Heavy footsteps echoed throughout the dark, damp chamber. The maid’s arms were strung up in sturdy chains, her legs bound together with metal cuffs with sharp spikes poking into her ankles, blood running down her feet.
The door swung open and four guards followed by the prime minister himself entered. The maid lifted her head, and shuddered at the sight of the cold, deadly right hand man of the Emperor.
“You are the maid that tried to poison His Majesty, are you not?” the maid couldn’t help but gulp, even though that was getting increasingly harder. The pain in her ankles made it harder to even breathe.
“I- I am, my lord.” Orlov nodded.
“And who is it you work for?” The maid shuddered. Her mother was at st
When her maid never returned, Tatya felt a weird sensation in her heart, one she had never felt before. It was as if her stomach was flipping over inside her, turning the rest of her organs inside and out.She waited for Fate to come and catch up with her, but He never did.Her father came home from court, but he only mentioned the situation with the Emperor in passing, and not at all in a concerned manner.“Father,” she couldn’t help saying at dinner, “What of the Emperor? And the Empress?” Lord Poplov looked a bit irritated, but hid it well.“The Empress was cleared of all charges, Apparently it was just some maid, though I think there’s something more to it. That cunning Orlov is hiding something.&rdquo
“When was the last time you dined with His Majesty?” asked Cecily. The three of them were eating in a small side room in Ursa’s wing of the palace. It had become their new norm since the Emperor continuously cancelled Ursa’s dinners with him. Something inside her felt twisted every time she heard the palace maids whisper about Lady Tatya Poplova’s visits.She was their enemy, so why was her husband having dinner with her every night?“My Lady, you’re grinding your teeth again,” Emery pointed out. Ursa relaxed her jaw and sat back, throwing the piece of bread she was chewing on on her plate.“Apologies,” she murmured.“Does it bother you that much?”
It was the first time that he had visited her on his own volition since he was poisoned. He looked as healthy as he did before, with a bit of an extra energy to him that he didn’t seem to have before.“What can I do for you, Your Majesty?”“I want to throw a banquet.” Ursa didn’t look up from the papers she was perusing. If she did, she would see his face and his expression. She was curious to see what kind of expression he had on while making that kind of request to her. A banquet? To celebrate what? His mistress, the noble lady Tatya of House Poplova?“What for? Money’s tight. The people won’t stand for wanton spending,” she reasoned.“It’s the annual celebration of my… com
Ivan sat in the dining room waiting for his guest to arrive. He had just been given clearance by the physician to leave the Med Wing, and he already began putting his and Orlov’s plan in place. He made sure the dining room looked as exquisite as it did when his step-mother entertained foreign dignitaries. Although Ivan always loathed the woman, he was excited to see that effervescence return with Ursa at the helm.But that would have to wait. Ivan didn’t want to ruin Orlov’s show before it even began! A servant opened the grand doors, and in a loud voice announced, “Lady Tatya Poplova has arrived.” The lady herself entered moments later, wearing the latest fashions and a fan in clutch.“Your Majesty,” she greeted, curtsying low, as if her knees were about to hit the ground. Ivan reluctantly stood up to
TW: r*peIvan felt excitement course through his veins, a familiar high he hadn’t been able to feel since coming home from the battlefield. This feeling- the feeling you get when you take a life. The banquet was the perfect place to thoroughly humiliate and ruin the witch that had hurt his wife too many times.What better way than to out her for her crimes against the Crown? But why did it seem his entire plan was derailed by that one maid? How could one of the palace maids be so foolish as to spill crap all over the Poplov witch?But then Ursa called over one of her handmaidens, the shorter one and ordered, “Go bring Lady Tatya a new dress.” Then the shorter handmaiden, Emery, Ivan thought, nodded enthusiastically and went to go perform her duty. The taller one, Cecily, leaned over as
TW: r*pe“It’s been quite some time. Why has Lady Tatya not returned?” asked Orlov. Although it sounded like the question was up in the air, it was truly directed at Ursa.“Perhaps something is wrong. I’ll go check on her,” offered Ivan. If Lady Tatya didn’t return to everyone, his plan could not continue.“No need. As a lady, I should go,” said Ursa.Her quick interjection was not missed by the suspicious Orlov. “Why don’t we all go?”Ursa liked Lord Orlov quite a bit. He was a good man with a good head on his shoulders. But at that moment, she wanted to chop off that good head.
