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[rchvnt]

ebbv​:

“ unless you want me to book another kind of a doctor’s appointment, yes. yes, it has to be now. ” her hand rose to squeeze his arm reassuringly. there was no crying over spilled milk, he was worrying prematurely. he was  and he wasn’t the one who would have to fit doctor’s appointments into his already full calendar ! “ it was… ” the timing’s unfortunate. “ you had it planned ? were you going to tell me when we’d start baking ? ” she arched a brow at him and narrowed her eyes. his anxiousness was contagious and she was doing her best not to let it get the best of her. “ i didn’t want to… i don’t know, i didn’t want to say anything in case i was just imagining things. the doctor’s appointment was just blood tests, the ultrasound wasn’t very informative yet… ” she would have felt sad if her worries had made her make him miss out on a milestone. “ look, we just need to get through the weddings and then we can think of a plan. ”

“ no! no no no no no. no don’t do that. ”  his hand massages into his temple. shit. shit. shit... fuck. okay. okay. he can process this. it is fine. it is out of his control. so he can be fine. he’s survived a million worse things, this is fine. “ not like that, just — koh-i-noor. you. rajputs. wedding. honeymoon. your debut. child. coronation. ”  he fingers the ceremonial earrings he’s had to wear consistently for the past year or so now.  “ pencil me in for the next one. ”  he was just allowing the seed of happiness to sink in before his face pales again.  “ how are you going to wear a lehenga like this ?  they already took your measurements. ”  to think, he would have to suffer the stupid look on reena’s stupid face. his wife to be will not understand the level at which he is about to become the laughing stock of the family.  “  so... ganganagar cancelled ?  ”

[rchvnt]

ebbv​:

“ yes, yes, i’m sorry. the two blood tests i took in order to have it confirmed were incorrect. i’ve been probably eating something bad four weeks straight. ” he was going to pop a vein soon !  she got up from her seat and slipped into the spot right next to him. she looked at him from below her lashes and held eye contact in the silent room. if she had had doubts about his opinion on kids, the multiple nos might have rattled her. “ i’m serious. i went to the doctor’s on friday. ” she wrapped her hand around his and pulled it down. “ i’m going to blame that night when you came back from udaipur… and you. i’m going to blame you. ” she poked his chest.

“ you can’t be !  now ? does it have to be now ?  ”  can’t as in cannot. she cannot. as in they are moving mountains just to make all of this happen, the last thing he needs is some old fashioned lunatic trying to say something about westerners and loose women. this is not happening ! blood is pounding in his ears, he is willing himself control. or maybe it’s a stroke. maybe he is supposed to be smelling burnt toast, but the echo of her voice is too distracting and so is the dizzying flurry of disaster scenarios flitting past his mind’s eye. when had he come back from udaipur ?  “ that was more than a month ago. ”  now he has to sit down. “ no ! ”  now it is less of a protest and more of a helpless lament. “ i had it all figured out. it could have waited two months. just two months. ”  and his parents !   his poor parents !  how would they cover this up for the public ? pretend the child was premature ?  he slips his watch off his wrist. how is he supposed to go now with this hanging over his head ?  “  how did i not know you went to see that kind of doctor ? what did the doctor say ? ”  their appointments were supposed to be on one calendar !

[rchvnt]

ebbv​:

she laughed with him, forced those notes out of her throat — and then cut it off abruptly. “ this is not a joke. ” she wasn’t even smiling. “ you’re meant to ask your sister for baby clothes and tell her she’s going to have niece or a nephew in june. ”

his jaw has set. there’s a horrible feeling in his stomach. along with an odd prickly sensation that starts on the surface of his skin and shoots into his organs like icy shards of glass. “ no. ”  a finger raises. he has to remember to take another breath in order to wag it. “ no. ”  she cannot. she is mistaken. “ not possible. ”  this cannot happen now. the scandal this would cause !  “  we didn’t. we cannot have, you’re mistaken. ” he’s been careful... most of the time.

[rchvnt]

ebbv​:

“ no. ” was she supposed to spread her legs and insert a fucking camera into her vagina until he understood where she going ? “ i just thought it would look good if your child wore traditional clothing and if my child’s carbon footprint wasn’t bigger than america’s. ”

this is new. he stares at her. a mirthless laugh huffs at the back of his throat. this is a ploy. she has said something completely ridiculous to get his attention. alright. so they’re busy. what did she expect. he had warned her hadn’t he ?  “ your jokes are still not funny. ”

[rchvnt]

ebbv​:

— early october 2022

she should call of the wedding: he was an idiot. “ obviously, ” ebba agreed very slowly. “  i meant as hand-me-downs. does she have some for newborns ? meera is a toddler.. ”

toddlers are babies. “ sam and femke want to bring their second child ? why do they need hand me downs ? ”  they can afford their own. 

