#Diana loves the Palace Gardens

[bridgeportbritt]

Queen Diana and Prince Gerhard Host a Garden Party in Emperor Napoléon V's Honor at Willington Palace Garden

After a busy first day in SimDonia, the Francesim State Visit winds down with a soiree in the Palace Gardens. The beautiful space was the perfest setting for the occasion. Special details in the decor featured flower flown in from Francesim.

The Palace Gardens always make a perfect spot for parties especially considering Willington Palace serving as a stunning backdrop. Desserts, a light lunch, and tea was served to the guests in attendance. Guests included were SimDonia Nobles, philanthropic donors, reknowned artists and more.

Special guests of the Queen and Prince were expecting parents, TRH Grand Duke and Duchess of Cypress representing the Dukedom and Lord Jackson Brooks of Ophelia with his wife, Grand Countess Karen representing Parliament.

The Emperor along with Prince Gerhard, Lord Jonathan and the Queen spent some time talking near the harpists before posing for a photo. Prince Gerhard wore a white suit with a pink tie and vest while the Emperor wore darker colors as he's in mourning. The Queen wore a pastel purple dress and fascinator.

The party certainly looked like a great time had by all!

@empiredesimparte

[itsmearia01]

Imagine being Claude's fiancee. Seeing him fall in love with someone else (Diana) and ran away when you know that Diana is pregnant. He marry her, didn't even think about you at all. Just Diana, all Diana. You become an alchemist and a great witch, you have friend, Lucas, who often talk with you with magic device. You don't know who he is, you know just him as 'asshole but cute wizard,' slowly in love with him and sounds that he into you too. It happens trought years. One day, Lucas said he want to meet you, he want you to go to the princess's debudante.

You know about her, athanasia or athy. Of course, how can't you? She's the daughter of your Ex-fiancee and Diana. So you come, with disguise, you change your appearence (welp- it's just colour of your hair and eyes) and you go there. You watching the Princess and Claude dance, and in the middle of it, you can hear telepati from Lucas.

"Come meet me at the garden," he said.

you're so excited, you finally met him, he blushed so much when he saw you (and the fact that he finally have you for his own can be with you, he knew you back when you were still living in the palace as Claude's fiancé. But you never even knew his existence. Basically he's obsessed with you.)

"it's been awhile... It's been a long time, I've always loved you but you never glanced at me, didn't even know that I existed"

you're confuse, "w-wait, what-"

"Y-YOU!" someone shouted from behind you, a very familiar voice… you looked at Lucas scared. you and he know exactly who it is…

You turned around and looked at him, very scared. its him, your ex fiancé.

He pulled you from Lucas' arms and hugged you, you tried to escape from him and looked at Lucas in fear, trying to ask for help. But I was even more afraid when Lucas said… "I'm sorry, this is the only way to have you always near me, forever."

"Please don't leave me again.... i'm so sorry, i'm sorry"

you cried, especially when claude talked about how he missed you and apologized, when claude managed to kiss your lips… your vision went dark, you fainted because of lucas' spell.

it seems like you forgot that even though lucas is cute, he's still a powerful jerk who can cast a spell on you.

this inspired by @cassanderasblog wmmap series tho.

[brucewaynehater101]

Space Emperor Tim decides to take a break from Earth. He fills out the paperwork that he developed as Robin for official on break status. He fills out the paperwork for vacation from WE. He finishes his active cases and very valiantly restrains himself from taking up new ones. His version of vacation reading is a file cabinet of cold cases so he puts those together for his personal entertainment for his vacation. He sublets his civilian apartment. He makes rigged bets with Jason, Dick, and Stephanie to get them to watch over his part of Gotham while he's gone.

Then he, Kon, Cassie, and Bart jump in the spaceship and head for the empire. They have new costumes to show off and laugh at one another about. They are going to decompress and Cassie will be searching the empire for a therapist for each of them. While she understands Tim's reluctance, Gothamite, she would like the team birb to at least get some healthier coping mechanisms figured out. She would honestly like all of them to have some better coping mechanisms.

The thing is though that Tim never actually, verbally told anyone he was going anywhere, much less leaving earth. The only one who did actively let anyone on earth know was Cassie, she told her mom and she let Greta, Anita, and Cissie know. All four have been promised souvenirs. Mrs. Sandsmark let Diana know that Cassie would be on vacation and unavailable for hero things for a bit. Kon is distant from the Kents, if they even know he exists given Clark's hot and cold attitude towards him, but to be polite Kon left a letter for Ma and Pa that he was going on vacation with his team. Bart's guardian situation is also very up in the air so he didn't bother to tell anyone. All the Bats are in the dark. Only Young Justice even knows that Bart has a spaceship. And turns out that Tim is the only one who uses his official on a break paperwork. And Bruce never read any of his (very edited) reports from his time with Young Justice.

The first clue that the Bats get that Tim isn't actually there in Gotham is from a reporter who asks Brucie how Tim is doing on his vacation?

Meanwhile Tim and his life partners are touring the empire and they've added another planet. And there's an imperial design contest for the best palace for the empire because the empire is hoping that if their baby has his own home here in the empire instead of living out of his ship or using the residences of their former leaders, he might stay for longer periods of time or be there physically more often. Tim is trying to discourage the palace thing as a waste of resources and get people to design gardens instead. Bart may or may not be conspiring with scientists to create a Death Star without the planet destroying capabilities as his own entry to the imperial palace contest. Kon is making sure Tim doesn't notice Bart's plans by dragging Tim through markets and looking for the best examples of ugly-cute baby emperor and consorts merchandise. So far the winner is a set of dishes and each piece has what is presumably their very stylized faces on them. Cassie is taking her turn of being the imperial bodyguard and making sure none of their fans get too overzealous. She is absolutely getting the dishes for the people back home.

Fuck. I love this so much.

Also, referring to YJ as Tim's life partners??? Yes. Absolutely. Idc if people ship them or just see them as a queerplatonic poly relationship. They are for sure life partners. That's the most adequate description for the four of them. Even if some of them choose to date some of the others, if they all date each other, or none date each other, they have a very special bond. No matter the distance or time apart, they are life partners. Gods, I'm vibing with that description so much.

Anyways, Tim being the only one to fill out his vacation/time off paperwork makes so much sense. I also hc that half of the reason he "hides" so much is just that he forgets he has to inform people of shit. He's so used to not telling people what's going on with him that he legitimately gets surprised when they get mad or worried at him because of it. He also goes out of his way to keep tabs on his loved ones and doesn't quite understand why he would need to inform them since they don't need to tell him about their plans. For this hc, I think that YJ had some bumps with this tendency of Tim until they worked out that they just need to ask him. They have a gc where they will ask Tim questions to keep everyone up to date.

Also, hell yeah to the merch and plates ideas. I wonder how YJ is going to explain where they got plates of the core four's faces (since some folks, perhaps Dick, will ask where to get more).

If Tim did request for gardens, I'd love to see what different ones look like. Since they are alien planets, they probably have different ecological systems. They would also have separate ideas on what's considered "beautiful" or worth keeping in a garden-like exhibit.

Thank you for also going in-depth on Kon, Bart, and Cassie's backgrounds. It was cool seeing how they communicated with their respective social groups

[brf-rumortrackinganon]

Meghan’s Lies

by request of @britishroyalfamilyvideos​

Not comprehensive - this is just what I’ve tracked and they are not in any order. If I’ve missed any, add to the comments.

Meghan grew up an only child, never had any kind of relationship with Sam or Tom while growing up.

Meghan grew up in near-poverty where the $5 Sizzler buffet was a splurge.

Meghan didn’t know who Diana or the Royal Family was.

Meghan didn’t know that Diana did the Panorama interview.

Meghan told a television production she was union when she actually wasn’t.

Meghan’s character was being written off Suits because she was marrying Harry. (She was actually written off because Patrick Adams wanted out and her character was tied to his storylines.)

Meghan doesn’t have any family except Doria.

Meghan paid for college herself with her own student loans. (Thomas did; has receipts.)

Meghan has degrees in international relations and theatre from Northwestern University. (It’s actually a degree in communications, according to the commencement booklet.)

Meghan hated Britain because they were racists.

The Sussexes were more popular in Australasia than the Cambridges were.

Meghan didn’t want to serve newborn Archie on a silver platter to the British media.

Meghan wasn’t allowed to do a photocall at the hospital after Archie was born.

Meghan never talked to Oprah before Megxit.

Meghan wasn’t working with UK Vogue on a special edition.

Meghan couldn’t wear the same color of clothing as anyone else.

Meghan could only wear neutral-colored clothing.

Meghan was never going to dress her children like Kate’s Victorian ghost dolls.

Meghan was going to get her UK citizenship.

Meghan gave up her Hollywood team.

Meghan didn’t want a big public wedding and was forced into the big public spectacle by the royal family.

Meghan and Harry eloped three days before the Windsor spectacle with the Archbishop of Canterbury in their garden at Kensington Palace.

Meghan loves her engagement ring.

Meghan and Harry received permission from The Queen to name their daughter Lilibet.

Meghan loves Africa.

Meghan is committed and passionate about charity work and philanthropy.

There are no tabloids in the U.S.

All Americans have a rude, demanding, and 5am work ethic.

Paparazzi car chases

(All the times Meghan plagiarized quotes from others in her speeches)

Meghan frequented Korean spas in L.A. as a child.

Meghan didn’t collaborate with Scobie on Finding Freedom.

Meghan didn’t expect Thomas to publish her private letter.

The royals were the family Meghan never had.

The royals never welcomed Meghan into the fold.

The royals never gave Meghan any kind of help or training.

Meghan gave up everything for Harry.

Meghan didn’t announce her pregnancy at Eugenie’s wedding.

Meghan loves kids and couldn’t wait to be a mom.

Meghan’s dog was too old to fly overseas.

Meghan wasn’t allowed to decorate their home with items from the Royal Collection.

Kate made Meghan cry.

Meghan had a warm, friendly relationship with The Queen.

Meghan is the best boss ever.

Meghan made her own banana bread in Australia. (It was the Governor’s House chef.)

Meghan had suicidal thoughts the night of the Cirque du Soleil event and couldn’t stop crying at the event.

The royal family never helped Meghan with her mental health.

Meghan is being advised by the Obamas post-Megxit.

The children were refused titles by the BRF because they were racist.

Meghan refused titles for the children.

Meghan had a fish tacos lunch with Michelle Obama.

Meghan was pen pals with Hillary Clinton. (We know now that Thomas intervened on this.)

Meghan witnessed the LA riots.

Meghan supports independent grassroots journalism.

Meghan was going to hit the ground running in Britain after the wedding.

Her height. (She claims to be 5′6...maybe in heels.)

Meghan worked at the US embassy in Argentina. (She did a summer study program and ended up dropping out.)

Meghan didn’t know she had to curtsy to The Queen.

The BRF took her passport and car keys after the wedding and never let her travel.

Meghan wasn’t allowed to leave Nottingham Cottage or Frogmore Cottage unless it was for a work engagement.

They were evicted from Frogmore Cottage. (Netflix docuseries shows they were moving out June 2022.)

Meghan was concerned for her privacy in London and wanted to move back to L.A. because there were no paparazzi.

Archie was denied 24/7 protection by the royal family because he didn’t have a HRH and wasn’t a prince.

The family gossiped about Archie’s skin color and made racist comments to her about him.

The palace forced Meghan to take her name off Archie’s birth certificate. (Archie’s first birth certificate had his mother as Rachel Meghan, HRH The Duchess of Sussex. This birth certificate was later amended to have his mother as HRH The Duchess of Sussex.)

There was egg in the wedding food.

Meghan wasn’t allowed to have scents in St. George’s Church. (She wasn’t allowed to spray perfumes, but could have candles.)

The palace has Archie’s birth certificate locked under file and won’t give it to Meghan, so she can’t register him for school.

Meghan wasn’t allowed to do hair trials with her wedding tiara by Angela Kelly.

Meghan was the new Bond Girl.

Fire in Archie’s nursery in South Africa.

Meghan said titles are not important - people should be linked, not ranked.

Archie was too young to fly to Balmoral after he was born. (And yet they took him on 4 international private flights with Elton John...)

Meghan lied about her age. (This was while she was a working actress in Hollywood. Her age has been corrected so it’s not really a lie anymore.)

Belly padding during the pregnancy with Archie.

Sussex Royal had organic innate popularity on social media. Absolutely no bots were involved at all!

Circumstances of the miscarriage. (There are four different stories out there.)

Zoom calls with the Cambridge children during COVID lockdowns.

Zoom calls with The Queen during COVID lockdowns.

Flowers on Philip’s casket were from the Sussexes.

The Sussexes were invited to the Beckham wedding.

Lili would have a royal christening with The Queen.

Lili was christened.

The Sussexes were invited to the diplomatic reception held before The Queen’s funeral.

Meghan is best friends with Jennifer Aniston and they walk their dogs together all the time.

The children’s appearances are often edited/Photoshopped in published photographs.

