The man couldn’t help the sigh that escaped his lips. Sam wasn’t exactly sure what he was feeling, though her reply had him wishing he had just allowed her to keep avoiding him. Why even bother trying with someone who wasn’t interested? There were mixed feelings of annoyance and hurt, a sure sign that he should have just given up. He was far too old to subject himself to any sort of pain, especially pain caused by a royal, a woman he certainly couldn’t hope to have anyway.

Fighting back the urge to simply turn and walk away, because that would be rude, Samson simply nodded his head. Fine, if this was what she wanted, he would oblige. But he would most likely keep the conversation short and simple in order to get out of this uncomfortable and awkward situation as quickly as possible. “Ester then. Hello,” he decided.

“Enjoying yourself?”

She wasn’t an idiot. She could tell he wasn’t happy with what she was doing and Sarika couldn’t blame him for the frustration. Who slept with somebody after spending so much time together and then pretended the other didn’t exist? “I was...” That wasn’t supposed to be a comment against him and yet that’s how it sounded when it came out of her mouth. “I mean, I am. I think...I don’t know, it’s hard to get into a different person’s mindset when you’ve had too much champagne.” And there was someone you cared about looking at you with such frustration in their eyes. Maybe she was an idiot after all.

“How’s your night going? Could you use a glass of bubbly like myself?” She could take a guess. Always the difficult one, wasn’t she? And she always made things difficult for everyone around her. It was who she was now no matter how much she wanted to change that, even if it were just to change it for him. “Tell me about Mr. Baklava.”

The tears that she had fought to keep inside had finally forced their way out and down Sofia’s cheeks. The sound of silence had been too much to bear after aimlessly wandering around for almost an hour just trying to find her way back to the other inhabitants and familiar spots of the castle. It’s why the footsteps coming her way seemed to serve as a bit of a relief, but it was the voice that followed, that had given her more comfort than anything else at the castle had. I know that voice…

Looking up, she let her eyes meet the striking blue ones of Sarika Vari. Someone she hadn’t seen in years, especially after one of her younger brothers, the one that had been kind and accepting, had died. She had known his death had been impossibly hard for Sarika, but the blow of losing the woman and Tristian, her only two friends in the Castle at the time, had been somewhat of a strike to Sofia’s heart. It’s why seeing her here in Khatanga had been very much a surprise, “Yes. Not too long ago. It’s just me right now. King Luis thought it best I arrive early all things considering. But how…” She hesitated in asking how Sarika was as much as she had longed to, “How…long have you been here?”

Hearing that her siblings weren’t there yet sent relief through her. At least there was only one to deal with and not even the one who knew him best. She could field questions pretty easily that way, right? God, why was she so nervous? “All things considering? Is he a being a dick to you?” She had understood why some of Tristan’s siblings had been pissed that Sofia had come into their lives but if the king was giving her shit as well that just didn’t seem fair. And now that she thought about it, it probably wasn’t fair of Sarika to drop all contact with her when she had lost the one person who seemed to accept her into the German line.

She braced herself for the question, almost wincing before she even got the words out, but was surprised when she heard an entirely different question. Sighing, she took a seat next to the blonde. “The first time or the second time? My first time coming here was about a year ago. And then I left when Birdie died so I could go to her funeral and for some reason my parents let me stay home for a month or so. But then I was right back here. And I’ve been stuck.” 

As much as he expected this to happen sooner or later, he was still surprised to see Sarika in the door; it must’ve been a cruel joke of the universe to bring her in here not long after he allowed himself a whole three minutes of reminiscing over those times when they played together, at a certain time that felt like it was ages ago. He genuinely couldn’t remember those times before Russia, even though he hasn’t been here for that long; but he quickly shook that thought away, focusing his attention back on the woman, lips stretching into a smirk. “As if you could actually do that.” He scoffed, sitting back at the piano; well, if he was to be honest, he knew that she’d be able to do that - over the years that they played together, she presented some great technical skills, that had him raise an almost impressed eyebrow, but there was no way he’d ever admit to it. It was easier to fall back to this routine of bantering constantly, instead of moving over to… Whatever there would be after. 

