illusiory

[illusiory]

when  :  around 10 pm  . where  :  a balcony off of iarna keep’s grand ballroom  . who  :  his highness  ,  prince vladu dragola of walchonia  /  @awarprince  .

───     THE BALL IS MAGNIFICENT  .  it is gorgeous and rich and bursting at the seams with joy  &  light and above all  ,  life  ,  that which they all take for granted  .  the clinking of goblets raised in toast and the sweet tittering laughter of the noblewomen who gossip together is set upon a background of orchestral music that ebbs  &  flows as though each note were made of pure bliss  .

and yet  ,  nataliya finds herself skirting the far edges of the crowd  ,  slinking about like a stray lurking on palace grounds  .  for all that she is a noble  ,  by name  &  blood  ,  she does not excel when it comes to the social part of being a member of high society  .  the labyrinth that is interaction with dukes  &  lords  &  ladies is not one that she is able to navigate easily  ;  it’s hard to tell who’s genuine and who isn’t  ,  what compliments are actually condescension  .  she’s not fond of the masks nobles make for themselves  .  it would not kill them to show a hint of authenticity with one another  ,  she thinks  .  the ego will be the death of the privileged  .

in a quick motion  ,  she downs what is left of the sweet wine in her glass and feels the heat of it bloom across her cheeks  ,  a honeyed mulberry stain left on her lips to remind her of the taste  .  there’d been a servant  ,  somewhere  ,  with a tray made for empty cups  —  but much like her sense of self  ,  they’re lost to vast sea of the crowd  .  with a noise that sits somewhere directly in the middle of being frustrated  &  anxious  ,  she compromises by leaving it on some unoccupied table before stealing away off to the balcony  ,  which is far less crowded  .  her ears ring with the noise of the ballroom still  ,  even as it grows muffled behind her  .

and then she sees something that makes it all go quiet  .  peacefully  ,  softly  ,  like the gentle hush of sleep as it ghosts over the land  .  she all but trips over her own two feet as she slows  ,  lips parting silently as her eyes grow wide with the shine of the stars  .  of course  ,  she had known he would be attending the revelry  ;  how could he not  ,  when he was the crown prince of walochnia  ?  the next in line for the throne  ?  for a moment  ,  she gives pause  ,  wondering if this is simply an illusion of him that she’s made for herself to seek comfort from  ,  a reliving of her most precious memories with him  .  it would not be the first time she’d done so  .

“    vladu  ?    ”    his name is a ghost of a kiss upon her lips  ;  a whisper so soft and so sweet  ,  as if made from the most delicate gossamer spun lace  .    “    is it  ...  is it  truly  you  ?    ”    the beat of her heart hitches  ,  thunderous between her ivory ribs  —  she cannot say if she wants to laugh or weep  .  to shriek from joy or pain  .  nataliya drifts closer  ,  unsure if she is floating or walking  ,  to allow her gaze to sweep over him once more  .  it is the most tender indulgence  ,  to see him again  ...  but she knows many things have changed  .  as delightedly lovestruck as she may be  ,  she aches with the knowledge  .

“    m-my prince  —  your highness  —    ”    stumbling over her words like a child as she recalls her place  ,  her head whips ‘round to ensure a crowd has not noticed her blunder  .  she knows he will not fault her  ,  but the vultures that roam the castle are ravenous  ,  or so she has heard  .

#vladu tbt ! #this got long and i am Sorry #u don't have to match length i just... #motions around. THEMMMMM

[illusiory]

miidnightspecials​:

she watched as the puppeteers packed away their props and the jesters came through with a new act to perform for the entertained crowd. were they really such a callous lot to look on in giddiness as those defending the country were mocked and scorned? something twisted inside of her which she could not put a name on. it pained her to know what they were to the king, the vrajiit used as props to win a never ending war against the olloma empire ; a country that would never stop until they stole every piece of land in walochnia. was it their treatment that irked her so? or was it that she was one of them too. perhaps they were all tools to her father, vrajiit or not.

