*TW: r*pe
A young girl, barely seventeen, was brought to her knees in front of the imposing king, sitting high and mighty on his throne. Her blonde, almost white locks of hair fell forward, covering her face.
“Do you know why you have been brought here?” The scrawny attendant said with false authority. The girl shook her head, shivering from fear. How did she end up in this situation?
Leila had come to Ichares with hope in her heart. There had been positions opening in the palace after some rumors had run rampant about the king’s behavior. However, Leila came from a poor family from the countryside, and her father was terribly sick and needed money for treatment. The moment Leila heard how much they would pay, she packed her bags and hopped on the first carriage out of her small v
It had been raining non stop since the king found out about her pregnancy. Leila was in despair, stroking her flat stomach.“It would be good if I didn’t have to bring you into the world,” she whispered softly.“You shouldn’t speak like that!” admonished a booming voice from the doorway. Leila swiftly looked up to see her torturer. He wore a grand fur cape with gold chains and broaches. “This child is a gift, you should be thankful you are able to serve your king in such a way.” Leila didn’t respond, only looking through the window at the downpour outside. The king, angered by being ignored by this woman, gripped her chin with his hand. He put some pressure just so he could hurt her. “Listen to me when I talk to you!” he roared.Her vacant
Leila couldn’t tell how long she had been walking, all she knew was that she had been walking for a long time. Her bare feet ached and were caked with mud, and her loose nightgown was torn at the edges. The sheet she had wrapped around her body was dragged through the dirt road, and smelled of animal feces and grass. Occasionally a carriage would pass by, and Leila would hide behind the nearest cover, be it a tree or a rock. The road was on the open, dead grass, and it was quite hard to hide all the time, so she covered her face with the disgusting sheet, despite its horrendous odor.It took the entire night for Leila to walk the twelve mile journey to the guard’s hometown. No doubt it would have been a shorter trip, if not for Leila’s fugitive status and the fact that she was heavily pregnant.When the sun rose over the horizon, L
Leila’s unexpected return was a surprise to her parents but also a celebration. But when they saw the pouch on her back with the small child with Vasil-like features, her mother could only speculate.Leila’s father was still bed-ridden and terribly ill. After all, he had been relying on Leila’s constant payments from her job as a maid in the palace being sent to the nearest town, where her mother would ride to pick it up. Mysteriously, those payments stopped around ten months ago… and the child was about a month old…No. Leila’s mother was just glad her precious only daughter had returned to their village. She had warned Leila of the outside world. How vicious cruel the reigning Vasils could be. Leila’s mother only hoped her daughter didn’t have to experience that cruelty first hand.
Everyday Ivan would be brought to the Vrian Council, where he would learn basic magic skills. When one is so young and so powerless against his oppressors, it conquers the mind and soul, where one is left nothing else but a drive to learn the mysteries of the greater power. He would pour over books about magic for hours on end, exasperating his grandmother to no end. His grandmother didn’t particularly like him. Whenever his grandmother looked at his tan skin and dark hair, she was reminded of the suffering her daughter went through, and the beating that their reputation took. His mother alone was the only person in the entire world who accepted him for who he was.Ivan constantly felt the need to prove himself to his peers, the councilors and even his family. That he was enough, that he wasn’t a burden, but a gift. He even dug out his grandfather’s rusty old sword and would swing i
Ivan had never seen a city before. He had spent his entire life in the small village of Vria, locked away in the tall mountain range. The tall buildings and busy streets were a daunting vision to Ivan’s narrow world view.The man who claimed to be his father ordered his men to place Ivan on a horse and secure him. They took off soon after, leaving the village of Vria to burn from Ivan’s own power.He didn’t look back.But sometimes, in the middle of the night, the faces of those boys who couldn’t move fast enough to save themselves flashed in his mind like flashing lights, reminding Ivan of his sins. And on his back, Ivan could feel the constant reminder of his actions, in the form of a red mark that looked like tree branches originating on his spine and crawling up his back
Kassio Orlov didn’t want to attend court that morning. According to his father, the current Prime Minister, there was an esteemed position waiting for Kassio because of his achievements. Orlov didn’t want anything to do with the current king or his dynasty. His family had long been silent critics of the king’s policies and military pursuits, but Orlov’s private studies had long produced him with the opinion that the current governing body was a ruinous system.But what could he do? Orlov had still yet to graduate from his studies! He sat silently at his father’s side, who was nervously tapping his fingers on the edge of his desk. The doors to the court room opened, announcing the arrival of the special guest.“His Highness the Seventh Prince, Prince Ivan!” Orlov craned his neck to get a good look at the youn
The first order of business was to prepare Ivan for his official crowning as a legitimate prince. Although he was called by the title, there was usually a special ceremony that took place at birth. Seeing as how Ivan grew up in the small village of Vria away from the palace, he never had the opportunity to be dubbed.Orlov spent the next week going into the palace and educating Ivan on the expectations of the ceremony. Orlov noticed the little boy preferred darker colors, so he asked one to be prepared for the ceremony. The entire royal family would be there, plus every noble in town for the season. It would be best if Orlov could begin curating Ivan’s character to make him a likeable figure to the public and the nobles.Finally, the day arrived, and Orlov personally escorted Ivan, whose long red cape trailed behind him as he walked, completel
The moment they entered the temple, Ivan felt a searing pain shoot down his back, threading down the mark on his back. His knees buckled and he fell to the ground in front of the priests that greeted them.“What’s wrong with the boy?” An alarmed priest asked. They immediately crowded around him.“-Back…” he grunted out, reaching out to grab a hold of anything that could let him ease the pain. Orlov immediately pushed the priest back and ripped off Ivan’s cape and coat and other layers revealing his deeply scarred back.“It’s blood red,” one priest commented in shock.“Look at the shape of that!” another exclaimed. They all fought to get a good look at the boy’s back whi
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