[rchvnt]

ebbv​:

— early october 2022

he was not listening, but at least he was quiet. “ hmm… the whole ‘gang’, huh ? ” ebba specified. the word gang was so foreign on her tongue that it sounded like she was poorly mimicking a teenager. she crossed her arms and sighed loudly. if he wasn’t going to give her his 100%, she was not going to make it clear that he was about to have the most important conversation in the world. “ yes, actually yes ! can you ask reena if she has any baby clothes stored somewhere ? ” 

“ yeah there’s been a — ”  skirmish... during a mission. he’d best not finish that sentence. “ we’ll handle it. ”  there ! his watch !  “  obviously. meera is a baby. she’s bound to have clothes. doesn’t she have enough clothes for the wedding — you want to get more ?  jaan. your sister is her favourite. the battle is lost. give up. it’s not worth it. ”

[rchvnt]

ebbv​:

— early october 2022​

“ mhm… ” did he always talk this much ? one word after another, sentence after a sentence, the pauses were so short she couldn’t gather the courage to jump in and say her thing ! “ absolutely, yes, yes i will, that’s so terrible… ” she was barely registering the gravity of the information. “ hey, rohan. ” like a band-aid ! that was the way to go. “ you know how i definitely wouldn’t want to fill up your plate at the moment ? there is just one thing i think we should talk about ?” 

fill up his plate ? she doesn’t think it’s full enough ?   he doesn’t like the tone she is using. hey rohan ? when has she ever said hey rohan ? this is going to be something stupid that he won’t want to do. he is sure of it. “ ya ya, i’m listening, ”  where is his watch ?  “ i’ll stop by naila on the way back for a meeting, you know... kiara and the others. i won’t do anything dangerous, there’s no time. you want me to pick up anything ? ”

[rchvnt]

— early october 2022

“ so you... can handle that follow-up by yourself, right ? i have to be in ganganagar with dad. the locust situation got worse, few thousand more hectares affected, there’ll be a meeting, he wants to go — he has to go. ”  and where the maharaj shows up, in the final few years of his reign, the yuvraaj will have to follow. at this point, with a fiancée in europe, he lives on a plane. there are stewardesses he knows by name now.  /. @ebbv​

[rchvnt]

ebbv​:

“ god help germany… ” her eyes lingered on the crown prince for a moment before she turned to rohan with raised brows. “ don’t be so uptight. it will go on until it won’t. ” whatever was going to end it would be a learning moment to sol. “ can it be serious with someone like him ? ” ebba asked with a pointed look. “ but we tried to pair couple together and since they are a couple… if they can’t survive a bit of heat, then that’s their problem. ”

“ but why not ? jaan. just one time. one slap. ”  the emphasis would have held more weight and sounded more sincere if his voice hadn’t puttered out like a flame in the wind before returning again. “ think of my joy. ”  or a few threats. if he could just linger close enough. temptation is a fickle mistress and his fingers do itch on occasion. “ not couples, she was very interested in making sure those — ”  it connects in his mind late. it’s poor attention on his part. vera had been extensively keen on the other blonde even at the last wedding. he should stop talking. maybe the queen’s way is better. “ never mind. not important. you’re sure you’re feeling okay ?   ”

[rchvnt]

ebbv​:​

“ if there’s an after party it better not be at the palace. ” she would call it a night at 2 am the latest and she would sleep until noon and enjoy the first quiet day in a long time. “ oh i know ! you should call the pajama boy and have him organize something, ” ebba suggested with a grin. “ ginger. i think i can keep talking for another two hours without losing my voice. after that it’ll be just a lot of smiles and facial expressions. ”

his laugh starts out loud but it turns into a wheeze mid-laugh. “ his friend will have no shirt and he will have some stupid hairstyle. it’s bad taste yaar. speaking of the friend. when is this ending ? ”  tolerating the bald head from afar is getting taxing. rohan has given the child a wide berth for ebba’s sake only, not even astrid’s. his thoughts turn murderous too easily. “ it’s not serious na ? how long has it been now ?   your mother sat them there no ? ”

[rchvnt]

mvrcellc​:

“How does no one ever break a tiara? They look so fragile.” 