Edit: More from the comments - credit to the blogs

Meghan didn’t have friends in school. (@rosesandmoonstones)

Meghan was prom queen. (@rosesandmoonstones)

Circumstances of the “racist royal” remarks (@scorpiotwentythree)

Meghan received a standing ovation at the UN, led by Ban Ki Moon (@scorpiotwentythree!)

The type of ambassador role Meghan had for the UN pre-Harry.

Meghan met The Queen in Balmoral over tea just after starting to date Harry in mid-2016. (@scorpiotwentythree)

“No one asked me if I’m okay.” (@rosesandmoonstones)

Meghan didn’t know racism till she arrived in the UK. (@jillydillypickles)

South Africans danced in the streets for the Sussex wedding. (@jillydillypickles)

[aureliaeiter]

Building my inner temple on The Sims 4:

A while ago I watched a video made by Ivy The Occultist in which she talked about the concept of mind palaces / inner temples which basically is a metaphysical space to do spiritual work and connect with your deities.

My issue is that when it comes to the scale of the ability to visualise, I'm kind of in the middle. I can visualise but I need to have some sort of reference, I can't just make up in my mind something that I've never seen physically. So in order to be able to visualise my mind palace, I've decided to build it in the Sims 4.

I'm dedicating different spaces for different deities + a room for my inner child that I won't show here.

Each room has a seat where I can meet the deity and some sort of fireplace for offerings.

Apollo:

For Apollo I decided to build this sunny art workshop. It has some musical instruments, as well as poetry books and bunch of notebooks to write ideas for songs. There's a lot of sun and gold motifs. There are some sunflowers and hyacinths, and that green plant I'm gonna pretend it's laurel. There's also a potted palmtree (as a way of honouring Apollo's birth)

After I took this screenshot I also added a small lab to create medicine (I'm not gonna use that but I figured he might like it). I also added a tea set both for drinking and for divination. As you can see the windows are very big and there's a lot of natural light. At some point I will also add a porch for beekeeping.

Venus:

For Venus I created this suite-like room that has both a bedroom and a bathroom. It has a ton of mirrors, red and pink flowers and water elements. It also has reference to her swan and ocean correspondences.

It's a place where I'm meant to cultivate self love but also romantic love (that's why I put those romance books over the chimney, since that's a genre I've always struggled reading).

Diana:

When it comes to Diana I thought it would be better to do something for her outdoors, so I created this garden. The first thing you see when you enter is a pond which is supposed to be reminiscent of Lake Nemi. On the left there's a throne where she can sit which is surrounded by cypresses, which are Diana's sacred trees. You can't see it in the screenshot but under the cypresses there's also beds and toys for dogs as I've set this building lot to be a place stray dogs can go to.

On the right there's a palm tree, just like in Apollo's workshop. There's a bunch of wild flowers and bushes to represent the wildlife but there's also some pots where I can plant my intentions.

[comtessezouboff]

La Galerie des Cotelles Set

A retexture by La Comtesse Zouboff — Original Mesh by @thejim07

At the very moment when Louis XIV wrote the first version of 《Manière de montre les jardins de Versailles》, he expressed his desire to recreate his words as images.

In 1688, he comissioned an outstanding set of 24 paintings describing the different groves in gardens with mythological allegories to be placed in the galerie at the Trianon de Marbre.

The ornamentation of the gallery linking Trianon to Trianon-sous-bois was entrusted to three painters between 1688 and 1689: Jean Cotelle painted twenty-one of the twenty-four canvases hung in this room, Etienne Allegrain two others, and Jean-Baptiste Martin.

This gallery, decorated around 1690, bears the name of the author of most of the paintings which appear there and which represent views of the groves of Versailles and Trianon, embellished with mythological figures.

This set remained in place until the First Empire. Napoleon I considered replacing them with paintings to his glory. The works will return to their original location in 1913 after being restored to 《La Colection Royale》 by Louis Philippe and can be seen there to this day.

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This set contains 24 paintings with the original frame swatches, fully recolourable. They are:

View of the Amphitheater of the Grove of the Théâtre d'Eau with the Toilette of Psyche.

View of the Bassin du Dragon and the Gutter of the Neptune Fountain with Apollo Slaying the Serpent Python.

View of the Colonnade Grove with Apollo Served by the Nymphs.

View of the Entrance of the Labyrinth Grove with Nymphs and Cupid Catching Birds in their Nets.

View of the Fountain of the Fifty-Two Jets, or Plat-Fond at the Trianon with Mars and Venus.

View of the Grove of l'Encelade with Jupiter Slaying Enceladus the Giant with the Feast of Lycaon.

View of the Grove of L'Étoile or la Montagne d'Eau with Diana Saving Arethusa from Alpheus.

View of the Grove of the Arc de Triomphe Towards the Fountain of La France Triomphante with Nymphs Chaining Captives.

View of the Grove of the Arc de Triomphe with Venus and Adonis on a Chariot Driven by Cupid.

View of the Grove of the Baths of Apollo or des Dômes with Diana and her Nymphs.

View of the Grove of the Labyrinth Showing the Fountain of the Fight of the Animals and the Two Fountains of the Fox and the Crane with Diana and the Nymphs.

View of the Grove of the Salle de Bal with Armide Crowning Renaud.

View of the Grove of the Théâtre d'Eau with the Toilette of Psyche.

View of the Marais or Chêne-Vert Grove with Nymphs Playing Various Games.

View of the Neptune Fountain, the Bassin du Dragon and the Allée d'Eau with the Judgement of Paris.

View of the Orangerie and the Palace from the Pièce d'Eau des Suisses with the Abduction of Helen of Troy.

View of the Orangerie of Versailles and the Pièce d'Eau des Suisses with Vertumnus and Pomona.

View of the Parterre d'Eau with the Apotheosis of Venus.

View of the Parterres of the Trianon de Marbre with Zephyrus and Sleeping Flora

View of the Trois-Fontaines Grove with Garden Loves.

View of the Trois-Fontaines Grove with Venus and the Nymphs.

View of the Feast or Council Room Grove in the Palace of Versailles.

View of the Grove of the Miroir d'Eau Fountain and the Île-Royale in the Palace of Versailles.

Perspective view of the Grove of the Galerie des Antiques.

Found under decor > paintings for 1.850§

(you can just search for "Cotelle" using the catalog search mod to find the entire ser much easier!)

Retextured from:"The virgin of the Rosary" found here

Disclaimer!

All of the paintings shown here aren't as blurry as in the screenshots and its colors are more vibrant in-game!

Cc shown here:

Walls, door and bench by @thejim07

Floor by @martassimsbookcc

Windows by @missyzim

Chandelier and garland by @hydrangeachainsaw

Pediment by Mutske (TSR)

Consoles by ShinoKCR (TSR)

Drive

(Sims3Pack | Package)

(Useful tags below)

@joojconverts @ts3history @ts3historicalccfinds @deniisu-sims @katsujiiccfinds @gifappels-stuff

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[smalls-words]

Fulfil Your Oath

Summary: Handmaiden to the Princess of Themyscira, you have one well-known rule: where she goes, you follow. But you have another only you know: never fall in love with the princess.

Pairings: Princess Diana x Handmaiden!Reader, Unnamed Mother x Reader, Antiope x Diana (aunt), Antiope x Reader (trainer), Menalippe x Reader (mentor), Menalippe x Antiope (wives).

Warnings: Death, battle, requited but unseen love, soft fluffy bit at the end.

Genre: Fluff and Angst

A/N: Here is the masterlist of the now miniseries!

*not my gif*

It was tradition. The handmaiden of the Queen would have a daughter, who would then grow up to be the handmaiden of the Princess. From the moment you could walk, you shadowed your mother, who shadowed the Queen.

You took in everything you could to learn about what you needed to learn, and after fourteen long years, your mother finally introduced you to the princess.

“Princess.” Your mother bowed to her small form.

“Hello.” Her Themysciran accent was thick.

“Princess, I’d like for you to meet your handmaiden. My daughter, Y/N.”

Your mother moved out of the way to reveal you standing quietly, your eyes not lifting until your name was spoken by the princess. “Speak.” She added.

“Good afternoon, Princess.” You bowed.

She gave you a smile before the appearance of the Queen had you kneeling before her. “My Queen.” You addressed her.

“Good afternoon, Handmaiden Y/N.” She nodded, the signal to relax.

You stood and moved behind Diana, as your mother did with Queen Hippolyta. The two conversed as they walked through the gardens, your mouth sealed shut the entire time but you listened to everything.

Over the first year of being Diana’s handmaiden, you learnt her schedule off by heart. You learned all of her favourite meals, prepared her bed every morning after she woke up. Stood by her shower, helped her dress, and kept her together.

Now, officially four years from your first day as her handmaiden, you entered her room.

“Good morning, Diana.” You murmured as you walked in.

“Mmm.” She grumbled.

You sighed. “Good morning, Arteia.”

You waited patiently for the woman to leave, helping her collect her belongings before you walked around to the windows and opened the curtains.

“Y/N, no…” Diana groaned in annoyance.

“You have a meeting with your mother in half an hour.” You pulled the bedsheets off of her very easily, her groggy sleep-filled mind not quick enough to react.

She buried her face into her pillow, her voice muffled. “I’ve had enough of these meetings.”

“Well you can bring up that topic with your mother, at the meeting.” You replied.

As you were about to get her bath ready, you felt her hand take your wrist. Her beautiful raven hair shone like obsidian in the sunlight, and her chocolate brown eyes looked like pure gold.

*Stop it.* You thought to yourself.

“Can’t I just… skip it?” She gave you a grin, hoping you’d be lenient.

You shook your head. “I cannot allow that. Now come, we are going to be late.” You removed your wrist from her grip and waited at the bathroom door for her.

You were careful to not look at her naked form.

She had a quick bath and thanked you for the towel in your arms, dressing herself in simple clothing before following you out the door. You knew the palace like the palm of your hand, corridors and hallways interconnecting like the lines of your skin.

As you came to the closed oak doors, you opened the left one and held it so as Diana walked through. You followed her to her seat, drew it out from under the table, and pushed her back in.

“Thank you, Y/N.” She murmured.

She watched you stand by the corner guard, your eyes fixed forwards on a spot of marble. Diana looked down at the meal before her, thanking the gods quietly before she ate.

The meeting over breakfast was quiet and concluded quickly since the Queen had to deal with some trainees, leaving you with Diana and her schedule. Training was soon and you needed to dress her in her training armour before taking her to the fields.

For once, Diana wasn’t fidgeting or talking randomly as you dressed her. She was silent.

“Speak your mind, Y/N.”

You just realised she was looking at you, observing the concern hidden behind your eyes. “You are not acting as you normally do.”

“It is nothing. Just… frustration from breakfast.” Diana murmured.

“Of course.” You nodded, standing after tying her boot lace around her calf.

You walked down with her to the stables where your horse was ready to be ridden. You sat at the front and Diana the back, her hands lightly falling to your waist for a grip.

As you arrived at the training field, you watched Diana run down to General Antiope before climbing off the horse. Diana’s training session would be two hours, before lunch and some formalities before coming back for another two hours in the evening.

You gave Antiope a nod of respect before going for a walk in the forest.

——————————\\//\\//——————————

In the evening, you found Diana once more at the training field. She looked battered and bruised as she normally does, her hair slightly filled with grass whilst a happy grin spread across her face at the sight of you.

“Y/N! Come down here!” She yelled from the valley.

You carefully made your way down to where she stood next to Antiope. “Y/N, I want you to meet my aunt, Antiope. I don’t know if you two have ever met before but she thinks I’m ready to join the ranks! What do you think?”

You looked at the General, who gave you a slight shake of her head. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, General Antiope.” You spoke instead, bowing your head.

You turned to Diana. “And as for you, I think you need a bath.”

Antiope chuckled at your remark whilst Diana gasped. You shook your head with laughter as she walked up the hill frustratingly, your smile dying down as you looked at Antiope.

“Don’t be late tonight, or I will go much harder on you.” She warned with a grin.

“Of course, General.” You smiled before following after your princess, who was extremely annoyed since your horse wouldn’t move without you.

“Y/N, hurry up!” She ordered.

“I’m coming.” You murmured, swinging yourself onto the saddle at the front.

As you walked back to the palace, Diana’s fatigue set in. She leaned her head on your shoulder and carefully looked at you, your eyes glancing down to her for a moment.

“Someone is tired.” You teased.

“You try training for four hours a day against Antiope. You’ll be exhausted.” She mumbled, her arms tightening around your waist ever so slightly.

After returning your horse to the stable, you walked Diana back through the palace to her chambers. You undressed her and let her sink into the warm water of the bath, grabbing your stool to sit next to it.

You washed her hair thoroughly but gently, listening to her groan in satisfaction. You carefully scrubbed her down, being extra careful over her bruises and scrapes, before you invited her to climb into the warm towel in your arms.

You then dressed her into her night clothes and folded the sheets over her, chuckling as she took your wrist in her hand.

“Stay with me tonight?” She asked with a grin.

“I cannot, Princess.” You took your hand away.

She sat up, her damp hair falling over to one side. “Why not? You are my handmaiden. You serve me.”

