Being an empire was overrated anyway

Theodosia wasn’t sure whether or not  Sadik was sitting too close, or too far away, and thus, couldn’t figure out exactly what to do with her feet. Moving away would suggest she was uncomfortable, moving closer might give him the wrong idea….. 

“That’s exactly what I’m saying,” she said. “You can’t win. Do you think humiliating him would help the family out at all? What happens if I take his humiliation personally?” She sighed and leaned back. Poor Sadik! How could he be so naive to these sorts of politics? Theodosia wasn’t even sure that she would care if he marched himself across the Italic peninsula. The only family she’d miss was Venice, and even then, how much depended entirely on the day, and phase of the moon, and a thousand other things that couldn’t be measured. “You’re obviously learned,” she said, watching him closely. “You know some things from books. I don’t know who taught you Latin, but they clearly had the wrong priorities. They should’ve introduced you to politics.”

“I’ve been introduced,” he said, giving her a cocky little smile. He was not the master of it that Theodosia was, having grown up in the middle of the Byzantine court, but he was learning to play the game. Her comments about his Latin made him straighten with pride. He knew the Byzantines still considered him a rough-hewn barbarian, but Theodosia, at least, saw potential. “I’m a good learner,” he boasted. “Just wait and see.” Someday he too, would have an empire, and then Maria Theodosia would be impressed, and consider him worthy of her affection. “It wasn’t so long ago I knew nothing of Latin. Tell me, can you read Arabic script?”

I did one for Turkey too with the dollmaker @radiomayak tagged me in. They had a hijab option too so have Saadet too!

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Theodosia teased, “you are a fool, Sadik,” and shook her head. “You’ve never had to deal with family politics, have you? Those nations might be pains, but they’re also my kin.”

She broke away from him and slid over to the couches, where she reclined with all the comfort and ease of someone who believed themselves to be untouchable. “Say you did manage to hurt Vincenzo in some way. I’d be perfectly valid in my anger (Vinnie is my favorite, after all). If you ftried and failed to hurt Vincenzo, then I could laugh at you for being bested by a fifteen-year-old. If you didn’t try–well, then you’re lazy.” She gestured for him to sit nearby, either at the foot of the couch or on the floor to his liking. “I don’t know how a barbarian would know these sorts of things. Your politics seem simpler.”

Theodosia chided him and stretched herself out on one of the couches, draping her elegant form over the cushions as though she were a finely carved sculpture from one of her artists. Sadik came at her gesture and cast himself down on the floor beside her, leaning his shoulder against the couch.

What kind of boy was this? Was he enjoying this bickering?He was, wasn’t he?! Her nostrils flared in the indignity of it, and as much as she liked to imagine that she was perfectly stoic and in command of herself, her lips puckered into the beginnings of a pout more fitting for someone her age than her creased brow. She had more excuses to keep herself inside, but something told her Sadik wouldn’t hear any of them.

“I know what happens within my borders,” she said, reaching for a goblet of wine. It usually mellowed her and dampened her temper; maybe it’d get her through the night. “I have my politicians, and my spies, and my underlings and siblings to travel with on the rare occasion that I’m needed outside the city. I hope you don’t mean to imply that I’m naive.” It took an unsettlingly high amount of self-control to not chug her alcohol. “Especially not when you’ve been so flattering all night. Someone might get the wrong idea about your intentions. Besides.”

She shifted slightly, and masked her discomfort with her own superstitions by stuffing a chunk of bread in her cheek. “It’s bad luck to sneak out of the city. There’s nothing better out there that can’t pass through this city by trade routes.”

Theodosia looked annoyed, but it could have been that her face just looked that way. He was being perfectly charming, after all. That little smirk tugged at his lips again at the mention of his intentions, even as he had to turn his attention back to the table while she said it.

“I meant only to extend an invitation, my lady,” he said placidly, the twinkle in his eyes refuting the idea that he had no intentions when it came to Maria Theodosia. “I am sure you would find much to enjoy in my capitol as well. Or the beaches might suit you better--see how lovely the blue of the ocean down in Izmir is! Or the plains, if you care to ride through places where the steppes stretch out as far as you can see and the skies are the bluest in the world.” He had not come with the intention of tempting Theodosia to come visit the sultanate, but if she were so inclined, it would have delighted him to show her around his home, humble as it was compared to her own.

He helped himself to a slice of mutton and some candied nuts, his mouth watering anew at the feast stretched out before them. He hoped the Greeks were not rushed with their meals--he planned to spend quite a while there.