A Chance to Charm the Ladies I

Posted on Sun Jan 22nd, 2023 @ 8:17am by Princess Royal Giana Orsini & Major Sacha Lavigne & Empress Cosima Orsini
Edited on on Thu Jul 13th, 2023 @ 8:05pm

Mission: Historiae Terrae Et Imperii
Location: Rio de Jinero Palace
Timeline: Date 2371-07-19 at 1140
4700 words - 9.4 OF Standard Post Measure

ON

The Empress was as busy as her husband on a daily basis. He took care of the governing of the Empire and she took care, generally, of the Court. Hosting meetings, and luncheons, and parties, and charity events were her daily work, and it didn't really matter if she felt like socializing or not. It was her life. Today, she stood in a gathering of the women of the court and their escorts, meaning there were a few hundred people in the room including many who had traveled, having been invited just for the occasion. She wore a lacey dress with a sweetheart neck flare, all of which were carnation yellow.

Residency at Court on a regular basis was rare, and most simply came in when they were invited. They stayed as long as they were asked to, and left when it was time. The power to call people to Court and to send them away was largely left in Cosima's hands through her direct work with Nadiya Singh, the Court Chamberlain. She was the glue to the place, and she made sure everyone who was invited felt special and graced to be in the presence of the Imperial Family.

The women and their escorts had started entering the room several minutes ago and people started to find their tables, settle down, and then mingle with the people sitting next to them. At the back of her mind, she considered the standout event of the day, unannounced to everyone: Giana and Sasha would make their first appearance together.

Truthfully Giana had been mildly surprised that Sacha had shown up at the party; she wasn’t sure why, but she was. She also knew that some small part of her had hoped that he wouldn’t. She was still feeling strained after he had abandoned her to whatever engagement he had seemed more important than her a couple nights ago and it showed in her expression. He hadn’t reached out to her, she hadn’t reached out to him outside of extending the invitation to him. Even after she had done it, she wasn’t sure why she had really, but she couldn’t take it back. She checked herself in a mirror out in the hallway. She was wearing a lovely pink to darker pink ombre dress with a princess neckline and dainty gold jewelry. Giana hated these parties; she hated being around groups of other women. It was exhausting having to keep a smile on in front of a bunch of catty bitches.

After making sure she looked beautiful as ever, she turned to look at Sacha. “Are you ready, then?”

Sacha wore a charcoal gray suit with a black tie, an outfit that fit him very well and looked good. He knew that Giana was a minefield and, to be honest, he really wasn’t sure what she wanted from him considering how she’d reacted the other day and where they were in their engagement process. He did realize, however, that this was the first time he’d been invited to appear with her in public and he wasn’t going to miss the chance to display how natural he could be as a royal. He’d been practicing in his mind for months. He gave her a handsome smile.

“Tu es belle, ma chérie.” He said gently, kissing her hand. “I am ready.”

Giana gave him a wan smile though did squeeze his hand slightly with her own. Once he had straightened, she moved and turned to come up at his side. Her arm slid into his, but she didn’t prompt him to go. He wanted to be the man, she would let him be the man. She faced forward toward the door that would take them out into the crowd - they didn’t use the plebeian entrance of course.

“The Princess Royal, Lady of the Northern Dominion, and Major Sacha Lavigne.” Came the booming voice of the announcer. As soon as the doors opened, Sacha gladly took the lead, confidently stepping forward into the room with her arm in his. The yellow glow of the heavily windowed room was enhanced by tons of greenery, flowers, and considerable sunlight from outside. It was a beautiful room. Of course he’d gotten the briefing document telling them where they would be sitting, but the route into the room was littered with people waving their greetings already.

Despite her less than enthusiastic demeanor while they had been getting ready, as soon as the doors opened Giana was "on". She smiled though not too broadly, it had an air of warmth and openness, but wasn't overly welcoming. A regal appearance had to be maintained after all. She didn't return the waves given, but did give respectful, inviting nods in three directions in front of her so no one felt left out. Once they had paused for a moment for pictures - because of course there would be, Sacha did feel her starting to pull on his arm, but then she stopped. Giana was quite used to more or less pulling her escorts along to where they needed to go because for her they were nothing more than arm ornaments - the flavor of the week or perhaps month if they were especially attractive and stupid. Instead of pulling him, she turned her head toward where her mother was in case he needed guidance on where to go.

