( * --- candor. )

VITALIYA VORONTSOVA duchess of karelia 58 years old

[vitvliyv]

matilde's wine tasting !

[vitvliyv]

ONE CHICK HAD FOUND THE HEN. now there were only three more to go ! vitaliya despised not knowing where the rest of the russian delegation was. at least having the czarina within her field of vision was comforting — not because she would have been worried for anneli talvitie romanova’s well-being but because at least now she knew if the czarina would be used. “ sit. ” vitaliya pointed at the cold spot on the floor next to her. “ do you know where his majesty is ? ” [ @vnncli​ ]

[rcmvncv]

“The deal we’re offering you is much more valuable than I personally believe you deserve.” Had you asked Alexei, the deal would have been much more meager and quite frankly not something anyone would have considered a deal. Was the price of peace really this unfair? “You’ll be charged with treason, you are to accept the charges and you will be placed under house arrest. In exchange, we will allow your daughter to inherit the throne and your duchy once she turns twenty-five. In order to ensure your cooperation, we will oversee her education. Mrs Vorontsova will be personally seeing to that.” ( ** @vitvliyv​ / @yvrivic​ / @aromancva​ )

[vitvliyv]

“ THERE’S A PRESTIGIOUS ACADEMY IN KARELIA. the headmaster would be willing to take on a new student even mid-semester. ” this was the bit in the belorussian’s deal that vitaliya was most worried about. only princess irina might have had some insight to the issue among the romanovs, but she had not been part of the meetings. the romanovs might have been underestimating the duke’s sense of fatherhood. getting him to bend to the other demands would be easy if he was feeling like a beaten dog. involving children was not easy. “ an old traditional institution that i even had my daughter attend. as you probably know, she went on to become a doctor. ” [ @yvrivic​ + @aromancva​ ]

[aromancva]

ncdyc​:

rcmvncv​:

“I spent the whole day dreading Oksana’s speech but she actually let me off easy. Suddenly having a big and formal party doesn’t seem like a terrible idea.” Had it been an intimate crowd, his fears would have become a reality. He eyed the people around the table. “But please tell me none of you have a surprise prepared.” ( ** @ncdyc​, @aromancva​, @vitvliyv​ )

her eyes find kostya’s waiting gaze, and has to press her lips together immediately, covering it with the rim of her glass before she notices lyosha’s eyes lingering. play by ear, they’d decided.  ❛   that depends… night’s young, none of us are drunk yet. planning to stick around long enough lyosha ?  you just might hear vitya sing.  ❜  /.  @vitvliyv @aromancva​

a wry curve ghosts across the corner of her mouth. “ she is quite concerned about the entertainment for tonight – aren’t you? ” [ @vitvliyv​ ]

[vitvliyv]

“ I’VE HAD TWO SHOTS. i am quite far away from dedicating a song to his majesty and her highness. i doubt my self-control will crack before theirs. ” the czar got tired easily and vitaliya was good at avoiding public humiliation. “ i’ll get on the stage if i’m supported by a harp. ‘katyusha’ doesn’t sound quite as vile if there’s a beautiful instrument instead of a harmonica. ”

[vitvliyv]

ncdyc​:

“ it isn’t their way, ” anya replies evenly enough, though she agrees. anneli’s ambivalence towards the marriage seems particularly obvious, at least lyosha’s she can explain due to the guest list. behind her back, anya’s fingers twitch in nadya’s palm, the urge to curl them quelled. she’ll be able to leave soon enough, as soon as irinka’s hawkish gaze was sufficiently distracted. “ i’m surprised they both managed to make it through the entire ceremony. ” it had been so long. [ @ncdyc​ ]

the light squeeze to anya’s hand, hidden in the sheaf of material between both their dresses is automatic.   ❛   it’s probably a pride thing.  ❜   both the bride and groom have that in spades in different forms, each form tone-deaf in the other’s world.    ❛   otherwise they would have left by now.  ❜  the turnout from the nordics is decent and anneli is already feeling friendless, given what she is heading into, she will appease the ones she does have and lyosha ?  the attention and the performative nature of all this might be uncomfortable, but she’d wager at least a small part of him is proud to have anneli next to him, and for anneli to be seen doing it, without excuses, without reasons to hide. his stubbornness and relentlessness has borne fruit, it is natural to want to relish it.  ❛   the jewelry looks nice on you vitya,  ❜  sly amusement flashes in the sideways gaze she throws the woman,  ❛   it’s not everyday we see you all cleaned up and shiny.  ❜   /.  @vitvliyv​