“Kassio, can we talk?” whispered Ivan.“What is it?”“You’re not seriously thinking of brokering a deal with them, are you?” Ivan had pulled Orlov to the side, leaving the two Poplovs in his study alone.“I think you should be open to it,” replied Orlov. “Lord Poplov still wields significant influence in court. There will definitely be some backlash if we harm his family status now, especially with his claims. This may go to trial, or we’ll have to back down.”“That witch tried to kill me and my wife! How can we back down?” Ivan argued.“And you’re not exactly very popular, Ivan.”
The office was dead silent, save for the sound of rustling papers as Ursa cleared them out of her way to make room for a new stack. The work was tedious; all she did was write a few amendments and stamp things. Ursa was glad she was able to make progress with her Five Year plan considering the hard time the court had given her in the past, but now it was smooth sailing. Hopefully she could begin to implement some of these policies by the beginning of the New Year.Ursa looked out the window, suddenly reminded of the time of year. The Vasil country tended to have a warmer climate compared to her own country, but it was getting noticeably chiller.‘It’s almost that time of year…’ she thought as she put her stamp in the drawer. That was enough work for today, especially since dinner would be ready soon. It seemed as though the
Aisha spent the entire next day pouring over other material Ursa had pulled from the library and pacing outside of Ursa’s wing. Earlier that morning, she had stopped in to update the Empress on what she and Ivan had found, but the handmaiden Emery firmly stood her ground, chasing away any and all visitors, no matter how important they were.She was like a guard dog, really, the way she looked like she’d bite someone’s head off if they got even remotely close to the doors of Ursa’s apartment. Aisha had wanted to fight Emery on this, but she also knew how much Ivan had been stressing Ursa’s physical recovery from the chaos that occurred at the New Year’s Celebration, so Aisha slinked away back into the library quietly until lunch time, where she and Emery rehashed their earlier arguments. Inside the most heavily guarded doors, an empress laid in her bed with the covers half off, only covering her freezing toes. The rest of her sweated out a non-existent fever, while Cecily dabbed a col
The Poplov townhouse was located in the upper echelons of Ichares. The streets were clean, the houses were opulent and luxurious, the architecture a crude copy of the palace. It was not hard to break into the house, seeing as there were so many windows and not enough guards-- though this criticism could be shared with the palace.Ivan noted this.Aisha and Ivan were both dressed in black clothing-- Ivan in a black poet shirt and tight dark trousers, while Aisha wore a skin tight turtleneck with matching trousers. At present, they sat in a tree, watching the windows as light passed through the dark hallways, a maid checking the corridors.Aisha bounced her leg anxiously, causing the branch to sway with her. Ivan sent her a withering glare, instantly freezing any movement from her leg. They had been sittin
Aisha juggled her broadsword in her hand while her other hand held her dagger tightly. She stared at her brother, only the light from the torches around the arena illuminating his lean frame. Ivan shrugged off his coat and kicked it to the side, his signature sword appearing out of thin air.“How--” Aisha gawked, staring at her own swords that came from the weapons room.“Magic?” Ivan smirked, spinning his sword with his wrist as he got into position. Aisha made sure to note down to have him teach her that trick before getting into her own starting position.Neither of them moved, circling each other. Aisha’s left foot shifted and then she was off, launching herself high into the air, raising her swords up into a crossing motion. She landed on the blunt side of Ivan’s