“Well, you have to admit that this weather majorly blows.” Whoever came up with the idea of setting this place up in the deepest, coldest end of Russia deserved a few not so nice words for this whole thing - but that was a thought he decided to keep to himself; there was no reason for overthinking something he had no impact on, and to be fair, he had more pressing matters to care about than being a brat about the cold. “Well, not more than your last Rachmaninoff performance that we did together, but hey, it’s pretty close.” He wasn’t sure why it popped into his mind right now, considering that it happened years ago, but the false tones still echoed in his head; okay, to be fair, it was a collective mistake of them both, he fucked up just as much as she did, but there was no need to talk about that, right? Mistakes happen.

His comment made her laugh, a smirk forming as she unloaded the cello from its case but not yet moving to get into the position to play. Her bright eyes transfixed on Raphael and she made sure that she looked amused despite how tired she probably came off. She needed to remember to do something about the bags under her eyes before leaving her room again in case she ran into more people like him. “I think we both know that I could.” Despite how smug she felt in the moment she was well aware that the man could keep up with her, maybe even surpass her skills on occasion, which was why she had continued to agree to their concerts together even when they’d started spitting out more insults than compliments towards each other. 

“For once, something we can agree on. Why couldn’t they pick a tropical island, right?” It was something she had wondered for a long time, since she had arrived the first time at the castle. Why had they insisted on hiding them away in the arctic circle where someone could freeze to death? Those thoughts were lost though as he brought up the disaster she had tried so hard to forget and she winced slightly. “At least I own up to my disasters. Tell me, how well did you do that night?” It was so bad she was surprised that people hadn’t asked for refunds. “Can we just agree not to speak of that night anymore? Even as ammo against each other? It still makes me feel like I’m going to throw up when I think about it.”

Rasa found a box of cigarettes and shook it to see if there was still anything inside. As she heard the almost soothing rattling sound, she opened it up in an almost desperate frenzy, retrieving a cigarette and leaving the final one there for the rainier times to come. The Lithuanian flicked her lighter open with a metallic clink, and for a few seconds, the fire from it was the only light inside that place. If she was in a different mood or different spirits, she would have commended Sari for using her words against her. Instead, Rasa gestured idly to the empty room with a sweeping flourish of her hand in the air. “If you ask for my permission, there’s probably a voice inside your head that tells you I’m going to try to shut you out, too,” she observed, her voice devoid of emotion as if she was, somehow, detached from the scene.

Again, it wasn’t personal. It was just that when other people asked, she preferred to sound like someone who would handle this alone, and she would be fine. After experiencing the same thing for years, Rasa knew that she would reach the other side of that tunnel, but she couldn’t be sure whether she would describe herself as that afterward. So she was offering Sari every possible warning she could issue because maybe, just maybe, it was when Sarika would realize that wasn’t what she wanted to do and go away.

But it was at the sound of those words that Rasa abruptly turned to face her. A sigh emerged from her lips, and she let out a heavy puff of smoke as she searched deep into the other one’s eyes. “Why does it feel that way? Love was supposed to be this marvelous thing that sweeps you off your feet. So why is it that no one tells you how it feels once you’re done being swept, and all there’s left is falling on your ass and trying to get back up?” she wondered.

“Are you going to?” Her voice was gentle as she knew exactly what it was like to try and push people out. She was still doing it herself most days with a range of emotions and reasons scattered all over her mind but the one that stuck out the most, that was truly jarring to her, was that she was scared. Maybe Rasa was too. Maybe she was scared and didn’t want to admit it just like Sarika. Or maybe she truly didn’t want anyone around. No matter what it was, the words the Lithuanian had spoken in July kept ringing through her mind. “Because if you want to try, I want you to know in advance that it most likely won’t work. I think I’m here to stay.” Even with the fear and the frustration and everything that came with new people in Sarika’s life it seemed Rasa was different. There was an unexplained connection there that drew Sarika towards her. They were two sides of the same coin.

The other’s sudden change, the slightly frantic words, all gripped Sarika’s heart in a way that surprised her. The way that Rasa was looking at her, as if she were looking through to the girl’s soul, added to the surprise. But her words, her words really struck a chord in the woman. Her eyes were suddenly welling up while emotions she had pushed as deep down as she could started to claw their way to the surface. Sari did everything in her power to push them back down as she cleared her throat but the words that left her lips were still coated, thick with the heartache they were both experiencing.