Sacha noticed her pull, but he was also comforted by her self-restraint. He’d seen her pulling men around for years in the news, and he’d found himself being jealous of them just because they got to be so close to her. Now that it was him, he demanded more than they ever had. His smile was light, handsome, and easy, though it wasn’t as consistent as Giana’s. Most of the time, in fact, his expression was serious. People didn’t want to see a man smile constantly, especially if he was nearing the top of the social hierarchy, which he was doing by association. When pictures were taken, he gave pleased expressions and even a few winks and points that people seemed to eat up right away, but his mind was on heading toward the Empress. When they reached her, he paused and looked to Giana. Since she was of the highest rank between him and her, she would have to curtsy first before him.

Giana was already giving her mother a respectful curtsy when Sacha turned to look at her. She allowed a slightly larger smile for her mother, but it certainly didn’t reach her eyes. Cosima tolerated Giana more than the other members of the family, really, or she was just very good at hiding her true feelings which was also possible.

“Mama.” She greeted with projected, believable warmth.

Sacha gave a bow for the Empress which was slow and calm, kissing her outstretched hand right on a particularly dazzling opal ring. When he stood up straight, he offered a smile to the Empress. Though she had wanted the right match for her daughter, she had never seemed to hate him quite as much as Giana’s father had. She had always been inviting and kind, to a certain reasonable point, and she had seemed to find him charming, at least.

“Your Majesty.”

“Giana…Sacha..” she said with a grin that was more genuine than the one she had just been sharing with others. “Congratulations on your first time out together. You look beautiful together.”

“Thank you, mama.” Giana replied and squeezed Sacha’s arm slightly. Of course they looked beautiful together, they were two stunning individuals. Giana just wished she felt as good as they looked. “Everything is wonderful as always. You manage to outdo yourself every year.”

“Thank you, dear. It’s easy to do with such a large team of extravagant women to work with.” The Empress said low enough that only they would hear. “Sacha, how are you holding up today?”

“Fine, ma’am. It feels magnificent to be in public with Giana. I’ve been hoping for it for quite some time.”

“I bet you have.” Cosima said with a grin, her eyes moving to meet her daughters. “I’m sure you’ll impress us all before the event is over. I look forward to reading the Daily Sun. The Princess with her old troublemaker boyfriend again? The common people are going to lose their heads.”

"I'm sure." Giana replied rather noncommittally, only briefly meeting her mother's gaze and then looking out to the party again. She knew she should have felt happy in this moment - been much more enthusiastic about being out with her intended - but the truth was she was still feeling betrayed and ashamed. "Well we won't take up your attention."

Sacha bowed again politely and accepted the goodbye from the Empress, before leading Giana away and toward their next obligatory hello. Of course, his mother was there and they couldn’t get away with snubbing her, no matter how much he wished it. The two of them moved toward a group of Council Ladies standing together in a circle and chatting about gods-knew-what. Among them were Isabel Suissa Mendez, Lady of Mexico and the Speaker of the Council of Lords following the former’s murder at the hands of the Emperor, Isadora Montreve, the Lady of the African Dominion, and Jolene Lavigne, the Lady Mayor of Paris. As they approached, the latter perked up her eyes and followed them.

“My boy…and the Princess.” Jolene said with a plastered-on smile as they made their final approach. The statement wasn’t said with anything but barely forced affection.

Giana could recognize a fake smile from several miles away through fog, so Jolene didn't fool her even for a moment. She was extremely aware that Jolene Lavigne did not like her in the slightest, but the woman didn't really like anyone other than her own daughter and that included Sacha. Regardless, Giana returned the smile with one of her own and shifted just a bit closer to Sacha without really thinking. He had on more than one occasion enjoyed it when they had purposefully gotten under his mother's skin in this way much the same as when they were younger and Sacha had enjoyed toeing the line with her father...

Until he had gone too far, obviously.

"Lady Mayor Lavigne, always a pleasure to see you. Dominion Lady Montreye, Lady Mendez." She greeted and gave a polite nod.

“You’re highness, we’ve been talking about your new position as Lady of the Northern Dominion. You must be so excited to finally have a place to stand on your own two feet.” Jolene said, her bite intentional. “I hope you won’t suffer on your own for lack of experience. Being a governor isn’t as glamorous behind the scenes as being a socialite. Don’t hesitate to reach out, darling.”

