Valentina Malconaire

[forgottenvalentina]

The Truth Will Out | Valentina & Eithne

“I don’t think you ever loved my father,” Eithne voice was hard and harsh as ice. “And I don’t think you ever truly knew him. If you had, you would know the way you are acting…it would break his heart.” It had rankled her, played through her head again, again, again, robbed her even of the power to respond. She might not have pursued Eithne, now, might simply have let Eithne crash and burn in peace with all that now was out...but those words rang still in her head. And she needed to blot them out.

"Well? How long did you seriously think you could hide this from me?" Valentina's expression was imperious, frigid in its scorn. She'd waited till the Malconaire gala was over, its guests all gone home as slowly dawn light crested over the trees. But now was the moment. Now she would confront the girl.

Eithne had come skulking out of the woods with Sir Tristan behind her, her hair and clothes scandalously dissheveled, hugging the knight's cloak to her while he, in turn, held her hair pins in his hand. Clearly, they hadn't been the only garments he'd plucked from her body. Eithne had known better than to be seen by most, but Valentian's eyes were sharp, and she'd been seeking for her every moment since the news of her pregnancy had out. She'd beheld the disgraceful return.

"I need not ask you where you were, or what you were doing, while you were neglecting your lord's guests. It's quite obvious what you were about, though -- truly? Pregnant, betrothed, and still in need of yet more male...attentions? You may be the most voracious young woman I have ever met. But, at least you are now free to take any lover you wish, I suppose: you need not fear falling pregnant, after all."

She paused. "I do hope what you were so...vigorously securing tonight was a new betrothal," she mused. "I doubt the one you've got will last long, now, will it? Particularly given the very interesting conversation you and I had the first day of the tournament."

Valentina's smile was triumphant.

[forgotteneithne]

Eithne had finally sat down after what felt like days of being on her feet during her step mother's gala, easing into a chair in the great hall that still held the remnants of the party itself. Eithne knew Cassimir would not wish for her to help with the cleaning but to leave it to the few servants and her sisters seemed unkind so, after a rest, she would start clearing away the plates while her husband-to-be slept...

This was not to be.

"What are you going on about?" Eithne groaned uncharacteristically when her step mother appeared. Too much had happened that night she needed to think over in her head, to process. More soon would come, but Eithne could not know yet what her youngest sister would tell her in the next few hours...

"Pregnant?" Eithne asked, finally looking up to meet her step mother's gaze. Her step mother had always towered over her and somehow always seemed to remind Eithne of just how small she should feel. This morning, however... this morning she would not.

"I don't know what vicious gossip you have heard..." Eithne rose from her chair to stand and face the woman. "Or perhaps been spreading but this is utter nonsense. And you, Step Mother, are a fool to believe it. This will pain your beloved son should he hear of it-- is that what you wish? To cause him pain?"

Eithne balked slightly when Valentina mentioned her engagement ending with Cassimir and everything Eithne, herself, had said at the tournament. She swallowed hard, made to stand her ground. This was her home and even in this small way, she meant to defend it against her step mother.

"I know you will twist my words and try to poison my intentions when you speak to Cassimir," Eithne continued, trying to keep her voice calm, though she could feel herself shaking. "And do what you must-- I have long since come to realize I cannot change your mind. I only ask you answer me one question..." Eithne paused.

"Was the will you presented to the Varmont officials declaring Cassimir the heir my father's true will? Or did you doctor it?"

[forgottenvalentina]

"Nonsense?" scoffed Valentina, plucking one of the star-like pins from the careful pile Sir Tristan had left on the table. She held it up before Eithne as though it were proof. "I suppose Sir Tristan simply gathered these off the ground when they fell from your head." She laughed, bitterly, and plunked it down again. It shone in the dim light, twinkling back the power of the dying fire in the grate.

"Do you know I was approached by Her Majesty, Queen Amira, herself, tonight?" Slowly, Valentina sank into the chair opposite her stepdaughter, brow arched imperiously. "I told her how grateful we had been to receive her son and brother and stepsons over the years." She nodded. "She smiled at me, a look I shall never forget -- head tilting ever so slightly, the jewels of her crown winking and dancing in the firelight. I had the strangest impression, you know, that the smile did not quite reach her eyes, and the lips, themselves, almost pursed. It was so strange a thing to be looked at like that, half-measuring, as if I, myself, were not quite as royal by blood as she."

She looked at me as though I were nothing.

Valentina breathed in sharply through her nose. Her heart pounded, again, remembering that icy look. It had been a queen looking over some lowly...serf! Not the look of one equal upon another. They were so haughty, these women Roderick had taken to his bed -- first Marian, now Amira. They made her feel...Her throat felt tight. She'd been accustomed to being put down by her own mother, but she had always used words. Roderick's second queen had not even needed that. Her heart felt as though it were shrinking.

Valentina's eyes flshed to Eithne. She forced an impertinent smile. "She spoke of you, you know. Said that you had had an interesting chat with His Majesty the Emperor. Care to tell me more? Or shall I tell you what Her Majesty intimated of the scene to me?"

In truth, Amira had not said much of anything, outright. She had known hints would take stronger root in Valentina's head. She had been right.

Valentina's lip curled as Eithne called her fool. She didn't venture to stand, as Eithne did, instead drawing another star-like pin towards herself, running her finger carefully over its shape. "There is something, Eithne, which you have never understood about me. Like you, I will do anything for my family. Anything at all. Even pain them, if that is what is best for them. But gangrene must be sawed from the body if it is to live. So, too, must you be cut out of his heart, forever. If no one else loves him enough to do what is best for him -- I shall not shirk my responsibilities. He shall be freed." Valentina paused, pursed her lips. "I daresay, someday even you will love someone or something well enough to give up anything, everything for them. Then you'll understand me."

Scoffing her stepmother brushed her gown carelessly, arching her thin brows at her stepdaughter. "My dear girl -- what on earth is there to twist? For once, I think, you actually said what you meant."

"Was the will you presented to the Varmont officials declaring Cassimir the heir my father's true will? Or did you doctor it?"

She'd been staring expectantly at the girl, challengingly, yet when she heard her question, she froze. For a moment, she was silent, then she began to laugh. "Oh, is that what all of this is about? Don't be so foolish. Of course I honored your father's intentions." She shook her head, half-unbelieving, but she held herself very stiff, very rigid. Her lips were drained of blood, and just behind the eye there was a look of mingled disbelief and even a touch...of fear.

Swallowing hard, Valentina gathered herself, forced a smile, willed the stiffness from her limbs. She'd done the right thing, she told herself. She'd saved Malconaire! Had Macdara's foolish will gone forward, they would have, all of them, been reduced to poverty, forced to get along with just the Riverbend and cast out of Malconaire while some Varmont-loyalist was handed all that ws so rightfully theirs. Yet, this cheating little trollop had the audacity to stand there and revile her for it! It wasn't Eithne who had saved them all, it had been Valentina and her quick thinking that had saved them all from destitution. Eithne ought to kiss her feet.

It was her, Valentina realized, sinking back into her seat. A knowing smile flickered across her lips. She's the vile little thief who stole the record of Macdara's misguided whims. "Ohhh, I see. You think yourself quite clever, little fox. You think that some alteration would see you leading the way, is that it?"

She paused, eyeing her for some time. Her voice, when she spoke, was sharp and hard as ice. "Tell me, daughter mine -- do you really think I overthrew all that your father wanted? I, who risked life and limb to save your troublesome sister from a pyre? Eithne, Macdara wasn't a fool. He didn't very well die so that Roderick Varmont could control Malconaire, did he? Hear me now, Eithne, if he had named you, that's precisely what would have become of his legacy. And, somehow, I don't truly believe tht that's what either you or he really would have wanted." She tilted her head. "Do you?"

I saved Malconaire, she thought. I saved it for us all. I saved it for him.

[forgottenvalentina]

OOC | Malconaire Potential Endgames Thoughts

ok so we were really going off in the notes of [ this ] post, so i thought maybe atp doing up a proper post abt it might be for the best, so here we go:

quillington

Mar 8 I also find it really interesting bc like — the only identity that’s clear here is that [eithne's love letter is] def not [to] Cassimir and sfjkkgddg I honestly don’t think that tristan himself would dare to imagine its abt him! Tbh I think there may be a degree to which he willingly deceived himself on that point after awhile as like — self-defense but also I think he just…doesn’t think he deserves her and it’d be presumption in him to think of her — but that Doesn’t stop him sfhkgsdg I’m tryna think who @forgottenroisin or @forgottenvalentina might imagine this is to we’re they to come upon it. Valentina would probs assume arthur — and possibly use it as proof to @forgottencassimir that Eithne’s cheating on him (if she can just blot out the ‘once I become another man’s wife we can never be again’ bit sgjjdfhkk rosie tho I do think has seen enough to know eithnes over arthur — but has she seen enough of tristan abd eithne to know? I ~do think Rosie’s def clock Tristan’s feelings fit ~her but I think young men falling for eithne is just…par for the course — but eithne returning those feelings? That’s another thing…

forgotteneithne

Mar 9 Original Poster Right!! I intentionally wrote it to be ambiguous enough that it was clear it wasn’t meant for cassimir BUT who it really was for is unclear— partially bc I imagined this was just Eithne scribbling to get her words out of her head! Love that Valentina would def be like ‘time for some more light forgery!’ 😅😅 seems on brand at this point! Also now thinking abt if @forgottenaoife found this letter who she’d imagine it was for and I think like Roisin she’d know it wasn’t meant for Arthur… but not think of Tristan either? I’d love to hear your thoughts but I feel like beyond Valentina seeing them coming out of the woods together at the party, everything between Tristan and Eithne has been so low key and private to the pair of them, it’s just not on anyone’s radar as much???

quillington

Mar 9 Dhkkgdfh Valentina, when in doubt: ‘a little light forgery can save this situation!’ Better than burning her stepdaughters alive ig adhklhdxgh 😭💀 That’s what I was thinking too!! That like sure tristan has been there a lot, but it’s largely been escorting various princes back and forth, and he’s never made any effort to interfere or yo be more than just ~present in the way that duty requires unless someone actively pulls him in and idk tgat anyone — as you said beyond Valentina — has seen them really interact one in one beyond possibly a ‘pls pass the peas’ type interaction at table ir whatever 😂😂😂 and yeah I feel like it’s all gone pr much under the window. I ~can see Valentina outting first to @forgottencassimir and if that doesn’t work later at their trial to ~everyone abt how late at night they went into the woods alone for an hour or two and returned w Eithne’s clothes v much disheveled and tristan literally carrying discarded articles of her clothing (literally just pins but let’s make it sound bad as possible—Valentina) just to show ~it wasn’t love w arthur or Cassimir~ and she’s been seducing and bewitching as many powerful men as she could (esp if/when tristan starts defending her and her sisters) so like I ~do think that’ll come out asp but sfhkjfd yeah atm I don’t think anyone else really has any reason to think of them as a pair atp in time?

forgotteneithne

Mar 9 Original Poster @quillington Yesss!!! That’s exactly how I was imagining it as well! It def would be out of left field for everyone (minus Valentina ig) if/when it comes out there’s something between Tristan and Eithne! And I think it makes sense @forgottenroisin thinks it’s all one sided bc I feel like Eithne has never been v open w/ her ~romantic feelings (which is why it seemed like such ! A big! Deal! With Arthur) probably until she straight up says like ‘I am in love with that one!’ Her siblings probably wouldn’t pick up on it!

quillington

Mar 9 @forgotteneithne Sogmlmk dsgkhd Valentina: xoxo gossip girl shkkfd everyone else: wait WHAT sghkhfd I feel like rosie esp is gonna feel like a fool over this too bc she’s so ~all abt~ love etc plus like — she was dating his nephew herself like??? Howwww did she not see the signs??? Sgjkgfg 😂😂😂 tbh if it ~is revealed in the trial I feel like there’s probs enough going on it’s probs not her main focus tbf but…still shkkgxgjkm

forgotteneithne

Mar 9 Original Poster Tristan trying to set her up with a non existent guy! Eithne: i guess i really read that situation wrong, huh? Noooo but thinking about if it she really DID hope Tristan would read that letter one day (but didnt want him to get outed to cassimir to smth!) i think she’d try to include something that would signal she was referring to Tristan! Like mentioning something he said to only her once or smth like that

quillington

1d not eithne thinking tristan doesn't love her bc he's tryna make her hppy w someone else laksdjfkljsdf the way that honestly feels waaaaay too real for them tho al;ksdjfkljdsf SOB lakjsdf eithne sending him a secret msg within her secret msg!!!!!! ughhhh <33333333 you KNOW he'd be the sort to like just fold that msg up and just keep it by his heart forever and ughhhhhhh 'im here whenever you need me' hours, never expecting a thing for himself, just wanting to do anything and everything to make her life a lil easier, a lil brighter, a lil happier...SOBBBB

phabblebabbles

1h Rosie taking up the mantle!!! 🥹 I know for SURE Aoife does NOT want it! She’s doesn’t event want to be the lady or a small house that is t running the biggest county in the country! (Tbh you mentioned Valentina and that has my mind going abt smth with them but I’ll get to that in a moment!) in my head when this whole idea started it was either @forgottenbrigit or rosie taking over in the end BUT now I wonder is it now some combo or people so one person isn’t burdened with the intense responsibility? Kind of like you mentioned w/ implementing the Kingsmoot idea country wide— Does the Lord/Lady M position become a… for lack of a better word mayor type position but has a council that decides what’s best for the county in this new, post empire dissolution endgame?! Ok but the idea Valentina just sorts fades into obscurity and doesn’t have a real ~end is kind of amazing??? It actually got me thinking tho abt Aoife in the end… bc I think I’ve said this asp but I had in my head one of the things bran tasked her w/ was caring for Valentina during the battle (probably atp assuming his step son was going to battle, too!) and aoifes taken that last charge from him to heart over the years… tho we’ve all seen she’s reaching her breaking point ANND I love the idea that some how some way she shows Valentina that Aoife isnt this meek, weak girl and kinda throws her step mom for a loop with that! @quillington but imagining the fate where Aoife (willingly, of course!) sort of continues being the one to look after Valentina in her obscurity— like imagining wherever Valentina ends up it’s kind of just out of the public eye!— but also since this is ideal ending AU imagining… @forgottensebastian is ALSO there and we know how Valentina feels about him! 😅

ok but the way i adddddore the idea of like a regency council governing malconaire so they can all come together and strategize and find the best way forward, bc i do think they all have these complementary pov's and yeah that way no one person is overly burdened they're all in it together which is where they're their strongest <3333333

you also mentioned...somewhere the possibility of brigit!bran becoming a robin hood-esque folk hero to malconaire, and

ok so i wrote everything above this awhile ago and...legit have no clue where i was going w that but i thought id go ahead and post anyway laksdjfkljdsf

[forgottenvalentina]

Where Have You Been? | Valentina & Brigit

Valentina's hands were on her hips, her eyes burned like coals, and arching a supercilious brow at her stepdaughter, standing a full half foot taller, she stared down at Brigit.

