A Family Get-Together

Posted on Mon Aug 29th, 2022 @ 3:49pm by Princess Royal Giana Orsini & Princess Jessica Orsini & Crown Prince Paolo Orsini
Edited on on Thu Jul 13th, 2023 @ 7:10pm

Mission: Historiae Terrae Et Imperii
Location: Rio de Jinero Palace
Timeline: Date 2371-07-04 at 1330
5356 words - 10.7 OF Standard Post Measure

Just after he was brought lunch in his apartments, Paolo did some reading and a history lesson with one of his tutors before sitting down at his desk and doing some solid planning. He had spent a while sulking and panicking at his father's decision to kill a huge swath of the realm's lords and to supplant Giuseppe as heir with himself. Knowing he was a heartbeat away from the Imperial throne was causing his head to swim for a while, but he was honestly starting to come around to the idea. He made a mental note to call for Calista Pennington to explain some of the Government financial documents he was getting now that he was receiving a daily box, not that he needed it explained. At a certain point in his planning, he realized he couldn't put off a talk with Giana any longer. So he pulled on slippers and headed out into the hallway.

Several minutes later, he arrived at the entrance to Giana's apartments. He knocked on the door loud enough in his mind and waited.

Giana was just finishing up her shower, rinsing the conditioner out of her hair and doing a couple of turns under the water to make sure she was clean. After a few moments, she stepped out and then proceeded to work through her extensive skin care routine with the finesse of someone who had done it thousands of times in her life. She was humming quietly to herself, checking her face for any blemishes and satisfied she had none - as per usual.

Not having heard an answer, Paolo shrugged and inched his way inside. When he saw no one there, he walked down the hallway and into her living room. It was well-decorated, of course. He sat down, grabbed the remote, and turned on the news.

Given Giana had no real plans today, she wrapped herself in her long, fluffy pink baby blue robe with its matching slippers and grabbed her hair brush before she wandered out toward the living room. She was brushing her hair a bit as she walked, so didn't immediately see Paolo. When she looked up, she saw him sitting there blinking in that disconnected way, let out a shriek of surprise, threw her hairbrush in the general direction of his head, and immediately retreated back toward her room.

Two of her Imperial Guards came bursting into the room, their weapons at the ready as they looked around the room.

Paolo had shouted out at the same Giana had, his mind moved from the monologue of one of the political pundits in the screen. The media companies did a great job dramatizing the politics of the Empire without bringing even the slightest scrutiny on their father or the family. Everyone else was pretty much up for grabs, and it showed. When the guards came in pointing weapons at him, it was the icing on the cake.

“It’s fine. Stand down.” He ordered to them quickly, his expression one of irritation. They bowed and left quickly, extending a train of apologies behind them even though they had only been doing their job. Paolo looked to where Giana had been standing and was dismayed that she had disappeared. Leaving the screen on, he moved to her bedroom door and knocked on it several times. “Giana?”

There was no answer for several long moments, but eventually the door opened and Giana stood there in in a simple black spaghetti strap maxi dress that she had thrown on to be decent. She looked extremely annoyed and stared down at Paolo. “And just what do you think you’re doing coming into my room without my permission?!” She demanded tersely. Crown Prince or not, he was still her little brother. “What if I had company?”

“Then you would have opened the door and told me to go away.” He said simply. He returned her irritation with an apparent lack of concern. “I didn’t think you’d mind this much.”

"Oh my gods you have no even remote concept of appropriate do you?" Giana gave an exasperated sigh and moved out of her room, forcing Paolo to step back. "You don't just go into peoples' rooms, Paolo. Especially an adults!"

“I’m not in your room. I’m in your apartments. I was sitting on your couch.” He said, somewhat defensively. “It’s not the same thing.”

Giana just stared at him for a long moment. "I can't decide if you are being deliberately thick or if you really actually don't see why its a problem." She was clearly quite annoyed and put her hands on his shoulders, forcing him to walk backwards now back toward the living room.

He offered little resistance and moved where she was pushing him, seemingly mildly amused under his placid expression.