The older woman’s eyes found her son and her fake smile wavered.

“And Sacha, I would have thought you too proud to come to such an event on a successful woman’s arm at this age. After all, a man typically wants to have something of his own. I admire your humility.”

Sacha blinked. This was the part, traditionally, that he would have said something rude enough to save face for both of them and to make the offender look rather bad. He restrained himself, however, trying to show that he could exercise self control.

“Thank you, Maman. I feel like I’ve been properly prepared for this moment all my life.” He said, issuing an insult only as subtle as the one she had dished out.

“Oh I thank you for your kind concern over my well-being, Lady Lavigne. It truly warms my heart to know I occupy such a large part of your mental space for you to talk about me and be so worried for me.” She lightly placed her hand on her chest as if she were truly touched by the woman’s words. She gave Sacha’s arm the lightest of squeezes in acknowledgement of his taking the high road in the moment, but kept her eyes on Jolene.

“I am rather confused why you would say that Sacha has nothing of his own given he is a Major and has had quite a successful and lauded career. I’m very happy he agreed to escort me today and set an example for men that they can be just as supportive of the success of a woman and it doesn’t diminish them in the slightest. Though I know perhaps you’ve just been so distracted as of late with Margery.” She paused and gave a mocking, sympathetic sigh.

“The poor dear has missed so many engagements, I hope she is well. I’ve heard that she’s been becoming quite round in the middle. I do hope it's nothing serious.” She made a face of feigned sympathy. There had been rumors swirling around court that Miss Margery had fallen pregnant by one of her slaves. It was likely that they were all rumors, but still a stain.

“Though forgetting your son’s accomplishments in his own rights, well…” She smiled ever so sweetly. “I hope your memory isn’t fading, Lady Lavigne, I would hate to see my father have to replace you. Anyways, we must be off. As much as I would love to sit and gossip about your betters with you. Enjoy the party.” With that, she allowed Sacha to lead her away toward no one in particular for the moment.

“Just as hateful as ever, isn’t she?”

Sacha had smiled in an unbidden fashion the entire time, finding the whole thing incredibly amusing, even if he didn’t participate much himself. Watching women fight this way was a pastime of the Court, and the women standing with Jolene enjoyed it just as much, but silently. There were rarely any true friends, just people who appeared to be so when together. They often stabbed each other in the backs otherwise.

“Yes, she’s an incredible bitch.” He said, chuckling. “Low blow on my sister, though. I think she just can’t put down the fork. I’m sure my mother is devastated.”

Giana was beautiful, intelligent, loved by the masses and feared by the nobility just for such a display. In the catfighting ring, she rarely lost the battle - and then never lost the war. She was ruthless, and there was no such thing as high ground. Here, she was queen. After the spat with his mother and seeing him smile, Giana actually seemed to suddenly be in better spirits and she looked up to him with a much more genuine smile.

"I'm sure she is. Truthfully I'm not sure what would disappoint her more... your sister getting fat or having a baby."

“She’d pray for her death before both.” Sacha responded, sounding quite certain about his statement. “But then, of course, if she died, I’d be her heir. It might be even worse for her.”

"Well, the world at large would be better for it despite what she thinks." Giana said and gave his arm a squeeze. "You really do look very handsome, you know."

“And you look stunning in that dress, mon cher.” He said in response, giving her own arm a squeeze. It was nice for him to see her smiling genuinely now, considering how tense she had been since they arrived. He let her see that he was happy as well, watching her perfectly glossed lips with interest.

Giana gave him another smile and squeezed his hand. They began to make the rounds with Giana seemingly happy to let Sacha lead her around. She never dragged him anywhere, though on occasion would give a slight pull to get him going in the right direction if he seemed lost or she wanted to move to somewhere else. Everyone else greeted them with respect and pleasantness; either they didn't want to or no one was brave enough to snipe at Giana nor Sacha outside of his own mother. As they moved along, Giana's spirits did continue to improve and overall she was feeling positive about what she was seeing from Sacha.

After leaving their latest group, she slowed with him and smiled. "Maybe you'd like to go talk with the other escorts for a little while? Take a break from the women talking? I'll keep going, but I know it can be a lot and a break is welcome from time to time."

He had been waiting for a long, white faithfully, but truth be told, he was growing rather weary of the bland conversations and the constant politeness. He was hoping that the men might have something more attuned to his interests or, at least, might want to talk less.