You hesitated at the door, your hand on the frame. “I am a handmaiden. I do not sleep in my Princess’s bed.”

Diana grew confused by your words and walked to the door, but she could no longer find you in the hallway. She closed the door quietly, moving back to the bed to lie down.

Her eyes gazed up at the stars. “I wish she would.” She begged the gods before sleep took her.

You looked up at her bedroom window as Antiope was getting water for you both. You dressed into your training armour, gazing at the light of the candle fading in Diana’s bedroom.

“I wish I could.” You murmured before Antiope’s footsteps enticed you to swing your sword and start your four hours of training.

——————————\\//\\//————��—————

The days blurred together as you trained with Antiope and cared for Diana, using the time she was at training to earn more rest before your own would begin that night. You were much better than Diana, having trained for years upon years, starting when you began as handmaiden.

One day as you were trotting towards the training grounds to pick up Diana, you heard a loud whirring sound. It couldn’t be any of the blacksmiths, nor the armour makers since it was coming from the ocean.

Black smoke trailed from some small yellow spot, your eyes locking onto Diana as she dove off of the cliff. Alarm bells rang in your mind before you galloped down the mountain to the palace, not even dismounting as you found the Queen outside.

“My Queen! The border has been breached!” You reported.

She mounted her horse and followed after you, throwing you an armour set as she held your horse’s gallop steady. You slipped it on over your clothes and took a set of weapons from Arteia, thanking her with a nod.

As you approached the cliffedge, you leapt off of the back of your horse and shot an arrow into the cliff, swinging down to be met with Diana’s worried eyes.

“Princess!” You cut the rope just in time, rolling towards her.

“Y/N, stay behind me!” She ordered, covering you with her body before you pushed her down, your chest on top of hers.

“I am your handmaiden, which makes me your protector. Stay down.” You growled, lifting your eyes to see the stampede of horses coming across the beach.

“General!” You bellowed, your voice carrying across the cliff face.

Antiope spotted you and nodded, a sword landing in front of you. You gripped it tightly in your hand and stabbed the enemy to your right, forcing him to drop his weapon.

“You.” You pointed at the man staying close to Diana.

“Use that.” You gestured to it.

He nodded and gripped the gun, firing off at the enemy whilst you let arrows fly and swords clash with their guns. In the end, nobody made it within ten feet of Diana unless you wanted them to.

But Diana moved.

Standing at the shore, an enemy gun pointing at her.

You were too late.

“ANTIOPE!” You roared, throwing your sword through the throat of the enemy soldier to decapitate him.

You crouched down next to Diana, propping up the head of your mentor. “No, no, no…” You moved Antiope’s hair away from her face, tears welling in your eyes.

She looked at Diana. “Diana… the time has come. You… You must…”

“What, Antiope? Tell me what to do, please!” She begged.

Antiope strained to talk. “Godkiller. Diana, go…”

“Go? Go where?”

Antiope looked at you. “Your oath…” Her hand came to rest on yours as it held her head. “Fulfil it.”

You nodded. “I promise.”

She looked back at Diana before you felt the limpness of her hand, a few tears coming from Diana before Menalippe came to her corpse, begging the gods to bring her wife back. Hippolyta came to your side, to which you were confused by her empathetic expression.

“I’m sorry, child. I… She fulfilled her oath.” She murmured.

“No.” You shook your head, standing up to scan the standing warriors.

She was lying down in the sand.

“MAMA!” You bellowed, racing over to her corpse.

“No, no, no…” You moved the hair out of her face, dusted the sand off her skin.

“Mama, please, no. You- Mama.” You pressed your forehead against her chest, clutching her limp form tightly.

The tears finally broke through, streaming down your cheeks and onto her breastplate, scratches of old being filled in with tears of new. You didn’t dare take your eyes off of hers, even if they weren’t smiling at you.

Anger bubbled below the surface of sadness.

“You.” You snarled, staring at the man behind Diana.

Diana stepped in front of you and whilst you could have overcome her in a normal spar, your emotions clouded your judgement. “Y/N, do not! He fought at our side!”

“You brought them here! You killed my Mama!”

Menalippe gripped you by her arms wrapped around your shoulders, pulling you away from Diana and the stranger. She held you tightly against her, waiting for your anger to dissipate.

“We shall grieve together.” She murmured in your ear.

——————————\\//\\//——————————

You stood beside Diana, tears still trickling down your reddened face as Menalippe held the stranger within the Lasso of Hestia. The princess looked at you every sniffle or two, urged to comfort you but she needed to deal with the stranger first.

It was her duty.

You left after the feeling of more than two pairs of eyes overwhelmed you, collapsing after you found a dark room to hide in. You stayed in the darkest corner and shook as grief gripped your heart with no remorse, not even hearing the door opening.

“Y/N? Y/N, it’s me, Diana.”

Her voice sounded so far away. You could feel your mind spiralling so far that it felt like you were falling into Tartarus, only for a simple touch to your cheek to bring you back.

“Y/N?” Her soft voice queried.

“M-My Princess, um…” You tidied yourself up, brushing away your tears. “H-How can I help you? I can run you a bath, I can dress you, I can-”

“I want you to breathe.” She murmured.

You looked up at her, feeling so small yet so seen. Your bottom lip trembled at her words, forcing your own out. “I can’t.”

She pulled you closer to her, scanning your teary face before you yelped as she picked you up. She placed you on the edge of the bath before she ran the water, not budging when you gestured for her to leave.

“Diana, I can do this myself.”

“Not in the state you’re currently in.”

She moved to undress you but you protested, undressing yourself to sink into the warm water. You faced away from Diana, wanting to be alone so desperately so you could grieve without judgement.

Her hands fell into your hair and gently began to massage your scalp, introducing the water before adding the oils you used on her hair. You didn’t make a fuss, not wanting to show her your teary eyes, and let her scrub your back and lower body.

“Turn.” She muttered.

“No.” You replied softly.

She sighed and quietly stood, grabbing a towel to wrap around you. “Come on.” She urged.

You stood nervously and stepped out of the bath whilst facing away from her, shuddering as the warmth of the towel failed to reach further into you than your skin. Diana guided you out to her bedroom and sat you on the bed, bringing what is normally your stool in front of you.

“Now… Tell me why you seem to be an excellent fighter, much better than some of our greatest warriors. And why does Menalippe care for you so much?” She asked, rubbing your feet gently just as you would do for her.

“Menalippe was my handmaiden mentor before Antiope.” You smiled sheepishly.

“And your fighting?” She queried.

“I… train in the hours of night. I have since I became your handmaiden.” You admitted, swallowing the lump in your throat. “Although I assume they are finished, since Antiope is… with the gods.”

Diana looked up at you as you brushed away another tear, giving her a short but untrue smile. She stood and moved to her cupboard of garments, sifting through them before holding one up to you.

“Diana, please, I have my own clothes-”

“Silence.” She ordered, to which you had no choice but to obey.

She brought you to your feet and gently pushed away the confines of the towel, noticing how nervous you were to show your body. “Arms.” She ordered again, slipping the clothing onto you very easily.

You let her put on every piece of clothing before she then placed a fur cloak over you, confusing you. “What are you doing, Diana?”

“We are going with Steve.” She murmured.

“The stranger?!” You stepped back, falling onto the bed.

“Yes. But we have to be quiet.” She hissed softly, noting your anger as she pulled her own fur cloak on.

“My Princess, there is nothing you can do to get me to go with you and him.” You murmured, spitting his descriptive.

She turned to you, a determined look on her face. “You are my handmaiden. Where I go, you follow. That is your oath.”

You lowered your eyes as the princess’ anger frightened you slightly, but she hugged you tightly afterwards. “We will go when dusk has fallen. Get some sleep.”

You made your way out of the room to find Menalippe standing at your door. You startled her by the sight of your clothing, her footsteps urgent as she came to you.

You were prepared to be scolded.

But you were embraced.

She held you close, tucking your head against her chest. The floodgates opened once more, her tears coupling yours. “We grieve together, Y/N. No matter our occupation.”

You sniffled and nodded against her, letting her lead you inside to sit on your bed that was much smaller than Diana’s. Menalippe held you close as the stars began to reveal themselves in the waning light, sighing as she pulled away slightly.

“You do not have to go. Hippolyta will give you time to grieve. You may even end up as her handmaiden.” She murmured.

“Antiope said I must fulfil my oath.” You replied just as softly.

“I will not let her last command die simply because she is gone.”

Menalippe nodded, kneeling in front of you as the moon revealed itself besides its companions. “Go. Be by her side.”

She brushed your cheeks clear of tears. “But you are still a child. If the emotions come, let them through. The greatest skill a warrior can have is empathy.”

You nodded, letting her kiss your temple before she stood. “Go. Before I have to inform the Queen of your leave.”

You thanked her with a tight hug before sprinting out of the door.

[aimeedaisies]

I accidentally deleted this post last night so I’m posting this again (thank you H for recovering it for me, you know who you are 🥰)

Anonymous asked: The coat dress, which Anne wore for Harry's wedding, did she ever wore it again, including her outfits for Peter, Zara and William 's wedding? I know she wore that lovely green dress for church for her niece's wedding

In chronological order…

She wore this cream suit to Royal Ascot in June 1992, just 5 months later she wore it again to marry her sweetheart Tim 🥰 she also rewore the hat in the first photo at Royal Ascot, 30 years later, this year!

She wore this Teal coat dress to Royal Ascot in June 1991, then in 2005 she rewore it to her brothers wedding to Camilla.

Princess Anne wore this yellow number at Charles and Diana’s wedding in July 1981, 27 years later she wore it to her cousin, Lady Rose Gilman (née Windsor) wedding in July 2008

She has worn her look from Peter and Autumns wedding in 2008 to the RAF Centenary service at Westminster Abbey in 2018. LOOK AT HOW CUTE THEY ARE LINKING ARMS AT THE WEDDING 😭

She has worn her purple and green floral dress three times! At William and Catherine’s wedding in 2011, Ladies Day at Royal Ascot in 2012 and to a garden party at Buckingham Palace in 2015!

She rewore the look she wore for her daughter, Zara’s wedding in 2011 at Royal Ascot the following year but swapped her floral fascinator for a wide brimmed hat.

I’m not sure if Anne has worn this robe style dress again that she wore to Harry and Meghans wedding in 2018 i can only imagine what the headlines would read 🤦‍♀️

She rewore the emerald green dress she wore to Princess Eugenies wedding this year at Royal Ascot!

Most certainly one of her most favourite looks and one she keeps going back to is this yellow and blue coat dress with a matching hat. She has worn it five times in public at the Easter service in 2007, Royal Ascot in 2009, her cousin Lady Gabriella Kingston (née Windsor) wedding in 2019, in New Zealand in 2023 and to the Jersey Zoo in 2023.

[industria-adastra]

[WMMAP] - Magnum Opus: Flipping through a child's eulogy (3/5)

Prev - Next

Summary: It’s strange, trying to get used to a new puzzle piece in her incomplete picture. But Jennette is kind, and with the waves of change alongside her. So Athanasia dares to hope.

But it is not to be.

Note: Sorry this took a while but admittedly this took a lot longer than I expected. Chapter 3 ended up getting split but this is where most of the build-up is for before the anvil really drops in this now 5-parter of LP timeline Athy's moral bankruptcy arc.

-----

After the disastrous event that was her debut—By the sun and stars of Obelia she had a sister —Athanasia found herself staring, empty-eyed, up at the ceiling. She had no real idea of how she even got herself back to her room, or how and why no one seemed to stop her. If only to bombard her with invasive questions about her as the nobles had done so earlier.

But then again, they were probably all occupied with Jennette, weren't they? A new princess, who looked far lovelier than the forgotten princess in blue. Jennette Margarita, a shining new piece on the chessboard of noble politics. 

Athanasia rolls over to stare emptily at the overgrown greenery beyond the window. The glass is one of the only objects still sparkling clean compared to the rest of the dusty rooms in the palace. 

Lily must’ve cleaned it earlier. 

The garden, as beautiful as it was, was wild and overgrown. How many years had it been since someone took proper care of it? Her body curls within herself, drawing her eyes away.

A cold weight settles itself on her shoulder. Strokes her in a comforting manner with only the brush of freezing air to alert Athanasia to her mama’s movement. 

A few minutes later, that cold hand is replaced by another much warmer one.

“I…heard about it. Your debut, that is. What happened during it was…” Lily trails off, unable to find a perfect word to encapsulate this entire situation.

And then, she shakes her head, her resolve strengthening. “But you should know, Princ—No, Athanasia —that no matter what happens, I’ll always be by your side.” Her hand moved to comb through her hair, delicate fingers picking out the hidden ties within her hair. “And you know why?”

Athanasia stays silent, merely turning her head to look up at Lily.

“Because I promised, remember? And you know that, if it’s you, Athanasia, I will always, always, keep my promises to you.”

(Diana takes the moment to let her emotions be known, an all-encompassing wave that cocoons Athanasia in its warmth. Smooth like silk and gentle to the touch, it was all too easy to understand.)