“I don’t know. It’s like they want us to experience the magic, tell us that life isn’t worth it if we don’t, but then drop us as soon as the magic is taken away, leaving us with nothing to hold on to all while scraping and scrambling around for a future that I can’t picture anymore.” She shrugged a shoulder, wiping away a stray tear that had started to slip down her cheek as quickly as she could. “Maybe it’s because they don’t know how it feels to lose it. They don’t know what to warn people against. Ignorance at its finest.”

It was an internal battle nearly every morning - or whatever time it was when Izsak eventually rolled himself out of bed. He knew that he was sent to Russia along with his sisters for a reason. Maybe not the same reason all the royals were here - for their safety and to make political ties and alliances stronger. But instead Izsak was sent to explore the social experiment in Khatanga to further better himself. Stop burying himself under his comforter and start putting himself out there. (Well - in other ways than he’s already done.) That’s at least the excuse the Hungarian monarch came up with when they told Izsak to pack his bags. The prince had other ideas. Figured his parents were fed up with dealing with him alone - never sure how to relate to their youngest - they had to send him away and out of their hairs.

He knew it was for his betterment to go out of his room every now and again. Maybe go to the kitchen and get something to eat and ease the pain in his stomach. But it was far easier said than done. The build up playing out the same way every day. Izsak examining himself in the mirror, fidgeting with what he was wearing, attempting to toss his hair - which he hadn’t cut in months - in some sort of attractive fashion. Eventually he would give up hope and either head out of the room or crawl back under the sheets. Today, at least, was one of the good days. 

Opening the door, he only slightly jumped at the sight of his sister on the other side. He wasn’t expecting to see her. Izsak knew he was to blame for their relationship falling apart the way it did. If Izzy had any idea what he was saying would find it’s way back to Sarika, he would of never said any of it. It was all petty complaining. Entitlement fueled by Cameron digging into their family. And Izsak was too blinded by his feelings for the rebel to see he was being played. “Hey…” Was all he could see. He wanted to see Sarika. Even wanted to reach out and hug her now. But knew better to keep his distance. Izsak still looked up his sisters. Was still desperate for their validation. Even if Sarika didn’t believe him. “Of course mom and dad didn’t tell you…I wasn’t avoiding you - I promise…I just guessed you didn’t want to see me…” He admitted, his eyes avoiding his sister’s, falling to the sandwich in her hand. “Is that - for me?”

“They don’t tell me anything anymore. I guess they don’t trust me. Lena is the only one they seem to talk to.” Which posed the question: Had they told Lena that Izsak was coming? It wasn’t like her and her sister spoke much, something they didn’t do before all the problems hit the Vari’s, but it was worse these days. She still loved the girl but her jealousy towards her and the animosity that she’d always felt seemed to double whenever she saw her and Sarika couldn’t explain why. Perhaps it was because she knew Lena was the favorite, the golden child, or perhaps it was the regret she sometimes held manifesting into anger towards her younger sister.

Hearing her brother’s reasoning for staying away had her sighing. He wasn’t wrong. There were times when she would see those words he’d written about her run through her mind and her anger towards him would flare up once again but then there were times when the worry she held for him overtook that. Izsak was clearly not doing well and after reading about all his problems it was hard not to notice the little things anymore. She still loved her brother. “I haven’t seen you in months…since I came home for Birdie’s funeral. I guess I missed you a little. Doesn’t mean I forgot what happened.” She almost rolled her eyes at her own words. Why she couldn’t let things go she would never understand but it was like those grudges she held refused to be forgotten even when it came to family.

The sandwich she had forgotten about until he’d pointed it out and once again her brain was scrambling to come up with an excuse. But there wasn’t one that she could think of, so she held the plate out. “I didn’t see you at breakfast.” Her way of saying she cared. “We could share it if you want or you can have the whole thing. If you want any of it, that is.”