"Wriggling back in? I suppose you hoped we wouldn't notice that you'd gone, hm?" Seizing one of Brigit's arms, she yanked her closer, leaning down to bring their faces closer. "Where have you been?"

Valentina had been more than generous, stooping so low as to pay her ungrateful stepchildren to be present at the events in support of their dear brother and yet it seemed that even that was not enough, even when it was for the good of those grimy peasants they claimed to care so much about! There really was no pleasing some people.

Each of her stepdaughters, save Aoife, had managed to make herself scarce at some point during the festivities, his own fiancée refusing to stand up when he was most in need of support! She would see that Cassimir heard about it, supporting her littlest sister rather than the man she'd chosen to wed! And it was true that Rosie had claimed to be ill much of this past week, and had further, been acting strange, but that was hardly enough to excuse such behavior!

Now, Brigit had disappeared not merely during part of the archery competition, but during its entirety! Did she really think Valentina would turn a blind eye to such blatant disrespect?

"I hope you know this will come out of the rewards I was giving you! The people will hear why their alms were so lowered -- Lady Brigit couldn't be bothered to support House Malconaire even to benefit them. Really, the egoism of you girls truly baffles me sometimes. Your dear father must be rolling in his grave! Well, I hope you're happy with whatever...protest you think you've accomplished. It may well earn you a thrashing tonight, unless you can produce a valid excuse, hm? Let's hear it."

[forgottenbrigit]

Brigit had almost made it to the back stairs.

The house had been quiet, the candles dimmed, and she had slipped in through the rear door with the silent ease of someone who had spent years navigating the house without drawing Valentina’s attention. All she needed was a few more moments: just long enough to reach the attic. She was wondering if she would be able to resist the urge to wake her sisters and tell them everything. The winnings were not yet in her hands, but they would be soon.

She had earned them. Not for herself: but for her sisters; for Malconaire.

So even as Valentina seized her arm and dragged her forward, Brigit could not quite manage to hide the smile tugging at the corner of her mouth. She had won today and not even Valentina could change that.

“I assure you,” she said lightly, meeting her stepmother’s furious gaze with an irritating calm, “my absence was very much in support of House Malconaire.” Her voice carried a teasing edge she made no attempt to soften. “I knew perfectly well that Cassimir would not win today -- yet again -- and I thought it kinder not to sit in the stands and watch the humiliation unfold.”

She knew exactly what the remark would earn her. A lashing, most likely, and perhaps worse. But strangely, the thought did not frighten her tonight. After everything she had done today, it felt as though Valentina’s anger could hardly reach her.

Still, Brigit knew better than to rely on defiance alone.

Her expression sobered slightly and she carefully tugged her arm free from Valentina’s grasp. “Though perhaps I have already been punished for my absence,” she said, more quietly now. She rolled back her sleeve just enough to reveal the angry gash along her forearm, the blood that had seeped through the fabric dark against her skin. “I took a fall from my horse this morning.”

She let Valentina see it clearly before lowering her sleeve again. “Surely you would have preferred I stay away rather than appear in public looking like this?” Brigit added calmly. “It would hardly have reflected well on House Malconaire.”

Despite the seriousness of the words, that small, infuriating smile still lingered on her lips.

[forgottenvalentina]

She was smiling. The ungrateful, snarling little creature was smiling at her. She peered at the young woman through her graceful slanted eyes. Brigit was the greatest upstart of them all. It hadn't taken long to determine that much. In truth, the girl little tried to hide it, even on her best days. But this? She laughed in her mother's face. Valentina tilted her head, regarding the young woman. Words and bluster were generally enough, but Brigit had humiliated them all, and came back smirking.

She'd expected her stepdaughter to rise to the bait. She did not. Valentina blinked in surprise. "I underestimate you," said Valentina, cooly, sinking into a chair which faced her. It was her turn to smile, a cold look, to answer Brigit's heat. "I think of you as one so close to the surface, but you're not, are you?" She tilted her head, one hand coming up to cushion it. "You're nearly as devious as Eithne, herself."

At her bold proclamation, Valentina's brows arched in supercilious doubt. "Were you?" she purred. She smiled again, her long, tapering fingers toyed absently with the large drop pearl earring she still wore. "How perfectly splendid."

She expected, then, to hear some rubbish excuse. Brigit's words came like a vice, clenching around her middle. She sucked in a shocked breath, could scarce let it out, again, as her hands closed savagely around the arms of her chair. She pushed herself up again, snarling. "There it is, that biting Malconaire pride. You make nice to everyone in sight, save when it suits you, all of you. Where would you be now were it not for my son? He clothes you! He feeds you! He shields you from every harm, and how do you repay him?" She sneered, seizing her stepdaughter's arm. "Sarcasm."

She shook her head, rounding on the young woman before her. "Have you any idea what the Emperor would have long ago done with the lot of you, were it not for my son? He guards you and protects you! You might easily have been packed off to the ends of the earth, by now, unwilling brides to strange men that bested suited the Emperor's interests, all over the Empire! Instead, you are allowed to remain here, in his house, in peace, that you may be in a place -- that belongs to him -- which you so eagerly call home -- and have you ever once thanked him? Has he ever demanded the kind of homage he easily might? No! He might have ordered your ungrateful sister to wed him, and he would have been well within his rights to do so, but did he? Of course not! My noble son gave that wretched girl a choice! He who, in another world, would now be king! You ought to kiss his feet and beg for his forgiveness every day of your pathetic lives."

Brigit pulled free and, with a look of determined defiance, yanked up her sleeve. Valentina stared in shock at the angry gash running along her arm and, for a moment, thought that perhaps Cassimir had seen her first -- and punished her as he saw fit. Another moment, and she better understood what she was seeing.

Valentina sniffed imperiously. "You and those horses," she spat. "It seems even they grow weary of your disastrous manners. Well, you got nothing you didn't deserve, and you may well still have a thrashing before you for your horrid words, too. I shall leave the matter to Cassimir. But your lord shall hear of this, be in no doubt on that score." He was, after all, the only person to do it. Cillian would certinly defy her on that score, and she'd sacked just about everyone else, already.

Still, her gaze fell. It was true that she did not wish for Brigit to appear on the stands all bloodied. It would look as if Cassimir beat his sisters, and that was no pleasing look for any of them. "See that you take better care in future. We can't have you go bleeding everywhere. How would it look? See to it you bandage it up properly. I'll hear no complaints of fever should it fester, you understand. There is far too much work to do around here before the emperor and his party arrive on the final night, you know. I expect you spent the time you were not in the stands getting a headstart on your work in the stables and the fields, hm? How do the preparations fair?"

[forgottenaoife]

Unsent Letter

Step Mother, Sometimes at night I hear you in his office, going through Father's things again and again, looking for something until you've convinced yourself it will never be found. You tell yourself that no one will ever find out what you did. You tell yourself it was the right thing to do because otherwise we, all of us, would be out on the streets with no home. You tell yourself that if Father had not been blinded by his love for my mother, he would have seen reason years ago and made the right choice.

But you don't believe that, Step Mother, do you?

So you wake and you search through his things once again, hoping you'll find that one page of the will that disappeared. Perhaps it slipped between floor boards. Maybe its under the desk and you've just never spotted it. Maybe tonight is the night you can finally set aflame only thing that could prove your guilt.

But you'll never find.

You'll never find it because you'd never suspect I might have it. You think in my quiet I am also meek, but that is not the case. Did you even think to check if I might have been outside in the hall when you made your plans to take Father's will and change his words? Do you even remember you passed me in the hallway as you went to his office? I doubt you would... which is why I doubt you would ever imagine that I have Father's will, his real will, tucked away where you will never find it.

So I will sleep well, Step Mother, comforted that my Father's own words are safely in my care.

I doubt you will ever sleep so well again.

[forgottenvalentina]

Unsent Letter

𝔈𝔦𝔱𝔥𝔫𝔢 𝔬𝔣 𝔐𝔞𝔩𝔠𝔬𝔫𝔞𝔦𝔯𝔢, 𝔡𝔞𝔲𝔤𝔥𝔱𝔢𝔯 𝔬𝔣 𝔐𝔞𝔠𝔡𝔞𝔯𝔞, 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔩𝔞𝔱𝔢 𝔏𝔬𝔯𝔡 𝔐𝔞𝔩𝔠𝔬𝔫𝔞𝔦𝔯𝔢

I envy you. Oh, yes, you ingrate, you may struggle to believe that one so far above your station feels so small and petty an emotion -- directs it at one so far beneath her, but I do. I envy you every morning as your sister runs my brush through my hair. I envy you even as your hands turn hard and your shoulders ache with work. I envy you when I see you. I envy you when I do not. There are a thousand reasons, Eithne of Malconaire, to envy you. Shall I tell you of them? Shall I leave them even here, unwritten, though I shall commit this tawdy parchment to the flames as soon as I have scribbled down my wants. Do you know, child, what I shall think then as I watch it blister and blackened and turn on itself, writhing in the flames, smoky as kindling? I shall think of Sorcha's hair, turning dark, turning into yours. I think of her just as often as I think of you, Eithne. I thinkof her while I eat the pitiful porridge you serve me. I think of her when I drive through the mud-spattered path towards town. I think of her even as I bathe. Always, I think of her, think of her beauty and her grace, think of the laugh your father once told me still haunted him. I think of her when spot Brigit running or hear Aoife's singing or Roisin's laughing eyes. But most of all, Eithne, I think of her when I think of you. Her ghost, left here to torment me, even after Macdara has fled from me. Even when I close my eyes to sleep, imagine in vain the familiar sound of his breathing beside me, I open my eyes in the dark to see her laughing at me: more beautiful, more wise, more wonderful, more kind, more everything. That Sorcha was never really real, I know. Death beatified her. But the point was that Macdara believed in the sanctity of her ghost, and so I was condemned to live forever with her, too, everyday compared. Everyday found wanting. You find me wanting, too. You find me more wanting each and every day, as if you too live in Sorcha's shadow, her malignant shade whispering cruelties in your ear. Your very eyes accuse me. I know you despise me. You despised me the first moment you ever saw me -- before then, perhaps. I saw it in those eyes, like chips of ice -- so cold, they burn. I'd been told you were her image. I wanted to love you, at first. i wa s supposed to love you all. You were the ones that made that impossible, not I. I wanted to love you. I tried. It is all your fault. But no, it is not yours. I t is hers. S orcha was here before me. She never left. She lives on in each of you, and you will, none of you, ever forgive me for taking her place. I shall have to blot her out, instead. Macdara, forgive me. But you are too dead, now, to care. I must take what is mine, by whatever means necessary. There is only one way left, I fear, to save my beloved son. And I shall do whatever I must.

Written by the hand of she who is by rights queen and lady both, 𝔙𝔞𝔩𝔢𝔫𝔱𝔦𝔫𝔞 𝔬𝔣 ℌ𝔬𝔲𝔰𝔢 𝔙𝔞𝔰𝔦𝔩𝔦𝔢𝔳, 𝔔𝔲𝔢𝔢𝔫 𝔐𝔬𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔯 𝔬𝔣 𝔄𝔩𝔶𝔱𝔞𝔯, 𝔏𝔞𝔡𝔶 𝔐𝔞𝔩𝔠𝔬𝔫𝔞𝔦𝔯𝔢, 𝔏𝔞𝔡𝔶 𝔬𝔣 𝔱𝔥𝔢 ℜ𝔦𝔳𝔢𝔯𝔟𝔢𝔫𝔡

[forgottenvalentina]

just wanted to let you know the link for valentina's askbox in the meme has a typo <3

thank you!! fixed it <3

[forgottenvalentina]

OOC | House Vasiliev

from disco:

"Also w Lizzy’s return…I’ve been thinking it might be time to do more alytar/vasiliev(a) workdbuilding…bc you know me! If there’s room to world build, I simply gotta!

