[barbiebraganca]

❝ MAYBE SOMEONE WANTED to attend a wedding. ❞ although that one could potentially be a bit too much for someone not in the royal circle. but what if they were ? barbie gasped, moving to the edge of her seat to grab matilde's arm. ❝ maybe it's ignác. remember when i told you we should set them up ? ❞

[innasoletskaya]

she zones out, allowing them to air all their questions out. what's the point of asking when they know her answers won't be enough to satisfy their absurd level of nosiness. " yes, it's ignác. " she lies. ( @matildcs )

[tvkla]

arm gently feathers inna's back when she joins the semi-circle, unawares. " what's ignác, what's he done now ? " she blinks, trying to glean the answer out of the others' expressions by sheer will. " what are these looks ? are you pregnant again ? already ? " ( @matildcs )

[matildcs]

          suddenly it all clicks, the invisible connections matilde creates out of thin air just now. sitting there in barbie's barcelona home, an entire story unfolds. her wedding only a month prior, it must have finally clicked for inna. “ it happened at the wedding didn't it? ” she looks to the blondes. “ i created a matchmaking table setting. ” well, barbie had on account of placing their favourite gossiping crown royal at her table. 　...　　( @barbiebraganca )

[barbiebraganca]

❝ SHE MET SOMEONE ! ❞ her excitement made her put giulia back in her crib so barbie could turn entirely towards inna. ❝ what an eventful couple weeks we've had. matilde got married, i had babies, you met someone. why didn't you bring someone to the wedding ? ❞

[innasoletskaya]

she flinches, their excitement is already too much for her to handle. " no, you don't know them and it's new and not a big deal. you won't be meeting them for a while. " ( @matildcs )

[matildcs]

          “ well, maybe someone wants to meet us too. ” though matilde knows better than to assume inna would have even mentioned them to this special ' someone ' an illusive figure without a single detail to curate an image of them. “ can we at least get a name? what do they look like? how did you meet? ”　...　　( @barbiebraganca )

[barbiebraganca]

❝ NO, SHE WAS already speaking of leaving were you three seconds late. ❞ which made no sense seeing that matilde rarely was on time. ❝ so where are you heading towards after this ? ❞ / @innasoletskaya

[innasoletskaya]

she thinks for a moment. should she tell them now? or would there be less dramatics if she told them later. she's weighing which option would be more convenient for her now... " i met someone and i'm going to go see them. " she's choosing to rip the bandaid off now. ( @matildcs )

[matildcs]

          “ but i haven't — ” matilde's words fade, cut short by the sudden announcement that has the former duchess favoring her stance by the nearest seat. “ you met someone? ” the thrill is there, in tone, poking around for more than just this mysterious figure inna speaks of who could be anyone. “ you met someone!” it's inna that matilde quickly sits adjacent to. “ do we know this someone? ”　...　　( @barbiebraganca )

[barbiebraganca]

❝ SHE'S ON HER way, or so she said. what's waiting for you back in kyiv that cannot wait a single day for your return ? you'll spend more time coming and going than actually here. ❞

[innasoletskaya]

" i'm not going back to kyiv. "

[matildcs]

          “ so you're finally moving closer to us, ” the expectation announces her arrival, empty-handed save for what lurks behind the double doors she passed through. and assumptions made on what little she has heard. “ i always said you would like catalonia better. ”

[blazcj]

" christ, don't eat that, " blažej told the other, taking the cocktail bite out of their hand. " i don't know why they're serving these, these are... really bad. " ( &. @hshqstarters )

[simondouba]

" –––––– why is it poisoned?"