“ IT IS THE ONLY RIGHT WAY. simplicity looks good on poor people. ” simplicity looked good when there were no resources. simplicity looked good when it was the only option to choose from. four decades ago the dress would have impressed vitya. “ the ceremony is the easy part since it has a script. keeping people entertained thorough the night is a bigger feat. we shall see what kind of a score they will get. i’ll be impressed if they get a four. ” above satisfactory. “ you’d be surprised by the things i have locked up. look at zhenya’s sparkles. they are mine as well. i hope for your sake that she will use them more liberally than i ever did. ” her eyes stopped at the top of nadya’s head. “ did yours break or was this not big enough a celebration for you ? ” vitaliya herself wouldn’t have been as bold in nadya’s shoes. [ @ncdyc​ / @aromancva​ ]

[vitvliyv]

“ I DON’T UNDERSTAND WHY SHE DIDN’T DRESS UP. it’s almost as if she didn’t want anyone to celebrate. a bigger tiara, a bigger dress, more lace, more embroidery. that dress looks like anyone could afford it. it’s just not appropriate. ”  vitaliya hadn’t expected anneli to make criticizing her so easy ! “ i shouldn’t have taken the jewelry out of the vault. ” [ @aromancva​ / @ncdyc​ ]

[vitvliyv]

ncdyc​:

❛   she thinks i am an easy target… or she thinks i’m interesting, whichever reason you like better.   ❜    she doesn’t flinch at the name, even though it grates at her. her nail taps against the surface of the table. vitya is posing things she has already considered.  ❛  because i cannot give it to her. the honey she wants is agreement. that is the trap. i do not agree. in a school debate, or a court room, you do not convince the judges by agreeing with the other side first, not even for a hypothetical reason. the minute you do, you lose. if i tell her, yes, the belarusian throne is ill-gotten, lenya should back off, it pokes holes in our house. even if i cared to pretend, i refuse to entertain even the possibility of yurivič going free as a result.❜  fanni had not settled for a simple listening ear. and nadya simply could not trust that the things she could say would not be used. and because fanni is unstable. taking advantage of it leaves a bad taste in her mouth. the grip on her arm still makes her elbow twitch at the memory. even the most overbearing of her friends and acquaintances; uriah and meixu had never violated her personal space so blatantly, and out in the open.  ❛   unless we are ready to think of alternatives. have them turn roman over to us and have lenya give up that throne. it would be convincing.  ❜

“ DO YOU THINK THE FRENCH ARE AGREEING WITH HER ? ” it was a stupid question: of course they were. lies slipped their lips so easily that they probably didn’t even realize that the words were, in fact, lies. “ if you refuse, i don’t see a reason why i should spend my time on coming up with a solution to the problem when it already exists. ” nadya was over-complicating things over a principle. “ it would not hurt you to learn how to speak more fairly. you wouldn’t have survived a different world. ” vitaliya shook her head disapproving before clicking her tongue. “ that’s a different problem. it would get rid of your fanni croÿ problem but it’s a very ambitious way of handling one complication. ” having belarus in milena’s hands was very convenient, vitaliya would have preferred things to remain the way they were. 

[vitvliyv]

ncdyc​:

what does she mean by undermining him…  is fanni telling the person levente needed to convince of his competency to become an informant of his moves and missteps a detail vitya needs to have ?  is this level of callousness deserved ?   then again, the loss of one old woman’s favourable impression won’t cost fanni much.   ❛   she thought i’d be inclined to inform her of her brother’s moves.  ❜  nadya’s hands fly upwards, at vitya’s suggestion, eyes widening. gee, if only that were easy to do !  ❛   morals. apparently. we’re evil and unfair.  she will do and say anything, lie, embellish, exaggerate, underplay, downplay, to come out well in any conversation.  ❜   the topic did not matter. fanni would mine for information, any personal nugget, but nadya had learned as much if not more.  ❛  and to suit that cause, she is gifted at reframing anything to fit whatever she wants to say.  ❜   there is an anchoring pause before she goes on.  ❛  she craves respect and approval that much. i don’t think it matters where it comes from, she is isolated.❜

“ WHY ? ” konstantin would have been the obvious choice for a request like that. konstantin had an eye for favours one could cash in later. keeping an eye on levente wouldn’t have cost him anything and it would have given him an unlikely ally. “ nadezhda... ” she hadn’t needed to use the tone in a long while. vitaliya hated this style of sarcasm. “ hmm... ” vitaliya laced her fingers together and let the corner of her mouth rise. “ it only bothers you because you don’t participate in that at all. ” the romanovs were blunt at varying degrees, his majesty was one end of the spectrum and princess irina the other. nadya fell somewhere in between but much closer to her brother than to her sister. “ you already know the answer to the problem, nadya. ” and if she was as evil and unfair as the hungarian thought she was, she would have no issue with conjuring a plan. “ why don’t you give her the respect and approval since she has already come to you once ? if they can get her with honey, so can you. ”