“Or maybe you’re making a bigger deal of this than it needs to be.” He stated, looking off behind him to make sure she didn’t push him over something. “After all, your servants come in here all the time. Isn’t your brother more to you than a maid?”

“My servants are expected. You are not. You’ve never been in here, Paolo. Why in the name of any of the gods would I expect you to just show up? Shouldn’t you be studying or daydreaming about what’s-her-name with the big boobs?” Of course Giana remembered the name, but she wanted to see what he would say.

“Contessa? What are you talking about?” He asked, his poker face very weak. Then he rushed off the subject as quickly as he could. “Anyway, I’m done with my studies for the day and I’ve been meaning to make time to spend with you.”

She almost laughed, but kept it to a smirk at his reaction. When he mentioned wanting to spend time with her, her smirk evaporated and her expression hardened into one of suspicion. “Spend time with me? You never spend time with me, Paolo. What do you want?”

“That’s because you’re really mean to me. You all are.” He said with slight frustration. “But I figured, after you hugged me…maybe we could be closer. Like. You know..rely on each other. Like a brother and sister, Giana!” He ended in some defensive exasperation, rolling his eyes and, rarely, showing that he was indeed 14.

“Well you should blame father for that.” Giana pointed out with a sigh and moved to sit down on the couch. “You really want me to believe you came down here for no other reason than to hang out with me? You don’t like any of the things I do in life, Paolo. You’re just like father in that way.” Even though she was frustrated and suspicious, she motioned for him to come sit back down.

"I never said 'hang out'. I said 'rely on each other'." he said, sitting down next to her. "And I don't have a problem with your stuff. It's...useful...popular. A little frivolous...but good for the family! You might even say I...respect it. Or..what you do with it?"

“Okay. So what do I do then, Paolo?” Giana asked, a bit annoyed he decided to sit down right next to her, but accepting.

“More than ever. You’re starting a company. Bella Gia. Clothes, jewelry, consmetics. I saw the proposal from the DFGF. I’m just trying to figure out how you pulled that off.” He answered, accessing his memory and seeming to consider the details afterward.

“You saw that? I don’t even think Father saw that. I mean I guess he probably did. He reads everything. He just doesn’t care. Why do you?” Her face scrunched and she looked down to Paolo again, trying to figure out the angle.

“Because I know what Giuseppe will be up to.” He said, frankly, knowing that she will never trust anything from him but self-interest. It was, unfortunately, who they were. No matter how genuine he was. “I need support if I’m going to survive.”

“Support? What kind of support?” She quirked a brow. “And what do you think Giuseppe will be up to? He’s nothing now. It doesn’t matter. Really I’m shocked Father didn’t just kill him.” It was cold, but it was honest.

He shook his head but didn’t argue with her. Now wasn’t the time and his mind wasn’t on that. “He’s going to try to kill me. Once I’m dead and you’re heir, he will have an easier time convincing father to reinstate him.”

Giana burst out laughing at that. “Paolo, if Giuseppe killed you, father would have him publicly and brutally executed. Come on now. You’re his world, there’s perks to that particular position and if he were left we me as the choice, he’d probably find a way to make himself another son.”

“You assume he’d be able to prove Giuseppe did it.” Paolo said. “But this is beside the point, Giana. We can help each other. If you support me, it might scare him away!”

“Why would I do that?” She asked. There was no venom in her voice nor condescension, it seemed to be a genuine question to her brother. “And why me and not Elana? You like her more.”

Paolo looked at her, his expression increasingly bleak. His mouth set in a frown. He looked disappointed; sad. He felt a pang of regret for helping her sort out the situation with Sacha. She didn’t care about him. Just herself. She was the exact person she claimed Father was. His expression darkened.

“Because, if you stand by me and help me, I’ll remember that you chose to be a sister to me when I lead the Empire.” He said, and then he leaned in, a kind of coldness she’d never truly seen from him. “And if you don’t, I’ll be really really really angry.”

He stood at that, turning toward the door and walking toward it with heavy feet. He was clearly angry and seemed to be attempting to leave before he had an outburst.

“So you’re just going to stomp off when I’ve asked you a perfectly reasonable question given our history?” She lifted her brows but didn’t move.

