at home this would not happen.)

Another royal, another damned delivery, and she was just about to snap at the next person who wanted to have a bouquet of flowers delivered was going to get stabbed with her least favorite pair of heels. To add to that, a certain moronic brother had forgotten to write down who it was going to and, well, she was just going to-

Aurora chuckled, “You may not be, but you certainly have a reputation to uphold,” she jokes looking over the plethora of bottles. Hearing his laughter behind her made her hyper a wear of just how close he had moved to her without her even hearing. Pouring a glass of dark red for herself, she can’t help the scoff at his returning question, “Why do I even ask?” she responds picking up one of the many bottles of Russian Vodka and pouring it in a tumbler for him. “So unoriginal,” she teases with both glasses in hand- Aurora turns and walks to him at the edge of his bed. At only an arms length distance her bare legs touch his as she hands him the tumbler, “So… Sleeping with the help?” she asks referencing the woman she had passed just before running into him, “Is she special or common to you?” she asks taking a deep sip of the red wine. Putting her free hand up on her waist as she moves back from him and begins to saunter around his room, stopping at the window showing the night outside.

“So it would seem, does that mean I’m at least doing a half decent job?” Ivan asked. He knew what people said about him when his back was turned, had heard the whispers. He wasn’t going to either correct or dismiss them though, especially around the castle where word wasn’t about to get out to the media or wider world. He couldn’t help but give a roll of his eyes when she teased him on the vodka. “Again, my personal cabinet. As you can tell my taste is quite varied,” he commented, nodding his head to indicate the glass of red in her hand as their legs brush and he was tempted to trap her there. “That one I found at a friend’s party.”

Taking a mouthful of vodka he watched her cross the room. Clearly she enjoyed playing hard to get. With the question about the previous woman he gave a shrug of his shoulders. “Neither I supposed. Just someone willing to give something I wanted. Hoping for some kind of confession?”

“What do you mean I can’t leave?” Aurora asks sharply. The guard before her looks particularly flustered at how the princess’s voice rose upon hearing the news. It was protocol of course after a royal had been sick to no allow them off the grounds for two weeks- but that meant nothing to Aurora. After being unwell for a week and then being told to keep to her room, the Italian was nearly out of painting supplies to keep her distracted. She was used to getting what she wanted and being told ‘no’ was a hard thing to handle. Nevertheless, she took a deep breath and attempted to calm herself as she stood at the guarded courtyard with her bookbag on her back. “Listen, I just need to go and get a few paints from in town. I won’t be gone for than an hour,” she attempts to plead to no avail. 

Storming out of the foyer, Aurora blindly kicks a ball with incredible force, “Stupido, bastardo, regole. Lo odio qui.” (Stupid, bastard, rules. I hate it here.) she gowns loudly in her native tongue, not paying attention to where the ball lands. “Se fossi a casa questo non succederebbe.”(If I were at home this would not happen.)

“What do you mean I can’t leave?” Aurora asks sharply. The guard before her looks particularly flustered at how the princess’s voice rose upon hearing the news. It was protocol of course after a royal had been sick to no allow them off the grounds for two weeks- but that meant nothing to Aurora. After being unwell for a week and then being told to keep to her room, the Italian was nearly out of painting supplies to keep her distracted. She was used to getting what she wanted and being told ‘no’ was a hard thing to handle. Nevertheless, she took a deep breath and attempted to calm herself as she stood at the guarded courtyard with her bookbag on her back. “Listen, I just need to go and get a few paints from in town. I won’t be gone for than an hour,” she attempts to plead to no avail. 

Storming out of the foyer, Aurora blindly kicks a ball with incredible force, “Stupido, bastardo, regole. Lo odio qui.” (Stupid, bastard, rules. I hate it here.) she gowns loudly in her native tongue, not paying attention to where the ball lands. “Se fossi a casa questo non succederebbe.”(If I were at home this would not happen.)

He could hear the muttered Italian as he rounded the corner in the foyer, Gio stopping in his tracks as a ball came out of nowhere and hit him right in the middle of his stomach. He had caught the offending object but not before the force of it had knocked the wind out of him. “Che cazzo?” His eyes landed on Aurora and he threw her a look as he dropped the ball, the object rolling to the side. “Aurora, can we not kill Gio while in Russia? I still have things I would like to experience before I die.” Eyes landing on the princess, his annoyance started to melt away when he saw the look on her face. “What’s wrong with you? You feeling okay?”