Princesses don't marry kitchen boys (Anya)

[dmitri]

Dmitri sat down beside the Princess, knowing that the Czar would kill him if he had seen what he was doing. Of course, the Czar would hopefully not get blood on his hand by killing him personally, but he WOULD order his army to kill him. Dmitri sat down anyway, lovestruck by the beautiful woman who had ordered him to sit. He looked into her eyes, drowning himself in her gaze, and listened patiently to her when she told him about the horrible events that had brought tears to those lovely ice blue eyes of hers. Dmitri wished he could caress her cheeks gently, wipe away her tears, and tell her that everything would be alright.

Dmitri looked into her eyes, his heart skipping a beat when she told him she wanted to running away. He understood her. He had enough sisters to know that a young girl would rather die than being forced to marry a man she didn't love. Dmitri gave her a warm, reassuring smile. Her secrets were safe with him. Not all the torture in the world could bring it out of him. Not even.... *gulp*.... not even if the cook made him DRINK the Czarina's prune juice. Everyone in the Palace feared the dreadful cooking of the Czarina. Yes, she was a loyal wife, a good mother, and to a certain grade a good Czarina. But she was a LOUSY cook! To keep his family safe from the Czarina's "cuisine", the Czar held himself with a LARGE kitchen staff. And Dmitri was the youngest of the kitchen boys.

Dmitri smiled warmly, looking into Anastasia's eyes.

"Your secret is safe with me, my Princess. I will not speak, should they even force me to drink the Czarina's prune juice...."

Too late he realized what he had said, and that he just had joked about the mother of the woman in front of him. His eyes widened in horror, and he held a hand in front of his mouth.

"Please forgive me, my Princess. I didn't mean what I said!"

He listened to the princess, and his warm heart melted when he saw her beautiful eyes filled with tears. Her cheeks were darkened in anger, and when he heard how this king had invited the Princess to accompany him, in spite of being with another girl, he understood how heartbreaking it had to feel for his lovely Princess.

"Oh my Princess! I am so sorry to hear that.... how heartcrushing it must have been for you.... And still your family wants you to marry him? How can they do that after what he did? Don't they want you to be happy?"

From his pocket he found his handkerchief and offered it to her. The material was not as nice as the silk used at the court, but the handkerchief was clean, and it was offered by someone that loved the princess and wished all the best for her.

"How can any man want to see the other girl when he is so lucky to have you?" he blurted out without thinking. Then his cheeks flushed and he lowered his head.

"Please forgive me my outburst, my Princess.... I - I am not used to talking to other girls than my mother and my sisters...."

Dmitri looked over at Anastasia again, wondering if she needed to speak more about this.

"How - how did you find out? If it's not too painful for you to talk about? Did you meet her? Did she confront you? Or hurt you?"

[aphrodite]

Aphrodite frowned when the princess mentioned how this High Prick Peter had led her on, only to uncouthly mention at a wedding of all places that he had been dancing in someone else’s court as well! Men… they really were pigs. Maybe Circe was on to something after all, the goddess thought, reflecting on the woman who had once turned Odysseus’ crew into a herd of boars.

The bow Hephaestus had crafted for her was propped up against the vanity and Aphrodite set it on her lap, idly tracing a finger along the carved paths engraved in it. Dimitri would not need a shot of the magic arrows contained within, in fact- he could probably afford to tone it down a little. The boy’s body language suggested desire, easily detectable in his eyes, as did his continual Freudian slips. The bumbling and hurried apologies made the goddess want to reach down and shake him, instructing him to just be himself. Now the princess… the princess was another matter entirely. She seemed to have drowned in her state of depression, only beginning to wake from it by conversing with this kitchen stud. A helping hand from the goddess of love would not be needed yet- perhaps not at all if everything went well.

[* anastasia]

He sat next to her, this was unheard of, a Princess sitting next to some plain ordinary kitchen boy, but right now Anya didn't care too much. She had always been the slightly rebellious one anyway. Despite her angry, hurt feeling as of late, when he smiled she felt a little warmer. He did have a lovely smile after all. She met his gaze, her brows raised for a fraction at the mention of her mother's prune juice, then burst out laughing.

I thought it was just me that didn't like it! She said. My family are extremely good at pretending they like it, but that only encourages her to make more. She finished, pulling a face slightly. Really he ought to get punished for saying something like that, but then again, it was the truth. And she liked him anyway.