“That sounds like a great idea. All this…mingling is making me anxious. I’ll catch you later.” He said, kissing her hand, and walking away from her with a confident and slow stride. He stepped through the crowd and joined a group of men standing by a large flowering plant. He didn’t talk to them, but instead leaned against a half wall and pulled out his Vox. Thumbing through his notifications, he disengaged from the party for a moment.

“Sacha Lavigne. Fancy seeing you here.” Came a light, feminine voice that carried a note of teasing amusement and genuine surprise. “Probably the last place I would have thought to see you and with the Princess on your arm no less.”

Sacha looked up from his Vox, not expecting to hear anyone talking to him at this point. His eyes traveled up to the gorgeous face before him, one he had seen just two days ago. Of all the people he expected to see here, she certainly wasn't one of them. When they'd first met at the Marine Academy, she had been rail thin and addicted to messing up her life, but both of those problems had clearly been solved. Not only did she seem relatively in control of herself when they'd seen each other two nights before, but he'd had to put in some work to keep his eyes off her backside whenever she turned away from him.

"Selena Summer, what the hell are you doing here?" he asked with a smile, turning off his phone screen and slipping it into his pocket. Instinctively, his eyes began to search the room for Giana and his heart rate increased slightly.

Selena looked gorgeous in a pale yellow dress that hugged her figure, but not too tightly. It was a group of women after all, and women didn’t enjoy being reminded that they didn’t have the best figure in the room or the best face. One wanted to look pretty… but not too pretty. Her hair was in a pretty half up half down style, and her jewelry was understated. She wasn’t really looking for attention. She didn’t want to be here, but she knew she needed to be; this was one of the best events to work her way back into court after her long absence. The problem was that nobody particularly liked her here, so she was grateful to see a familiar face in Sacha.

“I feel like that’s a question I should be asking you. You hate these events… and yet here you are with Giana. Poor Sacha. Flavor of the week.”

Giana was currently nowhere to be seen.

"Hardly...we're...more serious than that." he said, not mentioning the engagement for some reason. He smiled at Selena; they'd had a good time together and he was glad to have a friend like her so nearby. "And, by the way, you don't exactly qualify for 'one of my guy friends' for obvious reasons, so don't mention anything at all to her, especially our dinner the other night. She won't understand, as I suspect you would know."

He gave up his search for Giana and simply offered a smile to Selena. She was stunning, and every male instinct wanted to tell her so, but he wasn't stupid enough to do that, especially here.

"I never thought I'd see you in a dress, marine. Looks like you were just playing tough all those years, huh?"

Selena stood there for a moment, blinking at him as she processed all of what she had just heard. His ribbing seemed to go unnoticed. "I... wow, alright."

She shifted and sniffed slightly, an unfortunate habit she still had now and then when she had strayed away from snakeleaf for a time. It had strained everything in her life, but it had also been the thing that had led her to joining the military and getting her life in order. She liked Sacha, she wanted Sacha, and it was no secret to anyone who really knew them that there was definitely a burning attraction between the two of them. She thought he had wanted her too, and with the dinner two nights ago and all the flirting a playful banter...

"Didn't tell her you were going out with me... didn't tell me you were with her. Sacha that's..." Selena was frowning as she spoke. Despite any hang ups she might have had for Giana being a royal, Giana was another woman and from a woman to woman standpoint, she found herself uncomfortable and disappointed in Sacha. "That's really-"

"There you are." Giana's voice cut in as she finished moving up behind Sacha. She was smiling, but when he turned enough and she saw Selena, it faded slightly. "Mama was hoping for a picture with us... who is this?"

He hadn’t been any more secretive than he felt was necessary due to he and Giana’s strange arrangement, but he understood how it looked to Selena. Before he could explain further, he heard Giana’s voice at perhaps the worst time in the interaction. He smiled, of course.

“Giana, this is Selena Summer of the Sacramento Summers; daughter of Carter Summer, Lord of California.” He said, gesturing toward Selena with polite distance. “We know each other from the marines. Selena, this is Princess Giana Orsini. My…date.”

Again, he stopped where he had been asked to. If he had been able, he would have said she was his fiancé without hesitation. But, unfortunately, they were still engaged in secret.

