WHO: Natalya & Open WHERE: Winter carnival, ice skating rink WHEN: January 3, 1570 - early afternoon
â Truth be told, Natalya wasnât terribly excited to be here when she arrived in Italy. She wasnât quite sure why she needed to be present for negotiations between powers â negotiating was hardly her strong suit ( in fact, when it came to things Natalya wanted, it was often a case of her way or the highway ), and politics as a whole tended to bore her â she often found it better to leave these endeavours to her mother or her brother ( not that she was given much choice â it wasnât as though anyone in the Russian courts trusted Natalya to navigate their relations with other powers, the fear that she would somehow make things much worse than theyâd been to begin with no doubt plaguing them ). Nevertheless, her mother had insisted that Natalya and her fresh new fiancĂ© ( who she was doing her very best to avoid ) come along for the trip to support their nation, though the very idea of such things made Natalya ill.
Of course, even she had to admit, the carnival was a nice touch. Sheâd visited Italy a few times in her youth and never cared much for it, but she could see the appeal now that her leash had been loosened ever so slightly so she could attempt to enjoy the festivities. Her family were no doubt off somewhere, scheming or colluding, as they were often want to do, but Natalya was determined to have a brief moment of reprieve before any real work began. While her family were all seemingly here to promote the betterment of Russia, Natalya had... ulterior motives. Her current goal was to do everything in her power to prevent her upcoming nuptials from going ahead â and though she may be no political strategist, she figured that someone here must be able to help her, in exchange for the right favours.
That, of course, was going to wait. Natalya had always rather enjoyed ice skating as a child ( Lord knows Russia, of all places, had enough frozen lakes in the winter to create the perfect environment for the sport ), but hadnât participated in it in some time. Perhaps it was a remnant of her youth that sheâd disentangled herself from â shedded away along with any innocence sheâd once possessed, or perhaps sheâd fallen one too many times and decided enough was enough and hung up the skates forever. Whatever the case, she figured there was no better way for her to find some peace and quiet and clear her head than by doing a few laps of the rink that had been set up as part of the carnival.
Sheâs lacing up her skates when she notices someone looming over her, eyes tracing up the length of the figure before settling on their face, a scowl evident across her features. âWhat?â She asks, impatience already leaking into her tone. âLast I checked, having a little fun wasnât illegal. And just because the only people out there right now are children, doesnât mean adults canât enjoy it, too.â