“Throwing a tantrum isn’t very becoming of the Crown Prince, you know. It’s very Giuseppe of you and father won’t like that.”

He turned and looked at her, his brows knit. “I’ve thrown no tantrum. You are selfish, Giana; making me sell you in acting like my sister. Did I ask anything of you when I helped you with your I’ll-advised marriage choice? No. I’ll get out of your hair and save you the trouble of asking more ‘perfectly reasonable’ questions.”

“No, you didn’t. But you’re asking for something from me now. Something that is potentially dangerous. Do you not see that, Paolo?” Giana stood then and walked toward him. “And you still haven’t even told me what you want as far as support. You must have some idea. Did you expect me to just blindly agree because you were nice to me once, Paolo? You’ve given me no information.”

"I expected you to agree out of love." He said, his eyes locked on her for a moment before it fell to the ground with his face. Shame. He was embarrassed for expecting such a thing. Unlike the rest of them, he wasn't jaded. "Nothing about this situation was selected by me. None of this is my choice. All my life, you, Giuseppe, and Elana have treated me badly and it had nothing to do with me...there was nothing I could do to..."

He fell silent then and seemed to steel himself, looking up at her. "I didn't ask to be the heir. I serve where I'm supposed to serve. I do what I'm supposed to do. And if you think helping me is dangerous, then why in the name of all the gods don't you think that I'm in danger?"

“Because Paolo you are the only one who is loved in this family. I wish you could see that.” Giana sighed and reached out to put her hand on his shoulder. “Father adores you. Truly. He may say he loves the rest of us, but he has no idea what that means. Don’t ask me why he seemed to figure it out with you, because I don’t know, but we have been written off and that’s just… how it is.” Sighing she looked down at him with actual sympathy. It must have been hard for him to grasp that they didn’t love him because he ruined their lives just by being his golden self. He said there was nothing he could have done, but that wasn’t true. She had seen exactly what he could do when he intervened over Sacha.

“Will you please come sit down and just talk to me plainly about what you want me to do so I can actually give consideration to it?”

"If you knew what love is, you wouldn't have to consider it." he said with a rather hurt-looking frown. "Maybe I get along with father because I don't say things like that. Maybe I'll try Elana." he said, covering himself with his arms suddenly and looking away, his blink-rate increasing. "Or maybe I'll go it alone."

He was testing her patience now. “Paolo,” both hands went to his shoulders and squeezed, “I don’t. That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you. For years. I don’t need love to help you though if you will just talk to me.”

He moved his arm quickly; forcefully. He nocked her arms off of his shoulders drastically enough to knock her back. His face was contorted in anger, tears creeping up to the edge of his eyelids but not bubbling over. His breathing was ragged.

"Don't touch me!" he shouted. "Don't ever touch me again!"

He took several steps away from her, the tears finally billowing out of his eyes. He blinked, anger and hurt still written on his features.

"I don't need you. I have father, and mother, and the State, and the apparatus of government, and the fucking Imperial Military on my side!" he said, raising his voice and leaning toward her, the veins in his neck popping out. "And if I can't have friends in this family, then I will have to settle for enemies. For your sake, Giana, I hope you find a heart or decide to stay neutral and keep your mouth shut. Because, if you join up with Giuseppe, then I just might take everything from you! At least then you'd have a reason to hate me."

With that he turned, doing more than stomping, and made his way toward the exit, not listening to anything that might happen after until he had exited the room, slamming the door hard on his way out.

Giana just gave a sigh and watched him go.

He was exactly like their father.

She accepted his hate and simply turned, walking back to her room to have a rest.

Being hated could be so… exhausting.

--

Paolo moved quickly down the hall, sniffling and periodically wiping tears from his eyes. He had been so grief stricken that he almost didn't notice Jessica passing him going the opposite direction. She didn't seem to seek his attention either. When he recognized her, he turned and called after her.

"Jessica..."

She turned around, her eyes slightly wide. She was afraid of a 14 year old? She had some work to do.

"Paolo." she said in a friendly tone, but then noticed the redness of his face. He'd been crying. "What's wrong?"