And if Athanasia’s eyes start to overflow with tears, and her body begins to shake, neither Lily nor Diana makes any comment about it. They simply stay beside her. A silent comfort.

-

With the sudden reveal of Jennette—a potential new heir—everything was thrown into chaos. Both nobles and commoners gossip and whisper, wondering about the royal family. Of changes in relationships and the succession of the royal family. Since Jennette Margarita was older, would whoever married her become emperor instead? (Groups of noble boys sigh in relief, because although they could not remember what Jennette looked like in detail, they remembered a girl who was so lovely and beautiful beyond comparison. Her image buzzed in their minds like a persistent fly.)

But, most said, wouldn’t you think it’s a terribly one-sided battle?

After all, how would the second princess, the daughter of a lowborn commoner and unknown to all, even compare to the lovely Margarita girl? 

Rumours fly from the mouths of the members of the most exciting debutante of His Majesty’s age. About Jennette Margarita—now Jennette de Alger Obelia—they would say, sweet and kind and perhaps with a head sometimes up in the clouds, but ever so darling and dear, the new princess of theirs. About Athanasia de Alger Obelia, they’d sneer, gloomy and despondent, who would ever want her?

And so, and so, everyone waits with bated breath to see whether their speculations will be proven correct.

And they would be, time and time again, until one day they’d be pulled from the peak of their euphoria, down into the flames of hell and horror.

-

When they first meet, it is within the boundary of the Ruby Palace, in an overgrown field of grass and wildflowers and weeds.

Athanasia is practising her magic again, lying under the cooling shade of a large tree. Raven lies nearby, and her mother watches on with interest. The whispers and wailing in her ears have all but stopped after the trainwreck that was her debut, but still, Athanasia prefers the quiet open of this area. Better than the confining, decaying air of the Ruby Palace. Only Lily made it seem alive in there. But today she seems to be busier than usual, so Athanasia has quietly left her to her work.

Her black-blue mana weaves shapes in the air, dancing through the plants, giving energy to some, taking energy from others. It crackles and pops as it does so, staccato beats following a discordant rhythm. 

Today is a fine day.

Until, of course, there’s a sudden intrusion in the form of her newly “discovered” older sister. Athanasia immediately stops any usage of magic, wary, but puts on a polite smile in greeting. A question blooms within both her and her mother’s minds as they wonder: What would Jennette Margarita be like in relative privacy?

Unknowingly, Jennette offers a rather positive answer to that.

“Hello! You’re Athanasia, right? I’m so glad I finally got to meet you!” Jennette beams at her, lowering herself to clasp Athanasia’s hands in her own. Athanasia, in turn, fights the urge to flinch away at the suddenness of her actions. She seemed…highly forward, and almost brash in her approach. 

But, it wasn’t like this eagerness to know herself, know Athanasia as a person, from her new… sister wasn’t wanted. Athanasia wonders if she could get used to it. Get used to positive attention from a different member of her family (not from the one she truly desired it from).

Warmth blooms, just a little. But it’s there. Maybe she still could. Maybe she could.

Athanasia simply opts to listen, watching Jennette ramble on about her long-lived desire to meet her, watching her grow more and more nervous. Raven, now having surreptitiously moved over to her lap, watches Jennette carefully. 

Jennette is an open person, speaking of endless details about herself, to the point where one would think she’d never learned the meaning of the word “discreet”. Athanasia learns about Jennette’s favourite flowers (daisies), her favourite colour (blue), her favourite pastimes, and her hopes and dreams for her newly reunited family.

She doesn’t have the heart to tell her that their father, whilst a good and just man, is not one to offset his work in order to spend time with his children. So she smiles, and answers every question Jennette goes on to ask her with polite, near-perfunctory answers. 

Athanasia takes the time to take in Jennette’s features—the brief glances during her debut, marred by her despair, were not enough to form a good image of her within her mind. And Athanasia, as much as she tries, cannot fathom how this is her sister of another mother. Jennette’s hair is brown, a trait inherited from her mother, where generations of their family had been blond. The only thing she can find that even remotely reminds her of their father is Jennette’s jewel-blue eyes, and even then, they gleam with green when the sunlight passes over them.

Jennette’s features are, strangely enough, like a mirage. An aura of magic coats her skin; something lurks, trapped beneath her flesh, thick and sticky yet as flexible as water. It pulls at the light, softening her features and sharpening them at the same time, as if her creator still could not make up his mind on how he wished for her to look. Still, it always tries its best to make Jennette look as physically attractive as possible. Athanasia recognises this kind of magic, having entangled her hands within similar variations.

Black magic. Forbidden magic. Layers upon layers of it, as if it were the makeup of her sister’s existence.

Strange. Should she question Jennette about it? While she’s still chattering away at her? Athanasia mulls upon this decision, unconsciously starting to comb her fingers through Raven’s thick fur.

Unfortunately, it isn’t long before a maid calls for Jennette, pulling her away from the odd Second Princess with distrustful eyes. They do not trust her with her new sister. Evidently, they read too many melodramatic novels.  

Now that Jennette has left, her mother comes closer, having observed the entire interaction. And Athanasia sees that her gaze is cold, as they watch Jennette move further away from the Ruby Palace. 

She wonders where Jennette lives, if not in the Ruby Palace like her. (Whichever palace it was, it would be one more well-loved than hers)

“Could you feel it too, Mother?” She asks, staring at this icy version of her always-warm mother. “There’s so much magic woven within her, and it’s… different from how the mages of the Black Tower feel. I can barely even feel anything similar to my mana, the royal family’s mana, because most of it—” She pauses, and sees her mother tense, looking pointedly away.  Athanasia pretends she doesn’t see it. “Most of it feels like… Black magic. Forbidden, cursed, magic.”

It takes a while for her mother to respond.

“The Penelope I knew—or rather, the emperor told me about—was never magically inclined. Ambitious and beautiful, but with barely an ounce of usable mana to become even a low-level mage.” Her mother still doesn’t look at her. Athanasia is unsure what to make of this strange non-answer.

“So, it’s artificial then? I assume it would be before birth, as otherwise, I believe she would not be quite so… her . But whyever would Father agree to such procedures? I didn’t think he’d be the kind of person to willingly subject his family to such danger. Even if Penelope Judith must’ve asked for it. Especially since our bloodline practically guarantees some degree of usable mana compared to others.” It’s a puzzling thought for Athanasia, an uncomfortable, squirmy sort of thought. Father, the holy Emperor of Obelia, someone who’d sink his hands up to his forearms in forbidden magic? Athanasia banishes that thought as quickly as possible. 

Diana cannot bear to tell her daughter what the voices have told her, what her memories are telling her. That Penelope Judith had only lain with Claude’s brother. That Jennette was unlikely to be his daughter. That Claude knew this and yet was more welcoming to his own niece than a daughter he had with someone he had so desperately claimed to love. So she chooses her words carefully, measuring them within her mind before allowing them to fall from her lips.

“...I think, Athy, that—” Diana’s face is unsteady, a crack in the glass as she abruptly stops. “—that when it comes to people we love, we may not always know them as well as we think we do, because there are so many facets to a person.” 

Vague, vague, vague. Her mother’s answer is vague and does little to calm her with its implications. But Athanasia doesn’t want to argue. 

“I know.” That is all Athanasia says in reply, and that is all she leaves it to be.

(Hate was so easy to cultivate these days, when one’s emotions were connected to those of others.)

Such blissful ignorance is something she wants to keep her only child cradled safely within, if only so she would not be further hurt. She descends to wrap her arms around Athanasia, her only treasure, her most precious beloved child.

They sit in silence together for a little while longer. Yet, Athanasia notes, as she looks up at the darkening sky, it seems like a storm would come. And soon.

-

Jennette Margarita…no, Jennette de Alger Obelia is an enigma to her. An enigma through her very existence and how she is. How she treats everyone. 

An older half-sister she’d never met, with a personality she’d never gotten accustomed to. She is a cheerful, sunny girl in contrast to Athanasia’s dark and gloomy disposition. Forceful in her own ways like a gentle force of nature. Athanasia doesn’t think she’s a particularly bright girl, not instinctively picking up on how and why the servants and guards react like so depending on which princess they’re encountering. Jennette didn’t seem particularly well-read either, having seemingly been kept within an isolated bubble for a large part of her years. A bubble that was tailored to how her previous guardians saw fit to design. A bubble that she accepted without much thought. 

Athanasia had torn apart her own bubble a long, long time ago.

But Jennette is kind. At the very least, she treats her with the desire to become close. And perhaps, that is what draws Athanasia toward her, like a moth finding another source of light to hold onto. A little bit more affection to have and consume, another island in a sea of apathy. She isn’t sure if she’s being too greedy, coveting another pair of warm arms and a warm smile. 

(Athanasia remembers a face as solid and cold as ice from years ago. With another member in the family, one that he clearly cared about—with the unceasing flow of new baubles and fabrics given to her—would he welcome her now? A girl who’d do her best to repay his love and attention with all her being?

She doesn’t know the answer until one fateful tea party.) 

-

Meeting her father again for the first time in years is not as much of a happy affair as Athanasia thought it’d be. 

For one, her tea sits cold on her plate, and Athanasia also finds that her appetite has long left her. There is no mention of any of her dedication to the country and her studies, nor her desire to be useful to him. No, her father simply ignores her in favour of Jennette. Watching her, though not with familiar warmth.

It’s an emotion entirely different from her mother’s, and something about it makes her feel cold. The awkward silence hangs like a sword on a thread, as Jennette nervously nibbles on her snacks. Not even her typically sunny demeanour can defrost the ice lingering in the air here.

At least Mother is here, gently squeezing her, just enough to feel her warm-cold presence. Athanasia wonders why she hasn’t shown herself to her husband, pushing away memories of derisive whispers about a low-born dancer with more grace in her pinky toe than in any of their entire beings. Her fingers fiddle with one another, now wishing she were in the royal library instead, studying to be better.

At last, Jennette takes the plunge to end the awkward atmosphere.

“F-father!” She practically shouts, “I-I’ve heard that Athanasia is quite good in her studies, so maybe there is something she could help you with?”  Sweat lightly lines the side of her head, glistening. Her hands fumble about with the polished silver utensils.

The blatant plead for them to interact is so evident, that it would have been more subtle to plunge a sword into his gut. Athanasia barely keeps her muscles from reflexively cringing. But at the very same time, a bit of hope dared to bloom. Perhaps her father simply needed a little prompting. 

And it seems like he did, because right after, he turns to her, the same look of apathy still on his face, but he is looking at her and Athanasia’s mind runs through hundreds of imaginary conversation starters.

“Is that so?” He says, deceptively light before his next words. “Athanasia…”  Pausing, he appears to be contemplating something. “...so that was your name. And what an amusingly arrogant one it is. Who’s daughter were you, to have thought you’d be able to live up to such a name?” Cold like always, he fixes the full force of his icy gaze onto her, pinning her down like a butterfly specimen to be thoroughly examined. He eased himself into a languid position on his chair as best as possible, waiting, demanding her answer.

Her mother’s arms tighten imperceptibly, just as Athanasia feels a twang of disappointment at her father’s blatant forgetting of her beautiful, wonderful mother. It clashes with the rush of emotion that sears through her veins at having her father’s full attention on her (though not because of her). 

Suddenly, a rush of noise fills her ears, phantom memories of blood and death coming back from long ago. It is vivid and hazy in her mind’s eye, overlapping multiple perspectives into one as she steadily gazes back at him. 

Yet he is always covered in blood.

Athanasia tastes blood on her tongue, blood in her throat. Feels it on her hands, soaked into her dress. She blinks and it’s gone as quickly as it appears.

(Mother doesn’t seem very happy)

She tries to keep her voice even. “Diana of Siodonna, Father. I’ve… I’ve heard that she was a beautiful dancer.” Even so, her words are spoken haltingly, chosen carefully. 

At that, she could see his eyes narrow in sudden hostility, something dark flashing across them. One of his hands moves to tightly grasp her chin, moving her face this way and that. The pressure hurt, felt as if it could fracture her delicate bones.

Yet his next words fracture her heart. 

“Diana? I’ve never even heard of that name.”

-

He wishes (demands, really) for her to refer to him as “Your Majesty”. With that, the distance between them widens ever more. Was “Father” not respectful enough for him? But she acquiesces to his request (again, more of a demand). Because he is her father. Because she loves him (and all he stood for).

She loves him like a daughter to her father and a worshipper to her idol.

But Athanasia finds that it’s becoming harder to reconcile reality with her idealised images.

And yet, she clings to thin threads of hope anyway.

-

Diana feels the rage of the others within her boil and bubble, caustic and cutting, as she notices Athanasia being brushed off again and again by Claude. Something screams deep within her, louder and louder as it becomes increasingly clear that he remembers her not. She learns to hate from others, learns to hate through circumstance and with the help of the negativity entwining with her. It’s an addicting feeling that’s all too happy to grow as she watches Claude take their daughter for granted again and again. 

Sometimes it feels as if their consciousness merges in and out. Although most of the other women hated her terribly in the end for being the favoured one of the emperor, they all could understand the feeling of being abandoned, being treated lesser by someone whom you adored. They could understand how love and like could curdle and sour into hate. 