“  you sound very certain that no one has. ”

[rchvnt]

he has smiled and nodded about three thousand times at this point. his voice is still hoarse from their time in rajasthan: from diwali, to the wedding, to the post-wedding traditions at their new palace as a couple, to the festivities in sweden — he can’t tell if he is imagining the ache in his neck. “ is there an after party ? did that tonic work for you ?  what was in it ? beetroot ? ginkgo root ? ”  some root.  /. @ebbv​

[rchvnt]

ebhan 2022 google slides

invited:

1. all the nordics 2. the spanish 3. the dutch 4. brazil, argentina, guatemala 5. the scots 6. the english 7. ilija because sol (ig jelani and aurel would have been there too u decide) 8. the belgians were ahana’s guests 9. all the asians 10. freja because bridal party

@ebbv pls add if i missed anyone

[rchvnt]

The diamond has been returned to Andhra Pradhesh where it was mined and is under the protection of the Qutb Shah family.

ooc: if it doesn’t make sense pretend it does. koh-i-noor still sits on the english crown irl and india still wants it back quite badly. rajputs hate ebba less & antonia has bigger bde than before. thank you for ur attn.

[rchvnt]

vstridb​:

“ NOTHING ! gotcha ! ” she poked him in the chest. “ i just wanted to see if you’d spill some secrets while freaking out. but okay, let’s talk about the outfits or… whatever. the outfits have been sorted. did you need me for something else ? OH ! do you have the guestlist ready ? i want to check something… ”

tongue dislodges from the roof of his mouth with a LOUD cluck. eyes narrow at her, he does not simply freak out. this is not how anyone of his generation behaves, is this a misdirect — had she decided against telling him at the last second ? he searches her features quickly before deciding, reluctantly to let the matter go. “ i have access to it. ”  reena is handling it, he and ebba have more than enough on their plates. all the fittings alone took forever.  “ what do you want to check ?  no i need you to um - ”   he scratches his brow, “ which one is good at keeping secrets ? you or the other two ? ”

[rchvnt]

ebbv​:

“ that did not go too badly, did it ? ” ebba’s opinion on antonia had always been vague and not too positive. antonia had always seemed difficult to work with. inflexible and prideful. “ think she’ll allow it ? we might have to sweeten the deal a bit. people like to be owed favours. ” ( @rchvnt​ )

“ it went ok.” is it truly considered a favour if it’s emblematic of something antonia wants ?  the cycle should end. the monarchy is a dangerous relic. those had been her words, two years ago in a small bar in argentina. he had given her his silence and his support. now he is handing the opportunity to her on a silver platter. this is a move that will make antonia intensely popular with the second largest economy in the world. all she’d need to do is put her money where her mouth had been. “  we’ll have to wait and see. ”  he hadn’t wished to be present at the meeting, playing dumb and neutral for ebba’s benefit hadn’t been easy, preventing himself from exchanging knowing glances with antonia had been easier, but it is only natural for antonia to have wanted to address him more than ebba.  “ don’t worry about that, it’ll be between her and me. we have been backing her for quite some time. focus on the wedding now. who’s in the party on your side ? your sisters and — ? ”

[rchvnt]

ebbv​:

“ a while is the perfect way to describe her reign. ” england had been the crib of instability for half a decade — antonia was doing a good job not rocking the boat but even the slightest shift might change that. “ publicly ? i can ask for a favour but ah… give me a moment. ” she held her finger up as a request for absolute silence. she needed to think. “ damini’s sister has tried it with antonia or with king arthur ? ” it felt a bit like cheating. the dance with the media had always been based on calculative moves but she had only had a vague idea of the existence of the diamond — and she most certainly wouldn’t have thought of getting it returned. “ are you sure it won’t just look like you got your friend to agree to your request and allowed me to take the credit ? ” 

“  sister-in-law, ”  he corrects with a mild shake of his head. “ samaira. ”  if he says the name often enough, ebba will recognise it when it spills several times from damini’s lips and damini will believe she has taken a real interest in the cause. “ no she has petitioned the chauhans, several times over the years. she cannot act on her own. but the chauhans could not insult arthur. it’s a delicate balance between indians and the english. ”  the resentment for the english in india wouldn’t end, and some days it became palpable, but there is still a level of mutual respect and extremely strong ties that would take at least another century to unwind from. “ my friendship with antonia is not exactly public news. ”  the chauhans probably believe his connection with antonia is merely cordial. the two had met before antonia’s life became media-worthy. “ and if you want to look at it plainly that is exactly what this is, but even if the media sniffs it out, it won’t matter. the return of that diamond is such a big deal, that it will still eclipse that. they would have to dismantle it from the cross of one of their most famous royal crowns. even if it wasn’t your idea, you will have supported it, actively, not passively. that will mean something to them. your arrival would have been the catalyst of that, they will not deny it. jaan it’s one solution, if antonia agrees this will stop getting worse. ”  an effigy had been burned. in an obscure village, in a far flung area, but it had still happened. if aditya keeps his mouth shut, they can curb it before it reaches the cities and no one will be any wiser. “ i don’t want the glory or the credit, i want you to feel safe... eventually. ”  now.