"Oh..uh.. nothing." Paolo said, wiping his eyes again with the back of his hands. "Where...where are you going?"

"Me?" Jessica asked, her Brazilian accent particularly strong for some reason. "I'm going to visit Giana. I wanted to borrow a dress."

It was a lie. Clearly. Paolo frowned, but turned and walked away, saying nothing else.

--

A few moments later, there was a knock at the door of Giana's apartments.

Had he come back? Giana wondered. That would be something new. She smiled almost hopefully as she got back out of the bed and straightened her still slightly damp hair. If he had come back, maybe taken a moment to just understand, then they could talk about what he needed. For whatever reason, it made her heart beat a little faster. She hurried to the door and opened it, her eyes down where she expected Paolo’s face only to see a woman’s chest. Frowning, she brought her eyes up and barely kept the annoyance off of her face.

“Ah. Jessica. Come in.” She stepped back and politely invited her sister in law inside. “What do you need?”

She wasn’t in the mood for pleasantries.

"I saw Paolo in the hallway. He was very upset." Jessica said, moving in as she was bid. She hadn't exactly answered the question. "He looked like he had been crying."

“He’s a teenager. It’s part of life.” Giana dismissed coolly, not betraying Paolo in the moment at least. “Tea? Water? Something?” She offered with a strangely polite terseness that only Giana could pull off.

"No thank you. I just ate." Jessica said, her voice sweet. She, unlike the blood family, really was sweet. "I actually came to talk to you about something. Can we have a seat and chat for a bit?"

Giana gestured to the seating area but this time took one of the chairs to block Jessica from sitting next to her. She didn’t want to be close to anyone right now. “What is it you need from me, Jessica?” Giana knew she wasn’t here for just a chat, she never had been before.

Jessica knew Giana didn't like her. The entire family was awkward with her accept Giuseppe, Antonius, and Paolo. And she supposed the last one was out the window now too. She decided to cut to the chase.

"Giuseppe would appreciate any help you can offer him in his new role. In exchange for your support in any and all of his endeavors, he offers mutual support for all of your initiatives and his complete and undivided support for your marriage to Sacha."

Giana just looked at Jessica for a long moment, her expression unreadable and she looked very much like her father in the eyes. “And what makes you think any of that would be helpful to me? My brother is a pariah now. You know that. I know that.”

"And yesterday he was next in line. Things change quickly at court. They always have." Jessica said with a smile. She wasn't comfortable with this kind of wheeling and dealing, but for the sake of her son, she had to be. "You specialize in changing styles. Giuseppe will be back in, and we both know it. Paolo, gods save him, is a 14 year old boy."

“He is. A foolish, emotional, fourteen year old boy. But he won’t be forever. Giuseppe has never been popular. Neither have you. Your kid is the most popular thing about the both of you.” Giana pointed out coolly. “I appreciate you at least being up front with what you want though. Backing Giuseppe won’t earn me any favor.”

Jessica's smile wavered. She looked down for a moment. Then, after a few seconds, she met Giana's eyes again, something else there. Something hotter and much less friendly.

"And what should happen if the foolish, emotional, fourteen year old boy should not be able to execute the duties of the Crown, gods forbid?" she asked. "The trained, bred, and tactic-savy first son of Antonius VI would be the undeniable favorite."

“Would he?” Giana challenged, her head tilting just slightly.

“Does he hit you, Jessica?”

Jessica looked away for a moment, uncomfortable. It's true Giuseppe had gotten overly angry a few times in their marriage and that had resulted in some unpleasantness between them. Lately, however, he was more lamb with her than lion.

"He treats me gently and respectfully." She responded, as if the question itself was offensive to her. "Why would you ask me a thing like that?"

“Oh dear.” Giana chuckled. “Jessica, darling, if you’re going to tell a lie, don’t look away right before you do it. It’s a dead giveaway.” She shook her head in disappointment.

“He has been treating me gently and respectfully during the worst time in his life.” Jessica said with conviction, her jaw setting. “I’m not lying, Giana. And either way, it doesn’t change the political facts. He’s the only real alternative.”

