The whole Grand Castellum felt restless, people were either fearful or suspicious and neither stance helped when it came to matters of peace. Ana felt quite useless as despite trying to learn of what had changed whilst she’d been aware there was only so much she could do. A dowager queen did not hold the cards she had once been used to. So, instead, she had taken to walking and listening to what she could. She was not expecting to be caught out in doing so and she took a slight step back when asked what she as up to. “Don’t mind me, I am just walking through. I am still allowed to do that am I not?”
She was woman accustomed to her regimen of morning walks and evening horse rides. Unfortunately, she was in no position to demand the castle bend to her desires. So Tatiana would find herself wandering the castle grounds when the majority of its residents were busy indoors, playing cards or listening to the talented bards as they strummed and sang. She too was caught off guard coming upon the Queen Mother -- her perpetual absence from court made her feel somewhat alien whenever she had to attend. She never knew what was proper court decorum or when someone was behaving... suspiciously. The queen’s somewhat vexed question was enough to make Tatiana feel wary. “Yes. Of course. I think. I haven’t heard anything to the contrary.” She paused, clearing her throat of the frog she always managed to catch whenever in the presence of this woman. “Is everything alright, ma’am?”
The news of the lord’s tragic death had given Isabella license to drink as she tried to erase such terrible thoughts from her head. With her husband not yet arrived and her sleeping alone in such a large bed, her nights were long and restless and a few glasses was her method of being able to sleep at all. But trying to put her mind at rest after such horrible news had led to her overindulging and she was paying for it this morning with her hangover. She had made it down to the great hall but had become a little lightheaded and had to sit herself down. Fingertips pressed against her pounding forehead, she looked up. “Would you mind terribly passing me that bottle? I think I need a little hair of the dog that bit me.”
She gave the young queen a pitying glance before shaking her head. “That doesn’t work. A brisk walk about the garden and then tea and honey should have you feeling up to par,” she advised, quietly mouthing to a nearby servant to get rid of the bottle in question. “Come. You’ll feel a bit wobbly at first, but you may use my arm to steady yourself. Come, come, your majesty,” Tatiana insisted, making her way over to the hungover queen and offering her hand. “Oh, and could you get her majesty a tall glass of water? She’s absolutely parched in this dry, frigid weather!” she added to another servant, who bowed and immediately scurried away. What sort of queen’s maid would let their mistress wander the halls half drunk?
Peace seemed farther and farther away the longer royalty sat idle here, panicked, divided and questioning each other as to their motives assuming the worst. Sigrid worried deeply not only over the missing aryndale noble but how this seriously affected the outcome of peace. These were the days she was most thankful for her husband, that he was as he was a duke and not the king though his position had serious sway in decisions regardless. Looking at the duchess it was clear she hadn’t been sleeping but still somehow managed to look elegant. elegantly exhausted. There in the grand library she was attempting to find some long winded account of a battle long ago that would prove dry and exhausting to allow her to drift off to sleep. So far she was unlucky in this. Sighing she pushed a book back on the shelf, hearing something creek before whirling around as much as she could without falling from the ladder to clutch her side. A dagger emerged from her skirts ready to defend herself. Then she saw it - the mouse scurrying across the floor. “It’s just a mouse thank goodness” Sigrid breathed deciding now would be a good time to come down from the ladder propped against the library shelf. @imperialstarters
she supposed she ought not be surprised by the young duchess’s cautiousness -- murder seemed most abundant in the grand castle and, so far, no pattern or proper motive was apparent. only suspicion and educated guesses. neither put anyone at ease. even so, it never occurred to tatiana that she ought to carry a weapon with her... just in case. pressing a hand to her chest in an effort to calm both her breathing and the wild beating of her heart, she gave sigrid a sympathetic glance before setting aside the small, leather-bound book she had retrieved and walking over to the ladder.
“here -- i’ll hold it steady. the next time you pull out a knife, i’d prefer it if you weren’t dangling from a ladder. you could have fallen, your grace,” she chastised gently.
caitriona balfe, 41, iilyria, cis woman. ––– i believe that is tatiana morozov, the lady of iilyria. they are forty-one years old and are known to be very intuitive & softhearted, though they can also be very meddlesome & argumentative. they remind me of a grand tree bearing the weight of heavy snow, a delicate hand caressing a blanket of thick fur, vanilla scented mane of thick dark hair. (eleanor sokolov’s sister)
+ a noblewoman by birth and marriage, tatiana (or ‘tati’ as she’s known to her family and friends) has led a fairly privileged, comfortable life. like everyone young girl in her position, she knew her future was in the hands of her father and whomever he wished or needed to make an alliance with. although a rather hard-headed child, she accepted her fate to be someone’s wife.
+ she married an iilyrian baron, lord morozov, who wasn’t as wealthy as her eldest siblings’ partners, but whose noble lineage was ancient and distant cousins to the crown itself. it made her privy to court life should she and her husband want it -- which they didn’t. but they often hosted members of the royal family on the morozov estate when they passing through the country and tati definitely felt like they were actually family rather than princes.
+ one of the greatest joys of marriage, in her mind anyways, was the ability to run her household as she saw fit. her own rigid upbringing, though useful and practical for social climbing, made her rebel when it came time to run her own house. the morozov estate always felt more like a vacation, free from the constraints and expectations of one’s birth and hierarchy. as one of the younger siblings in her family, she was quickly seen as the ‘fun aunt’, her youth and slightly bohemian lifestyle a joyous escape in the summer.
+ lord and lady morozov have 3 children, who would often to be sent to be properly educated with her eldest sister eleanor -- she had both the experience and the actual firm will her younger sister lacked. they often butted heads on how to raise their children, with tati accusing eleanor of being too stern and eleanor accusing tati of being too weak. they were both right, and somehow managed to come to the compromise of the cousins spending the winter at court and the summers at the morozov estate.
+ when the war broke, and the king descended further into madness, tatiana found herself alone -- her husband and eldest son being called to court to be pressured into financing a confusing war and then pushed into serving in the king’s army. there were no tears shed when king sacha was found murdered, though it was terrifying to think someone among them could kill a king.
+ her son returned from the battlefield, but her husband did not. tati refuses to believe that he perished, since he was a tactical, studious military captain rather than someone who wielded a weapon. it just doesn’t make sense. she’s convinced he’s in a hospital somewhere without any identification and perhaps some sort of memory loss. she may be DEEP in denial.
+ PERSONALITY-WISE, tati is a lady of means who has grown into her position as wife and mother. being the baby of the family has allowed her to mature MUCH slower than the rest of her siblings, so she’s still very much playful, talkative, witty, and enjoys laughing and making people laugh. she likes to know the latest gossip and fancies herself something of a match-maker. she’s loyal to her family first and then her king.
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