""Like…if Cassimir ~does get kicked outta malconaire, there’s still the riverbend…and he’s still a prince…"

play w lost anastasia vibes? as prophecy? as tryna pass off sonya as smth?

left these notes for myself here on draft on oct 22...legit have no idea what they mean now alskdjfalsjdfkjl but im ~guessing??? valentina gonna claim there's a prophecy abt a vasilieva becoming powerful or smth she's gonna try and be passing off to roderick bc we all know he thinks prophecies abt power are sexy af alkjsdfkjlsdfkjsd and thus make her daughter a queen w like...anastasia vibes???? and/or gonna try and make cassimir king????? or at least governor under roderick of alatyr????? ldskjaflskdjfkdf

[forgottenvalentina]

phabblebabbles

Dec 18

If there’s one thing we can count on it’s @forgottenvalentina is always gonna be a scheming 😜

forgottencassimir

Dec 18

AND forging things ;DD honestly can see where she's forged something or other that "proves" that her children are the ones in question to ~the~ prophecy. Also ... with House Vasiliev otherwise being completely eliminated, she DOES have some power in that there wouldn't be anyone from her own house to contradict her. It could also be an entirely fake prophecy, too, that was never in existence to begin with? Possibly with just literal local fairytale origins or something but Roderick wouldn't know that haha

phabblebabbles

Dec 18

@forgottencassimir Omgggg what if @forgottenvalentina hears about the @forgottenarthur son prophecy and is like ‘WAIT WE ALSO HAVE FAMILY PROPHECIES maybe Arthur should marry @forgottensonya “ or something insane 😅 OR she just wants Cassimir to have his own prophecy, too 😂

quillington

Dec 18

@phabblebabbles @forgottencassimir a Made up prophecy abt Cassimir!!!!! Mama ~do be forging!!!! And esp if/when things go boom in malconaire having a nice cozy homeland prophecy and not a single other heir or family member to contradict seems like just the thing to keep the wolves at bay!!!! I love the idea that she connors together a bunch of fairytales and presents it as a family prophecy handed down from ~Ivan the great~ or whatever dhkjfdghn honestly the prophecy probs says that roderick should make Sonya his princess and be v niceys to Cassimir bc whoever ~restores them and maintains them in power forever~ or whatever will win the greatest human of all time achievement award and like…never die or…smth dhklgdhkk but also that the house of vasilieva must continue this for all time or the world ends amen or…smth dhjkhfch @phabblebabbles but oh! yes! def meant to say that valentina DEFINITELY gon be like 'why yes @forgottensonya and roderick/arthur/edmund should ~absolutely combine their prophecies and get hitched!!!!!!' <33333 lakjsdfklsjdlkfj

laurenplayspeople

Dec 18

The way that the words "Like Anastasia" just awoke Sonya like a sleeper agent in my head

quillington

Dec 18

Sgklgdgjj Sonya: I’ve been activated! Dhkkgdhj no but!!!! I love thatttttt!!!! I def think there’s smth there bc like…she really is a lost princess passing under the radar yknow? And alatyr ~is literally fantasy!russia that did indeed suffer a violent revolution (but it was roderick) resulting her her family’s overthrow and like 👀👀👀👀 there’s smth there!!!!

laurenplayspeople

Dec 18

@quillington Yea! Def something there. Just have to decide how like... historical vs like musical movie Anastasia 😂 esp since obvi she isn't an orphan (...unless 👀 Valentina doesn't really like Sonya v much, maybe she is an orphan that got picked up to fit A Story Valentina Made Up) @laurenplayspeople And obvi Sonya would be into this because oh my god finally some attention

quillington

Dec 18

@laurenplayspeople @forgottencassimir @laurenplayspeople @phabblebabbles yessss so honestly im completely cool w ~either, both, smth only really vaguely inspired by anastasia, smth almost entirely like it, like literally whatever most appeals to us re having fun in our lil sandbox!!!! like, lauren, if you in particular -- w sonya being ur baby -- have any particular thoughts on that, like -- i am alllll earssssss!!! i will say that valentina is v complicated. she def doesn't love sonya the way she ~should but she absolutely ~does love her -- basically she's just tryna prove to herself that she's worthy and she does that by tryna justify what her mom did to her by visiting it on her ~own baby girl which is v sad but...v valentina and i am deeply sorry abt her! frankly, and this is sad too, but if sonya were to emerge as queen/empress/whatever valentina's outlook on her would do an instant turn around and suddenly sonya's the freaking sun!! aklsjdfkljsdf smdh but yeah didn't mean to go off on that tangent ok so like -- you're totally right! she could def claim sonya was an orphan if that helped things? like maybe there was a ~real prophecy as well as a fake one -- one per kid? -- and like...for some reason her daughter had to be a fake daughter who was really an...orphan or smth to fit it?? idk...alskdjfkljdsf could also be a figurative orphan since i think you'd said that sonya feels kind of...alone in her own family between her bro and mom? and/or like...symbolically they were all orphaned when the king of alytar got executed since he's the ~father of the country~ or...whatever?? alternately sonya could've fostered w another family for a number of years? so maybe she felt more connected to ~them, or...smth? idk!! im sure we could come up w smth!! @laurenplayspeople oh wait i think i badly misread this BAHAHAHAHA ooooh wait so the idea was that like...valentina is just passing sonya off as her daughter? @laurenplayspeople SOME MUCH DESERVED ATTENTION <3333333

laurenplayspeople

Dec 18

@quillington That was more what I was trying to convey, yes! 😂 I could have been clearer ig!!!

quillington

Dec 18

@laurenplayspeople Oh no babes I am ~confident it was me 😂😂😂😂 but ooooh incoming thought!!! So this i def have to run by @thelongforgottenrealm fir approval if you like it buuuut ok incoming thought, what if like Sonya is ~actually the daughter of Valentina’s sister, who had an affair (or secretly married??) the crown prince or smth, but like his dad didn’t approve it whatever and so Valentina’s family was cast out (which is part of why they ended up being spared mayhaps…), her sister secretly had Sonya but it was all hushed up given the kings wishes, and she died in childbirth so Valentina took lil Sonya as her own to protect her from the king’s wrath?? And yeahhhh idk Sgjkgdgj but that could prove an orphan situation w dead siblings (half siblings from her dad via whatever marriage his dad forced him into) who were murdered for politics and Sonya was a secret who narrowly escaped… @quillington Could also impact their relationship—this huge secret that could get them all killed, and ~did kill her sister, but also like — maybe she’s the spitting i@age of her mom and it’s just painful and 😩😩😩

laurenplayspeople

Dec 18

I love this so much Sonya: "grandmama, it's Me the Lost Great Princess Who Will Save the Land"

quillington

Dec 18

😤😩👏🥹👸 woman doesn’t ask to be queen but crown mysteriously fits 🤷‍♀️👑😌

so just thought we should have this all posted somewhere <3 i think we mighta had some more talk re this on disco too but idr the details or even where to look so if someone has that info pls lmk and/or reblog it here so we can find it again pls <3

anyway! w all this in mind i was doing some research on slavic/russian culture in the ancient and medieval days to sort of flesh these various thoughts out <3 esp if we got two prophecies (which may or may not be real tbf -- aint nobody forging like valentina forging! -- but...) i feel like knowing smth abt the culturue and context is key to making them feel real and alive in this world <3

GUARDIAN IDEAS

idk if this is for the country or the riverbend ~county, etc, but like kinda riffing off baba yaga, i was thinking maybe she's sort of this being who harms and helps by turns (esp depending on the whole offerings situation!! v proactive -- if you aint giving offerings she'll sustain herself oN UR FLESH vibes ;D lakjsdfkljdsfj) but largely she does it to test heroes -- might have chicken legs and/or can fly and quite possibly a personification of winter? (note: if so, maybe the same figure as the cailleach? just different places have different names for her?) in which case she can freeze you w a touch and such??

possibly to mingle w the above, but inspired by the leshy, a shapeshifter w mastery over the woods, who genreally takes the form of a tree or a snake or a mushroom, but when wishing to communicate w humans appears to ppl looking like someone they know but...slightly off or wrong in a way they can't quite put their finger on. he can vary in size, reflecting the palnts around him, and when he speaks with his own voice sounds like the creaking of branches and maoaning of the wind and all sorts of forest voices and sounds. but can mimic voices -- once again, one familiar to you but...off somehow. generally characterized as mischievous or evil, and has been said to make people get lost in the woods, cause people to fall ill, steal women, and even eat people. he is vulnerable to fire

vodyanoy, a watery spirit who generally appears like an old man, often blue and bloated as if from drowning w fish elements such as strange eyes, scales, and/or gills. he enjoys drowning ppl but will spare you and offer you good luck w water if you make him offerings (can see this guy being a local minor guardian of the riverbend), was considered esp helpful if you were a miller or fisherman who left him offerings

rusalka, the ghost of a beautiful young woman who drowned or whose bodies were lost in water, often as a murder. usually associated w water but sometimes seen in fields and forests. h er main function is luring young men to their doooms and then reenacting her own death upon them, but sometimes is simply mischievous and merely likes to lead ppl astray and get them lost. there was a festival associated w them, when they were thought to abandon their watery homes and walk abroad on the land. s he is also thought to promote plant growth. During her festival week, called rusalia or Rusal'naia Week (or later trinity week), villagers commemorated past ancestors and invoked the name of rusalki during springtime rituals like decorating homes with fresh-cut birch branches (carrying them around was thought to encourage the flight of birds, which was itself the harbinger of spring's return) or leaving fried eggs by designated birch trees. tho the festival revolved around the rusalka, her involvement in these activities is unclear

zmey -- ok so mostly bc a snake is the symbol of house vasilieva, i thought this guy might be good. so he's actually a dragon (in most early myths throughout the world, snakes and dragons are kinda interchangeable and this guy is no exception), having 3 to 12 heads and known, in typical dragon form, for carrying off maidens and treasure. but there's one in particular: 'Zmey Gorynych - Its name means "Snake of the Mountains". The Slavic version of dragon, this creature is said to have three or more heads and like other creatures in Russian fairy tales, they know how to talk. They are usually male and can be found in forests or mountains. It is said that when he flies he is so large that he blocks out the sun.'

VS EVIL GOD

obv vibing off none other than koschei the deathless here, soul hidden in various objects a la voldemort so he can't be killed, known for stealing away brides

FAIRYTALE IDEAS

the snow maiden -- think the little mermaid but snow instead of water and instead of becoming sea foam at the end she melts away when love warms her heart

the firebird -- partially inspired by the ballet by the same name (which tells of Prince Ivan, who captures the magical, glowing Firebird in the enchanted gardne of the evil sorcercer koschei. After Ivan releases her, the Firebird gives him a magical feather to summon her in danger; he uses it to defeat Koschei by finding his hidden soul in an egg, breaking his spell, and freeing the captive princesses, including one he loves), partially by the fairytale the firebird, tsarevich ivan, and the grey wolf, as well as the death of koschei the deatheless, but think: the parts of swan lake we ~didn't use w a princess captured by a sorcerer who, in an attempt to force her to marry him, turns her into a bird etc [ tsarevich tale (tho im thinking that either the feather of the phoenix or the magic egg which had contained the soul of koschei in the ballet are used to restore ivan to life after his bros kill him...) ] [ ballet (tho im thinking in this tale the firebird ~is the captive princess in question...) ]. anyway, maybe this is the fairy tales retelling of whatever actual history occurred re the evil gods in alytar? maybe its said tha princess elena the firebird shall once again survive death (she a phoenix!) and return to free alytar from its chains or...smth like that and that's part of the not!anastasia thing? (tho valentina altered it to say that when the princess who survives death weds the phoenix, aka roderick, he shall prove deathless or...smth idk??) -- there's also a tsarevich called ivan iirc who pulls a saint george and fights the zmey to rescue his beloved and iirc there's a vers of the same where koschei turns himself into a zmey -- we could even weave some of the laertian hydra in and for every head he chops off another appears etc and perhaps the firebird helps him conquer the serpent and find the golden egg and kill koschei aka the evil god or whatever idk??? but anyway maybe that's why the snake is their symbol -- we killed that guy we tough as nails yall don't mess w us sorta vibes.......in which case maybe it ws an evil guardian and not a god? but still...

cinderella meets vasilisa the beautiful -- two stories abt a virtuous young woman mistreated by her stepmother and stepsisters who, through a little magic and a lot of goodness ultimately finds some happiness, but you can find out more abt the russian tale [ here ]

the frog princess -- The tale tells the story of a king or an old peasant woman who desires to see their three sons married. The eldest two princes, however, fail to marry a bride despite their efforts, while the youngest one manages to win the love of a talking frog or toad by promising to be her husband and to bring her to his father's palace. she helps him overcome many obstacles and is ultimately revealed to be a beautiful princess, etc, more [ here ]

animals, portrayed just like any human character in terms of motivations and brains etc, often appear in russian and slavic fairtayles (Skazki): foxes (witty and sly females who outwit their opponents); chickens (associated with the sun, good fortune, and fertility. Hens often laid golden eggs and made their owners rich. Roosters can be found all over many household items and often when there are two roosters with their heads together it was as a wedding gift to wish the bride and groom a good marriage); bears (in russian their name literally translates to "one who knows where the honey is" a bear was considered an ancestor of the people and friendly. Oftentimes people will be changed into bears as a punishment or will often appear as a wise old man. The Bear symbolizes strength, power, might, warmth, and protection); wolves (strong and ferocious, usually villains males who were susceptible to being outwitted esp by foxes, people were not allowed to eat wolves because it was believed the meat would turn them into a werewolf. Wolves stood for wild untamed nature and were respected and feared); zmey (multi-headed snake-dragon see above); alkonost (portrayed as a woman-headed bird, this creature is similar to a siren and can actually change the weather depending on what mood she is in. It is said that they lay eggs in the water and when in the water the weather is calm but once it hatches there is a storm); idrik (a fabulous beast, the king of all animals who resided upon 'the holy mountain,' where no other foot may tread. When it stirs, the Earth trembles. The word "Indrik" is a distorted version of the Russian word edinorog, or unicorn. The Indrik is described as a gigantic bull with legs of a deer, the head of a horse and an enormous horn in its snout, making it vaguely similar to a rhinoceros)

had more but...must get food and thought id leave this here for you guys!

[forgottenvalentina]

OOC | House Vasiliev

from disco:

"Also w Lizzy’s return…I’ve been thinking it might be time to do more alytar/vasiliev(a) workdbuilding…bc you know me! If there’s room to world build, I simply gotta!

