Her Imperial Highness

Marina knew eyes were upon her, and she quickly pulled Irina in to press a kiss to her cheek. “Thank you,” she said, squeezing her eyes shut to fight away tears. “You’ll help me with all the details, won’t you? I can’t imagine doing this without you at my side.” Letting her voice raise enough to be heard, Marina went into the mode of acting again, keeping one hand firmly wrapped around Irina’s as she tried to draw strength from it.

Mother would be pleased, at least, that there would be a party to plan, something to distract any plotters, give Andrey a chance to court supporters. A blushing bride would serve that purpose better than a miserable one. “Of course I will, you’ll have the loveliest wedding the world has ever seen.” She wanted to say something more, about trips or gifts or children of her own to spoil and raise how she wished she had been, but it seemed too much like commenting on the weather on the way to the gallows. “Whatever you need, anything at all, I’ll see you get. Mother and Andrey can’t even disapprove, if it’s for you.”

Aracelia brought both her hands together to applaud her opponent on their move. Yet, her eyes were flickering with annoyance. It was believed, mostly by herself, that  no one, not even her own ladies were equipped enough with skill and patience to beat her in a game of chess. ‘’Oh, well done. It appears you possess a natural talent for the game.’’ She finished dryly, as an honest smile curled up onto her rose shaded lips. ‘’I can assure you that our next match will guarantee victory for my side.’’

She may not have wanted to play in the first place, but winning, even by the skin of her teeth, was certainly satisfying, and Irina straightened the pieces she’d captured into neat lines, smiling blandly “I don’t doubt it, Archduchess, beginner’s luck seems to lend itself to being hopelessly out of practice, as well.”

“Then you marry him,” she replied, her jaw settling into a firm position as she lowered her voice. “He told me on our way down to dinner, actually, he was kind enough to give me a few moments notice. Irina, surely you’d be much better suited to marry, it is your right first. Can’t you talk to him? Tell him how embarrassing this is for you, maybe we can delay the wedding until you find someone to marry.” Her voice was barely above a whisper, knowing if she raised it at all, she would begin to cry. Her hands gripped Irina’s tightly, knuckles turning white as she clung to her sister.

One more heartbreak for Marina’s sake wasn’t so much to bear, when she’d had so many lately, but it didn’t stop the rage and frustration on her baby sister’s behalf. “I can try, I will, of course. I don’t understand why he would have passed me over at all, it doesn’t make sense unless- I don’t know why it would ever make sense. I’ll talk to mother, she’ll have to see reason, if you’re married first people will talk, wonder if there’s something wrong with me that I haven’t found a husband, Andrey can’t afford one less bargaining chip.” Kissing her sister’s hands all tangled up with her own, Irina held her eyes, “I promise, if there is anything that can be done, I’ll do it.”

Marina’s world had been in a tizzy over the past few weeks. First, she’d found herself falling in love, a love that was promptly taken away by the departure of a man to a country with little to no word left behind except “I’m sorry, I can’t stay.” Her heart would mend, surely, but she was glad to have a reason to match the tone set by the rebellion. Then, she learned that she was to marry, and what seemed like a long-off fear settled in as immediate. Marina was devastated, and she couldn’t remember a time she hated her life more. She found herself moving through the motions of a dinner at court on autopilot, barely registering when Andrey stood to make his announcement.

That bastard. He’d spent so long placating her, allowing her to convince herself he wouldn’t do something practical and necessary stupid and hurtful that sitting at dinner, Anastasia by her side,  Irina rather felt as though she’d been hit by cannon fire as her sister’s engagement was announced to the court. Plotting to undo it, to somehow convince Andrey he’d made the wrong choice but it was okay, she could fix it, was pointless, of course, he’d made the announcement so publicly, and divisively, that the damage was done.

Headcanon meme~

She let the smile cross her lips for only a moment before she remembered the terrible situation outside. “Well, clearly the worrying should be left to us,” she said, turning her gaze to Irina. “What if it doesn’t? What if they succeed and get inside?”