Diana had gambled on their love, on her judgement of his character…

And it turns out that she’s fumbled the roll all along.

-

Sometimes, Athanasia thinks she hates them both—her father and Jennette.

Her father for how he underestimates her, practically pretends she doesn’t exist, the easy affection he gives so freely to Jennette even as Athanasia strove to reach his heaven-high standards. Could he not see her desire to help him? Could he not see how much work she put into her studies, no matter how she tried to convey it to him—whether it be through pathetically desperate verbal questioning about his interest, or her showing off as best as she could her ideas on how to perhaps help her Empire prosper more.

Jennette, for how easily she gains her (their) father’s affection. She fails miserably at certain subjects, stays happily within her own enclosed bubble without a care for the outside world, and yet. And yet, and yet, and yet—

(Athanasia can’t really blame her, not really. Because Jennette is kind. Because her father has more important duties than an attention-starved teenage daughter. Because the fault is probably all her own. Good with books, terrible with people, better with ghosts. What a mess .)

He couldn’t even bother to spare her a single glance. What did she lack? What did she not have? What did she need, who did she need to be so he’d gaze at her like Jennette?

Why couldn’t they be together as one happy family?

(Why couldn’t he be the father she wanted him to be?)

-

She caresses a thorny rose, admiring its beauty, lightly gliding her skin on the thorns. 

Not a second later, Athanasia pricks her skin on them.

It leaks blood, slowly, surely, before it clots.

She stares, watching. Wondering. Ruminating.

-

Ijekiel Alpheus. He is Jennette’s fiancé, and Athanasia listens for words that slip through the cracks. Jennette loves to talk about him. The girls at every tea party held in the palace love to gush about him, plying words of flattering praise on Jennette as thick as honey. It often feels over-excessive. 

Perhaps they envy her. 

(But who wouldn’t? With her perfect life and perfect personality, it is easy to love her and even easier to hate her.)

Ijekiel is Jennette’s childhood friend, their affection for one another having been fostered since day one. She wonders if he is the white-haired youth she saw on that day. He had worn his charm like a well-worn mask, gently guiding Jennette towards His Majesty. Beautiful and handsome, all soft edges and a princely demeanour.

He must be. House Alpheus is the only white-haired, gold-eyed noble family she knows of in Obelia.

-

Athanasia meets him on a summer day. A maid eagerly rushes to Jennette, telling her of her fiancé’s arrival. Her sister brightens with excitement and proceeds to drag Athanasia back to the palace to meet him. 

Her mother has opted to stay and relax with Raven back in the Ruby Palace. Lately, Mother feels tired through the threads that connect them. Athanasia briefly hopes the rest will do her well, before allowing herself to be pulled in the rush of emotions Jennette visibly emits before they enter the doors of the Emerald Palace. 

For some reason, Athanasia always thought the colour would suit Jennette well. Better green than blue.

(Better to be in any other family than—) 

When they arrive, Ijekiel has his back to them. He’s been waiting. Clothed in white and gold, Athanasia cannot help but wonder if it is an intentional choice of House Alpheus. She supposes it lends a more ethereal quality to Ijekiel, whilst also being easy to match with their hair and eyes. It certainly looks more intricate and fine than her pale blue dress. 

“Ijekiel!”

Jennette lets go of her hand to practically leap onto Ijekiel’s back, arms wrapping around him tightly as she beams. Athanasia opts to stand back, a couple of steps away, allowing space for the pair, waiting for him to turn to meet her.

The first thing she notices is that his eyes are like unpolished gold.

Yet as they finally lock eyes, jewel blue meeting dull gold, Jennette’s happy words “This is my fiance, Ijekiel…” fade into the background, and those eyes appear to sparkle as if wrapped in a Mesmer. He smiles gently and moves to place a kiss just above her hand. As he does so, his gaze feels like it’s attempting to see through her for what she is. It is a strange sparkle that has lit within his eyes.

“A pleasure to meet you, your highness.”

Something about him changes at that moment.

And it is all too strange that such a gaze would cause her to feel flushed below her clothes. Would cause her breath to hitch and a feeling of breathlessness to rush over her. Maybe she overworked herself this morning with the spells, growing flowers willy-nilly for both Lily and Mother. There’s nothing else that could explain this.

As always, Athanasia opts to ignore unwanted feelings.

(She cannot have him; a terrible choice for a first infatuation)

-

On a summer’s day, they meet again for the second time. This time, it was by complete accident. Whilst walking back to the Ruby Palace from one of the Imperial libraries, Athanasia finds herself nearly walking into Ijekiel. Thank goodness for Mother warning her just in time before they could collide.

Immediately, she reacts with a “My apologies, Lord Alpheus.” He bows in return. A beat of silence follows soon after, and as there is no reply, she continues with “Were you looking for Jennette? I believe she should be finished with her dance lessons soon…” Shifting her books to her left arm, Athanasia snaps open the pocket watch on her side. “...In about five to six minutes or so.”

“No worries, Your Highness. And, I’m not here for Jennette today. I simply felt like visiting one of the royal libraries.” Ijekiel replies, smiling. Then something appears to catch his eye, and following his gaze, Athanasia looks down to see her books. More specifically, a theorem that was published by Roitz a few years ago. Bound in dull brown and without much decoration, Athanasia wonders why it is this book that catches his attention specifically.

“Is that…?”

Athanasia is quick to reply with her own query. “Lord Alpheus, do you recognise this?”

“Yes, is that not Roitz’s book on the intricacies and differences between black magic and forbidden magic? I have read it before on a whim. However, there’s not much I can do with such information, seeing as I am not a mage. Although,” he looks back up into her eyes, “speaking of mages, I do not suppose it is much of a surprise that Your Highness reads such things.” 

Her own blue eyes stray away from his intense gaze. “If I may, Lord Alpheus… I don’t believe that is quite true, mage or not, it is always good to know more. Especially with matters concerning magic. Knowing the differences could perhaps help one determine how best to solve problems concerning magic, or even identify signs that may appear with black magic usage. Sometimes, knowing can make all the difference in things. Please, do not presume that something is useless to you because you have yet to think of a use for it.” And somehow, without realising, her gaze shifts as she speaks, staring down at the sparkling gold of his irises.

It takes a while for him to speak, and Athanasia thinks he looks almost pleasantly surprised, were it not for the rapid change into his normal, genial smile that leaves her wondering if she’s hallucinating from years spent with the supernatural. 

“...Yes, you’re right, of course.” Ijekiel’s head subtly shifts to look beyond the marble pillars of the hallway. “There are things I feel thankful for now, even if I grew to despise them in the past.” He’s looking back at her, and Athanasia feels as if Ijekiel isn’t exactly talking about books and knowledge. Unexpectedly, she feels herself flush, red hot on her cheeks. His gaze always feels all too intense whenever she’s caught in it.

At this, his smile seems to grow a little more genuine, before he leaves with a light bow and a, “If I may excuse myself, Your Highness.” 

The faint scent of wildflowers follows him.

Athanasia thinks, staring at the place where he was, that it’s not the end of their meetings, mostly due to their respective statuses as future in-laws. Although as she looks at her Mother’s amused gaze, Athanasia hopes that by the next meeting, she could at least stop feeling so strangely flustered every time she meets Ijekiel.

-

Her mother shows her little reprieve after that encounter. As it turns out, Athanasia appears to have found a new muse to draw. Sitting beneath the old tree with Raven and her mother once more, Athanasia allows her mind to wander in content silence. Thus she pays little attention to the wildflowers unfurling next to her, nor the fact that Ijekiel’s features are starting to form upon the paper. 

Unfortunately for her, Diana—her mother—is a rather keen-eyed woman. And thus, her sparkling pink eyes zero onto the familiar handsome sketched features with a speed rivalling the Arlantan hawks. As she does so, her lips softly curl into a teasing grin at her new discovery.

“My, my, Athy, who’s this?” Leaning in, Diana peers at her daughter with that very grin, as Athanasai practically leapt out of her skin. Raven, deciding he’d rather be an observer rather than a participant, takes this time to move over to a warm patch in the field.

“Ma‒a! You nearly gave me a heart attack! Couldn’t you have warned me somehow before you decided to comment on my artwork?” Athanasia exasperatedly said, slowly calming down her racing heart.

“Weell, my darling daughter,” Diana begins to say, pinching at one of Athanasia’s cheeks, “I’m simply ever so curious as to this mysterious handsome individual you’ve started to draw. Who, by the way, looks ever so similar to one heir to House Alpheus.” Her cheshire grin grows ever wider as Athanasia slowly realises the implication, relishing the deep lobster red suffusing her pale complexion. 

“That’s a coincidence,” she explains tartly, wishing the ground would swallow her up whole, were it not that the lack of air would kill her. “Besides, it’s not a crush or anything of the sort that you’re implying, Mama.” Athanasia spits out the word ‘crush’ as if it were something diseased.

“I never said it was a crush.”

“That—! Well, you most certainly implied that I have a crush on Ijekiel!”

“Did I? I only wished to know who you were drawing, Athy,” Diana replies, looking like the cat who got both the cream and the canary. “But now that you mention it… Do you have a crush on him, Athy?”

“I do not have a crush.” Athanasia pouts, crossing her arms, “And Mother, you should remember that this is Jennette’s fiancé we are discussing. Any feeling of the amorous kind should not, and will not, exist.” Her voice is hard at that reminder. However, who was truly being reminded here?

At that, Diana’s expression softens into a sympathetic look. 

“Oh Athy, it’s perfectly alright and normal for you to get a crush at this age.” Diana places a comforting hand on Athanasia’s hunched shoulders, coaxing her daughter to look at her. “I know you care very much about Jennette, but you’re not betraying her or anything like that by getting a crush on her fiancé. Besides, you’re not acting on those feelings, and that’s all that really matters, Athy.” Her fingers gently comb through her daughter’s golden tresses.

It’s a nice, normal thing for her daughter to get a crush. 

She thinks, sadly, that Claude would have been a rather endearingly protective father.

-

Athanasia thinks they run into each other quite a lot, enough that she can no longer truly call it a continuing series of accidental encounters. It’s one too many times with too short breaks in between for her to call it such. At some point, she’s starting to wonder if “accidental” is intentional. But with both her desire to ignore most thoughts about fair-haired, handsome Ijekiel and to prove to her mother that this was most certainly not some crush on her sister’s betrothed, Athanasia kicks such thoughts into the abyss of her subconscious.

So obviously, the next time she carries a thick romance novel out of the library to read in the comfort of her room, Athanasia has to be nearly bowled over by Ijekiel as she rounds the corner back to the Ruby Palace.

She stumbles back in shock the moment they collide, thankfully managing not to trip over her feet. Ijekiel appears to be completely unphased, the only sign of collision being his slightly shifted clothing. Athanasia envies that calmness—just a bit.

Just seconds after their collision, Ijekiel smiles, moving to lightly bow towards her, his right hand clasped over his breast. 

“Your Highness, what a happy coincidence.” As he straightens up, Ijekiel’s eyes roam over the book Athanasia is perhaps not-so-subtly trying to obscure. “May I presume you were coming back from the library?”

“Y— Yes, Lord Alpheus. I was. And may I presume in return that you were on the way to meet Jennette? May I recommend that the next time you come visit her, you start from the left, instead of the right? It takes a longer time to get to the Emerald Palace if you go this way, Lord Alpheus.” Her fingers curl tighter around her novel, desperate to not let Ijekiel see the embossed blurb, lest he guesses the contents of it. (He need not know just how passionately the main couple express their feelings for each other, and he most definitely need not know in what specific manner they normally do so) 

Suddenly, it feels as if they are far too close for comfort.

(She can’t quite understand why she’s unwilling to let him know about this, wanting to keep the image of a refined, scholarly princess in his eyes)

He takes a step closer, and for a scant second, Athanasia’s breath catches in her throat. It’s still a perfectly acceptable distance, she mentally reassures herself. It’d do her no good to have her mind so scrambled by such a little thing as the decreased distance from her future in-law.

(Her very handsome, future brother-in-law, her mind supplies in a rather unhelpful fashion. Athanasia wonders if there was a spell to get your mind to shut up when it made unnecessary comments about other people.)

Smiling, Ijekiel makes the world stand still with just a few words. 

“Actually, Your Highness, I was looking for you.” 

“What?” It’s only by the grace of all those years spent holding back that allows Athanasia at least a semi-dignified response to his reply. She blinks and very nearly stutters on her next words. “You… You were looking for me?”

Suddenly he’s far, far too close, and Athanasia nearly leaps out of her skin with surprise, blooming red on her cheeks. Her arms loosen their death grip on her novel, allowing Ijekiel a clear view of her guilty pleasure. So unfortunately for Athanasia, within those few seconds of embarrassment for her, Ijekiel quickly sees what she’s not so subtly attempting to hide from him.

“Oh? That…” He smiles gently like always. But this time, there is a musical lilt to his tone, a subtle quirk to his lips. 

Much like a cat who caught the canary.