""Like…if Cassimir ~does get kicked outta malconaire, there’s still the riverbend…and he’s still a prince…"

play w lost anastasia vibes? as prophecy? as tryna pass off sonya as smth?

left these notes for myself here on draft on oct 22...legit have no idea what they mean now alskdjfalsjdfkjl but im ~guessing??? valentina gonna claim there's a prophecy abt a vasilieva becoming powerful or smth she's gonna try and be passing off to roderick bc we all know he thinks prophecies abt power are sexy af alkjsdfkjlsdfkjsd and thus make her daughter a queen w like...anastasia vibes???? and/or gonna try and make cassimir king????? or at least governor under roderick of alatyr????? ldskjaflskdjfkdf

[forgottencormac]

OOC | Cormac, Aoife, & Finn

ok so since cormac just went ahead and spilled the beans in a moment of weakness at "rejecting" aoife laksjdfklsdf (which i did not expect him to do btw!) and went ahead and proposed to @forgottenaoife on @forgottenfinnegan 's behalf (without sm as consulting me, or even ~more shockingly, @forgottencassimir -- gasp!) [ here ] i thought i should reach out since obv this impacts ur characters!!

im perfectly happy to say this was just an impulse of the moment and cormac literally forgot abt it the moment he walked away!! or that @forgottenvalentina put her foot down that she absolutely could noT afford to lose her most useful aoife AND her dowry at all once like that!!!! esp w everything going on!!!!!! or simply that the other callearies got cormac to re-think it since, quite obv, finn and aoife aren't in love etc, or...honestly whatever!! cormac could even get it in his head that roderick has plans for finn's own wedding idek alkdjfkjdf or...whatever we like hahaha if you guys don't want this plotline hahaha

but also im equally cool if you ~are interested in pursuing it/want to see where things go, etc!! honestly its 10000% up to you guys since, clearly, it impacts aoife and finn most out of anyone hahaha! <3333 cormac just kinda pushed in lakjsfkjsdf *facepalm* and im so sorry abt him hoenstly lakjsdfkjsdf

so yeah!! lmk what you think! we can def do literally whatever!! <3

[forgottensaoirse]

just wanted to record our replies...

forgottenfinnegan 1d

ouldkfjlzjlsfjlsfj omg I love this!!! I know that technically Cormac is the lord and what he says goes, but Finn does not take anything he says seriously and like if Cormac informed him that he was now engaged to Aoife, he'd be like "haha good one" and go back to sleep and then forget about it if it kept coming up though then I guess he'd have to deal with it and I don't think he would be on board because he's literally got a crush on her bff so #awkward, but even if he didn't, he does nOT think he is good enough for her at all?? (Also I can't remember if Finn knows about the Malconaire situation since he is in the resistance? But that's about the only thing that might make him reconsider/get on board -- like that he might actually be helping Aoife by marrying her???)

quillington 1d

@forgottenfinnegan @forgottencassimir @forgottenaoife omg im obsessed w ~all of this??!?!?? Bc like obv it depends how things play out Ofc but I feel like unless aoife immediately shoots him down Cormac us really patting himself on the back for this one like guys!!! Look at this!!!! He’s suuuuch an amazing lord and ~literally just saved aoife from hurling herself from the top of a tower in despair and!!!!! Frsnkly even more importantly he did a big lord calleary thjng AND best of all!!!!! He’s now officially allied w Cassimir so like EVERYTHING Is coming up Cormac!!!!!!!…even ~Finn told him this was a good one!!!!! (That Finn meant that he took it as a joke went blithely over cormacs head!) and even if aoife turned him down (indirectly) Cormac may or may not even pick up on it!!!!! He is on cloud 9!!!!!!!…and theN he hears from Cassimir whom he us ~fully expecting to congratulate him btw!!!!! Dgjkkhfgjk I AM A WORM 🐛 aGaiN!!!!! Sfjkhf disaster!!!!!!! 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 me: 😂😂😂😂😂 this is so nuts I’m in love 😂😂😂😂😂😂 @forgottenfinnegan Anyway I ~do feel like Cormac will probs????? Assume the engagement and take if for granted unless/until Finn, aoife, or Cassimir vocally objects in a v blatant way but!!! Yeah sfhjffgh

forgottenfinnegan 1d

@quillington Haha as is the Cormac way!! I feel like he will NOT pick up on Finn’s objections but yeah Cassimir won’t be subtle about his!!

forgottenaoife 1d

Honestly Aoife would have the same reaction as Finn at first and not take @forgottencormac seriously at ALL! And while Finn wouldn’t be the worse husband… aoife doesn’t want to marry him, haha. Honestly she loves the Calleary clan but I think they’re generally a bit TOO much for her! 😅😅😅 But they probably do know about the situation at malconaire, yeah? Unless @forgottencillian is keeping mum to spare the sisters the embarrassment!?

quillington 1d

@forgottenaoife ~cillian might but frankly he’s def told his siblings and Ronan? Ronan can’t forget thst degradation he feels it as his own I deffff think (unless any of you guys as rebel rpers don’t want your peeps to know in which case we can ~def figure that out!) Ronan bitterly gripes abt that a lot . Also cillian ~def told @forgottenpercy at the v least tho like I legit can’t think of a reason he wouldn’t unless, lizzy, you don’t want him to know in which case we can say that fir some reason cillian thinks Percy already knew…which frankly could def lead to a whole comedy of errors in its own right as cillian majes references ge thinks Percy will get whuch Percy misinterprets given his own understanding of things and blah blah blah! Or what 😂😂😂 but yeah!! I think in general telling cillian smth is the same as telling his siblings and Aldi his deluxe special edition sibling Percy unless you specify beforehand that someone in that group can’t know 😂😂😂 BUT ANYWAYYYYY!!! Aoife taking the same tack as Finn honestly probs just ~encourages Cormac bc not only is he overlooking these possibilities for dissent he’s like ‘omg they’re so in tune they said the same thing’ and now actively considering it auspicious 😂🤦‍♀️💀 Cormac bout to pull an emma woodhouse out here and become town matchmaker ‘after such success you know…’ 😂💀😂💀 akso if/when @forgottensaoirse hears abt this she’s gonna feel! So! Weird!! Dhkkgfhj wants to be happy fir them both but!!!! Also!!!! Lowkey miserable abt the whole thing and dealing in weird ways probs bc she’s a frost so she can’t be normal abt anything ever but esp when there’re emotions to deal with!!!!! sfhjgdfh 🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️

forgottenaoife 1d

@quillington I sort of figured the whole resistance knows but keeps it pretty quiet so maybe the malconaires don’t know they know? (Except the frosts & @forgottenpercy bc I assume they know cillian is not the best secret keeper! 😅) @forgottencormac being the country’s worse matchmaker is a plot we need! 🙏🏻🙌🏻 AND noo! Poor Saoirse!! Do you think she’s ever said anything to Aoife abt Finn? Bc if so Aoife’s would def want to put and end to this ASAP before it spirals too much for her besties sake if nothing else! (Plus adding this on the rumor she’s carrying a Varmont bastard baby is like… a lot for anyone but esp aoife!)

quillington 22h

@forgottenaoife So like…i ~do think Cillian’s a good secret keeper ~if he knows it’s a secret???? From everyone???? But he’s got levels like in general he ~is a talker so you tell himself smth he will talk!!! Esp to his family/Percy/the og malconaires but!! He considers ~all those ppl to be his close family members so he doesn’t feel he ought to have secrets from them!! So if you say don’t tell anyone he won’t ~except those ppl who he’ll tell and then swear to secrecy sgjkkgdhj so like??? Idk man it’s weird fhjkhggj but yeah if it’s clear and/or there’s a good reason they ~shouldn’t know he won’t say so like letting edmund tell Rosie abt the battle of m and then letting rosie tell her sisters, or not telling the workd abt the malconaire servants or the malconaires abt the rebels or eithne abt being lord ormond like…he ~can keep a secret he just doesn’t like to and you ~do gotta be specific hahaha @forgottencillian @forgottenaoife So…I don’t think so? But Aoife may know? That’s up to you…let me explain. Saoirse is kinda in denial abt her interest in Finn?? She’s like the LAST thing I need in my life is another chaotic man! I like men who’re neat and tidy and have their lives together dammit!!!! *is attracted to finn* 😂🤦‍♀️ she ~is also realistic abt like…esp in this post roderick world he’s gotta marry a girl from the right bg w the right dowry and/or connections etc etc he can’t be wasting his time w anything more than mere flirting w a serving girl that is not reasonable or practical like aoife is a way more fitting choice!! Does it make her feel weird and also unhappy once it comes down to it! Yes!! But also this is a good move for aoife w her reputation in tatters and her house in need, and it’s probs smart for Finn too to drum up some of that malconaire loyalty for the growing rebellion and that’s way more important than her own personal feelings in her mind so!! She’s probs gonna try to be supportive here while tryna manage her own feelings like she manages her brothers chaos (aka badly but not for lack of trying) 😂🤦‍♀️💀

forgottenfinnegan 20h

@quillington I do like the idea that perhaps the entire resistance knows about the Malconaire girls? Plus we know that Cillian/Percy/Ronan/Kale all def know and I feel like there is a good chance it would have come out at some point since the resistance is so heavily Malconaire coded haha. So given that poor @forgottenaoife has to live with both cassimir and @forgottenvalentina AND is their servant, I don't think Finn would completely throw this out the window as he would otherwise -- if he thought he could actually provide her with a better life and like, IDK, this might be a chance to do something selfish and good, although he would def have doubts as to how good of a husband he would be, even if he tried?? but he would try to be better than living with Valentina and Cassimir, at least!! That being said, idk that this will go TOO far, since Cassimir is def against the match and would only be persuaded to agree to it if @forgotteneithne was on board with it tbh??? Especially at this stage in their engagement, etc, he isn't about doing anything to upset her. But, even more than that, he would also NOT like Cormac just making a decision without even consulting him???? like ???? no??!!! cassimir: "stop having agency, dude!!! you must always defer to me!!!"

quillington 13h

@forgottenfinnegan *slaps desk* it’s canon!! Cillian blabbed so hard to the resustance dvsn the newbies know 😂👏🤦‍♀️👏😂 Cassimir: ‘stop having agency DudE!’ Cormac: ‘you got it!’ Honestly I will say I do think the SECOND Cormac gets anything that isn’t pure positivity outta Cassimir he is pulling the plug!!! Right up to that moment tho??? As far as he’s concerned they’re ~already married sgjkgfg certified meSS honestly dhmkgdg also like I gotta laugh/cry bc idek how clear he’d be abt ~why he’s suddenly against this batch he was so gung-ho abt just 5min ago either???? I mean it’s Cormac so equal chances he either blabs immediately or takes that one to his grave bc I literally ~never know what that idiots gonna do dgjjfdgh but!!!! He now feels this union is the worst possible thing in the world (and probs cries a lot abt it) and tells Finn off for pushing this whole thing thru despite Cormac hating this detestable match dying the start 💀💀💀 or smth!!!! Boy out here in his own reality who knows what’ll happen but yeah!!! Cassimir gets what Cassimir wants if Cormac has anything to say abt it!!! Chjgfghgg also side note love that the whole resistance is malconaire coded 💕💕💕

forgottenaoife 12h

@forgottenfinnegan Honestly feels like there’s no way the resistance doesn’t know what’s happening at malconaire… it seems like it’s probably one of the worst kept secrets in Astaira within the true Astairan families in some ways but no one really says anything outright, if that makes sense?? For Aoife’s side, she’s def not pro this idea in any way BUT I think with the whole ‘bastard children’ scandal she’s definitely not going to want to attract attention on herself so if this happened to spiral out of control she’d honestly wonder if the best move wasn’t to save face and just go along with it? But if anyone’s asking her if she wants to marry Finn she’s going to give a very polite thanks but no thanks 😅 And Eithne’s views on it… I think our girl is going to be very defeated after these new rumors abt her &her sisters pop up and tbh not sure she’s going to have the bandwidth to deal with this? (Which she’ll def feel guilty abt!) If cassimir played it the right way and it was more abt saying Aoife’s honor and less abt cassimir wanting control over who they all wed, I could see that winning some points with eithne! She def feels like she cannot do anything to help her family rn so if cassimir DID, esp with her feeling so low, that could be a positive! @quillington @quillington I’m guessing aoife hasn’t picked up on it honestly? Probably if she’s with Saoirse they’re doing their own thing (and lbr is @forgottenfinnegan even awake during the hours aoife might visit lorcan?! 😅) but she’s probably never even seen Saoirse interact with him enough to pick up on anything!

quillington 4h

@forgottenaoife IS FINN EVEN AWAKE BAHAHAHAHA no but that makes total sense and Honestly!!! Is a relief to saoirse she def tryna keep everyone, even lowkey ~herself, from picking up on it 😂🤦‍♀️ she wouldn’t want her to know!! ~esp if they’re even ~pseudo engaged 😂🤦‍♀️😂🤦‍♀️😂🤦‍♀️😂🤦‍♀️

forgottenaoife 3h

@forgottenaoife @forgottenfinnegan I’m guessing the question “is Finn even awake?” Is often asked in the Calleary household 😅

forgottencassimir 1h

@forgottenaoife @forgottenaofie ooh interesting!! Yeah I hadn’t considered that she might actually be on board with it to help ~save face~ re: her sisters honor!!! We might just how to see how it plays out too because it depends on how badly Casimir takes to having Cormac make moves without him as to how he takes the news AND also how he approaches Eithne about, etc

forgottenfinnegan 1h

@quillington Can confirm that the chances are low that Finn is awake during @forgottenaoife visiting hours 😂

quillington 26m

@forgottencassimir Cassimirs two conflicting angels/demons on his shoulders: let Cormac and Aoife make their own decisions vs get Eithne to be pleased w him and prove he’s a good lord sfhkjcvhkjb *incredible* @forgottenfinnegan @forgottenaoife A COMMON QUESTION IN THE CALLEARY HOUSE BAHAHAHAHA that feels too real…not me like have the rebels ever covered fir him doing resistance stuff by claiming he’s asleep??? ‘Finn? Awake at ~this hour???’ I feel like it would probably work 😂😂😂😂 Cormac could ever @quillington Gah! Cormac coukd even be relied upon to March into Finn’s bedroom and have a whole conversation w the pillows stuffed under Finn’s sheets and then pronounce himself as witness to Finn’s whereabouts 😂🤦‍♀️

forgottencassimir 1d

Also ... I'm not sure Cassimir would be a fan of this ... so maybe nothing will happen about it because Aoife is the only other Malconaire sister he would want to keep around longterm? Like he could come around to the thought of Rosie (especially in the time period where he thinks that she is actually happy for him and Eithne #whoops), but Aoife should be the LAST to go, in his opinion. He'd like Brigit to be out of the house, but Finn is also living too close for comfort and would NOT be a good husband for Brigit in that Cassimir feels like Finn would get Brigit just do whatever she wants (he's not wrong). Still, he might not have been completely against this match ... had Cormac not gone and done it without his permission?!!? I actually feel like he might be upset with him about it. Between the fact that Cassimir feels like it is HIS say on who Aoife marries ++ he is NOT planning on having any of Eithne's sisters married or engaged before he and Eithne are married!! (although lowkey while he's upset about this, he also likes the idea that it might win him some points with @forgotteneithne if he stands up for her sister/doesn't advocate for this engagement)

quillington 1d

Not him like ‘I’ll score major brownie points’ sfghhffgjkl

forgottenaoife 1d

@quillington @forgottenfinnegan askfidurj how did i forget to reply to this?! Okay thoughts incoming after I leave this grad party…

quillington 1d

@forgottenaoife Eeeeeeee!!!