[tvkla]

her ears feel like they're burning, she is still lactating ! has something gone bad ? " what's poisoned ? something's poisoned ? again ? "

[matildcs]

          a blonde in matilde's peripheral leads to an assumption, a tongue free of restraint. “ maybe it was ' you know who ' ” she notes between a sip of champagne, until it dawns on her, that is not barbie beside simó. she coughs to avert attention away from the ominous phrase. “ i mean, you didn't pick the menu, blažej? ”

[svrgic]

HER ALWAYS DEFYING demeanour was perhaps the most entertaining part of his every night; there was rarely a moment where he could predict where matilde's mind would go and every destination amused him to no end. ❝ oh ! who'd you choose as the victim-- sorry, participant in tonight's quest ? ❞

[matildcs]

          “ and you said no one higher than a duke? ” no one, in particular, remains a standout amongst the crowd. “ what about a spare? a crown princess? ” her lips purse at the notion of finding someone suitable. “ it might be you if i cannot find anyone else before midnight. ”

[svrgic]

❝ TRY NOT TO throw any monarchs into a pool this time. lower titles are fine, i don't think anybody would care if the duke of swabia died of hypothermia, but were it another king- ❞ or the same one. ❝ i would lack on arguments to defend your case. ❞ / @matildcs

[matildcs]

          much is to be said about the smile that plays on her lips at the fond memory of a soaking wet french king and the disdain he hid etching into his features with each passing minute. a prideful turn of events that sergi remains right about, twice would be too coincidental. “ he was the only one who complained last time. ” she notes matter-of-factly and a raise of crimson red shimmering shoulders. “ you should know pools are very last year. ” a towering cake is taken into view, too expected. “ and maybe the french are too. ”

[barbiebraganca]

❝ PRECISELY YOURS, YES ! ❞ andrés had no other siblings and hers were a lost cause. ❝ even the tiny faith i had in leonardo is gone now. by the time anyone else in this family has a baby, the ones i'm carrying now will be old enough to babysit them, it's ridiculous. ❞ they needed friends. ❝ not to my knowledge and i'll be very offended if she actually is and haven't told me anything yet. ❞

[matildcs]

          “ a few years will not be that much of a . . . ” the thought lost on the duchess as barbie's words and the cryptic message woven into them for matilde to decode comes to surface. she gasps, reaching out to barbie's hands, “ you're pregnant! ” again. a high-pitched squeal of excitement ushers in the second hidden detail, “ they? does that mean? ”

[matildcs]

matilde de lara attends the new year's event at the bratislava castle wearing ralph lauren fw2019.

for the live sparkles, click here

[fannicroy]

"Well, I'm hoping we're not stuck. It seems less unlikely than some amateur tripping up there." She had heard about the rescue missions where the skiers had to jump into a net. She did not want to experience that under any circumstances. "Pardon?" Her smile was unnaturally wide for a moment. These sort of comments usually had her making up an excuse and leaving the conversation but she had nowhere to run on a chairlift. "The Spanish don't like the French much, do they?"

[matildcs]

          the corners of her lips pull, mimicking the smile fanni displays, the same fake countenance which fails to reach the eyes. and this is a good distraction, to poke and prod at what eavesdropping patrons might deem inappropriate in any other setting. “ that's not true, ” matilde notes with one particular spanish blooded royal in mind. “ some of us love the french just as much as you do. well, ” she pauses, “ as your family does. ” ines was one of them by name after all. “ and it's reciprocated, how nice. ”

[maximiliians]

St. Moritz already aches of the past, it's only fitting Max finds himself at her side again. They exist in comfortable silence, adjacent circles within the Programme, and yet rarely interact. Max wonders if she remembers, he wonders if she forgives his cruelty. He won't apologize, he does not do that - nor would it matter much to her now. She's had more than a decade to hate him, and yet she does not leave. He shifts more in her direction, taking in the familiar lines of her face, that absurd coat, and finally - whatever the hell it is she's drinking. "You still haven't learned to dress for Swiss winters," it's a comment more than a question, an allusion to a shared past. "But I am far more concerned by what you're drinking," and maybe he's already had one, so he reaches over and pulls the mug from her hands, takes a whiff, then scowls, setting it down far out of reach. "Absolutely not, I would be a terrible host if I allowed you to continue drinking that."