Athanasia does her very best to ignore both that damnable smile and the airy weight of her mother’s arms settling comfortably around her.

“Is there something you’d like to say, Lord Alpheus?” She knows her tone is just a tinge too sharp, too snappy in its execution.  Athanasia stoutly refuses to believe such reactions could be, in any way, related to her feelings towards the Alpheus heir. Just like how, right now, she is stoutly ignoring her dearly beloved mother’s giggles. 

Underlying those words is a challenge to him; daring him to say even a single unneeded and unwanted comment about her choice of literature. Her eyes narrow slightly as she stares up at him. Curse his older age and thus his taller height. It is much, much harder to channel an ice statue when one is forced to a lower vantage point.

“Oh, nothing, really.” Or so Ijekiel says, even when the corners of his mouth curve none too subtly, right in front of her. “It’s just…”

And really, some form of luck must be on his side today. Because at that very moment, a gust of wind has the audacity to simply blow past right behind her, allowing Ijekiel the perfect opportunity to further invade her space. Which he does, leaning in to gently tuck away locks of hair from her ear, giving unrestricted access for him to whisper, ever so softly…

“You enjoy such a charming spread of genres, Your Highness,” his breath tickles her ear, and Athanasia hopes to all the holy powers that be that Ijekiel won’t see the brick red she’s surely become. “I myself am also rather fond of reading. So perhaps you’d be able to give me a good recommendation that we might both enjoy together?” At that, Ijekiel leans back, and his golden gaze fixed on her face, waiting for her reply.

“I—” Athanasia’s first attempt at a response falls flat, leading to seconds of hanging silence before her mind formulates a proper answer. “I would be willing to compile a list for you.” Athanasia pauses, before hastily adding, “ And Jenette.” 

“Right.” Gone is the light tone previously in Ijekiel’s voice. Jenette’s name is a clear reminder to both of them.

Again, a silence casts its shadow over the two. But there was a reason why Ijekiel was so beloved by the upper crust’s women. A reason why Jenette was so clearly smitten with him.

“Perhaps we could read the book you have now together, Your Highness? Just to help you gain an early start in compiling that list, of course.”

Athanasia hopes to high heaven that this wasn’t the reason why he was so liked.

“Absolutely not!” Athanasia’s face is red with embarrassment, heat practically radiating off her cheeks. There was no way she was going to let Ijekiel Alpheus of all people know that the studious Second Princess of Obelia liked steamy romance novels. (Even if it was highly likely he already knew what exactly she was holding in her arms)

It’s clear that her sudden outburst of honesty surprises and amuses the Alpheus heir. Frankly, he isn’t doing much to conceal the mischievous twinkle in his eyes, nor the tug at his lips. At that, Athanasia’s lips twitch in displeasure. Why on earth she’d been so fascinated with him lately must’ve been due to the amount of work she’d been giving herself recently. (That was not to say she didn’t notice how that twinkle made the gold in his eyes shine like stars, enthralling in the way beauty always was)

“My, Your Highness, I’m surprised that someone with your work ethic would be so quick to turn down an offer to increase task efficiency.” He teases her, knowing full well why there was no way she would read this book with him.

Athanasia returns his tease with frosty politeness, hoping he’ll drop the matter and leave her alone to read in the sanctity of her room in peace. “I’m simply worried it would detract from time you should spend with Jennette, Lord Alpheus. Moreover, as both a girl and her sister, I’m quite sure a perfect list will still be made with only my input.”

(Her mother is no help at all, only watching and offering not a single piece of advice)

“Ah, but perhaps you have forgotten, Your Highness, that I have taken care of Jennette in the past. Would it not be more helpful to have my input to supplement yours?”

“That…”

“...Is it because of my presence?”

“No.” The blurted answer is quick enough that it shocks both of them. It’s honesty towards a question that should never be asked. Despite this, Athanasia continues to blush, eyes only pretending to look straight at Ijekiel. “...I simply think that you would not be interested in such reading material.” She later tacks on lamely.

But for some reason, it’s enough to gain a wondrous smile from him—In fact, Athanasia suspects he might just be beaming. Her heart beats uncomfortably in her chest.

“I see,” is all he says at first. “But Your Highness, I trust that whatever you read has its own value, whether it be for one purpose or another.” With that, he bows, ready to take his leave. “If you are not ready to show me such literature, I’ll at least help with the list for Jenette. So if I may, Your Highness, I’ll get on to that promptly.” Up he rises, and Athanasia can’t help but stare at his now retreating back.

What an immensely forward thing to say.

All of a sudden, not even ten paces away from her, Ijekiel stills. As he speaks, he does not face her. “And, just one more matter, Your Highness. If it’s not too presumptuous… Might I say that red is a lovely colour on you?”

But for Athanasia, it’s much more preferred this way. After all, who knows what expression he had whilst saying so? Nor did she desire for him to see that lovely colour on her again.

-

“Your Highness, I’ve recently read through Galera’s thesis on the nature of time. May we discuss it together?”

Ijekiel had almost certainly planned on this, seeing as there was no one near them for perhaps miles around, and also for the fact that they were conversing in a clearly abandoned garden that no one in their right mind would enter. 

It’s no matter if she’s caught off guard, as Athanasia has long since gotten used to reacting to unexpected variables on the spot. “Lord Alpheus, you must understand that I have yet to read that particular article. Furthermore, I do firmly believe that you would have a much more enlightening conversation with someone from the Black Tower.”

However, the sound of her mother snickering from behind is very much not helpful.

“But Your Highness, I find that I would much prefer conversing with you. You’ve shown to be capable of viewing a wide range of perspectives that I feel are quite uncommon.” At that, Athanasia involuntarily flushes, remembering their previous meeting. “It’s no matter if you haven’t read it yet, as I’ve also brought it with me. How about we go over it together?”

“I…” There is an expectant, honest wish in his eyes, and Athanasia can’t help but look away.

Her mother gently caresses her from behind, giving a silent nudge to accept his offer. “You’ll be family soon,” she whispers in her ear. “It’ll be good to get along when it happens… And above all else, Athy… It’s alright to savour moments of fleeting happiness.”

Fleeting. Right.

This time, she meets his eyes. 

“I don’t suppose you have anything for the next few hours?”

And his smile is as dazzling as the sun.

-

Jerk, was, perhaps, not a word Athanasia thought she’d ever use to refer to Ijekiel. But sometimes it feels as if he’s purposefully trying to ruffle her feathers.  There is simply something about the way this— this young lord reacts to her polished politeness, the way he engages with her, the way he pokes and prods (in a manner he possibly believes is subtle but is truly more like a slap to her face).

(For goodness sake, she’s not some beloved romance novel protagonist) 

It is hard to do so when the Alpheus heir keeps on challenging her like so.

(And they dance around and around, three steps forward and two steps back)

-

By their fourth and later meetings, Athanasia finds that many conversations with Ijekiel often slip into a subtle battle of knowledge, wisdom and wit between them. They talk around each other in circles, debating and discussing. They prod each other for opinions as politely and bluntly as can be (it was likely Ijekiel took at least some pleasure in watching her flounder—he’d already admitted it before). Sometimes though, it feels as if they’re speaking two entirely different conversations to each other. The only clue Athanasia has as to what Ijekiel does not say is exactly that: what he does not tell her explicitly.

More often than not, Jennette cannot get much of a foot within the proverbial door of their rapid-fire conversations. More often than not, Athanasia has to remember to pull back, to introduce topics that Jennette can give her opinion on. And she feels guilty, looking at how nervous Jennette is at giving opinions on things she can barely understand. Because Jennette’s fiancé is the only person remotely near her age that she could interact with on such a level, the only person around willing and able to interact with on such an academic level, Athanasia clings to him—to that connection to another being who might truly enjoy her company—through such conversations. She wills herself to ignore their countless other conversations that don’t involve an exchange of knowledge; pushes away the way he teaches her to dance in a pair; shuts out the times they sit together in comfortable silence, Raven as their feet and her mother humming by her side.

(Because for all she reads, all she understands and absorbs, her father hates the sound of her voice, hates the audible reminders of her existence. What Athanasia learns from those numerous, painfully awkward tea times is that Jennette is persistent in making them get along, and their father is persistent in pretending she does not exist—knowledge does not matter if no one wishes to appreciate it. The unread and discarded proposals Athanasia sends to him via a third party time and time again only serve to hammer in this unwanted truth.

And Ijekiel wanted more than her knowledge. Was it truly a wonder that she’d wish to stay with just him, if only for a few seconds more?)

She should not.

(Ijekiel is her sister’s beloved fiancé. Jennette is her beloved older sister, and she is the apple of their father’s eye.)

She does anyway.

As another prompting question about Archimedes V comes from Ijekiel yet again, Athanasia cannot help herself, allowing her to be swept away by the currents to another place—perhaps the edge of a waterfall.

(She’s not acting on her feelings if she’s answering his questions and thus engaging with, and subsequently bonding with her future brother-in-law… Right?

It’s not a question Athanasia truly wishes to answer.)

-

The next few years go by like the clouds drifting across the skies, and she and Ijekiel only become closer. Her mother gives no protest to any of it, even telling her that it is  “only a small bit of happiness, which wouldn’t hurt”. Within her embrace, cocooned in her warmth, Athanasia can find no argument against such a sentiment.

One day—a day she will consider a very long time ago—under the gentle shade of a tree, surrounded by nothing but wildflowers, Ijekiel confesses a secret to her and her alone.  

“Did you know, Princess, that when we truly first met, I thought you to be an angel?” Ijekiel smiles, looking up at the unclouded sky, away from her and her seeking eyes. “You should know that you’re very beautiful, Princess. It was almost inhumanely so, to me… Until I got to know you better, of course.” He chuckles, as if remembering a particularly humorous memory. “You became less like an angel—less of an idea in my head—and more like my friend, Athanasia. And yet, knowing you as you are now, I find myself preferring this tangible version of you, rather than the shallow idea I had before.” 

It feels as if it’s something she shouldn’t have known. Something that shouldn’t be said. And yet, she made no move to interrupt him at all.  

Ijekiel looks back at her now. As the sun’s rays bounce off his white hair, Athanasia privately thinks that, between the both of them, she is not the one with the angelic beauty. She watches, entranced, as his hand nears her own. 

His first touch is warm.

Slowly, he brings her hand to his lips, his golden eyes gazing at her behind lowered lashes as he does so. And just as Athanasia thinks he will kiss the air above her hand in greeting (but what for, she dares not continue that line of thought), he gently turns her hand to expose the insides of her pale wrists. 

“Athanasia… I’m truly glad you were born.”

And so there is where his lips ever so lightly press, a butterfly-like kiss. 

It’s a golden memory that Athanasia would take to her grave. Even if she immediately yanks her hand away, watching as the sun’s rays disappear. Watching the understanding dawn upon his face.

(Ah, she’s already flown too close to the sun)

-

Not too long after that incident, Ijekiel gifts her a blue songbird—a bluebird, to be more specific.

“Consider it a symbol of our friendship,” he says. Nothing about his expressions betrays anything, save for the way he doesn’t meet her eyes, the way his smile is so picturesque. But their roles have been set, their paths already paved, and there’s no other direction but forward. 

So Athanasia gives a fairytale-like smile in return, and focuses only on the merits of his gift.  

It’s a pretty bluebird, and she’s sure Raven will love it too. Her mother is already cooing in her ear about how cute it is, and how generous it is for Ijekiel to give such a gift. Athanasia never told her what happened on that sunny day. And she never will.

“He must treasure your friendship very much, Athy. And, oh my, don’t you think the bluebird looks a little like him? Maybe it’ll stop you from sulking every time you can’t immediately discuss a book with him.”

Athanasia ignores her comments in favour of concentrating on Ijekiel.

“Thank you,” she says in turn, smiling, “I’ll take good care of…”

“It’s a boy.”

“Him. I’ll take good care of him.”

They both watch the little bluebird hop around, gazing at its new surroundings with curiosity. 

“Do you already have a name for him?”

“Not really, I was thinking that it’d be better to give you the honour of doing so,” Ijekiel replies, before cheekily adding, “Even with your dubious naming skills.”

Athanasia’s cheeks colour, before she hastily gets out, “My naming skills are not dubious. The names I give are perfectly suited and reasonable.”

“Hahaha, alright alright, I concede—what are you going to name him then?”

“Well,” and at that, Athanasia places her hands firmly on her hips, “I was thinking of Bluey. It’s a name that suits his colouration, and it’s also a very cute name.” 

“Alright, Bluey it is then.”

“Hey, what kind of answer was that?” But they’re both grinning, and they both know that Ijekiel won’t legitimately protest against the name, no matter how much of an “opinion” he has about her naming skills. 

Athanasia hopes that he’ll treasure this memory as much as she does, forevermore.

-

On a day like any other, Athanasia opens the doors to her room to find her beloved Bluey dead in his cage. His feathers lie scattered in a bloody mess, and it’s clear that this was someone’s handiwork. Even so, it doesn’t feel real. Any moment now, Bluey will hop around and chirp and sing, delighted to see her again.