Klaus was silent for a few seconds as he thought about Sarika’s words. “Well, if I ever get fired over something like this, I can’t even say it wasn’t worth it,” he spoke with a shrug of his shoulders. “But if it ever comes to that, I’ll make sure to keep you posted so you might be able to pick up from where I’ve left off,” the German suggested with a smile. Her words made his eyebrows furrow though. “You don’t always think you’re a decent person?” He wondered. “If that’s the only reason why I would say you’re fine,” he pointed out. Klaus knew people who had done a lot worse and still saw themselves as something awesome.

“Ah, the negative reinforcement theory,” Klaus chuckled. “I don’t know how effective it might be on people, but I hear wonders about its application when training dogs,” he added, still feeling humorous about the whole thing. “And if it’s something you’d really like to try,” the guard trailed off, meaning he would give her leeway to test it out if she was willing. “Klaus works for me. Although if you call me guard I’ll also answer,” he pointed out. Although he liked hearing the sound of his name— he could be that narcissistic —whenever he dealt with a royal, he understood it was best to be flexible, and allow them to make the decisions. “I’m afraid the name Klaus hasn’t offered the possibility of too many nicknames,” he shook his head as they continued down the path that led to the boats, and he stuffed his hands deep inside his pockets. As he thought about it, he couldn’t remember too many people even trying to shorten his name into something cute or sweet, and he had never troubled himself much with it.

“Good to know. Tag teams are better than one person anyway, really drives the point in that they’re being an awful person.” But she also didn’t want the man to lose his job if it came down to it. She was protective of her cousins, yes, but his livelihood mattered too. His question sent her mind somewhere else though and Sarika started to frown as she thought about it. She was under no delusion that she was a good person. Decent, maybe, but that was a big maybe. “I’ve done a lot in the past that would make most people think differently, including myself. I’m a pretty selfish person to a certain extent.” She had never really denied being selfish. The past three years had been all about herself in her mind, about becoming who she wanted to become, and she never thought of how her decisions would have affected others. Not just her family but most people who knew her as well. “I abandoned a country, didn’t you know.” It wasn’t a question but a statement that she was trying to play off as a joke, but it didn’t come off that way. Still, she left it at that.

“Well now I would feel like I was treating you like a dog if I did it. So, I think I’ll skip it for now but if it gets to be a problem, sir, we might need to resort to such tactics. And I was kidding about calling you guard, I would never do that. Klaus it is.” She was smiling again, though not as much as she had been before because she just felt like she kept sticking her foot in her mouth. Still the conversation was amusing the princess. “You never know. Some people have nicknames that have nothing to do with their actual names. Stuff from childhood sticks with them and they embrace it. You know, I once met someone who went by Lucy because her mother called her that all her life. Her actual name was Pearl. I guess her mother was going to call her Lucy at first but her grandmother wouldn’t hear of it.”

“Okay, princess. When you start releasing music and selling out arenas, I will start caring about how you feel about my music.” Even then, she probably wouldn’t care. Being well liked was and will probably never be a concern of hers. “Wow -” Imogen admitted, rolling her eyes. “I’ve really struck a nerve with you, haven’t I? I don’t even think my fans think about me as much as you do.” She watched her pack things - happy to have the room back to herself again and get Sarika out of her hair and get to back to practicing.

But that would be too good to be true. Especially since it seemed neither of the girls were willing to not have the last word in this fight. “Well well - Didn’t I strike a nerve?” She replied, with a slight laugh - not taking any offense to her little rant in any way. “So the sibling you forced your title on feels the same way? ‘Cause I know my brother isn’t too ecstatic about his promotion.” Even though he would never admit it. “Face it. You were only thinking about yourself when you decided to pull this little stunt. And for what? For your independence? News flash darling. We don’t have independence. We never will. The title doesn’t change shit. We’re all locked up against our will anyway. You simply couldn’t take the pressure.” Her hands were lightly drumming on her hips as she had her little rant of her of own. 

“Oh, that’s just sad actually. Your so called fans thinking so little of you must be such a blow to your gigantic ego.” She deadpanned, Sarika looking straight into the other princess’ eyes as she did. If there was one thing this woman would learn about her it was that she rarely didn’t have a comeback to anything she would ever think to say. Her skin had grown so thick over the past fews years that there wasn’t much she couldn’t counter even if the words she said weren’t always true. “Don’t worry, you’ll get there eventually. Fans are fickle after all.”