Sniffing slightly, she took the hankerchief and blew her nose. She shrugged miserably. I suppose it's just luck if you actually marry a person you like. She said thickly. She blinked up at his outburst, swallowing before answering. I'm flattered, and don't worry about it. She said, not in the mood to tell him off. Not that she was ever in that sort of mood anyway.

She hesitated, this was going to sound a little strange for Dimitri. We were going to a wedding, a friend of Peter's. Then this demon woman approached us and told me. I didn't want to believe her, they like to play tricks, but his reaction was close enough to the truth. She blew her nose again. Even worse, the bride was the one who he had been seeing! She said, resting her chin on her knees.

[dmitri]

Dmitri lifted his head for a moment, having a strange feeling of being watched. However, he couldn't see anyone, and the Winter Palace seemed peaceful and quiet as always. With a trembling sigh of relief he focused on Anya, knowing what her father would do if he noticed his daughter with a kitchen boy. Dmitri could already feel the crack of the whip against his back.

But it is a small price to pay if I can bring a smile back to the lovely face of my Princess...

Dmitri watched Anastasia, certain that the Princess would punish him for his comment about her mother's prune juice. Instead she surprised him by bursting out laughing, the sound of her laugher like a brook in the spring, the most wonderful sound Dmitri had ever heard. Dmitri blushed and looked down for a moment when he saw Princess Anastasia smile. She had the most beautiful smile he had ever seen, and he felt tempted to lean in and place a kiss on those lovely, soft lips..... He gave himself a mental whack in the head with an imaginary frying pan.

Down boy.... DOWN!!! How DARE you think of her like that? You - a Kitchen Boy! The Czar will KILL you if you even THINK of touching his daughter!

He smiled, listening to her speaking of her mother's prune juice, chuckling with laughter.

"I am sorry you have to go through that, my Princess," he said. "I can stand it, as I have been forced to eat and drink a lot of strange things in my lifetime. But you, my Princess, should be spared of such things."

He listened to her while she spoke of the marriage she didn't want, and his warm heart filled with compassion. Without even knowing it, he had placed a warm, strong hand over hers, in a subconscious attempt to comfort her.

"I wish there was something I could do to help you out of that marriage," he said quietly. "You deserve better than to be tied to someone you don't love."

He swallowed, trying to give the same advice as he would give his sisters in the same situation, even if it wasn't easy for him.

"Do.... do you have anyone else you care about, my Princess? Someone you can ask to take you away from all of this? The King can't claim you as his bride if you are already married, can he?"

Even though he was blushing and stuttering, a bit uncertain because of her high rank, his eyes were glittering with mischief. How he wished he had been a prince, so HE could elope with her, snapping her away from that... KING!

He listened to her, horrified, as she told him about the wedding she had been to with this man. Dmitri couldn't believe his own ears. Was this behavior even possible? He gave the hand of the princess a gentle squeeze.

"He.... He was seeing another woman? Why would he do that when he had you? And.... and the bride? Did she know that he had been seeing you both? However, if she was marrying someone else, it doesn't seem your King meant that much to her."

He noticed that his feeble attempts to comfort her probably only would make things worse, and he squeezed her hand gently, even if he most of all wanted to take her in his arms and keep her safe for all eternity.

"I am so sorry...." he whispered.

[* anastasia]

Despite being upset, she grinned at Dimitri's blush. It was very sweet, and he seemed like a very caring guy. It was just unfortunate he was just a kitchen boy. Anya could almost picture her father's face at the idea. Or maybe she was the problem. If she hadn't been born into royalty, she would have been able to marry who she wanted, or at least have more freedom in the matter.

She chuckled, shrugging and glancing away. There were far worse things than having to survive her mother's cooking. Something warm made her turn back, and upon finding Dimitri had placed his hand over hers, her eyes widened with fright and she glanced again, embarrassed about the entire ordeal. It wasn't the fact he had done it, it was quite nice actually, it was just the thought of anyone finding out about this which was more frightening.

She sighed. Well, he can't, but the problem is there is no else to marry. The Czar - my father - is very determined when he wants to be. She stuck out her jaw when she said this. She sighed again, her face falling. I don't know if the bride knew. I haven't even met her properly. But I guess she was wise and found herself a better, decent man. She said glumly. The prospect of marrying Peter was not a good one.

[aphrodite]

A highly offended look crossed her face when Anastasia suggested that luck was the only reason for a person to end up marrying someone he or she loved.