“ i understand your frustration, lady ghita, but do remember your place. the festivities were the king’s idea, after all. ” she frowned, her eyes on the young lady of wenchinka. did they fear him as much as she did, she wondered. and was it fear that she truly felt, or the desperate need to please him, to make him see her as something worthy of his praise? “ should you truly wish to repent, you know where the biserica is. but forgive me, my lady, but i don’t believe your lord is watching over is in these times. ”

───     IT WAS UNDERSTOOD FROM THE  moment the words had been spoken that nataliya would not be currying favor with the king’s daughter  ;  as though to cower like a frightened dog before their master  ,  nataliya’s head bowed in supplication  ,  long honey locks falling around her face like a curtain  .  she did not like the heaviness of princess mina’s gaze on her  ,  how it settled its weight on her chest  ,  made her feel like a lame deer being spotted by a hunter  .    “    my heartfelt apologies  ,  your highness  .  truly  ,  i am just  ...    ”   there was no desire to bear her heart  ,  but in an effort to placate  ,  she did so anyway  .    “    i cannot help but imagine how  frightened  they must’ve been  .  alone  ,  dying in the cold  ...  what might their last thoughts have been  ?  what were those fleeting seconds like  ?  they deserved so much better  ...  and i cannot help but put myself in their place  .    ”    a pang of guilt  :  she should have been  ,  and yet she was not  ,  too spoiled by the advantages that came with being nobility  .

head raising to meet mina’s gaze once more  ,  she wondered silently over the princess’s mention of the lord  .  nataliya held no faith  ,  but a very many questions in place of any one religion instead  .  was death a god  ?  she often wondered  ;  every day we live our lives in fear of death  ,  knowing it is always just around the corner  .  was this not worship in its own right  ?

at the very least  ,  death was the only certainty  .  anything before that was not guaranteed  .  she could appreciate the existence of something definitive  .  she would not  ,  however  ,  counter the mina’s word by claiming that she was wrong  ,  that whatever it was  ,  it was certainly closer than they all believed  .

“    it would be a long walk to the biserica alone on such an eventful night  ,  anyway  .  best not to waste that which has been given to us so generously  .  how have you been enjoying the festivities  ,  if i might ask  ?    ”

#nat : i don't want to bite my tongue but fuck i'm gonna

[illusiory]

───     FOR HER APPEARANCE AT THE  ball  ,  nataliya has opted to wear white  ;  the delicate lace confection was gifted to her two years ago upon her 18th birthday  ,  but this will be her first time donning the gown since receiving it  .  her hair will be kept in its usual loose waves  ,  tonight parted down the middle  &  adorned with a chain of pearls  .  she is certainly nervous about the event  ,  both because she must perform for the king himself  ,  and because of her blunder with the princess during the fete  .  she would really rather stay out of the spotlight  ,  but it seems she has little choice in the matter  —  after the vrajiit demonstration  ,  it’s highly likely you’ll find her as far from the crowds as she can get without eliciting more criticism  .

to view the entirety of her gown  ,  please click here  .

#warborn.task #just . . . pretend it isn't quite as sheer kdjfng i just liked the intricate details #hello i threw this together fast as hell bc i knew i wanted to use this dress & im posting it early

[illusiory]

ofjulianna​:

The lady stood by the edge of the lake, allowing herself to control the water’s ebb and flow. It was small movements like this that Julianna needed to train. Things that would not tire her out but could create a larger impact during the warmer months. Jules didn’t hear the footsteps approaching until the person was right next to her. “Goodness, you gave me a fright.”

───     “    MY APOLOGIES  .  I MEAN NO  harm  .    ”    admittedly  ,  it had not occurred to her that another would seek respite from the festivities  ,  as she’d fled from the ongoing joust that currently held so many enraptured  .  like a stray in the shadows  ,  she had slunk her way to the lake unnoticed  ,  only to remain hidden in the darkness as she watched the other woman work  .  a purse of lips  &  cant of her head had betrayed her piqued curiosity  ,  and  ,  in need of answers  ,  she had approached  .  softly  ,  so as not to startle her  ,  nor disrupt her work  —  though seemingly it would result in the exact opposite effect  .  one hand outstretched to motion towards the lake  ,  nataliya faced the stranger with a look of contrition  .    “    i was just  ...    ”    how do you profess to having been watching someone  without  seeming invasive  ?    “    ...  your control over the water is remarkable  .  you make it look so natural  .    ”