Athanasia cradles him with shaking hands, making no move to stop Raven from sniffing around the crime scene. There's a gasp from behind. Mother? 

“Oh, Athy…” When a warm, heavy weight meets her shoulder, Athanasia knows that it's someone else.

Lily.

“How could anyone do this?” She laments, voicing out unsaid thoughts. “This isn't right. I must go see the Emperor. He should do something about this.” At that, Lily rises to storm out the door, only to be caught by the skirts with a single hand.

“No.” Athanasia’s tone is firm, resolute. “He won't— He doesn't need to be bothered by such small issues.” The words are like razors in her mouth. “I’ll solve this issue myself.”

“But Athy—”

“No.” A princess’ words are final. “But,” and here is where her voice softens, weakens, “could you stay by my side tonight?”

“Of course.” Lily’s hands are gentle on her hair, but still, Athanasia can't bring herself to look at her. “You didn't even need to ask. I’ve promised you before that I’ll always be by your side, Athy.”

-

At night, soothed to sleep by her nanny’s lullaby, and her mother's smell of roses, Athanasia dreams. She dreams of the flowers she’d made, dreams of how vegetation would translate to flesh, blood and bone. She dreams of sinew, muscle and thread. She dreams of a pulsating heart in her hands, too big to be useful for now, but that is what magic is for—to make the impossible become possible.

She dreams of her mother, unconditionally forgiving.

( Everything will be alright, Athy. You don't have to do it alone. Just leave it to Mama, ok? )

She dreams of a world, where all wrongs are made right.

-

When she wakes, it’s as if she’s been possessed. With a firm stride, she moves to crack open the book that started it all. With a loud thump, it lies open on a new number, page one-thousand-twenty. It’s a page Athanasia has never seen before. But written across its pages is exactly the guidance she needs. Her fingers run through the crimson-streaked pages, feeling the bone-like indents of the letters. Perhaps it’s simply her imagination, but Athanasia likes to think that, at that moment, she’d also felt a pulse. 

The smell of decay hangs in the air. Against Lily’s protests, she’d placed Bluey back into his cage instead of disturbing him any further. 

If she could conjure new life, then surely, Athanasia could also bring back the old? Her eyes scan the procedures, the needed ingredients to channel intent out of precaution. A nail drags across the paper, and she mentally takes note of every single detail. 

“Did you find something interesting, Athy?” Her mother’s arms curl around her neck, heavy as a noose. 

“Yes.” She replies, turning to gaze at her slumbering bluebird. “I think I’ll need some thread, Mama.”

-

Perhaps it’s a trick of her mind, but Athanasia feels as if there are fewer staff members in the Ruby Palace, as barebones are the structure of the staff here already. But since she relies mostly on herself and Lily, Athanasia doesn’t pay too much mind to it. 

There are other more important matters to turn to, such as Bluey’s recovery. He still needs the stitches, or else he’d fall back asleep within a blink of an eye. 

She strokes his soft feathery head, before the crash of breaking plates forces her attention elsewhere. Her hand stills. A lone maid stares at them, eyes wide, mouth slack. Honestly, it’s a confusing reaction to have. Furthermore, didn’t she know that such loud noises could disturb Bluey’s recovery? 

“Hey,” the informality tastes foreign, but welcome. “Come here.”

The impertinent maid doesn’t move.

“Come here. That’s an order.”

Hesitant, and awkward. Her etiquette lessons come to mind—a princess should not have to speak the same order twice. The chair screeches from the force of her pushing back, and in one, two, three and four strides, she’s caught that shaking arm and dragged the maid into her room.

The doors shut and lock with a finality. 

[that-one-pretty-bitch]

An au where Reader is Anastacius daughter from a one-night-stand but the mother died and Anas took her to make her his heir

[before the whole Claude Penelope thing]

and like after his death Claude didn’t kill her just put her in a random palace and then when one day Diana met her while walking around in the garden she asked Claude who she was and if she could spend some with with reader

And after a while Claude saw Reader wasn’t like Anastacius at all and took care of her but like didn’t neglect her reader and Athy became besties

[The last part isn’t important I only would like to see how Diana as a mother figure would be ^^ btw reader should be 5 years older then Athy]

✨ - Anon

[feel free to ignore <3]

𝒴𝑒𝓈𝓈𝓈𝓈, 𝐼 𝓁𝑜𝓋𝑒 𝒟𝒾𝒶𝓃𝒶 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒾'𝓂 𝑔𝓁𝒶𝒹 𝑜𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓇 𝓅𝑒𝑜𝓅𝓁𝑒 𝒶𝓅𝓅𝓇𝑒𝒸𝒾𝒶𝓉𝑒 𝒽𝑒𝓇 𝓉𝑜𝑜! 𝒜𝓁𝓈𝑜 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝑜𝓃𝑒 𝓃𝒾𝑔𝒽𝓉 𝓈𝓉𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒷𝒾𝓉, 𝒴/𝓃 𝒾𝓈 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒹𝒶𝓊𝑔𝒽𝓉𝑒𝓇 𝑜𝒻 𝒶 𝒸𝑜𝓃𝒸𝓊𝒷𝒾𝓃𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝒜𝓃𝒶𝓈𝓉𝒶𝒸𝒾𝓊𝓈 𝒽𝒶𝒹, 𝒽𝑒 𝑜𝓃𝓁𝓎 𝓈𝓁𝑒𝓅𝓉 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝒽𝑒𝓇 𝑜𝓃𝒸𝑒 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓎𝑒𝓉 𝓈𝒽𝑒 𝑔𝑜𝓉 𝓅𝓇𝑒𝑔𝓃𝒶𝓃𝓉 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝑔𝒶𝓋𝑒 𝒷𝒾𝓇𝓉𝒽 𝓉𝑜 𝓎/𝓃. 𝒴/𝓃 𝒽𝒶𝓈 𝓃𝑜 𝓀𝓃𝑜𝓌𝓁𝑒𝒹𝑔𝑒 𝑜𝒻 𝒽𝑒𝓇 𝓂𝑜𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓇, 𝒷𝑒𝒸𝒶𝓊𝓈𝑒 𝒜𝓃𝒶𝓈 𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁𝑒𝒹 𝒽𝑒𝓇 𝒶𝒻𝓉𝑒𝓇 𝒴/𝓃'𝓈 𝒷𝒾𝓇𝓉𝒽 "𝓈𝒾𝓃𝒸𝑒 𝓈𝒽𝑒 𝓌𝒶𝓈 𝓊𝓈𝑒𝓁𝑒𝓈𝓈" 𝓉𝑜 𝒽𝒾𝓂 𝓃𝑜𝓌. 𝒮𝒽𝑒 𝑔𝓇𝑒𝓌 𝓊𝓅 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝓀𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝒟𝒾𝒶𝓃𝒶 𝓌𝒶𝓈 𝒽𝑒𝓇 𝓇𝑒𝒶𝓁 𝓂𝑜𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓇 𝒶𝓈 𝓌𝑒𝓁𝓁 𝒶𝓈 𝒞𝓁𝒶𝓊𝒹𝑒 𝓌𝒶𝓈 𝒽𝑒𝓇 𝓇𝑒𝒶𝓁 𝒻𝒶𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓇. 𝒞𝓁𝒶𝓊𝒹𝑒 𝓌𝒶𝓈 𝓇𝑒𝒶𝓁𝓁𝓎 𝒸𝒽𝒾𝓁𝓁 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉, 𝒽𝑒 𝓃𝑒𝓋𝑒𝓇 𝓉𝑜𝓁𝒹 𝓎/𝓃 𝒶𝒷𝑜𝓊𝓉 𝒽𝑒𝓇 𝓇𝑒𝒶𝓁 𝒻𝒶𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓇 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓁𝑜𝓋𝑒𝒹 𝓎/𝓃 𝓁𝒾𝓀𝑒 𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝑜𝓌𝓃.

A tall man held a small baby wrapped in a pink blanket. The maids informed him that the baby was a girl. She slightly opened her beautiful jeweled eyes and reached out her tiny fingers for Anastacius, his heart melted at the sight of this. He would name her ‘y/n’, she would be the next empress of Obelia. He lightly cradled the small baby that was gurgling happily and smiling.

“Y/n, you must grow up to be a strong woman, you will rule Obelia one day,” He smiled down

She simply smiled and moved around excitedly.

Slightly afterwards, Y/n’s real mother had been cradling her in her room when Anastacius banged the door open, he pulled Y/n’s mother outside the room and stabbed her

“I apologize for this [insert mother name] however Penelope was feeling uncomfortable with the fact that I had another woman in my life,” He muttered, holding onto his concubine

“Ah, I forgive you but please take care of Y/n for me,” She cried, her last words

A few years later Claude had met Diana at a banquet. He was slightly confused as for why she was not scared in the least. The royals present were staring at her like she was delicious. They looked like they would devour her but ignoring the looks she had been getting she danced her heart out. This act gained Claude’s interest in her. She was so brave and confident. He gave Diana the ruby palace where she could stay and Diana had graciously accepted. Within a few months he had fallen in love with Diana, everything about her was so loveable. He would love her till the end of time. Anastacius had also taken an interest in Diana but it was only for her body, he would use her and throw her away like he did with every one of his concubines and y/n’s mother. Claude however was not willing to give Diana up, unlike for Penelope he would fight to keep Diana. The fight resulted in the death of Anastacius. He made his way to kill Y/n as well, since she was Anastacius’s daughter and anything that belonged to that monster deserved to die. He got his magic ready to kill her, but then he saw her happy face shining with innocence as she hugged him,

“Papa!!” She was too young to differentiate between Claude and Anastacius.

His heart hurt thinking about what he was going to do to the poor girl, he slowly bent down and hugged her tightly, she may not have been his daughter but he was definitely going to protect her with his life.

Claude would often offer her delicious treats or take her for walks and let her do anything she wanted. Y/n had a lot of freedom. One day when Y/n was 4 she was running around the garden and happened to see a beautiful ruby palace, she ran towards the gorgeous palace and a beautiful woman caught her eye. He had the most beautiful gold hair and striking ruby eyes.

Y/n had lost memories of her mother, so she ran up to Diana and hugged her leg. Claude had come to visit Diana that day and his heart melted at the sight of Diana brushing little Y/n’s hair and reading her a story book.

“It seems you two have met,” Claude spoke

“Daddy!!!!” Y/n screamed getting off Diana’s lap and jumping into his arms

Diana looked slightly confused, after all Claude was only 23, how could he have been a dad?

As y/n spotted a butterfly and ran after it Claude walked over to Diana and explained to her the situation with his brother

“Ah, Claude… How could you have ever thought of hurting a child?” Diana smiled angrily as she pulled Claude’s hair harshly.

“It was my brothers and I didn’t mean it - UGH… I’m sorry Diana, please just take care of her,” Claude said in pain as Diana loosened her grip on his hair

“Y/n dear!! Come here~” Diana waved

Y/n walked towards the pretty lady,

“From now on I'm your mother, alright dear?” Diana bet down to speak to the girl

“Yes mommy!!” She hugged Diana

“*sniff* My cutie,” Diana hugged Y/n tightly

Within a year Diana and Y/n were very close, Y/n believed that Claude was her real father and Diana was her birth mother and neither of them bothered to correct Y/n. After all, they did love her and she did not need to know her origins.

Diana would often braid Y/n’s hair and read to her, she refused for a maid to do anything for Y/n after all as Y/n’s mother it was her duty to know and understand her daughter

Diana was patting Y/n’s hair as Y/n told Diana about her teacher praising her for doing well on her test.

“Good job my daughter, i’m very proud of you,” She smiled as she leaned down to kiss her forehead

Y/n blushed at being complimented by her mother. Diana was definitely her favorite parent, however it all changed when Diana announced she was pregnant

Y/n was very happy to know that she would be an older sister, she hugged her mother as Claude held Y/n up to Diana’s stomach so she could “talk” to her sibling

“Hello! I’m Y/n and i’m your older sister, I promise I will love you,” She smiled and just then Diana felt a kick

“Fufu~ It seems that your little sibling likes you already!” She smiled

“I’m going to be the bestest big sister ever!!!” She screamed happily as Claude kissed her cheek

Within the next few months, she did not understand what was happening, Claude always seemed upset but still managed to try and love Y/n. Y/n was waiting eagerly as her mother gave birth but Claude had come out of the room in tears. Y/n was scared, what could have happened? She was about to run into the room when Claude picked her up and took her away

“You don’t need to see that,” He muttered

Y/n tried to peek out of his back, when she saw her favorite maid Lily holding a baby. What happened to her mother?

“Daddy? Is my Mommy okay?” Y/n asked gently wiping his tears with her tiny hands

“Y/n… your mother is gone,” He said gulping down the pain

Y/n didn’t understand, what did he mean that her mommy was gone? Did she leave them?

The next few days Y/n tried asking everyone in the palace about what had happened to her mother but everyone said the same thing as Claude.

That's when she saw Lily cradling a baby, she walked towards the two

“Is that my little sister??? CAN I HOLD HER???” Excitement gleamed in her eyes as Lily sadly handed her the little baby

Y/n struggled to hold the baby, so Lily had to help manage the weight as Y/n started to talk to the baby. She was happy, she wouldn’t be alone anymore!