“But they won’t, love, they can’t.” If Marina had more to say, Irina didn’t want to hear it, the justification that she wasn’t lying outright, technically, that nobody ever had breached Kaborg, was only the slightest bit helpful in assuaging her guilt. ”The keep is the safest place in the world, and in a few days this will all be over and forgotten.”

“So we do nothing?” he countered, stopping to glance in her direction. “Why else would they attack the castle, Irina? Do you not see?” Leonid walked over to stand next to her, disappointed that the horde of madness could not be seen from this side of the castle. “They hold not only pitchforks and torches, but swords as well. This was well funded,” he assured her before pushing away from the window. “He is not only their motivation but their leader as well. I’d bet my own life on it.”

“It’s not nothing, Leonid, it’s being practical, and smart.” The noise was muffled by distance, but Irina could still hear the screaming of horses and the faint clash of metal. “I’m well aware that they’re better funded than an impromptu revolution, would you really like to give them and their cause recognition and credibility? A martyr?” Tugging her shawl tighter around her shoulders, she couldn’t manage to watch anything but the light flickering over the far battlements, “Your life would be better served waiting for the best time to act, rather than throwing it away on such poor odds.”

          ‘If you’ve no business down here  —— and I sincerely ask that you forgive my candour —— then I’d advise you withdraw further into the castle. The fight hasn’t ceased yet and we shall necessitate this space for the wounded most erelong.’

“Yes, yes of course, I don’t mean to be in the way, I was just hoping for news if there was any. And I appropriated some clean sheets, if they would be helpful, I’m sure the apothecary wasn’t stocked for anything of this magnitude.”

Ignatiy knocked lightly on the solid oak door before pushing it open and looking in, not yet entering.  He glanced around for a second before his eyes landed on the room’s only occupant.  “I just wanted to see if you needed anything…?”

Her nails were nubbins, and Irina had long ago given up on the book she’d picked up in an honest attempt to distract herself. The door cracked, and her heart returned from her throat as she realized it wasn’t news, “No, thank you. Unless, if you know where any might be handy, some wine would be appreciated. I haven’t wheedled out the location of the storeroom from my maids yet.”

Violence had spread to Kaborg, and Katya shook at the sight of it once more. She’d been only a few feet from the window when she watched a ruthless battle break between the castle guard and the rebels, and her curiosity led her against the pane of glass before running away in fear. Just in front of her, Yekaterina watched a rebel, fueled by self-righteous anger, charge a guard blocking the gates, only to be cut down by one swift slice of a blade. Her hand raised in horror as she watched the blood drain from his body, and in a moment of shock, Katya ran from the window and found herself a seemingly empty room in the castle. The Baroness locked herself in, praying to whichever god would listen to keep the rebels from invading the Keep.

She hadn’t stopped pacing for hours, the sound of her footsteps and the quiet rattle of the child still wet behind the ears spared to guard her drowning out the cacophony outside. The thoughts shouting for attention in her mind were another matter entirely, and it seemed no amount of walking could drive them back and give her peace. A figure in skirts at the far end of the hall nearly scared her out of her own skin, and Irina only just made out Kat’s face, panicked as her own, before the door slammed. Breaking into a run, she let her worry overcome her sense, and skidded to a stop to bang on the door with a fist, “Katya? Katya is that you? Katya open the door, love, please.”

Seeing Irina made Marina’s heart jump, knowing another one of her siblings was alive and well. Honestly, other than Andrey or Dimitri, she had been the most likely to not be safe and sound, but that was logic she didn’t care to think about right now. “Oh, Irina, if only that were true. I wonder if this is how it must feel to be you all of the time, worrying over all of us.”

“Worse, rather; an entire invading army would be less stressful than you when you decide to get up to something.“ The joke sounded hollow even to her, and Irina guided her sister by the arm away from the windows and back towards the center of the palace, and the family’s chambers. “I’m sure everyone is going to be fine, the boys aren’t foolhardy enough to try to investigate until things have calmed, I’m sure it will burn itself out in a day or so.”