Family Matters

Political event

Nikolai's funeral is going on and Ivan threatens Evelyn and tries to convince her to join his coup when he reveals he's her cousin. Anessen tells Evelyn that she should marry General Antov. Evelyn starts searching for answers about Mephistopheles and starts to feel lonely and scared as he continued to haunt her.

Evelyn braced herself on her bedpost as her maid laced up the beautiful black gown Fenneck had made her. It was black and elaborate with a very structured corset and flowy black silks that had a dark purple hue to them when she moved. Her maids fit her black kokoshnik on her head that dripped a veil of black pearls over her face. When she was finally ready she moved through the dark palace and into the ballroom. The room was full and the orchestra was playing slower, more somber songs than usual. Evelyn picked out Erikur is the group playing his flute and hoped Fenneck was okay. She had avoided him since her trip to Naertho's shop. Things in the palace were growing stressful, especially with her uncle present. He was currently seated at the head of the ballroom in a giant golden throne with her parents and General Antov. At one end of the ballroom there was a giant portrait of Nikolai on display that people were leaving gifts and offerings under. Evelyn made her way over to her family and sat down next to Jasna. Eventually her uncle addressed the room and afterwards the orchestra started playing their usual polkas and waltzes. "May I have the honor of a dance, your highness?" Dmitri approached and bowed to her after Jasna had been plucked away by the visiting duke of Vladigrad. "Of course, marshal," she said before gratefully taking his arm as he led her to the floor. "You look beautiful tonight, if not extremely morbid," he complimented her as they started dancing. "Well it is my brother's funeral," she pointed out as Dmitri pulled her close to his chest. "I can't believe we have to endure two more weeks of this," she muttered in annoyance. "I know," Dmitri agreed. "So to distract you, I have some news," he said, changing the subject. "Oh, yeah?" she asked him. He nodded. "Amalya is coming to visit in the next couple days, so no sneaking into my room while she's here," he told her quietly so they wouldn't be heard over the music. "Are you looking forward to some time with your wife?" she asked him curiously. He shrugged. "It might help to see her for a bit," he admitted. "She wants to try and have a baby," he explained. "Ah," Evelyn said. "So your nights will be quite busy," she teased him. He rolled his eyes at her. "I suppose," he sighed. "What about you? Are you going to visit your secret lover anytime soon?" he asked her quietly. "Probably not," she said. "I just... there's too much going on right now," she told him. He nodded and spun her in his arms. "What about your other problem?" he asked her. "You haven't been by in a couple nights so I assume you're doing okay?" he asked her. She nodded. "I've been okay. I hope he doesn't return," she told Dmitri.   The song ended and turned into a fast polka and they quickly adjusted to the new dance with rigor as they trotted about the dancefloor with the other guests. Evelyn enjoyed dancing with Dmitri for once and relaxed into his arms as they spun around the room, giggling together. The song ended and they both stopped and were in the middle of catching their breath when Evelyn felt a hand tap her shoulder. "May I have this next dance, your highness?" Ivan asked her, much to her disappoinment. "Of course," she told him before bowing to Dmitri and taking Ivan's arm, trying not to show her reluctance. The song was a slow waltz and Ivan was quiet for the first half of the song before pulling her closer to him so he could whisper in her ear. "I want you to know that I also know your mother was lying to you about what happened to your brother," he told her. She gave him a cautious look. "Who said I thought that?" she asked him. He avoided her eyes. "Was it not obvious? Not to mention the fact that your parents hid his body and refuse to release any real information. I was with your brother that morning and trust me, he wasn't ill," he told her. "Your mother is abusing her power," he continued, still whispering into her ear. "Don't you think she's becoming dangerous?" She considered his words for a moment as she carefully constructed her thoughts. "What are you suggesting?" she asked him accusingly. "You are a KAV marshal," she told him. "I do believe being around my brother has perhaps caused you to forget your position in life and the amount of power you actually have. I am not interested in this crazy idea of a coup and if you don't watch yourself I will go to my mother about it. She's already onto you and I may have been willing to hide your conspiracy when I thought my brother was involved but I have no loyalty to you. I'd advise you to watch yourself before you create very dangerous enemies," she warned him. He shrugged indifferently. "I'm not who you think I am, Evelyn," he told her calmly. "I do have more power than you know and I think it would be wise of you to align yourself with the right people before shit hits the fan. This is about more than politics," he said confidently, unphased by her threats. "Why don't you come smoke with me on the balcony?" he suggested in a somewhat threatening tone as the song came to a close.   