“Okay, but what about the rest of the time, hm?” She noticed the shift in words. “He’s smart enough to keep it off the face. Usually. I know.”

Jessica didn’t demure or look away. Not this time. She was still learning how to lie with her face. These people were masters. She looked at Giana head on, not considering the meaning behind Giana’s words intentionally.

“What as this got to do with anything?” She asked.

“Everything. Why would I want to support him? I’m nothing to him. If I was, he would be here himself. Or at least with you. You are smarter than he is, but I’m not supporting you, it would be him.” Giana sat back and suddenly looked bored.

“Giuseppe isn’t good with words and I know your relationship is rocky. I offered to come and talk to you first and to see if you were curious about he has to offer you.”

“He could have sat right next to you and kept his mouth shut. He knows I don’t talk to him unless I have to for whatever reason.” Giana was starting to get irritated now. Now they all wanted something from Princess Gigi. Now that their futures were in an uproar. She wasn’t surprised, but it didn’t make her less annoyed.

“Would you talk to him if he came, Giana? Or would you just give him the runaround like your doing me?”

Something snapped then, not really for any particular reason other than she was just done. Her face became a mask of anger and she stood up suddenly.

“I’m not supporting any of you ungrateful shits. You all mocked me, scorned me, thought my life was stupid and now? Now all of you come knocking on Princess Gigi’s door looking for all that public and popular support.” She picked up some glass bauble off the table and threw it at the wall. “Get the fuck out. My brother can grow a pair if he wants to talk yo me.”

Jessica calmed herself, focusing on controlling her emotional interaction. She did break eye contact this time, but looked back after several seconds.

“I actually really looked up to you when I was a commoner.” She said, her voice small. “I thought your fashions were amazing and I used to watch your interviews on repeat.”

Jessica stood up.

“But now that I’m on the inside, I can see what a sad…desperately lonely person you are. I can see all of your anger, and entitlement, and resentment. And I pity you.” She said. “I had a normal life and a normal family, so I feel confident saying yours is the envy of any girl. You just can’t see it. I’m sorry about that.”

“Well it shouldn’t be, obviously.” Giana spat and looked at Jessica again. “This is the reality, Jessica. The reality of the royal life. Isn’t it just grand? Everything and nothing all at once, but hey, I’m a princess, what else could I possibly want in life, right?” She scowled at Jessica then. “Pity me, hate me, resent me all you want. I don’t care. I’m done caring. You can all go fuck yourselves. You all, you all made me into what I am and you hate it. I can’t win and I’m tired of trying. Get. Out.”

Jessica considered whether the fact that Antonius doted on her and genuinely seemed to like her company was the determining factor in the woman’s irrational hatred of her. It proved that their father was capable of love, perhaps, and made them afraid it might not be him that was the whole problem. She knew Giana’s fragile psychie couldn’t really handle that. She needed a bully. She needed someone to blame. It’s then that something clicked in Jessica’s mind. She would have to work her just like she worked her husband. If she wanted results, she would have to work them all.

“I didn’t realize I had hurt you so much.” She said, her voice drawing out and becoming considered. She became a smaller target. “You’re right. You have too much pressure on you and…considering how I’ve been to you, it isn’t fair for me to burden you with my problems. I’m sorry.”

She felt dirty; like she felt when she was manipulating Giuseppe. Even when making love to her husband, she felt like a whore. This is what this terrible family did to people. It stretched them until they were too extended to fit. She was really starting to hate them.

Giana’s attention snapped immediately up to Jessica’s face. She looked like she was considering the words, maybe even gentling. She walked closer to the other woman, and once she was in range she grabbed Jessica by the chin, her fingers pressing in hard. “I don’t buy any of that for one second, Jessica. I may be a princess, but I am the queen of faking it.” She released Jessica’s chin. “Good try though. I’m sure Giuseppe just eats that right up.”

“He does.” Jessica said, honestly. Her heart beating quicker as the other woman grabbed her chin. “I don’t have the same tools with you as I do with him.”