forgottenaoife 1d

@quillington Initial thought: I’m obsessed with Cormac making a mess of this 😅😅😅

quillington 1d

Also meant today!!!! I ~do think Cormac is way too scary to Cormac to ever realistically pursue that — he thinks his sisters are too much!!! Asgdsgj @forgottenaoife Its what he does best 😂🙌😤

forgottenaoife 1d

@quillington And we love @forgottencormac for it!!

quillington 1d

@quillington *brigit is too scary…not…Cormac… @quillington @forgottenbrigit He tremebkrs when she is near…😂😂😂

forgottenaoife 1d

@forgottenfinnegan @quillington @forgottencormac whoops okay apologies there was more booze at a HS grad party than expected so this is a slightly tipsy response wooooo! So I DO think Aoife’s response to this is not going to think she’s agreed to marry Finn and more that she’s going to worry (rightly) Cormac is VERY wrong about anyone wanting him to marry @forgottencassandra and try to convinced Cormac that’s NOT what’s about to happen… which will I assume make him think she’s just trying to get Cormac to propose to her instead? 🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️

quillington 1d

Woooo I love tipsy kate 💕💕💕💕 but omg BAHAHAHAHA hell defffff think aoife has a strong case of jealous woman syndrome meets denial and be like ‘can’t blame her’ and just promises that finn will wear an outfit of cormacs Ken devising to the wedding (just ~try to contain ur lust ladies at ~that explosion of tulle and feathers ladies! 😭🤦‍♀️💀😂) and probs complains to @forgottencassimir — still assuming he’s on board — that aoife is in hysterics over his rejection and 🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️ this May it may not be hiw Cassimir learns of the betrothal that ~only Cormac believes has tsh rn pkace ig dgjkjfdgjgf SCREAM sfjkhfhjj

[forgottenvalentina]

quillington

May 26

@forgottenaoife @forgottenfinnegan omg yeah now I’m thinking abt Valentina and 1) she is FURIOUS aoife is the one (1) daughter she was planning to keep forever as basically her servant until her grave 2) she’s now presumably going to *gasp* have to face pawning some of her jewels to finance aoife’s dowry (at least she didn’t have to do that w eithne!) and 3) she’s still stuck w all the other girls!!!! Cue her deffffff tryna see if either Finn might wanna do a wife swap and snag one of the other girls or if nottttt suddenly remembering that the callearies are stupid rich and @forgottencormac is obsessed w her son abd tryna see what she can get outta them..sdgjjgfgjjh valentina: true neither of you are casilievas but we’re doing a vasilieva wedding! Finn is ABSOLUTELY going to have to buy his bride from me on the wedding day for EXIRBITANT FEES….’it would please Cassimir, lord calleary’ Cormac: ‘let’s do it!’

@forgottenvalentina might also try to pull a Leah/Rachel/Isaac situation and try to pass off a heavily veiled daughter that better suits her as @forgottenaoife to @forgottenfinnegan if their wedding day ever arrives sfhkhfdg def feel that’d backfire but yeah dghjjffh

forgottenaoife

May 26

@quillington OMG Valentina trying to pass one of her sisters off as aoife when she’s the tallest out of the four is the funniest image to me 😅😅😅

quillington

May 26

@forgottenaoife Valentina: right! Sonya it’s ur turn to try to pass for ur sister! Sonya: …she’s almost half a foot taller than I am mother

forgottenaoife

May 26

@quillington I feel like @forgottencormac is the only one tricked by that 🤣

quillington

May 27

@forgottenaoife Cormac: by the god I thought you were taller, aoife! @forgottenfinnegan probs: she is

[forgottenvalentina]

Heartbreaker | Valentina & Eithne

"Well," huffed Valentina. "We see now just how much luck your favor brings, don't we?"

This was, to Valentina's mind, a most humiliating defeat. Day one, and round one had just finished with Arthur casting Cassimir from his horse. And Valentina had chosen to blame Eithne.

"That was deeply satisfying for you to watch, I suppose? You must think much of yourself, mustn't you? A noble and gallant lord and a prince tilting for you?"

Still seated in the stands, she placed her hand over Eithne's, preventing her from leaving, and smiled sourly at her. Most had cleared out, meeting the porter at the center to purchase refreshments or speak with the competitors in their tents during the brief moment interlude between rounds, leaving stepmother and stepdaughter alone for a single venomous moment.

"It all comes so easily to you, doesn't it, Eithne? You smile towards any young man and he falls at your feet. You wish to rule a county and you're simply...born to it. You want a doting father to protect you above and beyond any sense and he simply...does...preferring you to anyone and anything and..." she pursed her lips, blinking away the way her eyes ached at the thought. She pressed on boldly, however, hoping Eithne would not notice.

"You wish for a powerful husband and two drop out of the heavens to kiss your hand. Have you ever had to work for anything?" Valentina shook her head, to show she did not believe she had -- apparently forgetting who had prepared her breakfast that very morning. Leaning her head on her hand as she spoke, her voice was even as she gazed across at Eithne. "You should know -- precious few have any of it so easy as you do. Cassimir shelters you, now, but if you betray him...what will become of you, Eithne?"

Wetting her lips, Valentina turned her gaze towards the temporarily empty tournament field. "Eithne," she said, voice turning oddly sweet. "I could offer you so much. A husband to eclipse even my dear Cassimir. You watched your other suitor hurl him into the dirt, today. I know ou gave him up because you thought it all a hopeless affair, but...What if I could get you a prince for a husband? Oh, I won't promise Arthur, but...Sebastian, for example? If I could make you a princess, Eithne, would you release my boy? Cassimir fancies he loves you, truly, but doesn't he deserve a wife who loves him?"

[forgotteneithne]

When Arthur's lance had felled her betrothed from his horse, Eithne had turned her face away. She supposed to the crowd she might appear as a disappointed lady watching her soon-to-be husband lose to swiftly in the day, but she was less concerned about Cassimir losing and more about the fact he'd lost to Arthur. She knew that he would have been cross regardless of who beat him... but to be beaten by Arthur, the imperial prince that Cassimir seemed to perceive as a romantic rival for her affections... it would be a tense evening at Malconaire house.

Eithne had thought she might go to Cassimir's side during the interlude, perhaps help soothe his disappointment from the loss but as the crowds rose, she felt Valentina's hand on hers, stopping her from leaving. Eithne sucked in a breath, steadying herself for whatever vitriol her step mother was about to send her direction in response to Cassimir's failures.

She could take it until Valentina mentioned her father. Eithne wrenched her hand out of Valentina's grasps, snapping her gaze towards the woman. Eithne had always believe that even though she seemed to despise she and her sisters so very much that Valentina had cared for their father.

"Do not speak of my father like that," Eithne's voice was low but harsh. "Do not pretend I held some sort of sway over Papa. He was a good man and a good father who loved all his children. Do not speak of him as if he ever did something wrong in caring for us."

She was ready to leave, abandon her step mother there to stew in her own resentment and anger but her next words rang with a grain of truth as Valentina spoke. Eithne looked down into her lap. Her step mother was right. She did not love Cassimir. She knew she never would love him. But this wasn't about love, this was about Malconaire.

"I don't want to be a princess..." Eithne's voice was quiet. They were alone, yes, but still here, where anyone could hear, her step mother offering up a royal title as if it was her's to give... it was ludicrous. She did not listen. She knew nothing about Eithne other than what Valentina had created in her own head. "You... You'll never understand."

"Give me Malconaire," Eithne herself was shocked as the words left her mouth, but she was firm as she turned to face Valentina, staring the woman down. "I know I cannot claim it as my own but give me control of the funds, let me be my father's heir in all but name. Cassimir can keep the title. But let me rule Malconaire, and I promise you, I'll break the engagement. I'll live the rest of my days alone and unwed if it would make you happy, but Malconaire is my home. I will not stand by and let you destroy it."

[forgottenvalentina]

Valentina's brow arched and haughtily, she shook her head. "Does the truth perturb you? Do you indeed contest the fact that your father preferred the vision of his late wife to the vision of the future -- his only son?" Her laugh was derisive. "But I suppose you're right," she said after a pause, recalling his will the way she had left it. "In the end -- he did choose rightly. But he did not wish you to wed Cassimir, Eithne. You know that. I know that. Cassimir knows that. It is you who seeks to flaunt his wishes, my dear, not me."

Astonishment showed across her face at Eithne's protestation that she did not wish to be a princess. "Why, a show of humility at this late stage? You do have some power left to surprise me, after all." As Eithne said she'd never understand, Valentina huffed, rolling her eyes heavenward. "That is certainly true."

"Give me Malconaire."

Valentina visibly recoiled, shifting in her seat, bald shock written unconcealed across her face. Then, all at once, she laughed, faced out towards the tiltyard, her laughter floated bright and gregarious. She turned to Eithne, then, looked at her, looked at her in a way she never had before. What was that familiar steel in her blue eyes, the pensive draw of her lips, even the set of her fingers as she gazed back. Eithne wasn't Sorcha's, not really, not in this moment, Valentina thought. This Eithne had a different mother.

"Oh, my dear, I have done you some disservice, haven't I?" She tilted her head. "At last, I see you, Eithne. At last I see. You're my truest daughter, aren't you? Not Sonya -- you. You're me, younger, Astairan, prettier, perhaps, but me. My darling girl, I've been playing this game so much longer. Don't you see? Though I respect your drive, it doesn't do to jump to the finish line. You've shown your cards, now."

Yet, her expression soured at Eithne's final line. "Destroy it? Malconaire is my home as well! All else has been stolen from me." She pressed her eyes closed for a moment, visions of her old life, of Alytar floating before her in vividest color.

Shaking herself, she turned to look towards the tiltyard, exhaled hotly. Her dear boy's face rose before her vision, she saw him once more crashed to earth. "You ask me to betray my son. Do not pretend you are in the right, here, Eithne. It is his birthright you wish to steal, title or no." Her gaze raked Eithne's frame. "Alone and unwed, yes. If I consider this, under no circumstances must you ever produce any heirs. Your sisters must follow suit," she added. "You may all spend the rest of your lives happily at Malconaire, but no more. This will be the end of your line. I will suffer no further rival claimaints, you understand me?" She paused, arched a brow, looking ahead, not quite daring to look at Eithne, now. "And what would you have of me? Silence, I suppose. Utter silence."

Valentina paused, arching a high brow. "What will you do, girl, when I am dead and Cassimir is wed, with heirs of his own body all clammering to claim Malconaire as is their right, hm? I won't have you undercutting my grandchildren simply because I am not there to defend them from your...whiles."

[forgotteneithne]

"Father is dead," Eithne hissed at Valentina. "And I will not have you speak of him that way, after he gave everything trying to save us... save you."

Eithne wanted to believe her father would understand why she'd chosen to marry Cassimir but feared her step mother was correct... she worried she had failed her father in her attempts not to fail Malconaire.

Eithne stared at her step mother as she spoke of her father making the right decision about his heir, in the end. Eithne knew the will was forged-- she knew, but there was no proof. She thought to confront her step mother right then-- she'd never said anything, never tried to fight it because Eithne knew, ultimately, having Cassimir as the heir is what had saved them all.

It was Eithne's turn to recoil at Valentina's response to her demand of Malconaire, of calling Eithne her own true daughter. That wasn't true. It couldn't be true-- Eithne was nothing like Valentina. Valentina wanted power. Eithne wanted to do good for the people of Malconaire. She made to stand, leave Valentina and, perhaps, the entire tournament behind for that day-- but the look on her step mother's face gave her pause-- was she considering it?

All thoughts of that possibility were gone the moment her step mother spoke, however-- her conditions were cruel, of course.

"No... No that is not what I said-- my sisters play no part in this. They have suffered enough at your hands for me to let you continue to play with their lives," Eithne interjected quickly. It was then she knew this was yet another game of Valentina's. There was no way she would convince Cassimir to give up Malconaire to Eithne-- and it was Eithne who was the fool to even suggest it.

"I don't think you ever loved my father," Eithne said suddenly, her tone cold, colder than she'd ever remembered it being. How could Valentina have loved her father if here she was, demanding his line end with she and her sisters? "And I don't think you ever truly knew him. If you had, you would know the way you are acting... it would break his heart."

This, this side of her step mother... this is why her father had never thought to give Malconaire to Cassimir. This is why she and her sisters suspected the will naming Cassimir the heir to be a fake-- but they had no way to prove otherwise.