[bridgeportbritt]

Willington Palace Gardens | Sage, SimDonia

Diana sighs contently

Diana to herself: I hope you love this place as much as I do little one. There's no better place to be alone with your thoughts.... hopefully you'll get more use out of it than I do lately.

Footsteps approaching and voices outside

Gaurd: Your Majesty, a Dr. Fitzgerald is requesting an urgent meeting with you.

Diana: Really? Please send her in.

Dr. Fitz: Your Majesty, I do apologize for the intrustion. I asked a member of your staff where to find you and they directed me here.

Diana: Doctor, is everything alright? It's unusually chilly out today. I'm sorry you had to venture out to find me.

Dr. Fitz: Not a problem at all, ma'am. I have some great news that I couldn't wait for our next appointment to share with you.

Diana: Really? Did you- Did you find a cure?

Dr. Fitz: Sort of. I think we're very close to finding a noninvasive treatment plan that will block all the symptons related to this defect. It's a short term fix, but the longer cure is still on our rader. But, I thought this is something you'd want us to explore, as well.

Diana: Absolutely! That's amazing! What do you need from me?

Dr. Fitz: Well, we still need to do some testing to see if the treatments are successful. It will need to be on each member of the family we found with the defect. Seeing the responses from this will help not only create a plan to block the symptoms, but hopefully fully cure them, as well.

Diana: This is music to my ears. When can we start?

Dr. Fitz: We can start right away if you like. Our team is about ready.

Diana: Fantastic. I say, we go ahead, then. Great work, Doctor.

Dr. Fitz: Of course, ma'am. I will, of course, need your go ahead on informing the patients of the ongoing treatment.

Diana: What do you mean?

Dr. Fitz: Legally, ma'am, our team cannot administer treatment without consent from the patient.

Diana: I see.

Dr. Fitz: I'm sorry, ma'am. I know discretion about this matter has been of the upmost importance to you.

Diana sighs: No, don't be sorry. I imagine it's time I come clean about this. I was just... hoping I had more time.

Dr. Fitz: I understand. Should we postpone the treatment?

Diana: Yes, I need to inform everyone myself. Then, we will move forward.

Dr. Fitz: Understood, ma'am.

[smww4ever]

Diana: The Gardens of Themyscira

Summer Palace Edition

Fashion Show 👚👙

Inspired by this clip from Lynda Carter’s Wonder Woman. There’s a lot so get ready!

Clark does love pink. 😉

The clip:

[useless-englandfacts]

In light of all the horrid stuff going on in this country lately, I would just like to remind everyone that england isn’t a totally terrible place!!

This country is full of beautiful architecture, art, literature, and natural beauties that are sometimes hard to believe are real.

This is the Major Oak of Sherwood Forest, and is estimated to be as much as 1100 years old!! It is estimated at 23 tons, and is 33 feet in girth/10 metres. According to local folklore, it is the tree where Robin Hood and his merry men slept when in the forest.

This is Durdle Door, in Dorset. It’s a natural limestone formation on the jurrassic coast, which was deemed “of such international geographic importance” that it was England’s first foray natural World Heritage site with UNESCO in 2001, joining the Grand Canyon and the Great Barrier Reef (visit-dorset.com)

As for architecture, we have the iconic Highclere Castle

Most well known for its use in iconic historical drama Downton Abbey, first written records of the Highclere estate date back to the year 749 when the estate was granted to the bishops of Winchester. In the late 14th century the bishop of Winchester William of Wykeham built himself a palace on the property, and was taken by Edward VI during the reformation in 1551. It was then granted to the Fitzwilliam family, rebuilt in 1679 by then owner Sir Robert Sawyer, who then bequeathed it to his daughter Margaret, first wife to the 8th earl of Pembroke, Thomas herbert, and it remains in the hands of the Herbert family to date, albeit the branch that resulted in the current Earl of Carnarvon. It was redesigned in the years 1842-49 to the facade we know today. (Quick side note, I am directly related to the herbert family through my great grandfather, so carnarvon I’m coming for you watch out)

We also have of course, the ever iconic Chatsworth house

IYKYK. Jk this incredible house is most well known for its use as Pemberley, the Derbyshire residence of Mr Darcy in the 2005 production of Pride and Prejudice (the best film ever made thank you very much).

The Manor of Chetesuorde is listed in the Domesday Book of 1086 as property of the crown in the custody of William de Peverel. Chatsworth ceased to be a large estate until the 15th century when it was purchased by the Leche family. They enclosed the first park and built a house on what is now the south east part of the gardens. The lands were sold in 1549 to Sir William Cavendish, husband of Bess of Hardwick (who was the “keeper” of Mary Queen of Scots while imprisoned. Also apparently her grandson married ANOTHER of my ancestors so I’m related to her too?? What the fuck I need to stop learning family history on the fly). Bess began to build her own home on the property from 1553 to the 1560s.

The home was renovated a truly mindboggling amount of times, as is the amount of times it changed hands. So I’ll keep it simple. A great number of important changes were made by the 4th duke of Devonshire, greatly changing the layout of the home. His son would marry Georgiana Spencer, 4 times great aunt of princess Diana (and YET ANOTHER RELATIVE OF MINE! From another branch of the family!! I need to call my mother. And update my ancestry.com).

In 1811 the 6th duke of Devonshire inherited Chatsworth, and proceeded to transform it into the wonderful beacon of regency romance we know and adore today over the course of his stewardship over the property.

These are only four incredible natural and historical landmarks in England. There are so many more that I could spend 3 life times researching!! (And so many more that have nothing to do with my family history, I promise. Swear I wasn’t doing this on purpose lmao)

This country can be a fucking nightmare, but it’s also a beautiful country with incredible sights and history, and I think we do ourselves a disservice when we forget that. It’s okay to love England (I fucking adore this country you have no idea, wouldn’t be running a blog if I didn’t!), you aren’t a bad person or supporting the bad shit we’ve done if you are proud of being English.

Because don’t get me wrong this country has perpetrated some of the worst shit in history, but we’ve also contributed some of the most important literature and scientific discoveries ever!!

Mary Anning revolutionised the field of paleontology!! Mary Shelley started the entire sci fi genre. Steven hawkin, Charles Darwin, Dorothy Hodgkin and Rosalind franklin discovered DNA! Isaac Newton, William Blake, John Keats, Byron, Alan Turing, Branwell, Charlotte, Emily, and Anne bronte, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, John Everett Millais, John William Waterhouse, to name a few merely off the top of my head!

England can be a wonderful place, and our heritage can be incredible and a legacy to be truly proud of. It would not do to forget, however, that a lot of our history would not have been possible without queer and ethnic minority groups. We all know a good deal of English wealth came from the slave trade, female scientists and artists often had credit for their work stripped from them and given to husbands or even strangers, and a good number of our most influential scientists and artists were very notably queer who were treated incredibly poorly and sometimes killed, and these are facts that can and do exist simultaneously.

Our heritage is wonderful, but it is still being made today. Things that we do now will be landmark events for our descendants, and it is our duty to do better for this country than our ancestors.

[aisururuby]

Former concubines of Ruby Palace and mothers to Athy's half-siblings

Made a whole makeshift background that explains how the concubines are alive but never give names or backgrounds for the concubines who had Athy's siblings. So that's what this post is about:

First, we have Forsythia Blythe, mother to Ianthe.

Forsythia is the second daughter to Marquess Blythe back in Atlanta. But after catching Claude's attention while visiting Obelia, she was forced to become Claude's concubine.

One of the concubines who weren't jealous of Diana and became an acquaintance of hers

She likes gardening and studying flower language.

Ianthe is her only child.

Forsythia constantly worried about her family back in Atlanta and it only increased after Ianthe was born.

Second, Rasia Richter, mother of Astraea.

Rasia is the daughter of a count and has two older brothers.

Before her elder brother became the new count, her father sent Rasia to Claude in hopes she gains Claude's favor.

Rasia is very close with her brothers.

Rasia's eyes are supposed to be turquoise.

She had an interest Siodonna culture through Diana.

She was in love with Diana and they became a couple during their pregnancies together. She's pan.

Third, Embelia Irving, mother to Argiro

Embelia was one of Anastacius's concubines before Claude took the throne.

She has a huge interest in writing and wishes to have one of her books published in Obelia.

Embelia is a distant cousin of Roger though they rarely talked until Roger found out she was Claude's former concubine and had one of his daughters.

Fourth, Marigold Eden, mother to Pavlos

Marigold is the daughter of a merchant and has a younger brother and sister.

Marigold is a widow and had a son from her previous marriage.

She enjoys music and likes to play instruments for her sons.

Claude deemed her boring due to her nonchalant personality.

Claude isn't her type.

Fifth, Senna, mother to Shann

Senna is originally from Siodonna and was a part of Diana's troop.

Senna has an older brother and two younger sisters.

She does private dance lessons for anyone who wants to learn.

Senna use to travel with her uncle before joining Diana's troop.

Sixth, Cliantha Elmore, mother to Kolya

Cliantha is from the Elmore family in Obelia.

Before Claude met Diana, Cliantha was one of his favorites.

She was a big sister figure to any newcomers who join the harem.

Actually loved Claude before he chose Diana as his lover.

Taught Kolya everything he knows to protect him.

And Last, Azalea Kallas, mother to Ruslan

Azalea is the eldest daughter of the Kallas family.

She once dreamed of being a teacher.

She's the antisocial type and keeps to herself.

She worries a lot about her son, Ruslan.

Azalea was glad Ruslan resembles her more Claude.

When they were little, Azalea used to read stories to her son and his siblings.

Got inspiration from @parad0xang3l post to make this

[mustafaalgunblog]

A Walking Tour in the Legendary Neighborhood of Montmartre in Paris.

These words come to mind when Paris is mentioned.

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[ddsuites]

Family Escapade in Agra: Booking Hotels and Exploring the City

Planning a family trip to Agra is an exciting endeavor, but the choices can be overwhelming. You want to ensure your family enjoys the best of Agra's attractions while staying in a comfortable hotel. This guide dives deeper into Agra's offerings, helping you make informed decisions for your family adventure.

DD Suites: Where Luxury Meets History

Perched near the Taj Mahal, DD Suites is the epitome of luxury. From the moment you step into the opulent lobby, you'll be immersed in a world of elegance. The rooms are spacious and meticulously furnished each with a view that captures the essence of the Taj Mahal. Among the best hotels in Agra, DD Suites is known for its impeccable service, which ensures that your family's needs are met. Enjoy a relaxing swim in the pool, indulge in a spa treatment, and savor world-class cuisine at the multi-cuisine restaurant. It's a slice of paradise in Agra.

Tranquility by the Yamuna

If you seek tranquility away from the city's hustle, DD Suites is the perfect choice. Nestled on the banks of the Yamuna River, this charming hotel offers a peaceful escape. The rooms are cozy and thoughtfully designed, and the serene garden is a great place to relax at the best hotels in Agra for family. It's an idyllic spot for family bonding, offering a respite from the urban chaos.

DD Suites: Affordable Comfort

DD Suites, a hidden gem in Agra, strikes a balance between comfort and affordability. The spacious rooms are well-equipped, ensuring a pleasant stay for your family. What sets DD Suites apart is due to listing among the budget hotels in Agra, making it an excellent choice for families looking for value? The in-house restaurant serves delectable local and international dishes, adding to the overall convenience and comfort.

Best Places to Visit in Agra

Agra is a city teeming with history and culture, and here are some of the best places to visit in Agra with family:

1. Taj Mahal: A Timeless Wonder

Agra is synonymous with the Taj Mahal, a breathtaking monument that's not just a symbol of love but also a UNESCO World Heritage Site. As you visit with your family, the Taj Mahal's grandeur and history will leave you all in awe. Plan an early morning visit to avoid the crowds, and don't forget to capture the iconic "Diana Seat" photo.

2. Agra Fort: The Mughal Marvel

Agra Fort is a historical gem that tells the story of Mughal emperors and their opulent lifestyles. The red sandstone structure is a masterpiece of architecture. Inside, your family can explore the various palaces, courtyards, and gardens that transport you back in time.

3. Fatehpur Sikri: A Time Capsule

A short drive from Agra takes you to Fatehpur Sikri, a perfectly preserved ancient city. Your family will be fascinated by its architectural grandeur and the historical significance it holds. Explore the intricately designed buildings, each with its unique tale.

4. Mehtab Bagh: A Sunset Serenade

For a serene evening with your family, make your way to Mehtab Bagh. This meticulously planned garden offers a mesmerizing view of the Taj Mahal at sunset. It's an excellent spot for a family picnic or a leisurely stroll, with the Taj Mahal providing a magical backdrop.

Booking Your Hotel in Agra

With your sights set on Agra's wonders, the next step is to book hotel rooms in Agra. Whether you opt for the opulence of the affordability of DD Suites or other hotels, booking in advance is crucial, especially during peak tourist seasons. In conclusion, Agra beckons with its rich history and captivating attractions for families.