Sarika had to suppress the urge to roll her eyes but she had to admit the mention of her sister had her temper flaring once again. She couldn’t stand anyone who brought her siblings into any argument. “My sister isn’t your brother. You have no idea who she is and to be honest I don’t either. But I do know she would be a hell of a better leader than I would ever be.” Had she ever said those words out loud? No, and she didn’t plan to again. “And for that matter, you don’t know me either. I never dispute the fact that I was thinking of myself, that’s the whole point and basically what I just told you. I took back what I could. That’s all that matters to me and I don’t need your approval for me to live my own life. If you’ll excuse me, I have more things to do than sit around and listen to you try fruitlessly to make me feel bad.” She gave a sarcastic smile, picked up her things, and turned to leave. Just one more enemy to add to the list.

Send “✘” for a HATEFUL text

💬 How much do you have to hate somebody before they spontaneously combust? 💬 Asking for a friend.

@nonprincesslike

The giggle only caused Hunter to move his shoulders contritely as his head canted to the side. This wasn’t good, but it seemed like the best he could muster. “To be fair, I don’t know your names either, and I’m supposed to be the person who took you guys away from your mother for your welfare,” he mentioned, taking a casual sip from his glass. “That probably says a lot about my capacity as a father,” he added, shaking his head fast a few times to ward off the thought. At least he was attempting to participate in all this, that had to be enough, right? Maybe it would help his mother overlook the fact that he and his betrothed hadn’t seemed to take the news of their impending nuptials too well. As his daughter mentioned that, he had to pause and glance at his card as well. “No, it doesn’t say anything like it here. But, well, okay, you were… There. I’m not sure who knows what. Anyway, anything you’d like to say about it?”

“If it makes you feel any better, you’re doing a little better than my real father.” Probably harsh, but he hadn’t really spoken to the man in such a long time and that was mostly because he avoided her like the plague. Sarika wasn’t sure if it was because he didn’t know how to handle her anymore or because she had broken his heart. “About my sister dying? No, not really. Only that it looked eerily like this aside from the body having a note that said ‘dead, be back later’ or whatever that says.” Her mood was declining rapidly. Before she had been giggling like a fool but after thinking of her own father she was starting to feel out of place and not much like playing the game. Something she thought Hunter might be feeling as well. “Do you really want to do this? Because it’s already getting boring.” Not true but the excuse to leave and get out of this was needed. Maybe after another drink or two she would feel better. “I’m going to grab that champagne over there before the waiter disappears. We can continue this later.” She reached up to pat his shoulder as she started to walk away, eyes glued to the alcohol being carried around.

Bee nodded a couple of times. She knew it was a part of her role to deflect and make sure eyes weren’t on her. To her, it included pointing fingers in whatever direction someone might have led. “Two women, huh?” she made a sound as if she was thinking deeply on the matter, her eyes scanning the crowd. “You know what they say, right? The people who see the find the body are generally on the suspect list,” she pointed out. Bee had already spent too many evenings falling asleep to crime documentaries. She picked up a few things here and there. “And, who knows, they might have even had a reason,” she shrugged her shoulders. “It’s a tragedy but,” she trailed off as she glanced at the floatie with the soft snort of a suppressed chuckle. “She may have had it coming.”

“And why would she have had it coming?” Suddenly, her eyes narrowed on the blonde in front of her, suspicion starting to pull at the edge of her mind. Most people wouldn’t say something like that unless they had reason to. Or they were trying to deflect. But as soon as she was about to ask her next question while taking a step towards the girl, the heel of one of her shoes snapped and all hope of staying in character died with it. “No! These were one of my favorite pairs.” Being drunk and in broken heels was not a good combination. Sarika would get over the loss of her shoes but she wouldn’t if she broke her neck trying to walk in them. She slowly bent over and removed them before sighing in relief when she didn’t feel so wobbly anymore. “I guess I need to go change these. I’m sorry, I’ll be back in a bit and we can continue the fun. But in the meantime, I can most definitely assure you I’m not the killer.” She grinned at the woman before waving with her free hand and moving back towards the castle entrance so she could find a different pair of shoes, maybe even an entirely new outfit.