"I would ask far less then you demand of me," Eithne replied then, staring at her step mother. "Just that you leave me to be the caretaker of Malconaire and leave my sisters and I alone. They can go off, marry should they choose, and live their lives... and let me exist, unbothered, let me care for Malconaire." Eithne paused.

"But I suppose that is too much for me to ask, Step Mother... isn't it?"

[forgottenvalentina]

The Truth Will Out | Valentina & Eithne

“I don’t think you ever loved my father,” Eithne voice was hard and harsh as ice. “And I don’t think you ever truly knew him. If you had, you would know the way you are acting…it would break his heart.” It had rankled her, played through her head again, again, again, robbed her even of the power to respond. She might not have pursued Eithne, now, might simply have let Eithne crash and burn in peace with all that now was out...but those words rang still in her head. And she needed to blot them out.

"Well? How long did you seriously think you could hide this from me?" Valentina's expression was imperious, frigid in its scorn. She'd waited till the Malconaire gala was over, its guests all gone home as slowly dawn light crested over the trees. But now was the moment. Now she would confront the girl.

Eithne had come skulking out of the woods with Sir Tristan behind her, her hair and clothes scandalously dissheveled, hugging the knight's cloak to her while he, in turn, held her hair pins in his hand. Clearly, they hadn't been the only garments he'd plucked from her body. Eithne had known better than to be seen by most, but Valentian's eyes were sharp, and she'd been seeking for her every moment since the news of her pregnancy had out. She'd beheld the disgraceful return.

"I need not ask you where you were, or what you were doing, while you were neglecting your lord's guests. It's quite obvious what you were about, though -- truly? Pregnant, betrothed, and still in need of yet more male...attentions? You may be the most voracious young woman I have ever met. But, at least you are now free to take any lover you wish, I suppose: you need not fear falling pregnant, after all."

She paused. "I do hope what you were so...vigorously securing tonight was a new betrothal," she mused. "I doubt the one you've got will last long, now, will it? Particularly given the very interesting conversation you and I had the first day of the tournament."

Valentina's smile was triumphant.

[forgottenedmund]

valentina: “ you were going to leave without saying goodbye? ”

Edmund Varmont adjusted his riding gloves, his black cloak swirling about him like spilled ink as he strode toward the waiting horses. He was halfway into the saddle when a voice called after him.

“Your Imperial Highness,” Valentina Malconaire beckoned. “And here I thought you were our guest for the evening. Are you leaving without saying goodbye?”

Edmund reined in, glancing over his shoulder. “I’m afraid duty calls, Lady Malconaire. I have many letters to answer, and borders to monitor."

Valentina descended the steps, her gown whispering over the wet stone. “Surely a prince of your ... influence can spare another hour. Sonya would be so disappointed to miss the chance to speak with you again. She’s been quite taken with your conversation.”

“I do seem to have that effect,” Edmund said lightly, though his eyes didn’t soften. "Although, she isn't the only one of your charges whose company I enjoy."

Valentina’s lips curved into a knowing smile. “Ah. Lady Roisin, I presume?”

“You have a talent for guessing, my lady.”

Valentina did her best to hide her displeasure, but it was plastered across her face plain enough. “A prince must think of his future,” Valentina said smoothly, stepping closer to his stirrup. “Sonya is a fine match, Your Highness. Well-born, accomplished, loyal ... and, unlike my step-daughters, royal blood -- ”

Edmund cut her off. " - I do tend to prefer choosing my own friends, Lady Malconaire.” He had lost patience with her.

Her tone cooled. “Lady Roisin is… spirited. But she is a child in many ways.”

“And yet she is more of a woman than most who've had twice her age. Perhaps what you mean, my lady, is that Roisin hasn't yet learned the art of being petty, cruel, and dull. In which case, I hope she remains a "child" forever."

For a moment they simply regarded each other: Valentina’s calculating gaze measuring his, Edmund’s wry amusement daring her to press further. Finally, Valentina stepped back, folding her hands. “Very well. I won’t keep you from your… urgent appointment.”

“Your understanding is as gracious as your hospitality, as always."

[forgottenvalentina]

Rejection | Valentina & Cassimir

Valentina felt triumphant. One way or another, she felt sure tonight was the night -- tonight, at long last, she was going to sever the bond between Cassimir and Eithne, and restore Malconaire to its natural order, with Valentina as its leading lady. The little gala at Malconaire was going swimmingly -- Aoife was chatting with Arthur (and unfortunately Sebastian as well but there wasn't much Valentina seemed able to do about that as, every time she tried to send him elsewhere, Arthur seemed to call him back...and duly become absorbed in reading a book he had brought -- if it hadn't been Arthur she might have found that insulting! but given that it was Arthur she had decided to view it not as a mark of disinterest, but as one of intimacy -- leaving Sebastian and Aoife to chat), Eithne was playing music with Sir Tristan turning her pages for her, Lord Hanthom was speaking with his sister the Queen and his Varmont fiancée, Roderick and Marian seemed to be chatting amiably, Alaric and Sonya looked rather cozy, Eoin was dancing with Cassandra and generally mixing only to occasionally distract Arthur from his book -- usually eliciting a chorus of laughter, and Brigit and Roisin seemed to be entertaining one another, something of which Valentina was immensely grateful, since her current favorite, Prince Edmund, had proven unable to attend, and the girls had no further use save, occasionally, it seemed to cause Valentina a headache. In general, everyone was mingling agreeably -- during the first portion of the evening, at any rate. Valentina had invited all the victors...well, all who were of noble blood. Bran O'Connor, Cathaoir Rith, and Finley Doyle she had not seen fit to invite, and was glad that none of those ruffians had ever set foot on Malconaire soil!

"Cassimir, I need you," said his mother, imperiously, tone quiet enough not to distract any of the guests, but commanding enough she was confident he would follow.

Leading him into the Lord's office, she assumed a chair by the fire. "There is...Cassimir, my darling boy," she said, reaching out to touch his face. "There is...news, grevious news, which I have just heard from Queen Marian, herself." This was a fib. It had, in fact, been Valentina herself who had implied wha she was about to say to Cassimir to Marian...and she had done that on the very first night of the tournament, not its very last.

"I fear this news will be painful to you, so I shall say it quickly and have it done with. It seems, Cassimir -- we have, all of us, been deceived. Eithne is with child -- Arthur's child. When she told him, he rejected her and it seems...Oh, I am so sorry to be the one to tell you this," she added, bringing her hands to her mouth before seizing up his hand again. "Oh, Cassimir, it...it seems that is when she agreed to...to marry you. Oh! My poor boy! How her treachery must break your dear heart!"

She paused. "But, darling heart, perhaps it is well that you learn tongith, with not one but both imperial princesses present...oh, and both so very in love with you...You'll forget Eithne after just fifteen minutes with them, I have no doubt. Take your pick, Cassimir -- you can have whomever you wish! Forget the little viper who tried to deceive you into raising another man's bastard! You will have imperial heirs of your own before long, Cassimir, I know it! You will be the next emperor!"

[forgottencassimir]

Cassimir stared at his mother, her words striking him like blows. For a moment he could not even draw breath. “Arthur’s…child?” he managed at last, the word breaking raggedly in his throat. His hand slipped from hers as though her touch burned.

“No.” He shook his head, his face pale, jaw clenched. “No, that cannot be true. Eithne ... Eithne would not ...” He faltered, the image of her beautiful and innocent smiles clashing violently with the insinuation. He thought of Arthur’s ease, his wealth, his damnable confidence. He thought of the way Eithne’s eyes sometimes softened in his presence.

A flash of fury crossed Cassimir’s face, raw and unguarded. He paced the room like a caged animal, his voice low and dangerous. “If Arthur has touched her, if he has used her, I swear—” He stopped himself, fists trembling at his sides.

Valentina’s words about Guinevere and Cassandra washed over him, but he did not hear them. His mind had narrowed to a single, blazing point. “You say she deceived me,” he spat, turning on his mother, his tone nearly accusing. “But I will hear it from her own lips before I condemn her. Do you understand? Eithne is mine. And no one, not Arthur, not even you, will tell me otherwise.”

[forgottenvalentina]

There was distinace in his eyes, a pallid haze, and Valentina's chest ached with that look. This was all Eithne's fault, that flagrant little! Little! There was no word harsh enough to infuse with the scorn she felt for that girl causing her boy such pain! Perhaps it was so that, when Valentina had first heard the news, she'd thought less about whether it was a truthful report and more about how it might serve to...put some distance between the couple, yes. Perhaps it was even true that, initially...she had not quite even believed it. But looking at him now, oh yes, she believed with every fiber of her being that Eithne had lied and deceived and betrayed her darling son!

Yes, it was Eithne's fault, not Valentina's, that he was now filled with such pain! Eithne's! She'd been the one to force Valentina's hand into wounding her own child so, after all! Not only with her perfidious conduct as regarded Arthur's child, which Valentina was believing more and more with each passing moment, but even well before that with her schemes to entice Cassimir! Someone so far above her! It was a blessing beyond all telling that Cassimir even looked her way! Yet had she had the grace to see it? No. She only used him, this way and that way, to her own greedy gain. And Valentina loathed that feckless girl for it, all the more.

Squeezing his hand sympathetically, Valentina nodded. "Queen Marian told me of the circumstance, herself. It was Eithne's plan, you see, to pass off her bastard as yours, and thus steal your father's inheritance out from under you with a lie. These bitter Astairans can't seem to rest easy with the truth that you deserve Malconaire, not some scheming...wench!"

Fury flashed across Cassimir's face and he broke free from her grasp, almost without seeming to realize it, pacing the room. Valentina pursed her lips as she listened to his rages. This wasn't taking quite the direction she'd hoped. Oh, the child being Arthur's get, specifically, had been something she'd calculated would arouse his wrath, but not at the prince -- at the girl who had tried to make him a fool! It was meant to dislodge Eithne! Arthur, Valentina still hoped, would make Aoife his next favorite -- and take her to wife, someday, too. They needed a Varmont in this family!

Finally, he rounded on her. Valentina huffed. "You sound like a fool," she said, stonily. "And here I raised my son to have sense! This spiteful little creature is no more yours than she was Arthur's, when she rutted with him, but the tidings of her infidelity came to me by his mother, who thinks the world rises and sets upon him! She would not lie to me that my supposed firstborn grandchild shall, indeed, be hers! Hear me, Cassimir, these words are the truth. Eithne has betrayed you! Deceived you! Used you! She does not love you: that much you already knew. Now you know she has taken you for a fool and cuckolded you as well. Shall I go on?"

A long sigh escaped her and Valentina arched a brow, sightlessly contemplating the sandstone slates beneath her before raising her face to her son's. "I had hoped to spare you this."

Valentina sank into one of the seats by the blazing fire. Contemplatively, she cast her gaze there before looking to Cassimir again. Her decision was final. He had to be told.

"On the first day of the tournament, after Arthur hurled you in the mud," she arched a brow in a dismissive way -- she hated to remind Cassimir of this event nearly as much as she hated to remember it, herself. "Eithne and I had a conversation. You may consult the lying little vixen herself to the veracity of my account if you no longer have any faith in your mother," she spat. She held up a hand. Continued. "I told her it was her favor which had denied you any luck by giving it all to her. That she knew nothing of real work or, or pain, or hard-scrabble intent. She had everything handed to her! A prince and a lord warring for her attentions! A father who adored her beyond all sense, above all else! Riches! Her..." she had promised herself she would never say Sorcha's name again. Let her be forgotten. "Ancestral...famed beauty, even!"

She looked away, into the flames again. "I told her that, since she was so used to having her own way, I'd give her whatever it took, whatever she wanted, if she'd leave you. Free my boy, who deserves a wife who truly loves him." She turned to look him in the eye again. "She agreed. She doesn't care for you, doesn't want you. All she wants, all she has ever wanted, Cassimir, is Malconaire. You're just the easiest way to have it. You're just a pawn in her game."

She tilted her head, disdain appearing upon her face. "In truth, I'd hoped to hear her refuse my offer. I'd hoped...hoped maybe you were right about her, but..." Tears stood out in her eyes. "I remember her exact words, Cassimir, they're emblazoned on my mother's heart. 'Give me Malconaire,' she said, staring me down like the definat little shrew she showed herself to be. 'I know I cannot claim it as my own but give me control of the funds, let me be my father’s heir in all but name. Cassimir can keep the title. But let me rule Malconaire, and I promise you, I’ll break the engagement..'" She arched her brows, not including the other things Eithne had also said. "Apply to her, if you wish, Cassimir. I shall never forget them: those were her exact words."

Valentina stood again, put a hand atop the mantel. "She...went on to demand, later, that she have absolute control of her sisters, too. Their weddings, their lives...She would appoint those and all the riches that came therefrom. The longer the conversation went on, the more she showed her true self. She admits, herself, that she has no rights to Malconaire, yet she cannot stop in doing whatever it takes to steal it from the rightful heir! Her greed is insatiable! Her ambition is a razor's edge. All she wants is money and power! I, too, was taken in my her sweet manners, once; I believed the gentle fairy tale she spun around herself, but...Now I see, Cassimir, it's all an act. The woman you love...she doesn't exist. And she certainly isn't in love with you."

[forgottenvalentina]

A Favored Daughter | Valentina & Aoife

"Sit down, Aoife." Valentina's voice admitted no possibility of an alternative. She ordered her daughter as she might a dog. As the girl sank into the divan beside her, Valentina smiled a smile which did not reach her eyes. "Such a pretty thing," she said, running her fingers through the long loops of her coiled pale tresses. Sorcha must have looked not unlike this, she thought, at her own wedding. Though, rather more like Eithne.

"Tell me true: will Sebastian Varmont wed you, Aoife? He ought to, you know, after putting us all through the havoc of those disgusting tales! And you," she added, dropping the girl's hair and arching a commanding brow. Her voice went a step lower as she spoke, expression turning almost to disdain, almost to anguish.