She reluctantly followed him out to the balcony which was empty and he produced a very beautiful white-marble pipe with green and pink flowers engraved into it. "Now that your brother is no longer here to judge you I figured you could use one of your own. Consider it a gift," he told her as he filled it and lit it for her with a snap of his fingers, exposing his magical abilities to her. She hesitantly took it and looked it over before taking a drag on it. "Thank you," she told him nervously, unsure of where this conversation was heading. He leaned against the railing and faced her. "I know you've been sneaking off to Dmitri's room at night," he told her flatly. "So if you really wish to lay out the blackmail card, we can both play that game," he warned her. "Did he tell you?" she asked him, suddenly worried that she'd misplaced her trust in Dmitri. He shook his head. "No, he's a perfect gentleman who has his own ass to watch when it comes to prancing around with princesses," he told her. "We haven't had sex," she assured Ivan. He shrugged indifferently. "It's still damning," he told her. "Besides, no one would believe you," he pointed out. "Here's a thought, though," he said, leaning his elbows on the frozen railing and looking out over Flottenheim. "He wants out of his unhappy marriage, you want to avoid an unhappy marriage and I ask you, what is the one thing in your way?" he asked her. "If there were different leadership in our country, you could have the things you want, Evelyn. You can fuck Dmitri or any other elf you want. You could be free," he told her as she smoked her new pipe. "You could marry for love and passion, not just a title," he continued. "Why are you resistant to the thing you want most?" he asked her pointedly. She shook her head at him. "Look how far these ideals got Niko," she told him. "It's dangerous to think like this, Ivan. This is my family you're talking about," she argued. He looked into her eyes as he straightened himself out. "And what if I were to tell you it's not just your family?" he asked her. She gave him a cautious look. "What do you mean?" she asked him. He shrugged mysteriously. "What if, say, certain information came to light that proved you to be the..." He turned his eyes to the sky briefly as he considered this. "Let's see, with Nikolai gone... you'd still only be fourth in line to the throne," he told her cryptically, returning his gaze to her. She pondered this for a moment, trying to think of who he was talking about. Anessen didn't have any children... unless... Evelyn looked Ivan over thoughtfully and stared into his silver irises that did indeed look like her mother and uncle's cold eyes. As his implications began to dawn on her she felt her heart skip a beat. "You're lying," she accused him, not wanting to believe such a tall tale. He raised his brow at her. "Are you so sure about that?" he asked. "Even a bastard son of an emperor out-ranks a female daughter of the grand duke and duchess," he told her calmly. "If you tried to reveal this information, though," he warned her, "your little affair would be blown out of the water, ruining both you and Dmitri's lives for sure. I believe the price for raping a young unmarried princess is defintely a very painful death, and I'd really hate to have to chop up my friend," he said, staring coldly into her eyes and sending a chill down her spine. She started shaking with nerves as she realized the severity of Ivan's threats. "You wouldn't," she whispered under her breath. He shrugged coldly. "Wouldn't I, though?" he asked her. "Cousin?" He smirked at her and she instictively backed away from him. "Please leave me be," she begged him. "I want no part in this." He rolled his eyes. "Find me when you come to your senses," he told her. "And you will," he said confidently. "He said you will." "Who- who said I will?" she asked him in fear. He stared deep into her eyes, sending a cold shiver down Evelyn's spine. "You know who," he said knowingly. She dumped out the embers in her pipe onto the snow and ice before backing away to the door and darting inside, trying to get away from him. She pocketed her new pipe in the bosom of her corset as she rushed to return to the crowd. She walked in and saw Anessen staring at her suspiciously from across the room and she quickly looked around for Dmitri. She started walking toward him before stopping herself, realizing the danger their blooming friendship was putting him in. She looked around the ballroom and felt her head start to spin with nauseau before she collapsed onto the ground and blacked out.          