[vitvliyv]

ncdyc​:

eyes reach the ceiling briefly before vitya receives that signature deadpan stare.  ❛   tekla would have believed fanni if he hadn’t. and we needed to ensure they would handle the soletskys and we couldn’t have the glücksburgs going their way.  ❜   they had failed. it is an extremely vexing outcome.  ❛   i don’t intend to set a meeting unless there is a vital need to. or if levente asks for one. she just needs to stop getting involved. whether we establish that or levente does, to her. but she seems find ways to undermine him. it was going to be a problem either way. i wanted your perspective.  ❜  and she needed vitaliya’s will. the iron will of somebody who cared about keeping milena’s acquisition out of foreign hands more than nadya did to make a clearer stand in that room.   ❛  i can’t spot an angle to turn her against them. can you ? katya obviously didn’t work.  ❜

“ the soletskys were an unfortunate detail but i doubt they care about a romanov spawn even if it shares some blood. ” if milena had involved the croÿs in katya’s life then, perhaps, the child’s name would have had a bigger effect. the stakes were too high for the child to make a good pawn. “ what do you mean by undermining him ? ” it mattered a lot. levente without fanni was like a car without breaks. he could function alone but when that key part went missing, you understood why she had been there in the first place. what fanni could do alone was a bigger mystery — but one vitya wasn’t feeling inclined to find out. “ find out what even makes her inclined to side with them and attack that part. blood has a lot of power, i don’t think she will need a big push to fall onto the right side. ”

[vitvliyv]

ncdyc​:

❛  i’m not one for cruel assumptions. let’s just say i managed to confirm suspicion.  ❜   the cards had simply fallen into place. fortuitous of kostya and her each to have learned what they had at the time that they had.  ❛   it isn’t influence i need.  ❜   what nadya needs is something else. the familiarity would be a reminder. vitya’s presence alone would be useful, but finding a single word to encapsulate it is difficult.   ❛  levente did not inform her of roman’s attempt at regicide, and tekla did not either. i am sure they thought they were keeping our mutual interests, but in the bigger picture it simply made her play france’s tune and i don’t know how much she has run her mouth, ukraine’s refusal to withdraw could be evident of that. ❜   at least one other person, fanni had said. that suggests that she had tried this with more than one person. ❛   it might be too late for her to stop now that she knows the gravity of it, would spoil her… perfect image. do you think it should be left alone ?  ❜

“ AND THAT IS EXACTLY WHY YOU SHOULD NEVER PLAY THIS GAME. ” even if she hadn’t made the jump to the assumption quickly and without giving fanni the benefit of the doubt, vitaliya would have arrived to the same conclusion nonetheless. the danish cousin didn’t have a motive, the youngest was... not involved and levente was in their pocket. “ they don’t trust her. we shouldn’t have either. i don’t like that information getting out as long as we have our little play going on in the south. ” kostantin was going to get a slap. vitya would have thought that after a decade, the croÿ’s feminine allure wouldn’t have had an effect on his rationality. “ what do you want out of the meeting ? to convince her to side with us ? make her into a double agent ? find out what she has done for the french ? ”

[vitvliyv]

ncdyc​:

❛  i couldn’t reduce you to wrinkles if i tried.  ❜  no, it is that subtle pout of hers that reminds nadya so very much of an adorable little duck that her eyes notice first, then it is the posture. she has never seen the woman slouch. not one time. not even when she and kostya had made the cushion in her seat magically disappear as kids when no one was looking.  ❛  kostya won some information from tekla glücksburg… she did not go into specifics, but she implied that the french might have influenced someone close to negotiations. i’ve found the leak. if i have to meet with them again, i’d like you to attend. ❜

“ LET ME GUESS, it’s fanni croÿ who, quite publicly, was in love with the king just a year ago ? ” vitaliya rarely had good things to say about levente croÿ but he was principled enough to keep his distance from the french. the girl however... “ i don’t know how much influence i have over the croÿs. levente more than the others. i have actually had to take that man to the er when he fell out of a swing. ” not too bad if you forgot that... “ he was 17. ” way too old for swings.