"You certainly owe us a wedding. I suppose you meant only to please a prince, hm? You do so like to be accomodating, but really, Aoife! People will say you were attempting to entrap him, you know, and while we all know that is much more your sister's domain than your own, it will be difficult to avoid. Best to simply take what you can get and take whatever you can out of it. He may be a wretched brute of a man, but you've almost certainly missed your chance with Arthur or Edmund now...Though, if you think you can snap one of them up, you certainly should! But don't let fear of Sebastian hold you back. A marriage to one of those princes is your only path back to respectability now. Oh, how Macdara would grieve to see this day!"

She paused. "And Aoife? Before you begin talk of Lord Finnegan of Calleary, know that that will not suffice for you. With your most beautiful sister destined, apparently, to remain here, and only your more difficult sisters left afterwards, hauling this family back to a place of respectability falls squarely upon your slender shoulders. Finnegan shall do for one of the difficult girls. But your charms shall recommend you wherever you go. If we are to catch a prince, it must be left with you or Sonya, not one of them. Brigit will never catch a man on her own, and Roisin's already managed to drive away a potential future emperor. All you need to do, Aoife, is wed the man you've bedded. Can you manage that? If not, we shall, I fear, be forced to take more extreme measures, and you should not, I think, like that very much at all. No, best tell me straight away how I can help you lure Sebastian Varmont in or, if not, one of his even more elibgible brothers. So, my dear, who shall it be?"

[forgottenvalentina]

Mother Dearest | Valentina & Finn

Cormac had told Valentina, himself, of his plans. From his actions and the look on his face, after Aoife, Valentina had been the very nextperson he had told of the solemn betrothal he proposed between Aoife and young Lord Finnegan of Calleary, not by design, but by the simply expedient that, having left Valentina's stepdaughter, Valentina herself had been the very next person he had seen.

There had been a time when Valentina's first move would have been to consult with Cassimir, himself, but with Eithne's venomous talons sunk so deep beneath his skin, Valentina had taken matters into her own hands, and gone to Lorcan, herself.

It was a rare day indeed that saw Valentina at Lorcan. It was a dreadful, damp, haunted place to her mind, and everywhere she looked, she saw only the spectre of her own rival. It pleased her to find reasons to despise the place. She'd decided, long ago (facts corroborated by no one save Cormac who had only run away with the ideas after they had been suggested to him), that it had the most ghastly stink about it, that it was a wan and dark place, that its rooms were too small or else too large, that it was plagued by the most odious drafts, that, in short, all that could be wrong with any place was wrong with it, and she liked little less than to be there. But her reasons for detesting Lorcan were far more personal, in truth. This, after all, was the place of Sorcha's growing up.

It watched her, she felt. The air here was clammy in the winter; humid in the summer, and the placed breathed a heavy, sodden air. Sorcha knew she was here. And Sorcha despised her.

Still, Valentina was not here to see about that. She had one mission, and it was urgent. She was here to arrange the marriage of a rich young lord to one of her stepdaughters -- preferably Brigit, but she would settle for Roisin. It would not be Aoife. Aoife and Sonya, after all, still had some hope of a Varmont and, while Valentina was pleased in a match with a wealthy but still shockingly pliable young man, Finn did suit much of what she was looking for in a son-in-law. She certainly hoped a marriage would go forward! But Aoife would be either a princess, or under Valentina's own thumb, for the rest of her life.

"Lady Valentina!" exclaimed Cormac, entering the too-dark drawing room. He wore a most extraordinary hat, nearly half his own height and bearing a ship at sail upon a storm-tossed sea within its brows. The rest of his attire was lost beneath a heavily embroidered pink velvet cloak which seemed to tell a story relating to the conquest of a sea serpent. Bejeweled point shoes peaked from beneath his robe. The lord clapped and, at once, a suit of servants fluttered to the windows, tearing back the drapes. A glare of harsh sunlight slashed across the floor and Valentina winced. "Well met! Ahh, but I cannot wait to call you mother-in-law!"

How Cormac would contrive to call her so, Valentina could not fathom, but she forced a polite laugh. "And how, my dear Lord Calleary, fares your brother? I was so hoping for a little duologue with my future son, you know."

"Oh!" laughed Cormac. "At this hour? Surely he's asleep!"

Yet, no sooner did he say so, than the door opened yet again, and in marched the man himself.

"Oh!" cried Valentina, all smiling exuberance. "My own dear son!" Coming to him, she leaned in to kiss first one cheek, then the other. "I was so very pleased, my lord, to hear of your betrothal to my dear Brigit! How stupendous a match!"

She smiled coyly. Finnegan Calleary looked a touch the worse for the wear, while Cormac Calleary looked nothing short of lost in the woods, and it occurred to her that she might easily convince them both, without too much trouble at all, that it had always been Brigit, and not Aoife, who had been the lady in question.

"How very well, my lord, the two of you shall look together! I had to come here the instant I heard the news to give all my congratulations to our future bridegroom."

Turning to Cormac, whose confusion had reached so advanced a state that his mouth now hung open, Valentina formed a maternal smile. "Now, my dear boy, will you not allow me to speak for a moment in private with my boy?" Reaching out, she playfully poked his nose. "You know I'll have more than a few words to share with you soon, but for now, I really must give my best to the he who is shortly to become..." she paused, arched a suggestive brow, feeling certain the mere hint of sex would be more than enough to convince Cormac he'd rather be anywhere else. "A husband...to a...wife...I am keenly aware that you are tragically without a mother so, should there be any...questions a lad might have for a married lady, well..."

"Oh! Well, well, yes. Ceratinly. Of course. Of course. Why, yes. There is--much--" his hands were shaking. "I must away, I am afraid, but please, you two...Hesitate to say nothing to one another! Honesty and openness, you know," he added, backing towards the doors. "Honesty and openness!" And with those words, he shut the doors and left them alone.

Turning back towards Finn, Valentina tilted her head, grinning like the cat who'd eaten the canary. "Now, my boy, shall I ring for some tea? There is much to discuss. Not least of which...my daughter's bride price."

Separately, she'd negotiate one with Cormac to be paid to herself directly. But there was no need to mention that to anyone but Cormac. She only hoped Finn would not counter with any questions regarding his wife's dowry.

"It is an old Vasilieva custom I know but, she is so very much my own child as to demand the custom be met, regardless. One would never risk parting with a daughter to a man who...could not recognize her worth, after all. But you, of course, can have no objections I'm quite sure. A girl more desirable than my daughters you'd have to travel the whole empire to find--" she smiled a touch sardonically. "Just ask the Varmont Princes."

[forgottencormac]

OOC | Cormac, Aoife, & Finn

ok so since cormac just went ahead and spilled the beans in a moment of weakness at "rejecting" aoife laksjdfklsdf (which i did not expect him to do btw!) and went ahead and proposed to @forgottenaoife on @forgottenfinnegan 's behalf (without sm as consulting me, or even ~more shockingly, @forgottencassimir -- gasp!) [ here ] i thought i should reach out since obv this impacts ur characters!!

im perfectly happy to say this was just an impulse of the moment and cormac literally forgot abt it the moment he walked away!! or that @forgottenvalentina put her foot down that she absolutely could noT afford to lose her most useful aoife AND her dowry at all once like that!!!! esp w everything going on!!!!!! or simply that the other callearies got cormac to re-think it since, quite obv, finn and aoife aren't in love etc, or...honestly whatever!! cormac could even get it in his head that roderick has plans for finn's own wedding idek alkdjfkjdf or...whatever we like hahaha if you guys don't want this plotline hahaha

but also im equally cool if you ~are interested in pursuing it/want to see where things go, etc!! honestly its 10000% up to you guys since, clearly, it impacts aoife and finn most out of anyone hahaha! <3333 cormac just kinda pushed in lakjsfkjsdf *facepalm* and im so sorry abt him hoenstly lakjsdfkjsdf

so yeah!! lmk what you think! we can def do literally whatever!! <3

[forgottensaoirse]

just wanted to record our replies...

forgottenfinnegan 1d

ouldkfjlzjlsfjlsfj omg I love this!!! I know that technically Cormac is the lord and what he says goes, but Finn does not take anything he says seriously and like if Cormac informed him that he was now engaged to Aoife, he'd be like "haha good one" and go back to sleep and then forget about it if it kept coming up though then I guess he'd have to deal with it and I don't think he would be on board because he's literally got a crush on her bff so #awkward, but even if he didn't, he does nOT think he is good enough for her at all?? (Also I can't remember if Finn knows about the Malconaire situation since he is in the resistance? But that's about the only thing that might make him reconsider/get on board -- like that he might actually be helping Aoife by marrying her???)

quillington 1d

@forgottenfinnegan @forgottencassimir @forgottenaoife omg im obsessed w ~all of this??!?!?? Bc like obv it depends how things play out Ofc but I feel like unless aoife immediately shoots him down Cormac us really patting himself on the back for this one like guys!!! Look at this!!!! He’s suuuuch an amazing lord and ~literally just saved aoife from hurling herself from the top of a tower in despair and!!!!! Frsnkly even more importantly he did a big lord calleary thjng AND best of all!!!!! He’s now officially allied w Cassimir so like EVERYTHING Is coming up Cormac!!!!!!!…even ~Finn told him this was a good one!!!!! (That Finn meant that he took it as a joke went blithely over cormacs head!) and even if aoife turned him down (indirectly) Cormac may or may not even pick up on it!!!!! He is on cloud 9!!!!!!!…and theN he hears from Cassimir whom he us ~fully expecting to congratulate him btw!!!!! Dgjkkhfgjk I AM A WORM 🐛 aGaiN!!!!! Sfjkhf disaster!!!!!!! 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 me: 😂😂😂😂😂 this is so nuts I’m in love 😂😂😂😂😂😂 @forgottenfinnegan Anyway I ~do feel like Cormac will probs????? Assume the engagement and take if for granted unless/until Finn, aoife, or Cassimir vocally objects in a v blatant way but!!! Yeah sfhjffgh

forgottenfinnegan 1d

@quillington Haha as is the Cormac way!! I feel like he will NOT pick up on Finn’s objections but yeah Cassimir won’t be subtle about his!!

forgottenaoife 1d

Honestly Aoife would have the same reaction as Finn at first and not take @forgottencormac seriously at ALL! And while Finn wouldn’t be the worse husband… aoife doesn’t want to marry him, haha. Honestly she loves the Calleary clan but I think they’re generally a bit TOO much for her! 😅😅😅 But they probably do know about the situation at malconaire, yeah? Unless @forgottencillian is keeping mum to spare the sisters the embarrassment!?

quillington 1d

@forgottenaoife ~cillian might but frankly he’s def told his siblings and Ronan? Ronan can’t forget thst degradation he feels it as his own I deffff think (unless any of you guys as rebel rpers don’t want your peeps to know in which case we can ~def figure that out!) Ronan bitterly gripes abt that a lot . Also cillian ~def told @forgottenpercy at the v least tho like I legit can’t think of a reason he wouldn’t unless, lizzy, you don’t want him to know in which case we can say that fir some reason cillian thinks Percy already knew…which frankly could def lead to a whole comedy of errors in its own right as cillian majes references ge thinks Percy will get whuch Percy misinterprets given his own understanding of things and blah blah blah! Or what 😂😂😂 but yeah!! I think in general telling cillian smth is the same as telling his siblings and Aldi his deluxe special edition sibling Percy unless you specify beforehand that someone in that group can’t know 😂😂😂 BUT ANYWAYYYYY!!! Aoife taking the same tack as Finn honestly probs just ~encourages Cormac bc not only is he overlooking these possibilities for dissent he’s like ‘omg they’re so in tune they said the same thing’ and now actively considering it auspicious 😂🤦‍♀️💀 Cormac bout to pull an emma woodhouse out here and become town matchmaker ‘after such success you know…’ 😂💀😂💀 akso if/when @forgottensaoirse hears abt this she’s gonna feel! So! Weird!! Dhkkgfhj wants to be happy fir them both but!!!! Also!!!! Lowkey miserable abt the whole thing and dealing in weird ways probs bc she’s a frost so she can’t be normal abt anything ever but esp when there’re emotions to deal with!!!!! sfhjgdfh 🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️

forgottenaoife 1d

@quillington I sort of figured the whole resistance knows but keeps it pretty quiet so maybe the malconaires don’t know they know? (Except the frosts & @forgottenpercy bc I assume they know cillian is not the best secret keeper! 😅) @forgottencormac being the country’s worse matchmaker is a plot we need! 🙏🏻🙌🏻 AND noo! Poor Saoirse!! Do you think she’s ever said anything to Aoife abt Finn? Bc if so Aoife’s would def want to put and end to this ASAP before it spirals too much for her besties sake if nothing else! (Plus adding this on the rumor she’s carrying a Varmont bastard baby is like… a lot for anyone but esp aoife!)