Evelyn opened her eyes to find herself in bed. Jasna was sitting in a rocking chair next to her. Evelyn sat up and looked around in confusion. "What happened?" she asked Jasna who looked over at her with relief and moved to sit on the bed. "Are you okay, Ev?" she asked her worriedly. "You passed out at the ball," she explained. Evelyn nodded and looked down to see she was in her undergarments from the night before. "I'm fine," she assured Jasna. "Did... did anything happen?" Jasna shook her head. "It was last night. When it happened, mother ended the party and they brought you back here to rest. Would you like me to go get her?" Evelyn shook her head and laid back on the headboard as Ivan's threats came back into her mind. "I need to go to the library," she told her sister who looked at her in confusion. "Ev, you need to rest-" Evelyn shook her head and climbed out of bed. "I'm fine, Jasna," she told her. "I have some stuff to do," she said as she grabbed a dress to slip on, stopping for a moment as she felt the pipe in her corset press against her breasts. "Okay," Jasna conceded, seeming a bit disheartened. "Have... have you been okay?" she asked Evelyn with a worried look in her eyes. "I've been fine, Jasna," she assured her, not wanting her to get caught up in this mess as well. She was too stressed about Ivan's threats and her creepy visitor from the other night. "I just need to do some reading," she told her. "With all this funeral business I've barely had a moment to myself," she complained. "Yeah," Jasna said in agreement. "If... if you ever want to talk, I'm here for you," Jasna told her. "Oh please," Evelyn told her. "You're never here, Jasna. You're always off running around with the musicians." "Oh, because flirting with the KAV marshals is so much better," Jasna countered. Evelyn rolled her eyes. "I'm not flirting with them!" she told her sister. "Dmitri and I are friends. Ivan needs to learn to fuck off," she told her sister in annoyance. "I'm not his friend," she assured her. "Oh yeah?" Jasna said. "And what about the tailor you were fooling around with in Naertho's shop?" Evelyn looked at her in fear. "I don't know who you're talking about," she lied. Jasna stared her down for a moment before her eyes softened a bit. "I just want to be friends, Ev," she told her. "Why are you so against talking to me about this stuff? I'm your sister!" she begged her. "There's nothing to talk about, Jasna!" she argued. "I'm not involved with anyone! I don't want to argue anymore. I need to go do something," she said, storming out of her room.    She went to the library and saw Leonid in a corner and she decided to avoid him. She looked around nervously to make sure Ivan wasn't around before walking over to the section about dieties - specifically devils and the nine layers of hell. She skimmed through the collection of the nine different rulers and realized the eighth book was missing, the one about Mephistopheles. She skimmed through the different titles, unable to find anything about the devil. Even the book about the realm of Cania was missing as well as any books about all nine dieties. She found this suspicious and she walked over to the section with her family tree and history. She saw a portrait hanging above the shelf of herself and her immediate family from when she was a baby. Nikolai was in his twenties and Evelyn squinted when she saw his blue eyes in the portrait and shook her head at the silly mistake the artist had made. He had silver eyes, like her mother and uncle. And Ivan. And... Evelyn swallowed nervously and dug through the records, searching for... something. She moved rather frantically until she saw a newspaper clipping of the news of the death of her grandparents that announced the new reign of her uncle, Anessen who was about two-hundred at the time. She had never known them and her family never talked about what had happened to them. She skimmed the article until she saw that they had commited suicide together under pretty mysterious conditions. She read the rest of the article but didn't find anything else of interest. She put the records back where she'd found them and walked back over to the section on hell and started flipping through books.   "Do you need any help, your highness?" she looked up and saw Leonid looking at her kindly. He must have approached without her noticing. She looked around to make sure they were alone before shaking her head. "No... not unless you have a record of where missing books are?" she asked him. "Which books?" he asked, his brow furrowing at this news. "The only people who are ever allowed to take any books out of here are your family, and the only ones who ever do are you and, on occasion, your mother or Bainor." She motioned to the shelf missing the book about Mephistopheles. "I noticed the book about the eighth archdevil is missing," she told him. "I uh, need it for research," she told him. He looked her over cautiously for a moment, surprised by her interest in such a dark subject matter. "Um... I'm not sure," he told her. "No one has pulled books from over here for a while now, in fact," he said, leaning down and looking at the packed shelf, "Looks like it never was, or at least, hasn't been here for years." "I see," she said as she pondered ths mystery. "Could I maybe help you find something else?" he suggested. "There's an old elvish story I know about an elf who made a pact with this specific archdevil," he offered. She shrugged and nodded. "Sure," she said. Leonid led the way over to the section of Elvish lore and produced a book of stories. "Here you go," he said. "And may I also say, my sincerest condolences for your loss, your highness," he told her as he handed her the book. His warm eyes were full of empathy and pain and she smiled sweetly at him. "Thank you," she told him. He nodded and walked away and she sighed as she looked down at the book, wishing she could see Fenneck again. He probably hated her by now. Her heart wished she could just disappear into a whole other life wth him, away from her family drama and new, terrifying fears. She tucked the book under her arm and walked over to the section on hell one more time before grabbing a book about warlock pacts and a couple very general books about the different planes and other devils.    She walked back to her room and put the books down underneath her desk and threw a fur over them. She closed and locked the door and pulled the pipe Ivan had given her out of her corset and studied it carefully before bringing it over to her desk and grabbing a spellbook. She closed her eyes and focused magic into the item for a few minutes. The pipe seemed to be free from any magical enchantments but Evelyn was still cautious. She took a handkerchief and wiped out the ash and sniffed it before realizing there was something off about the scent, different from the tobacco Dmitri smoked. After a moment she started to feel lightheaded and she realized Ivan had drugged her. She pulled out some lavender from her vanity and sniffed it a bit to clear her head before balling the handkerchief and throwing it into her bottom drawer. As her head fully cleared she heard a knock on her door and she quickly hid the pipe there too. "Coming!" she called out before walking over to the door and opening it to see her uncle there with a couple of guards on either side of him. She quickly dropped into a low curtsy. "Your imperial majesty," she said as she bowed low. "Your highness," he said coldly as she rose to look up at him. His silver eyes glared at her distrustfully and she felt her heart start to pound. "I wish to speak with you," he told her flatly. "Of course," she responded nervously. "Alone," he qualified. She nodded and waved him into her room and he followed her inside, leaving his guards to close the door and remain outside.   Her head was pounding in fear as he sauntered around her room, studying it thoughtfully. "I have heard many rumors that you tend to spend time with some of the KAV marshals. Is this true?" he asked her cryptically. She swallowed. "On occasion," she admitted. "I like how honest they are, unlike everyone else here," she said, trying to gain his trust. He nodded thoughtfully, still avoiding her eyes. "I see," he mused. "Perhaps you have more of an inclination for politics than your sister," he said thoughtfully as he finally looked up into her eyes. "Or you're a whore and you like the attention of men," he accused her coldly. "After all, my soldiers are very handsome and strong," he said with mock thoughtfulness. "I can see how they could easily use their position to manipulate a young princess such as yourself." Evelyn's head was pounding as she tried to understand his angle - if he was upset by what Ivan had told her or if he was genuinely suspicious of her relationships. After all, he had seen her walk off alone with Ivan at the ball. "I find their company amusing," she told him, as if she were admitting something. "Some of them are more