“Oh, you know my memory. I’m bound to forget.” Enjoying the light, if slightly unfamiliar, banter, Callister decided to take her threat of a fork-based stabbing to heart and only eyed her food for a moment longer. Returning to his own plate, Callister crossed his eyes as she stuck out her tongue, puffing out his cheeks in a way that no doubt would send the press into a tizzy. His father definitely would have scolded; the old man wasn’t there, though, was he?

There was something funny about her slow, deflating reaction and he very nearly smiled over it. Nearly, but she spoke the truth. “We will get through it,” he assured, although there was doubt churning in his stomach, quelled for a moment as he chuckled, shrugged a shoulder. “We’re a stupid, proud gender, what else can be said of it? And no, you will not. He’s already close to- never mind.” That he had access to biological warfare items or willing mercenaries wasn’t something he wanted to discuss in public. Reaching, he covered her hand, wanting to calm her. “She’s faring best she can, which isn’t all that well. She feels helpless, understandably, but I’m doing all I can to help.” Shaking his head, he offered a wan smile. “Never a dull moment.”

“You wouldn’t forget if I stabbed you.” She was kidding, of course. Even if she wanted to cause Cal pain, she’d never be able to do it without him thwarting the attempt. She was tall for a woman and yet he still towered over her. Not to mention he wasn’t one to shy away from working out unlike herself. She took a last bite of her breakfast and then pushed the plate closer to him even as she laughed at the face he made back at her. “I’m actually done, I just wanted to give you a hard time. You can eat the rest of this if you want. You should also be sure that you’re making that face in your next family portrait, provide countless years of entertainment for the Greek line.”

Close to what? The princess looked up at her cousin, wondering what he had been about to say but not wanting to push her boundaries with him. He had been very kind in not pushing her into talking about what she didn’t want to speak of so she figured she could repay the favor. “Stupid, yes. Proud, also yes. Should you be? No.” She was trying to continue the slight tease, but it was coming out much harsher than she had planned. “If you need anything that I can help with let me know. It doesn’t sound like an easy situation at all. Maybe you need someone to talk to about it sometimes too.”

Sarika should have stayed in her seat, asked more about her other cousins, spoke to Cal through the rest of breakfast but she was itching to head back to her room. She could use a drink. “How bad would it be if I went and took a nap even though I just ate breakfast?” She didn’t much care, but she needed the excuse to leave. Standing as she gave him a second to mull it over, the Hungarian smiled softly down at her cousin. “I suddenly feel exhausted. But you know where you can find me.”

“I never said I don’t enjoy what I do,” Lena replied defensively. Her duty to her country always came first, always had- so she’d never really been able to think about what it was she actually enjoyed. And becoming the crown had legitimized that preoccupation with her country, and she’d been even more buried in her work since. “Maybe while I’m here I can learn more piano pieces or get back into painting,” she mused. “Just for you.”

‘Handling it’ didn’t sound exceptionally promising to Lena, particularly if she and her sister handled things in the same way she did, with self-destructive tendencies parading as coping mechanisms. She cracked a smile at the mention of their brother. “That’s one way to put it. Who knows, maybe I’ll be a contender one day too.”

“You’re missing the point. It’s not supposed to be for me, it’s supposed to be for you.” Her and Lena obviously would never see eye to eye on this, especially since one of the main reasons she had stepped down was because she felt like she needed to live her life while she still could. She wanted the same for her sister, but she was a better person than Sarika would ever be. “You should paint though. I always thought you were pretty good at it.” She begrudgingly said the words as if it would hurt her to compliment her own sister but soon, she was turning away again so she wouldn’t have to look Lena in the eye.

“You? Anya and Apa’s golden child couldn’t possibly disappoint them. But if you insist on joining the demon seeds then I won’t stop you.” What trouble could Lena possibly get herself into that could compare to her Izsak? It felt like the two of them had disaster locked up and Lena was holding up the family on her shoulders. “It’s right there.” Sarika pointed towards the music room, stopping a few feet away. “I think I’ll retire to my room now. I’m suddenly parched and there’s a nice bottle of wine waiting for me. Maybe a bath too. I need the relaxation.” One last cross of her arms over her chest, a hesitant look sent her sister’s way as if she wanted to say something else, and then she was turning on her heel and walking away without another word.