#julianna tbt ! #nat is kicking herself rn lmaoo

[illusiory]

miidnightspecials​:

she did not know if it was wrong to be suspicious of those her father regarded so highly. it was the anastase family in particular that would keep mina on her toes over the course of the next few months, of that she was certain, but the others presented her with various obstacles as well. walochnia, after all, was a slippery place certainly crawling with snakes in the grass, and it was those with the most power she ought to be cautious of. 

her father’s throne was a coveted one, hard won by her great grandfather and viciously sought after. the vrajiit were worth the fight, it seemed. every other country wanted them, hunted them so vivaciously that war was constant. not that the king seemed to mind, she had always known him to be bloodthirsty but even more so after the death of her precious mother.

the fete was in full swing with mina on her way to take her place on the high dais where she would overlook the jousting contest. no doubt one of her knights would win, she was sure to choose the best in the realm. as she walked amidst the chatter and music, she paused by an entertainment tent showing a puppet show. it displayed a puppet vrajiit comically baffled as it was faced with a puppet version of the king. she watched as the vrajiit bowed, and the puppet representation of her father put his booth on its neck. right where it belonged, a servant of the high king of walochnia. 

the audience laughed gleefully at the show and mina’s stomach sank down to her toes, her eyes lowered. “vrajiit dying cold in the woods and here we are holding a fete for the richest in the land.” the princess mused, frowning. “how we must look to them.”

───    A MERE GLANCE WAS OFFERED  ,  a flickering of shadowed hazel eyes  ;  nataliya was far from one prone to revelry  ,  and thus far  ,  the display made of the crown’s riches had done so very little to tempt her towards indulgence  .  how contemptuous  ,  she would think to herself  ,  gaze trained on the puppetry that carried on before her  .  how insulting to the souls of the dead  .  we dishonor their very being  .  her stomach had curled  ,  and so too with it had her lip  ,  a disparaging snarl directed towards the puppeteer as if to damn him where he stood  .

when the crown princess had approached  ,  nataliya’s features had softened but a whisper  .  in trasnavda  ,  it was all but a display  ,  was it not  ?  the murmured words of allegiance  ,  the promises made to the people they ruled over  .  vrajiit dying left and right  ,  and all the king could manage to do was throw a ball  .  no wonder the commonfolk despised them all so  ,  monarchy  &  nobles alike  .

“    i ask that you would please forgive my  impertinence  ,  princess  ,  but i find i must speak plainly  —  we deserve every last bit of their ire  .  here we stand  ,  disgracing the memories of the dead  &  dying for the sake of our own amusement  .  and we should  repent  for it  .  beg their forgiveness  .    ”    vocals remained hushed in an effort to avoid the pricking of ears  ;  best not to close out her first night in the capital by painting herself as a traitor to the monarchy  .  how disappointing that care for anyone but the upper echelon would result in such a mindset  ,  but it had been an unavoidable fate from the moment the first man had declared himself  king  .

#mina tbt ! #nat really said listen i get you're the king's daughter but fuck that guy #ALDNFDGKJJRKB #me needing to make icons vs ps crashing : fight !

[illusiory]

GREAT TO SEE     𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖑𝖔𝖘𝖙 𝖑𝖆𝖒𝖇     AROUND , ISN’T IT ?

#ok this took too long today was SO busy #undoubtedly i've forgotten to include something in that doc #warborn.intro

[illusiory]

Innocence by William-Adolphe Bouguereau (1893) - Anastasia Tsilimpiou as Anastasia (Kösem Sultan) in Muhteşem Yüzyıl Kösem, season 1 (2015)

#tbt #me barely holding myself back from rambling about this in the tags ? yeah

[illusiory]

Little princess (◡‿◡✿)

#tbt . #she....

[illusiory]

writingplayingliving‌:

“Sometimes there isn’t screaming anger or endless sorrow or a hurt that shakes your whole being. Sometimes there’s just quiet. An absence. A refusal of the mind to acknowledge any feeling at all.”

#tbt .