The sun shone through the window of the great Westlands conqueror’s office, illuminating his curly dark hair and picturesque features. A tired and unfulfilled look troubled his eyes as he stared at the mountain of paperwork left on the side of his desk, leftover from his recent pilgrimage. Orlov sat nearby, going through his own fair share of paperwork-- though not nearly enough, according to Ivan-- smirking at his old friend’s obvious distaste for the tedious affair.
It was the same old thing every time: a governor asking for more funds; a farmer complaining about the unfair contract he had signed with the State; an arrogant official trying to curry favor; sometimes, sprinkled in would be marriage proposals. Those have gone down considerably, but many still try to put a concubine in power. Ivan always threw those letters out first; they disgusted him. Too big of a family would be impossi
Ursa held her hands close to her chest, trying to calm the storm that was her heart. He had been there, they had spoken-- it had been so long since they had truly spoken-- and her heart felt so full, but she couldn’t help but feel overwhelmed by all those feelings. They were new. Before, her father made sure that she kept her emotions in check, but he was not here.There was only Ivan. A forest fire of a man.“Your Majesty? Are you alright?” Cecily allowed a hand to rest on her friend’s shoulder. Cecily noticed how distant and detached Ursa had been, completely fixated on this banquet. “You’ve been out of it since His Majesty left.”“No, no, no! I’m fine, truly! Let’s just get back to work.” Ursa shrugged Cecily’s touch off as
Ursa’s father sat on the sofa in the front of the room as if it were his throne; his arms gripped the sides lazily and his legs were crossed in a nonchalant manner-- it was nothing like he was before-- when the Vasil’s impending invasion grew closer, and the idea of losing, of failing, became more and more of a reality.No. This was the appearance of a king who had all his problems solved.“What are you waiting for? An invitation?” Ursa remembered where she was and hastily entered the room. The door shut behind her silently, Volkov expertly controlling the volume. She narrowed her eyes at the sight of the man. Ever since her mother’s death, Volkov was the only person who could truly get through to King Romanov and make him see sense. The little influence Ursa could cling to vanished at the sight of this man.
Ursa’s grip on the hood of her cloak tightened as she hid around the corner of the hallway, watching the maids and guards bustling around late into the night. It was so very inconvenient that she had to sneak out while there were so many important people visiting the palace. That meant that the servants and the guards were working overtime, making it harder for Ursa to get out of the palace undetected. In truth, Ursa had not left the palace since the Temple, and she had not snuck out since Ivan’s last solo trip-- and she remembered how awful that ended up.As soon as the hallway cleared up, Ursa bolted from her hiding place and sprinted through the impressively long hallway. Ursa praised her own wisdom when she decided to throw on that peasant skirt she had previously worn when she escaped with Cecily. It was shorter than the aristocratic dresses, as it was more function than fashion.
Ursa could barely believe her own eyes. It was Mikhail-- her Mikhail… yet it wasn’t. That baby-faced, bright eyed, optimistic boy had hardened; his eyes were darker, his jaw more defined, a scar ran through the center of his face, over his nose.“How…?” Instinctively, Ursa’s hand reached to cup his cheek, but he dodged.“It’s a long story. We probably shouldn’t talk here.” This was all too much. Everything she knew-- everything she thought she knew-- was crumbling right in front of her eyes, and yet he was so nonchalant about the entire thing.Ursa followed her brother and his companion into a room near the back of the tavern, completely isolated from the rest of the population inside. They sat at a small booth in the corner of the already empty roo
Ursa had woken up the next day with a new resolve. She could not pick her brother’s side, because that would be enabling terrorism and nationalism. She couldn’t quite pick Ivan’s side either-- that would be condoning the murder of her brothers. Why did she have to choose a side? She either loses her brother or her husband.“What if I chose myself?” she mused aloud as Cecily and Emery were dressing her for court in the morning. It was one of the few sessions left before the New Year celebrations officially commenced.“What do you mean?” Emery asked.“If you were stuck between a rock and a hard place, what would you do?” Ursa asked.“Okay, okay… You’re not making any sense, even for
Behind those closed study doors, a different conversation played out.“I’m sorry, but there’s something off about the Empress’ intentions,” Orlov admitted.“What? I thought we just resolved this. Can we please drop it? I hate to see my two favorite people fight,” Ivan appealed.“I cannot in good faith just ‘drop it.’ There’s something off about this entire situation, from the uprisings, to the sudden push for Romanov representation…”“Woah, you can’t seriously be saying that Ursa has something to do with the terrorism--”“I’m not! I can’t accuse her of something like that yet--”
As expected, her father came to her chambers late in the afternoon, after Ursa had finished up her tea and snacks. She had planned to have a walk in the gardens before dinner, but her father made sure to ruin any hope of that.“What did you just pull in court?” he snapped. “Do you know what Lord Volkov just brought to me? This is the afternoon paper with all of the details of this morning’s court news! And in the political section, what do I find? ‘Empress Romanova Vasil Adds Last Minute Romanov Tradition to New Year’s Banquet: Explosive Cultural Precedent!’” he read.Ursa flicked her wrist that was code to Cecily and Emery to vacate the room. “It’s as you read, Father.” Ursa calmly put down the book she was in the middle of reading on the coffee table. Ursa knew that he would come to confr
The arrival of the snow signaled for court to be adjourned for the rest of the year. As the officials funneled into the great hall outside the throne room, Orlov stopped Ursa on her own way out.“Your Majesty, would you spare a minute for me?” Ursa nodded and followed Orlov out, leaving Ivan to be swarmed by officials who wanted to run something by him last minute. Orlov guided her to the Emperor’s study, where they both sat opposite each other on the sofas. Ursa folded her hands neatly in front of her, waiting for Orlov to make the first move. She was sure he was about to criticize another aspect of the banquet, but she would not prompt him.“You’re a cunning woman, Your Majesty.”“What?” That was not quite what Ursa expected him to say.