“Uh, excuse me?” huffed the goddess, despite knowing that Anastasia could not hear her. That was crossing a line right there; she just slighted almost everything Aphrodite stood for! Finding love for people, true love, was something that she worked hard at and once people found the right match for one another it usually ended in a joyous wedding celebration. And this darling royal actually doubted it? Doubted her? Well! Wasn’t that a kick to the gut!

Aphrodite rubbed her temples as Dimitri slowly, yet sweetly, continued to display his soft side and get the princess to open up. Smiles were coming to her face now, that was good, but unfortunately the goddess did not want to sit here all night waiting for this molasses like conversation to progress far enough where she was certain she wouldn’t be needed. When Anastasia declared that there was no one else to marry because Nick the Second said so, Aphrodite had made up her mind to leave. Immediately.

A shower of hearts, flowers and stars, appeared to the left of where the two mortals were and Aphrodite materialized a second later.

“Hi!” she announced. “Aphrodite, Goddess of Love, nice to meet you.” She looked directly at Anastasia and said, “Sweetheart, we need to talk.”

[* anastasia]

The royal was just about to open her mouth and say something else, what she had in mind she wasn't sure yet, whether to condole her feelings further or try and cheer Dimitri up, when something to the left of where they were sitting happened. Flowers, hearts, all that jazz. A second later a divine looking woman materialised. She had a strange sort of glow about her, maybe it was the light, and had long blonde hair and wore clothes that belonged somewhere far away.

Anya blinked, registering the words before finding a reply. Oh, er, sure. Turning to Dimitri she merely said I'll guess I'll see you in a minute. She stood up, smoothing out her dress before walking awkwardly towards Aphrodite, a little way from Dimitri. Yes? She said, shrugging as she did so.

[dmitri]

(I'll let the ladies have their conversation before I post again )

[aphrodite]

Aphrodite blatantly ignored Dimitri once she obtained the princess and immediately began their conversation with an accusation. Folding her arms across her chest, she said in an irritated tone,

“What happened with this jerk Peter was not the best thing in the world, mkay, but to lose your faith in love? Uh… not cool. Listen,” Aphrodite draped an arm around Anastasia’s shoulders. “Sweetheart, I’ve been watching you- I’m a goddess, we do this kind of stuff- and I have to tell you, depression is not going to help you. You need to keep your chin up and believe in love again, believe in the fact that marriages do end in happily ever afters! So your father has some minor input in that… it’s only a hurdle you need to conquer! Love conquers all. Trust me… you’ll find a way out of your plight and you’ll meet someone who’s worthy of your time. Soooo… jump back into the game with a smile on your face and no more bad mouthing my work, okay?”

She flashed a large grin at the girl in hopes that her speech was somewhat motivating. Aphrodite really wanted Anastasia to have faith again.

[* anastasia]

Anya blinked at the stranger. "Y-you've been watching me?" She said in confusion. She was about to say more but the Goddess cut her off, wrapping her arm round her shoulder. After several moments of silence and digesting all this information she slowly nodded and gave a small smile. Alright, I'll give it my best shot. Thanks Aphrodite. That sounded strange in itself, she hadn't even heard of this Goddess, but she had cheered her up and motivated her. After all, was it like her to give up?

Still smiling she turned and went back to Dimitri and sat by him again. "Sorry about that." She said, grinning, turning back to glance at the Goddess. "Girlie chat, etc etc." She folded her hands in her lap and awaited a response from either of them. Suddenly everything looked a lot better.

[dmitri]

Dimitri stood up and bowed politely when the Love Goddess appeared out of nowhere. He might be just a kitchenboy, but his parents had taught him manners. Without these manners he would not survived for long in the Palace of the Czar, where the servants were whipped for the slightest error. Dimitri shuddered. He had HEARD stories what happened to those servants.....

He waited politely while the Princess spoke to the Love Goddess. He didn't eavesdrop, as it would be rude to do such a thing, especially to the Princess. He would never be rude her, his heart and loyalty belonged to her alone. When she returned, he waited until she was seated, before he sat down again, smiling shyly, happy to be in her presence.

"Errrrr..... I hope the girlie chat has helped on Your Majesty's sorrows," he said honestly. "You don't deserve to be treated like the King treated you. Forgive me for speaking so freely, but if I had seen a man treat my sisters that way, I would have given them a good beating."