presumptuous than others. It puts me in a rather unfair position if they ask me to promenade with them and I refuse," she told him. He nodded thoughtfully, still eying her with distrust. "How are you feeling after your fainting spell last night?" he asked her calmly. "Fine," she assured him. "My dress was a bit tight," she lied. He nodded. "I see," he said. "It had nothing to do with whatever happened when you were alone on the balcony with Marshal Pufuktin?" he asked, his brow raising ever so slightly. "Of course not," she told him. "Ivan was telling me a story about a halfling he's been monitoring in the city," she explained as Ivan's threats came back into her mind. "They told me there were rumors of a coup being planned by some of our citizens." He nodded thoughtfully. "Indeed," he said. "How else do you think your brother died?" he said with an annoyed eyeroll, as if it were obvious. "What?" she asked him in confusion. He turned and squinted at her. "Did your mother not tell you that he was attacked?" Evelyn shook her head, trying to understand. "I thought..." she trailed off, realizing she shouldn't voice her fears aloud. He raised a brow at her. "You thought he died of the flu?" he asked as if she were dumb. "It was a pathetic lie," he said in exasperation. "I really thought my sister was more clever than that." "I see," Evelyn said, trying not to slip up anymore. He turned back to her and approached her till he was within a couple feet of her, making her extremely nervous. He reached out and caressed her hair, sending a chill down her spine from his cold touch. "Your mother seems to disagree with me about your future," he said. "I rather think it would be a fitting match for you to marry the head of the military," he said as he studied her. "You aren't as prone to the bullshit roles of royalty your mother wants you to play. She's holding you back. There are no other decent matches in Lenisily and you're clearly lonely. You need a husband, Evelyn. Tonight at the ball I want you to dance with General Antov and only General Antov. I know it may seem disappointing at first but you'd live in Leniscow in my palace. You would be well taken care of. After you have your children you can even take up a few lovers on the side," he told her plainly. "Besides... I take care of my military officials, Evelyn. Even moreso than these silly dukes and lords who think so highly of themselves. You want to be the most powerful woman in Lenisly? Even moreso than your mother? You marry my highest ranking general," he told her sternly. "I assume you'll make the right choice, Evelyn," he told her before taking a step back and walking to the door. "Tonight. General Antov," he commanded before sauntering out of her room.   The guards closed the door and Evelyn took a deep breath and sat back down at her vanity. She realized she needed to make a choice. At this point she was being courted by at least three different suitors, none of which were offering her a ring, but rather a coup alliance and if she didn't choose carefully it could cost her her life. She hated this sudden onflux on infighting that was happening in her family. She was also growing confused by the new idea that her mother had convinced her uncle that this group of halfling revolutionists had killed her brother. Evelyn wanted nothing more than to run to Fenneck and hide in his innocent, warm embrace. She couldn't even see Dmitri. It was too dangerous. Everything was dangerous. She started reading her collection of books, trying to understand the connection her family seemed to have to this devil, but her books offered her nothing she didn't already know. That night she went to the ball and danced with General Antov who seemed bored and stoic the whole time and hardly said a word to her. Dmitri was there dancing with Amalya who had recently arrived and he avoided Evelyn's gaze the entire evening.   After suffering the boredom of the evening she finally retired for the night and curled up in bed and started crying as the shadows in the room loomed around her and she feared he would show up. She threw a robe on over her shift, turned herself invisible and teleported into Fenneck's room, too desperate and lonely to help herself. She looked around Fenneck's familiar room and smiled until she saw him on his bed, gently cradling Erikur in his arms as Erikur sobbed into his chest. She felt her heart drop and knew she shouldn't bother him. She felt so lonely in that moment as she watched Fenneck gently kiss Erikur's forehead. She popped back into her room and started sobbing in fear and sadness as her fate seemed to loom in around her. She knew he was there, watching her from the corners of her room and there was nothing she could do to stop him.