only once euphemia had come to the painful conclusion that any crown prince of good stature and standing she deemed worthy was not in attendance did she succumb to the dreadfully long stride through important figures alike to the familiar scowl of an icy blonde with a penchant for always one-upping effie in the end, her sister. “ aren't you supposed to be one of the happy ones here? ” euphemia observed with a judgment induced once over of the crimson red garment. “ he is your friend, but you look like this is a coronation for . . . ” an impish gesture, hardly noticed in delivery, waved at a raven haired woman latched onto the arm of catherine's brother-in-law. “ her. ” the almost duchess of cambridge. ( @catherinestuart )

euphemia stuart attends the coronation of giovanni di savoia

           some would say it was an unfortunate habit, the consensus, as effie took her seat in tandem with catherine, was still out for the youngest; to follow in her sister’s footsteps down to when to sit was a rather dimmed outcome of birth order. as always, it was done with a smile across the blonde’s lips apropos the image forever conveyed as a ‘ perfect princess, ’ though her expression had suddenly soured by way of a creased dark blonde brow. her lips parted, daring to bring into question the validity of ‘ how she could think such a thing ’ but within one protracted blink the doe-eyed innocence of confusion twisted into a near eye roll. “ you should work on your hosting methods, or has motherhood made you just that much more impatient? ” conveniently, effie left out the motive, what had brought her to sit at the table in her dearest sister’s company. “ even if you’re not entirely hands on with the au pairs awaiting. how many do you have again? ” a sip of the beverage before her, removed any further comment from tainting the already tensed air in the room.

             “ barbie bragança was trending last week on twitter. i think some tiktoker was trying to find outfits of barbie dolls and compare them to her public event styles. naturally, ” effie shurgged, “ lot of pink. ”

euphemia stuart attending the wine tasting

            “ i am just saying it so you’ll drop it. ” her tone was rueful, but imperceptibly so to which effie had come across with monotone inflections that contradicted the flickered torrent manipulation of her features. “ so, we can drop it. ” it wasn’t a question, effie hardly held the patience to dance around unspoken problems like children in a garden with anyone other than her sister; somehow catherine earned an elusive position saved for such things. “ sounds like they are repurposing the element of surprise as a new security measure. ”

            “ maybe it’s worse that you’re doing all this for nothing then, at least have an agenda catherine. ” she looks to her sister somewhat contemptuously but refrain from any seating or comfort is made because much like their ‘ talks ’ effie finds herself unable to lax raised shoulders. “ it makes it almost possible to understand you. ” the last, said with mild fractiousness. feelings were a strange topic for the stuarts, to be briefly acknowledged but never lingered upon. effie had found this to be exceedingly difficult in her brief time with gabriel, as someone who held no shield up ( as he was numb to it all ) but by comparison, effie had wanted to wish it all away with a flick of her wrist until poking and prodding to the ‘ why ’ came about. dark brown eyes studied the floor as if it were a monet and fingers fidgeted likened to withdrawals, never able to be stilled. “ he took a bullet for me. so thank him, next time you see him. if you ever see him. ”

            “ as long as you knock, twice, beforehand. ” the idea of any sort of ‘ surprise ’ given recent events was a terrifying thought, but the comforting one had been that gwen would be right there, steps away if needed. “ i’ve been, fine. ” effie noted curtly because in reality, gwen had said it best, drifting. morocco currently felt like a warm and sunny purgatory where everything was too quiet and too still. she often held her breath waiting for the other shoe to drop, but it never did. “ i can’t sleep at night sometimes, but that usually happens every time we move to a different place. ” she shrugged absently, “ what about you? living with your sister? and your brother is here, that’s good, isn’t it? ”