“No, you don’t.” Giana confirmed coolly and stepped away from Jessica. “Right now, I’m supporting no one. I’ll throw you a bone though and say there’d be a good chance Elana would support Paolo. She would never support Giuseppe probably even under threat of death. You’d have a better chance getting her to support your son, but I think you know right now it isn’t viable. I’m going to continue what I’m doing and maybe, just maybe, save this entire family from becoming a laughing stock from infighting that spills out to the public. Not that anyone will care. I’m just air head Gigi after all.” She waved a hand dismissively.

Maybe Giana didn’t like her because people said she was prettier than her. There had always been a tention between them for whatever reason and she had intentionally worn very little make up on the visit so as to not offend the prickly younger woman. She sighed. This wasn’t going as she’d hoped.

“I’m concerned Giuseppe won’t take no for an answer.” She said, her expression looking genuine. “I respect your right to choose, but I hope you change your mind.”

“Well of course he won’t take no for an answer.” Giana rolled her eyes as if this were the most obvious thing in the world. “None of the men in this family take no for an answer and gods help them if you try. It ends up in threats or worse,” She looked to Jessica pointedly. “As I’m sure you know.”

“We learn to manage.” Jessica said, folding her arms under her chest. She gave a slight smile. A sad one, but with a twinge of humor. “In different ways, but we learn to manage. It’s the women who can’t be managed. Your mother still deals with me like she plucked me out of the country yesterday. And you hate me. I honestly don’t even know what I did.”

“Hate you? I don’t hate you, Jessica. I don’t particularly like you, but I don’t hate you. You are, unfortunately, linked to Giuseppe and I do hate him.” Giana shrugged slightly and seemed to be telling the truth.

“Oh…” Jessica said, seeming surprised. She thought of some of the terrible things her husband had said to her over the years and imagined the effect he might have in his sister. “Then I understand. Has..has he ever hit you?”

Giana scoffed slightly. Was this woman stupid. “Of course he has. He was always good at it too. Only in the face once, and then he pushed me down the stairs to cover it up. Really what he preferred was pinching though. I’d have bruises all over from that.”

Jessica demurred then, looking away. Her full pink lips parting.

“I should go.” She said simply; apologetically. “If it means anything, I’ll try to keep him away from you until he calms down.”

Giana frowned slightly and shifted uncomfortably, considering Jessica again. “Well, don’t put yourself out too much. He’s not going to do anything to me while I’m here so no use in you getting in the middle of anything you don’t need to get into the middle.”

“I can handle him.” Jessica said with a confident smile. It was a small sign of what was truly there. Giuseppe really had stabilized under her control. He was acting positively normal recently, actually. “I have tools you don’t have for dealing with him.”

She smirked now, having called back parts of the conversation from earlier. Then she seemed to remember something. “Congratulations on Sacha. I noticed he is still alive and some of the ladies at court talk about how often he comes and goes. I take it that means your father has accepted his presence in your life?”

Giana’s face briefly morphed to one of the disgusted sibling who even for just a split second realized their sibling had a sex life, but it went away quickly. At the mention of Sacha though, she immediately became defensive. “Yes, however grudgingly.” Her tone was sour, pouting almost. “I think though my father thought he could get away with it and not lose me completely, he would end Sacha without a care in the world.”

“You’re probably right.” Jessica said, giving a sad admission. “Giuseppe has told me a lot about him. If he can be…princely, maybe it will be okay. That was the test for me with your mother, anyway. And she was…unforgiving.”

"I remember." Giana said and nodded slightly. She had even felt bad for Jessica at some points in those days. "Unfortunately I don't know that my father would ever see him as such no matter what Sacha would do. He'll always see him as a defiant teenager defiling his daughter just like he will always see me as a flippant child with nothing to offer."

Jessica thought his assessment of Giana wasn’t too far off base. She nodded though, keeping the judgement off of her face. “You might be right.” She said, and then looked up again at the younger woman, her brown and blue eyes shimmering in the light of the windows. “I’m one call away if you change your mind, Giana. Be well.”

“Goodbye, Jessica.” Giana gave a cursory glance over to the other woman. “You be safe.”

“I care for the safety of my son.” She said, and then turned without anything else.

END