quillington 22h

@forgottenaoife So like…i ~do think Cillian’s a good secret keeper ~if he knows it’s a secret???? From everyone???? But he’s got levels like in general he ~is a talker so you tell himself smth he will talk!!! Esp to his family/Percy/the og malconaires but!! He considers ~all those ppl to be his close family members so he doesn’t feel he ought to have secrets from them!! So if you say don’t tell anyone he won’t ~except those ppl who he’ll tell and then swear to secrecy sgjkkgdhj so like??? Idk man it’s weird fhjkhggj but yeah if it’s clear and/or there’s a good reason they ~shouldn’t know he won’t say so like letting edmund tell Rosie abt the battle of m and then letting rosie tell her sisters, or not telling the workd abt the malconaire servants or the malconaires abt the rebels or eithne abt being lord ormond like…he ~can keep a secret he just doesn’t like to and you ~do gotta be specific hahaha @forgottencillian @forgottenaoife So…I don’t think so? But Aoife may know? That’s up to you…let me explain. Saoirse is kinda in denial abt her interest in Finn?? She’s like the LAST thing I need in my life is another chaotic man! I like men who’re neat and tidy and have their lives together dammit!!!! *is attracted to finn* 😂🤦‍♀️ she ~is also realistic abt like…esp in this post roderick world he’s gotta marry a girl from the right bg w the right dowry and/or connections etc etc he can’t be wasting his time w anything more than mere flirting w a serving girl that is not reasonable or practical like aoife is a way more fitting choice!! Does it make her feel weird and also unhappy once it comes down to it! Yes!! But also this is a good move for aoife w her reputation in tatters and her house in need, and it’s probs smart for Finn too to drum up some of that malconaire loyalty for the growing rebellion and that’s way more important than her own personal feelings in her mind so!! She’s probs gonna try to be supportive here while tryna manage her own feelings like she manages her brothers chaos (aka badly but not for lack of trying) 😂🤦‍♀️💀

forgottenfinnegan 20h

@quillington I do like the idea that perhaps the entire resistance knows about the Malconaire girls? Plus we know that Cillian/Percy/Ronan/Kale all def know and I feel like there is a good chance it would have come out at some point since the resistance is so heavily Malconaire coded haha. So given that poor @forgottenaoife has to live with both cassimir and @forgottenvalentina AND is their servant, I don't think Finn would completely throw this out the window as he would otherwise -- if he thought he could actually provide her with a better life and like, IDK, this might be a chance to do something selfish and good, although he would def have doubts as to how good of a husband he would be, even if he tried?? but he would try to be better than living with Valentina and Cassimir, at least!! That being said, idk that this will go TOO far, since Cassimir is def against the match and would only be persuaded to agree to it if @forgotteneithne was on board with it tbh??? Especially at this stage in their engagement, etc, he isn't about doing anything to upset her. But, even more than that, he would also NOT like Cormac just making a decision without even consulting him???? like ???? no??!!! cassimir: "stop having agency, dude!!! you must always defer to me!!!"

quillington 13h

@forgottenfinnegan *slaps desk* it’s canon!! Cillian blabbed so hard to the resustance dvsn the newbies know 😂👏🤦‍♀️👏😂 Cassimir: ‘stop having agency DudE!’ Cormac: ‘you got it!’ Honestly I will say I do think the SECOND Cormac gets anything that isn’t pure positivity outta Cassimir he is pulling the plug!!! Right up to that moment tho??? As far as he’s concerned they’re ~already married sgjkgfg certified meSS honestly dhmkgdg also like I gotta laugh/cry bc idek how clear he’d be abt ~why he’s suddenly against this batch he was so gung-ho abt just 5min ago either???? I mean it’s Cormac so equal chances he either blabs immediately or takes that one to his grave bc I literally ~never know what that idiots gonna do dgjjfdgh but!!!! He now feels this union is the worst possible thing in the world (and probs cries a lot abt it) and tells Finn off for pushing this whole thing thru despite Cormac hating this detestable match dying the start 💀💀💀 or smth!!!! Boy out here in his own reality who knows what’ll happen but yeah!!! Cassimir gets what Cassimir wants if Cormac has anything to say abt it!!! Chjgfghgg also side note love that the whole resistance is malconaire coded 💕💕💕

forgottenaoife 12h

@forgottenfinnegan Honestly feels like there’s no way the resistance doesn’t know what’s happening at malconaire… it seems like it’s probably one of the worst kept secrets in Astaira within the true Astairan families in some ways but no one really says anything outright, if that makes sense?? For Aoife’s side, she’s def not pro this idea in any way BUT I think with the whole ‘bastard children’ scandal she’s definitely not going to want to attract attention on herself so if this happened to spiral out of control she’d honestly wonder if the best move wasn’t to save face and just go along with it? But if anyone’s asking her if she wants to marry Finn she’s going to give a very polite thanks but no thanks 😅 And Eithne’s views on it… I think our girl is going to be very defeated after these new rumors abt her &her sisters pop up and tbh not sure she’s going to have the bandwidth to deal with this? (Which she’ll def feel guilty abt!) If cassimir played it the right way and it was more abt saying Aoife’s honor and less abt cassimir wanting control over who they all wed, I could see that winning some points with eithne! She def feels like she cannot do anything to help her family rn so if cassimir DID, esp with her feeling so low, that could be a positive! @quillington @quillington I’m guessing aoife hasn’t picked up on it honestly? Probably if she’s with Saoirse they’re doing their own thing (and lbr is @forgottenfinnegan even awake during the hours aoife might visit lorcan?! 😅) but she’s probably never even seen Saoirse interact with him enough to pick up on anything!

quillington 4h

@forgottenaoife IS FINN EVEN AWAKE BAHAHAHAHA no but that makes total sense and Honestly!!! Is a relief to saoirse she def tryna keep everyone, even lowkey ~herself, from picking up on it 😂🤦‍♀️ she wouldn’t want her to know!! ~esp if they’re even ~pseudo engaged 😂🤦‍♀️😂🤦‍♀️😂🤦‍♀️😂🤦‍♀️

forgottenaoife 3h

@forgottenaoife @forgottenfinnegan I’m guessing the question “is Finn even awake?” Is often asked in the Calleary household 😅

forgottencassimir 1h

@forgottenaoife @forgottenaofie ooh interesting!! Yeah I hadn’t considered that she might actually be on board with it to help ~save face~ re: her sisters honor!!! We might just how to see how it plays out too because it depends on how badly Casimir takes to having Cormac make moves without him as to how he takes the news AND also how he approaches Eithne about, etc

forgottenfinnegan 1h

@quillington Can confirm that the chances are low that Finn is awake during @forgottenaoife visiting hours 😂

quillington 26m

@forgottencassimir Cassimirs two conflicting angels/demons on his shoulders: let Cormac and Aoife make their own decisions vs get Eithne to be pleased w him and prove he’s a good lord sfhkjcvhkjb *incredible* @forgottenfinnegan @forgottenaoife A COMMON QUESTION IN THE CALLEARY HOUSE BAHAHAHAHA that feels too real…not me like have the rebels ever covered fir him doing resistance stuff by claiming he’s asleep??? ‘Finn? Awake at ~this hour???’ I feel like it would probably work 😂😂😂😂 Cormac could ever @quillington Gah! Cormac coukd even be relied upon to March into Finn’s bedroom and have a whole conversation w the pillows stuffed under Finn’s sheets and then pronounce himself as witness to Finn’s whereabouts 😂🤦‍♀️

forgottencassimir 1d

Also ... I'm not sure Cassimir would be a fan of this ... so maybe nothing will happen about it because Aoife is the only other Malconaire sister he would want to keep around longterm? Like he could come around to the thought of Rosie (especially in the time period where he thinks that she is actually happy for him and Eithne #whoops), but Aoife should be the LAST to go, in his opinion. He'd like Brigit to be out of the house, but Finn is also living too close for comfort and would NOT be a good husband for Brigit in that Cassimir feels like Finn would get Brigit just do whatever she wants (he's not wrong). Still, he might not have been completely against this match ... had Cormac not gone and done it without his permission?!!? I actually feel like he might be upset with him about it. Between the fact that Cassimir feels like it is HIS say on who Aoife marries ++ he is NOT planning on having any of Eithne's sisters married or engaged before he and Eithne are married!! (although lowkey while he's upset about this, he also likes the idea that it might win him some points with @forgotteneithne if he stands up for her sister/doesn't advocate for this engagement)

quillington 1d

Not him like ‘I’ll score major brownie points’ sfghhffgjkl

forgottenaoife 1d

@quillington @forgottenfinnegan askfidurj how did i forget to reply to this?! Okay thoughts incoming after I leave this grad party…

quillington 1d

@forgottenaoife Eeeeeeee!!!

forgottenaoife 1d

@quillington Initial thought: I’m obsessed with Cormac making a mess of this 😅😅😅

quillington 1d

Also meant today!!!! I ~do think Cormac is way too scary to Cormac to ever realistically pursue that — he thinks his sisters are too much!!! Asgdsgj @forgottenaoife Its what he does best 😂🙌😤

forgottenaoife 1d

@quillington And we love @forgottencormac for it!!

quillington 1d

@quillington *brigit is too scary…not…Cormac… @quillington @forgottenbrigit He tremebkrs when she is near…😂😂😂

forgottenaoife 1d

@forgottenfinnegan @quillington @forgottencormac whoops okay apologies there was more booze at a HS grad party than expected so this is a slightly tipsy response wooooo! So I DO think Aoife’s response to this is not going to think she’s agreed to marry Finn and more that she’s going to worry (rightly) Cormac is VERY wrong about anyone wanting him to marry @forgottencassandra and try to convinced Cormac that’s NOT what’s about to happen… which will I assume make him think she’s just trying to get Cormac to propose to her instead? 🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️

quillington 1d

Woooo I love tipsy kate 💕💕💕💕 but omg BAHAHAHAHA hell defffff think aoife has a strong case of jealous woman syndrome meets denial and be like ‘can’t blame her’ and just promises that finn will wear an outfit of cormacs Ken devising to the wedding (just ~try to contain ur lust ladies at ~that explosion of tulle and feathers ladies! 😭🤦‍♀️💀😂) and probs complains to @forgottencassimir — still assuming he’s on board — that aoife is in hysterics over his rejection and 🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️ this May it may not be hiw Cassimir learns of the betrothal that ~only Cormac believes has tsh rn pkace ig dgjkjfdgjgf SCREAM sfjkhfhjj

[forgottenvalentina]

quillington

May 26

@forgottenaoife @forgottenfinnegan omg yeah now I’m thinking abt Valentina and 1) she is FURIOUS aoife is the one (1) daughter she was planning to keep forever as basically her servant until her grave 2) she’s now presumably going to *gasp* have to face pawning some of her jewels to finance aoife’s dowry (at least she didn’t have to do that w eithne!) and 3) she’s still stuck w all the other girls!!!! Cue her deffffff tryna see if either Finn might wanna do a wife swap and snag one of the other girls or if nottttt suddenly remembering that the callearies are stupid rich and @forgottencormac is obsessed w her son abd tryna see what she can get outta them..sdgjjgfgjjh valentina: true neither of you are casilievas but we’re doing a vasilieva wedding! Finn is ABSOLUTELY going to have to buy his bride from me on the wedding day for EXIRBITANT FEES….’it would please Cassimir, lord calleary’ Cormac: ‘let’s do it!’

@forgottenvalentina might also try to pull a Leah/Rachel/Isaac situation and try to pass off a heavily veiled daughter that better suits her as @forgottenaoife to @forgottenfinnegan if their wedding day ever arrives sfhkhfdg def feel that’d backfire but yeah dghjjffh

forgottenaoife

May 26

@quillington OMG Valentina trying to pass one of her sisters off as aoife when she’s the tallest out of the four is the funniest image to me 😅😅😅

quillington

May 26

@forgottenaoife Valentina: right! Sonya it’s ur turn to try to pass for ur sister! Sonya: …she’s almost half a foot taller than I am mother

forgottenaoife

May 26

@quillington I feel like @forgottencormac is the only one tricked by that 🤣

quillington

May 27

@forgottenaoife Cormac: by the god I thought you were taller, aoife! @forgottenfinnegan probs: she is

[forgottencassimir]

valentina: what are you doing out here by yourself?

Flashback (Shortly after the Conquest of Astaira)

The frost clung to the garden wall, glittering in the pale light of dawn. Cassimir leaned against it, staring across the misted gardens. The air smelled of cold earth and distant smoke from the fires that warmed the hall. He had been here long enough that the stone had leached the warmth from his hands, but he did not move.

“Cassimir,” came a voice behind him. He turned to see his mother, her fur-lined mantle sweeping behind her like the train of a queen. She did not slow as she approached, her eyes fixed on him with the precision of a hawk. “What are you doing out here by yourself?” she asked, her tone making it sound less like a question and more like a mild rebuke.

Cassimir shifted, the words he had rehearsed in his head suddenly dry and heavy on his tongue. “Thinking.”

“Thinking,” she repeated, as though she could taste the word. “You spend too much time at it lately. Is something troubling you?”

He hesitated. “There is… a matter I have been considering. I meant to—”

But Valentina was already speaking. “I have news,” she said, her eyes alight. “The Emperor’s court is in chaos. He hasn't secured any matches for any of his children, let alone selected an heir from amongst them. Not even for his eldest child -- the Imperial Princess, herself. She will need a husband. And soon. If he waits too long, she will no longer be able to give him any grandchildren."

Cassimir’s breath stilled in his chest. He knew then, what his mother meant to suggest -- and it was at bitter odds with what he had meant to tell her that day. He had been pondering just how he might tell her that he wished to have Eithne as his wife, but it was clear that Valentina meant to make other plans.

“You, my son, would be the most suitable choice. A marriage that would elevate us beyond this provincial corner of the realm. Think of it—imperial blood, imperial favor. The Malconaire name bound to the Emperor’s own line.”

He looked away, back to the gardens. His thoughts were a tangle—Eithne’s face, her voice, her touch ...

And now… Guinevere Varmont, a stranger, yet a prize his mother clearly coveted.

“You are silent,” Valentina observed. “Do you not see what this could mean?”

Cassimir forced a smile that did not touch his eyes. “I see it well enough.”

Her hand, light but commanding, rested on his arm. “Good. Then you will not waste time on lesser attachments," She added, as though she could read his thoughts. "There is work to do, and we must present ourselves flawlessly to the court.”

His throat tightened. He had thought himself a man who could bend fate to his will, yet in the shadow of her certainty, the words he had meant to speak to her—that he would wed Eithne—shrivelled into nothing.

“As you wish, Mother,” he said at last.

Valentina’s smile widened, satisfied. She patted his arm once before gliding back toward the manor, her fur cloak whispering over the frost. Cassimir stood there long after she was gone, the cold biting deep, and wondered if he had just surrendered the only choice that had ever been his.