[matildcs]

          matilde's gaze falters, peering down at the coat he remarks, no, judges and that is what he does. cut into every word a criticism, each glance, an unspoken claim he does not approve of. her features twist, conforming to what she too fails to convey. “ i don't like the cold, why else would i never visit a place like this? ” her cadence is soft, almost a declaration to some lost memory, but the scowl she soon possesses seems permanent in placement in the absence of her hot chocolate now only to be viewed with a longing gaze just shy of his forearm. “ the terrible host would hold it hostage. ” her attempted reach is feeble, an arm extended without any further movement, made only to convey the desire to have it returned and not whatever swiss approved beverage he'll claim superior. “ what exactly are we allowed to drink that's approved on your list? ”

[fannicroy]

"People really don't know how to get off of these things..." Fanni groaned as the chairlift came to a halt. She might have been able to keep her irritation in check if the lift hadn't moved at the pace of a snail to begin with... and if she hadn't been cold. The cold might have been playing a bigger role than she was willing to admit. "Have you been here before? We used to ski a lot growing up but we always did it on the French Alps." ( @matildcs )

[matildcs]

          two minutes since the sound of cogs and metal clanged together now weigh on matilde's mind, pulling at her attention, undivided, with the reminder that their feet dangle several meters above the snow-blanketed ground, until the blonde beckons for it too. the distraction she's grateful for. “ i have. once, a long time ago with an old boyfriend. ” she peers down at her side, where the ski lift ends, and suddenly matilde shifts closer to fanni. “ you're sure we are not stuck-stuck? it didn't sound normal. ” though her own skiing hobby was a rusty one, dusted off on special occasions. “ you seem to like a lot of french things. ”

[barbiebraganca]

❝ YOU NEED TO hurry and start making babies. i want my kids to have cousins around their age and i know for a fact that's not gonna happen on my siblings' part so it is now your responsibility. ❞ / @matildcs

[matildcs]

          “ my responsibility? ” matilde repeats with humored disbelief. “ i think you're talking to the wrong person. ” the thought of her mother's reaction eyeing the headline of a ' pregnant duchess ' long before a ring falls into the equation does give pause. a woman detestable in matilde's eyes with her only child becoming everything she worries for. “ are you sure ariel isn't serious with anyone? ”

[maximiliians]

[ open , hotel bar ]

Max doesn't ski, he hasn't in nearly 26 years. He is not a superstitious man, but it feels a bit too much like tempting fate to impulsively pick up the sport that killed the last king of Switzerland. Instead he's at the bar, playing generous host and gracious victor. "I trust the journey wasn't too difficult."

[matildcs]

          nimble fingers pull at the collar of a white faux fur mink coat, the sort that lends itself to the price tag. the art form of subtly and the comfort of warmth traded in for a winter wonderland and chattering teeth kept a bay by the steaming beverage in front of her. and that too is traded, alcohol for rum-spiked hot chocolate. there's something juvenile about it. a juxtaposition to everything else the duchess exudes perched at upon a barstool with eyes wandering, waiting for anything to lend an ear to. unfortunately, travel comfortably hardly divulged anything worthy of a whispering campaign, even if it came from the lips of a king. “ if that was your worry you should have considered another location. ” she acknowledges in such a manner that it feels foreign, this company.

[laureala]

GREY'S ANATOMY 1.07 — The Self Destruct Button

M: I thought you'd be asleep by now I: Yeah, well, I'm not

[barbiebraganca]

WHEN SHE SAW the look on andrés' face, barbara pondered intervening but decided against it. even if she had, the push and punches that followed would've already happened before she had the time to do anything. ❝ it appears he would. ❞ she commented. ❝ from a full-blown war to ufc-ing at a party, can't tell if this is a downgrade or an improvement. ❞

[matildcs]

          he would't . . . he would, a testament to how little matilde really knew about her brother, but confirmation that andrés, simo, and sergi really were three different versions of the same person. eyes alight, the duchess witnessed the languid pulls and punches that ended both men on the floor with a circle of people in lavished gowns and suits staring down at the brawling men as if they were the evening's entertainment. a show performance, spotlighting talents from turkey and greece. “ did you forget to tell me something? ” matilde glanced at barbie, careful not to allow the gaze to linger before alsan and andrés once more took center stage.

[svrgic]

❝ HOW ABOUT NEXT time we come to one of these you can wear a tiara ? ❞ / @matildcs

[matildcs]

          a staggered reaction fluttered across her features, much more accustomed to commentary surrounding her and barbie's findings he'd overheard in another room. “ you mean in the next ten years you might live up to your end of the contract? ” assumptive that any current monarch would have another decade reign, but so had he been the day matilde was approached with the document.