Ursa gave a shallow wave to the guards stationed outside of Ivan’s study as Aisha trailed behind her with a tray of food. The guards instantly bowed and one stuck their head in to announce her presence. Ivan was hunched over his desk, staring intently at a particular piece of paper as his quill moved on its own-- most likely enchanted by Ivan, writing furiously. “Ivan.” He looked up, surprised to see the two women. “What are you two doing here?” Ursa gave him a funny look. “Our arrival was just announced. Didn’t you hear?” Ivan didn’t respond, choosing to just lounge back in his chair. The quill fell back and landed unceremoniously onto the paper. “We brought you dinner.” Aisha set the tray onto t
“Your Majesty, Lord Volkov is here to see you,” one of the guards from outside said, peeking his head slightly into the office. Ivan only waved his hand as an indication for the other man to come in. It was the middle of the afternoon, a few hours after the morning’s court session had ended and he finished his meeting with his advisors (without Orlov, he thought bitterly), but Ivan felt so very unproductive.He had sat there while everyone talked at him, only nodding or shaking his head, sometimes yelling at people who got a little too presumptuous. It wasn’t that Ivan didn’t understand the things being said in court-- after so many years of attending, it would be quite stupid for him not to have an idea of how these things worked. But Orlov made it easier for Ivan, always taking a load off of the heavy weights that already pushed Ivan to his knees.
“The prosecution would like to call its first witness up to the stand: Yuri Tetsi!” Orlov announced, and waited for the Young Tetsi to make his way to the stand. Ivan sat in his throne in his usual posture, his hand holding his face as he leaned into the side of his throne. Yuri Tetsi clambered up to the stand and took a seat, his hands nervously shaking. Once Young Tetsi looked ready, Orlov began laying the foundation of his questioning, asking simple questions about Young Tetsi himself before delving into the real case. “You claim to have recorded evidence of secret plots against the Empress?” asked Orlov. “I do. My own father, as well as Lord Haschoff, Lady Salisterova, Lord Grieschkov, and Lord Telbor all had conversations with each other and others about a few things. At first, they conversed abo
Ursa returned to her chambers after a quiet dinner with just Ivan and Aisha. It was a nice and gentle dinner, where the only mention of Orlov was Aisha excitedly announcing she would be helping. Otherwise, the dinner was the perfect glimpse of a life without Orlov constantly breathing down Ivan’s shoulder, and Ursa enjoyed it. But even Ursa could admit, a piece of Ivan was with Orlov in his home, eating dinner alone. Ivan would smile and joke with them, but his gaze was far off, not even in the room. It burned Ursa. It burned Ursa even more to know that a part of her also felt deeply while staring at the empty chair next to Aisha. Once upon a time, Ursa thought that she and the prime minister were friends. Friendly rivals, intellectual equals, and respected colleagues. She missed the mirage.
Ursa’s lunch didn’t end up being as peaceful as planned, as the second Vasil barged in on her meal. “Sister, I hear you’re heading the Orlov Investigation!” Ursa put down the little bite sized sandwich Cecily had prepared for her as Aisha made herself at home in the chair across from her. “You heard correctly.” “I want to help.” “No.” “Please?” “This is a delicate political matter, Aisha. My apologies if I don’t think you’re quite ready for such a complex matter.” Aisha slid down her seat, crossing her arms. “I can handle it. I’ll be covert. No one has to know we’re working together.” Ursa smirked as she put he
Ursa dropped a bag of coins into the maid’s hand, and the small girl scurried out of the library. After more than half a year at the palace, Ursa learned who could be bought and who could be swayed to join her cause-- her cause being keeping her in the loop of things she otherwise wouldn’t be. That just happened to be any and all court matters, seeing as Ivan specifically kept her out of political matters. “You’re still recovering, Ursa! I can’t have you getting all stressed about these matters when your health is so fragile!” But her health has been ‘fragile’ for a little more than a month and a half. Physically, Ursa was already back in her original form, and more than capable of delving back into court. But the most work Ivan had even let her see had only been the preparations for the upcoming annual Royal Hunting Trip, renamed to the Imperial