It was to Sacha’s benefit that despite her faults, Selena was not so quick to react negatively. It looked bad, yes, but maybe there was a reason he hadn’t talked about Giana; there was not really a reason she could think of that precluded him from telling Giana about her, though, so there was that. Still, she wouldn’t jump to radical conclusions at this point. When Giana approached, she smiled. “Nice to meet you.”

There was a brief, slightly awkward pause and then a brief expression of shocked embarrassment on Selena’s face as she hurriedly curtsied while internally chastising herself. Being back home and in this life was an extreme adjustment for her and she had forgotten some of the court etiquette. “Your Highness.”

Giana eyed Selena slightly, her lips pursing as her cool blue eyes shifted briefly to Sacha, then back to Selena. “Ah of course, Selena… it has been quite a long while since you’ve been at court. I barely recognized you.”

“Oh that’s fine, Princess, I’m pretty forgettable.” Selena chuckled and laughed nervously.

“Mmm… not so to some, it would seem. How long have you been back?” Giana asked as she moved up next to Sacha but didn’t take his arm.

“A couple of weeks.” Selena replied, still smiling pleasantly while she stood there.

Sacha could sense Giana’s skepticism from a mile away. Generally, he enjoyed her jealousy, but he wasn’t eager to put Selena through it. He smiled, a bit more amused than polite, and stepped up next to the two women. There was no pulling Giana away, and he knew any attempt to do so would only make her suspicious.

“How do you like being back at Court, Selena?” He asked, looking at her with a curious raise of his eyebrow. “Protocol here isn’t the same as it is in uniform, I know.”

“Not even remotely the same, no.” Selena replied with a laugh that had a slight touch of nervousness in it. It wasn’t so much about the situation between her and Sacha more than it was that she was genuinely nervous being around Giana in general. Her family had a healthy fear and respect for those of Imperial blood which had been instilled for generations; even for someone like Giana, the fear was there. In reality with very little effort Giana could have made Selena a pariah at court and considering she had returned to seek a marriage match, that would have been a disaster.

“I could do without the change but duty calls.”

“I assume you’re here for the same reason most young women make their way to Court?” Sacha asked, though he already knew the answer, and turned his eyes to Giana. “Perhaps you can find a good match for her, Gigi? You don’t play matchmaker a lot, but you know every eligible man our age at Court.”

“I do, yes.” Giana replied, looking at Sacha with a bit more direct suspicion now. “How long have you two known each other?”

“The Marine Academy.” Sacha answered simply. He made eye contact with her and held her gaze for a bit, not flinching from her suspicion. He had done nothing except have a female friend and he didn’t feel like explaining it.

“Well that has been a long while then.” Giana smiled and turned her attention back toward Selena. To her, she gave what would be considered a congenial smile. “I’m afraid I could never overshadow my mother’s ability to play matchmaker. I have some ideas, but I'll see what she thinks.” Giana extended her hand out to Selena.

“Come with me, I’ll take you to meet her.”

Selena’s eyes widened and she looked from Giana’s hand up to Sacha before she even realized it. Giana’s jaw tightened slightly, but she still wore the smile.

“The Empress is a fantastic matchmaker. I think she’d welcome the challenge.” Sacha said, choosing to support the course Giana was taking for now. She wasn’t known to be generous, and never would’ve given Selena the time of day if she wasn’t suspicious. But, who knows? Maybe this could work out for the woman’s benefit in the end. A little jealousy was a small price to pay for a match made for a friend by the Empress herself. He gave Selena a reassuring nod.

“I…. Thank you, Princess. Of course.” Selena extended her hand and made a startled sound as Giana was suddenly up at her side arm in arm like they were old friends. When Giana noticed Sacha was moving to follow, she turned to look at him.

“Oh, no, that’s perfectly alright, Sacha. You go ahead and stay with the men. I know you were enjoying your conversation.” Giana smiled sweetly and then continued to pull Selena along.

“So tell me about yourself…”

Giana’s attempt to manipulate the situation was more than annoying to him, and he wasn’t interested in leaving Selena, a woman he’d barely spoken to in seven years, to suffer for having dared say hello to him at a party. He gave a half grin and ignored Giana’s inappropriate order to stay back on the wall. He followed them through the crowds, far enough away to keep them in sight without necessarily being able to hear them. If Giana wanted to make a fight of this, that was on her, but he wasn’t going to be handled like this.


TBC