[vitvliyv]

ncdyc​:

❛  you don’t believe that i missed seeing you up close ?❜  one cheeky comment. just one !  with a lick of her lips, the expression sobers — her legs uncross under the table in order to lean forward, pouring out the tea into the woman’s cup for her.   ❛   i’d like to speak to you about the croÿs. ❜

“ DO YOU LIKE MY WRINKLES THAT MUCH ? ” she lifted a brow as she reached for her cup. “ and what about the croÿs ? ”

[ncdyc]

it has been a long time. years if she cared to count, since the duchess has had her alone. but the urge to flash her teeth at the woman impishly has not changed. the urge to poke and prod, at her harmlessly has not withered.  ❛  your grace,  ❜  eyes travel over her attire appraisingly, as if their roles are reversed, lip curving before she forces it back into a thin line.  ❛  good afternoon. very kind of you to join me. ❜    /.  @vitvliyv​

[vitvliyv]

“ YOUR HIGHNESS... ” the youngest princess is a baby. her button nose and big dark eyes still remind vitya of the girl who would peek from behind a pillar at the palace. “ very gracious of you to invite me. for what do i owe the pleasure ? ” it isn’t her lovely company that has earned her the invitation !

[vhvnv]

“ alicante doesn’t provide much inspiration for gifts. my older son has turned into a teenager already, 14. i cannot think of anything to get. i suppose with christmas coming soon you will have the same problem ? ”  [ @hshqstarters​ ]

[vitvliyv]

“ I DON’T HAVE A 14-YEAR-OLD BOY, fortunately. i just have an overly idealistic 33-year-old to worry about. would your highness know where to buy a world peace ? ”

[vitvliyv]

MONTHS AGO....

If it had been possible to delegate the task of informing Vitya of his wishes, he would have done it. Unfortunately, he was about to insult her — and no one else deserved to deal with the  reaction. No one else would have gotten her to agree either. “A bit too long. Sorry about that.” He had made sure to serve lemon. He adjusted the tray between them. “I’m traveling to Saint Petersburg next week.” Nothing out of the ordinary… “With Anneli.” Perfectly expected… “I would appreciate your presence at the court for the duration of the visit. Your opinion on her matters quite a bit.”

“ WONDERFUL. ” vitaliya couldn’t wait to have every fucking newspaper and magazine talking about the finn. her presence was going to be inescapable. but why was she being informed of this ? vitaliya’s eyes narrowed. his majesty was being AWFULLY hospitable. next he would place a box of after eight on the table. “ i see. ” iciness of her tone made the air around them drop by a few degrees. “ would you like me to cut off rip out my tongue too so that she’ll feel supported ? ” 

[vitvliyv]

hshmimi·:

｡      “Funny how we don’t care for either in the med,” spoken mostly as an aside and in reference to the Sammarinese’s direction. He lets his hand wave an inch too close in Ennio’s periphery. “At least in the northern part of the med it isn’t a choice we’d consider.” ( @oh-hxfiz· + table 2 ) 

“There’s something about tinned fish of the north that doesn’t bode well I hear canned sardines are all the rage..I don’t see the appeal.” Hafiz mulled the fish around in her plate. She glanced over at Gio and then at Mimi. “.. but it’s a wonderful piece of herring, you’re right.” 

[ table 2 | @hshmimi· @aromancva @dvisckc· @sylvianes @krstoffcrs· @vitvliyv· @ennioeste· @giorxcci· ]

the language of bodies was never to be ignored: the brush of shoulders and brushing of blonde strands behind the ear. had they always made things so glaringly obvious ?! gio’s sour response made the corners of her lips drop. “ milan is FAR from the baltics. i think we’d like to hear from the north. ” she gave a grin to gio as she repeated, as if ennio’s question needed clarification. [ table 2 ]

“I ordered the vegetarian option, instead,” Mimi said as her salad was set in front of her. Not that she’d eat it, anyway; even if she weren’t wearing two layers of too-tight shapewear, her stomach was tied up in knots from the seating situation. “But I hear sardines are good for the skin…” She didn’t know a thing about fish, but boring small talk was preferable to silence or, worse, an argument. “..When ingested, I mean,” she clarified, rambling a little. “Not…Applied topically. –Though I’d be willing to try anything to look a few years younger.” @nataliademarquis· @vitvliyv @sylvianes @krstoffcrs @giorxcci @oh-hxfiz @aromancva @dvisckc

SHE CONSIDERED ONLY SPEAKING RUSSIAN AT THE TABLE, but realized that the only thing worse than having a silly conversation with the youth was having to converse with the eldest russian princess. “ geography lessons. you all need them. ” it was painful to watch, really. “ i doubt there is an island called sardinia for the fun of it. your family owns it, your highness. ” vitaliya tapped her nails against the table a few times looking around the children. “ the herring is fine. considering its history, the swedish have managed to make it surprisingly delicious. i was more looking forward to crawfish though. i may be slightly disappointed. ”

[vitvliyv]

“ IT’S BEEN A LONG WHILE SINCE I WAS INVITED OVER FOR TEA BY YOUR MAJESTY. thank you. ” the timing was suspicious. what did he want ? “ any particular reason ? ”  [ @rcmvncv​ ]